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| Aid organisations 'truly sorry' for sector's failings | Aid organisations 'truly sorry' for sector's failings |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Twenty-two aid organisations have said they are "truly sorry" for the sector's failings in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct by workers. | |
| In a letter signed by chief executives, charities including Save the Children UK and Oxfam GB vowed to do more to protect those they were set up to help. | In a letter signed by chief executives, charities including Save the Children UK and Oxfam GB vowed to do more to protect those they were set up to help. |
| They also promised a series of "urgent and immediate" measures, including more resources for safeguarding. | They also promised a series of "urgent and immediate" measures, including more resources for safeguarding. |
| "There can be no tolerance for the abuse of power," the letter said. | "There can be no tolerance for the abuse of power," the letter said. |
| "We have an absolute duty to our staff, our supporters and, above all, the people we seek to help to ensure we do everything in our power to prevent, detect and eradicate unacceptable behaviour." | |
| The charities admitted recent revelations had caused "widespread distress and disappointment" and said the sector needed to "fundamentally" change. | |
| "Safeguarding is something that, as a sector, we have long taken very seriously and all our organisations have systems in place to prevent all forms of abuse and misconduct. | |
| "However, we can never be complacent. We must do even more to protect the very people we were set up to help," the letter said. | |
| Other measures announced include a review of the current referencing systems "so that people found to have abused their power or behaved inappropriately are not re-employed in the sector". | |
| Ex-Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth resigned from Unicef on Thursday after the BBC reported he had faced three complaints about his behaviour by Save the Children staff. | |
| Unicef confirmed that the charity had not been aware of any of the complaints against Mr Forsyth at the time of his recruitment in 2016. | |
| The aid organisations have also said they will work with the government "to ensure that we can overcome the legal and institutional barriers to rigorous background checks in the UK". |