The United Kingdom’s aid chief Penny Mordaunt offered more information about how the Department for International Development intends to tackle sexual exploitation and abuse within the sector, including a cross-government approach, working with other countries, and supporting “practical solutions” such as accreditation systems for aid workers.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mordaunt read from a statement to update lawmakers on DFID’s response to sexual abuse and exploitation by Oxfam workers in Haiti in 2011, and the subsequent allegations of abuse across the sector that have emerged since.

Mordaunt gave more detail on a raft of measures, including writing to all 192 DFID-funded U.K. organizations asking them to outline their safeguarding policies and to report any outstanding cases to the relevant authorities.

The department will be demanding the same from all of its non-U.K. charity partners and private suppliers — totaling more than 500 organizations — and also multilateral partners, she said.

The DFID boss emphasized the importance of Britain working with other nations to provide global safeguarding solutions. She specifically mentioned Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. — but she affirmed that the U.K. will take the lead.

Read the full article on action against aid sector abuse by Sophie Edwards at Devex International Development