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Oxfam thanks supporters after “challenging year”

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The charity’s income has remained steady in the wake of scandal.

Oxfam has publically thanked donors and supporters after what the charity described as a “challenging year”.

The aid agency’s annual report showed Oxfam helped nearly 13 million people last year, while overall income remained steady at just over £434m.

Sales of the new Sourced by Oxfam range increased by £1m to £10.8 million, although overall trading figures were slightly down on the previous year.

There were also fewer emergency appeals which had an impact on income.

The report comes 18 months after an investigation for The Times led to Oxfam staff being sacked or resigning for sexually exploiting women in Haiti. The charity was also criticised for failing to act upon allegations of sexual misconduct by staff in Chad in 2006.

Oxfam’s chief executive, Danny Sriskandarajah, said: “We are extremely grateful to all the people who continued to support Oxfam. Last year was arguably the most difficult in Oxfam’s 76-year history and we will strive continue to make improvements to our safeguarding and demonstrate to our supporters that we deserve their trust and support.

“As I said when I joined Oxfam in January this year, my key responsibility will be to help the organisation to act on the lessons learnt from what happened in Haiti and build to become a more open and accountable institution for the future.”

During 2018/19 Oxfam’s safeguarding team received 80 reports. This is lower than the previous year which was expected as its appeal for survivors to come forward resulted in a marked increase in reports – many of which related to historical cases.

In the last year Oxfam appointed a global director of safeguarding, more than doubled the number of staff in its specialist safeguarding team and introduced enhanced screening for the recruitment of staff working overseas, as well as engaging with other aid agencies to work towards sustainable improvements across the sector.

Despite these actions, the charity said it has lost around 7000 regular donors in the aftermath of the Haiti scandal.

Oxfam also saw a reduction in income from institutional donors, partly because it withdrew from new funding applications from the UK government in light of the Charity Commission’s investigation.

The aid agency responded to a number of humanitarian emergencies in 2018/19, from the earthquake in Sulawesi, Indonesia, to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oxfam continued to provide a lifeline to those affected by the war in Yemen and built the largest ever waste management system in a refugee camp, helping to protect 125,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from disease.

In 2018/19 Oxfam’s campaigning and advocacy work helped to push the UK government to play a lead role in securing a crucial ceasefire in the port of Hudaydah, Yemen, which allowed vital aid to continue reaching people in need.

Sriskandarajah said: “In many ways, our divided and increasingly volatile world needs organisations like Oxfam more than ever. From the communities who have been devastated by the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the families struggling to survive the war in Yemen, I’ve seen for myself how crucial our work continues to be.”