Giving Compass' Take:

• Humanitarian Peter John Dalglish is facing pedophile charges in Nepal, highlighting the inability of the country to oversee the NGO sector.

• How can philanthropists encourage oversight to prevent abuse of vulnerable people? What organizations have strong systems in place to prevent and end abuse?

• Learn more about holding NGOs accountable. 

For more than a quarter-century, the world has known Peter John Dalglish as a noted humanitarian aid worker helping children in poor and war-torn countries, including Nepal.

Next week, Dalglish is set to sit trial on pedophile charges — he is accused of molesting two boys, aged 12 and 14. Officials involved in the case say they have irrefutable evidence that the Canadian national used his influential position to lure poor children, promising them a better education, foreign travel, and job opportunities while sexually abusing them.

Dalglish has denied all allegations. His lawyer, Rahul Chapagain, insisted his client was innocent and suggested the police were trying to frame and defame him.

With some 44,000 registered charities and an even larger number of unregistered organizations, the Nepali government has found it all but impossible to monitor its aid sector, say local experts. While Dalglish is the most high-profile humanitarian to go on trial to date, his case follows a string of foreign volunteers arrested and convicted on pedophile charges after using their ties with small organizations to exploit vulnerable children.

One of the poorest and least developed countries in Asia, Nepal has struggled to overcome years of conflict and natural disasters. Foreign aid dollars have seen a ballooning of charities, orphanages, community groups, and more — but the ease with which such organizations can operate has also allowed for unchecked exploitation.

Read the full article about child abuse in Nepal by Pragati Shahi at Devex International Development.