The UK government will use £2m from its aid budget to fund a worldwide register of sexual predators working in aid charities, the international development secretary has told The Times.
Penny Mordaunt was speaking to the paper ahead of an international safeguarding summit tomorrow, where she plans to unveil details of a scheme called Soteria, named after the Greek goddess of protection.
She said the database would be a “one-stop-shop” to enable aid organisations to check the records of potential employees.
Charities and other international non-governmental organisations will use a secure online portal to upload information.
Earlier this year The Times uncovered details of abuse and harassment by aid workers both of beneficiaries and fellow aid workers at Oxfam and other charities. This prompted the government to require more detailed reporting from charities it funds.
“What we have been doing since The Times’s reports is asking, how do we clean up the sector? How do we ensure that predatory individuals who think this sector is a soft touch are found, held to account and prosecuted. The summit this week is about consolidating that work,” Mordaunt told The Times.
“This is a landmark initiative to tackle predatory individuals who are moving from organisation to organisation below the radar.”
From Fundraising Magazine
International aid charities and umbrella bodies have also been working on new ethical standards for the sector.
Today the Charity Commission also published the findings of a review, which found most charities are not reporting serious incidents to the regulator.
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