SAFEGUARDING IN OUR WORK AROUND THE WORLD
Working with our peers across the sector to tackle physical, sexual, and emotional abuse: Oxfam America President & CEO, Abby Maxman, is a champion and co-lead on the CEO Taskforce at InterAction. Abby, along with 140 CEOs, have signed a pledge that includes taking steps to ensure perpetrators cannot be re-employed by other members of the international aid community. Oxfam America has also taken on a leadership and technical advisory role to support safeguarding work happening across the sector.
Building and institutionalizing a values-driven culture within Oxfam. Our goal is to ensure that no one faces sexism, discrimination, or abuse – that everyone feels safe speaking out and everyone is clear on what behavior is acceptable or not. This requires ensuring that Oxfam as an organization embraces gender equality, prevents abuses of power, and has zero tolerance of sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation. Oxfam America conducted an 18-month Gender Action Learning process and established a Gender Justice & Inclusion Hub to integrate and strengthen gender justice within the organization and in our work. The Gender Justice & Inclusion Hub now supports the organization to realize its strategic priorities, commitments, and stand-alone activities on gender justice, anti-racism, Feminist Principles, and intersectionality.
Supporting partners to develop their own safeguarding systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Recognizing the immense amount of work conducts with and to support our partners, Oxfam America teamed up with Oxfam in LAC to develop the first ever, Spanish language safeguarding guide developed by and for organizations in the region. This guide provides relevant information and resources to support the journeys of Oxfam’s more than 650 partner organizations in LAC to develop of their own safeguarding frameworks, especially for the prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Harassment, and Abuse (PSEAH) by their staff and related personnel. This document was built from a solidarity, feminist, localized spirit and contains tools ready to be used by organizations of various characteristics.
Deepening our accountability within communities where Oxfam works. Oxfam has worked for nearly a decade strengthening disaster risk reduction with communities within El Salvador’s Dry Corridor. To strengthen our commitment to accountability and developing contextually appropriate methods, Oxfam and its partners spent the last year working closely with 11 communities to create and pilot community-based complaint and response mechanisms to increase awareness of rights, establish effective and safe ways to report, and create community-based mechanisms to respond to misconduct.
IMPROVING SAFEGUARDING & CULTURE SIX MONTHLY REPORT
Oxfam is committed to providing updates on our progress to improve Safeguarding in Oxfam. Follow the link to the Oxfam International website to find the latest report and previous reports.
https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/about/safeguarding/improving-safeguarding-and-culture-oxfam
SPEAK UP
If you have experienced, witnessed, or heard that misconduct has, or is about to occur, we encourage you to communicate suspicions without fear of reprisals and in the knowledge that you will be protected from retaliation and dismissal.
Safeguarding covers sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and any form of child abuse or exploitation. You can make a report using the following options:
