The European Union is open to an aid worker register as well as revamping the “rules of engagement” with the charities it funds in the wake of sexual misconduct by staff at Oxfam and elsewhere, the bloc’s top development official told Devex.

Neven Mimica, the EU development commissioner, said in an interview: “We made it clear to Oxfam and all our implementing partners that without explanations and guarantees that in future there will be an internal structure in the organization that would prevent similar unethical behavior, we won’t be able to continue with our funding and cooperation.”

Mimica said the need to clarify the procedures of groups that had already been cleared to receive EU funding also signaled a possible need to revise how Brussels approves those who implement its projects in the first place.

Organizations must also have “an effective and efficient internal control system for the management of actions, which includes the respect of ethical and humanitarian values, effective segregation of duties and appropriate risk management mechanisms, identifying risks and appropriate risks responses.”

Mimica said: “When it comes to Oxfam, it’s been more than 40 million euros ($49 million) of projects where they’ve participated, be it in humanitarian or development assistance, and we shall now really look into — but not for too long — the explanations that we shall get from them.”

Read the full article about tightening NGO funding after Oxfam scandals by Vince Chadwick at Devex.