Category Archives: Charities

Aid sector is ‘last safe haven’ for abusers, UK investigation warns

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MPs say sexual exploitation still rife despite series of scandals and call for more effective measures

The sexual abuse and exploitation of local women by international aid workers remains “rife”, say MPs, describing the sector as the “last safe haven” for perpetrators.

A parliamentary inquiry found evidence of widespread abuse of beneficiaries, ineffective investigations and whistleblowers forced out of jobs, despite a series of recent scandals that had prompted some reforms.

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The Guardian charity telethon – talk to your favourite journalists

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Help disadvantaged young people by calling Marina Hyde, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland and others on Saturday

  • Please donate to our appeal here

It’s your chance to discuss this extraordinary year, one-to-one, with your favourite journalists. Marina Hyde, John Crace, Jonathan Freedland, Anushka Asthana, Owen Jones and others will be taking your calls and donations at the Guardian and Observer 2020 charity appeal telethon this Saturday.

This year’s appeal cause is disadvantaged young people, and we are raising money for three charities doing fantastic work at the sharp end of the Covid-19 social crisis: UK Youth, which funds grassroots youth work schemes; Young Minds, which helps young people with mental health support; and the anti-poverty campaigners Child Poverty Action Group.

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‘Our school had children who couldn’t afford event days’

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The Child Poverty Action Group helped a Dundee primary make life better for deprived families

  • Please donate to our appeal here

It was the “special occasions” at her children’s school that Anna (name changed) struggled with. She and her partner both work but, with four children, stumping up the cash for Halloween costumes, Christmas jumper days or pyjama days was tricky.

“Sometimes we could manage, other times we couldn’t,” she said. “I’ve kept my kids off school in the past when we couldn’t afford to send them in with whatever it was that they were meant to have.” On other occasions, such as book fairs, she would have to borrow money.

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Overseas aid budget for education cut by a quarter this year, data shows

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Reduction came before this week’s move to slash UK spending on poorer nations to 0.5% of national income, with girls worst affected

The overseas aid budget for education was slashed by more than a quarter by the government this year, even before this week’s further axing of a third of aid spending, according to analysis seen by the Guardian.

As anger met the government’s announcement this week, it was revealed that it has already reneged on the Tory manifesto pledge by cutting primary and secondary education funding as part of £2.9bn of cuts made by Dominic Raab in July. On Wednesday in parliament, while announcing he would seek to legally cut the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national income, Raab reiterated a promise to prioritise girls’ education, which was immediately dismissed as “empty rhetoric” by the shadow international secretary.

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UK homeless charities call for suspension of ‘reckless’ eviction of asylum seekers

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Growing numbers face a winter of destitution as the Home Office withdraws accommodation provided during first lockdown

Homeless charities are calling for evictions of asylum seekers to be suspended as growing numbers are being left destitute as winter approaches.

While many asylum seekers were temporarily accommodated and tested for Covid-19 during the first lockdown under the government’s “everyone in” scheme, the Home Office restarted evictions in September. This group has no right to work and no recourse to public funds or statutory homelessness services.

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We can’t ignore JCB role in West Bank outrages | Letters

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Charities such as the NSPCC should not accept money from the machinery firm, writes Annie O’Gara, while Nick Georges has witnessed the use of JCB equipment in the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure

JCB is rightly under close scrutiny (JCB challenged over machinery used to demolish Palestinian homes, 12 October).

You highlight JCB’s donations to the Conservative party. But JCB also donates to a leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, effectively sanitising the company’s reputation.

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National Trust to cut 1,300 jobs as a result of Covid-19 crisis

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More than 500 compulsory redundancies as charity aims for annual savings of £100m

Almost 1,300 jobs are to be lost at the National Trust as a result of the coronavirus crisis, but the charity said it had more than halved the number of compulsory redundancies it expected to make.

A union has described the job losses as “devastating” for people affected but also called the plan “a reasonable way to move forward”.

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Women’s health organisation president resigns following bullying and racism investigation

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Françoise Girard and two others cleared of racial discrimination but report finds culture of fear and intimidation at IWHC

The president of a women’s health charity has resigned following an investigation into allegations of racism and bullying within the organisation.

The findings of the independent investigation cleared Françoise Girard and two other senior managers at the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) of unlawful racial discrimination or retaliation against employees.

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Save the Children can resume funding bids following sexual abuse scandal

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Charity has made ‘significant steps’ to improve safeguarding and can now apply for government funds two years on from withdrawal

The charity Save the Children can resume bids for government funding after it withdrew from the process two years ago over a sexual misconduct scandal.

The charity, one of the largest British recipients of government funding, receiving £139m in 2017, had taken “significant steps” to improve safeguarding and now meets government standards, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed on Thursday.

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MSF ran ‘white saviour’ TV ad despite staff warnings over racism

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Decision to show then withdraw video sparked crisis at MSF Canada, says review

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) broadcast a $400,000 (£307,000) TV fundraising campaign in Canada despite warnings from staff that it was exploitative, reinforced racist “white saviour” stereotypes and breached the medical charity’s ethical guidelines, the Guardian has learned.

A damning review of the decision to run and later withdraw the advert, which featured the REM track Everybody Hurts played over images of crying black children being treated by MSF medics, concluded it exposed a lack of trust in leadership and triggered an “organisational crisis” at MSF Canada.

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Stay connected to nature after lockdown, National Trust urges

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Conservation charity launches appeal to raise money for projects halted due to pandemic

A major appeal aimed at encouraging people to maintain links made with the natural world during lockdown and to raise money for environmental projects halted because of the Covid-19 crisis is being launched by the National Trust.

The conservation charity is also keen to encourage more care and respect for nature following a surge in littering, fly-camping and damage to nature and wildlife this summer.

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National Trust sacking education officers ‘will hit worst-off children’

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Volunteers accuse charity of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren

Volunteers are accusing the National Trust of excluding deprived and minority ethnic schoolchildren from enjoying nature and visiting its properties with the planned sacking of the charity’s education officers.

The number of protests and petitions are growing over the trust’s controversial “reset” involving the proposed loss of 1,200 jobs, including its learning staff, as the charity plans to stop providing any curriculum-based content or learning activities for schools.

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It’s tempting to think only charities can end abuse in aid. But we need state backup | Frances Longley

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The UK government has gone quiet on global safeguarding. The new FCDO must work with NGOs to hold abusers accountable

When stories of sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation in the aid sector surfaced in February 2018, a firestorm of blame and recrimination broke out across British NGOs. Household names were vilified, and the secretary of state for international development publicly declared that we had lost our moral compass.

Stories from victims and survivors were horrific and needed to be heard. NGOs were ashamed that abuse was still happening on our watch. We apologised, made promises of improvement and change. We came together as a sector and rapidly acted. Policies, processes and training were improved across hundreds of organisations and thousands of staff around the globe.

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Grassroots groups hold Beirut together, yet big NGOs suck up the cash | Hayat Mirshad

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Local charities work constantly to support Lebanese society. It’s time they had a fair share of foreign aid

Every person in Lebanon has probably been asked: “Where were you during the Beirut port explosion?”

My response is always the same: I was here, in Beirut.

On 4 August, when the explosion ignited our skies, I was here – fighting for my life as windows, doors, and buildings collapsed around me. I was still here in the painful hours that followed, working with fellow activists to spearhead clean-up efforts, distribute food and rescue neighbours trapped under the rubble. And when it was revealed that our government’s alleged negligence led to the fatal blast, I remained here – on the streets with my sisters – to demand justice.

We were among the first to respond to this disaster. We were here before international aid workers arrived, before France hosted an international aid conference for the humanitarian response, and before the dust settled on our now devastated city.

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Almost half of UK charities for world’s poorest set to close in a year – survey

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Demand for services overseas has risen during Covid-19 but lack of financial support will force 45% to shut their doors

Nearly half of the UK’s small charities working with the world’s poorest people expect to close within the next 12 months due to lack of financial support, a survey has found.

Despite most of them seeing a spike in demand for their services during Covid-19, 15% of the charities will be forced to shut their doors within the next six months, and 45% within a year, according to data from the Small International Development Charities Network (SIDCN).

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Mask rage: ‘One man told me I shouldn’t be allowed out if I can’t wear one’

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With face coverings compulsory in many settings, people unable to comply for health reasons are being challenged and abused

In the past few weeks, Paul Feeley has been abused four times for not wearing a mask on public transport. “I have a disability lanyard, which signifies I have a hidden disability. I tried to show it … And all I got back was a complete torrent of abuse.”

The most recent incident took place just after he first spoke to the Observer on Thursday. The abuse has made Feeley, who suffers from fibromyalgia, borderline personality disorder and panic attacks, feel “extraordinarily angry, anxious and upset”. He is unable to wear a face covering due to his medical conditions, and legally he is exempt – but he is now worried about travelling on buses and trams in his home town of Manchester. “One man said to me, ‘If you can’t wear a mask, you shouldn’t be allowed out.’”

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‘I can’t give in’: The Togolese nun caring for Aids patients amid Covid-19

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NGO chief and Catholic sister Marie-Stella Kouak is no stranger to crisis, but fears a ‘catastrophic’ disruption of HIV/Aids drugs

Dapaong is a buzzing, multi-religious city, 13 miles south of Togo’s border with Burkina Faso and more than 300 miles (500km) north of the capital, Lomé.

In and around the town, Marie-Stella Kouak is well-known. One of the few female community leaders, she is easily recognised by her booming laugh and the white nun’s veil on her head.

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Médecins Sans Frontières is ‘institutionally racist’, say 1,000 insiders

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Medical charity accused of shoring up colonialism and white supremacy in its work

The medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières is institutionally racist and reinforces colonialism and white supremacy in its humanitarian work, according to an internal statement signed by 1,000 current and former members of staff.

The statement accused MSF of failing to acknowledge the extent of racism perpetuated by its policies, hiring practices, workplace culture and “dehumanising” programmes, run by a “privileged white minority” workforce.

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Sir David Attenborough makes appeal to save charity behind London and Whipsnade zoos – video

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The naturalist has appealed for donations to save conservation charity ZSL, which has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The charity's director, Dominic Jermey, said the zoos would be unable to recoup the money lost even though they had been allowed to reopen, because of social-distancing measures and heavily restricted visitor numbers. He said: 'Unlike any other UK zoo, our zoos are the lifeline for groundbreaking research at the world-renowned ZSL Institute of Zoology and fund our global conservation projects – work that has never been more vital.'


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Matt Hancock promises update on coronavirus shielding ‘very soon’

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Charities had called for clarity after confusion about when scheme in England would end

An announcement on a possible end to the coronavirus shielding programme in England will come “very soon”, the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said, after healthcare charities called for clarity on the government’s plans.

The scheme affects roughly 2.2 million “clinically extremely vulnerable” people, a category that includes those who have had transplants, are having certain cancer treatments, have severe lung conditions or have immune systems that are particularly vulnerable to infection.

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