AN OXFORD-BASED charity has improved its safeguarding policies after it was revealed to have a 'toxic work environment'.

Oxfam GB was put under statutory supervision in 2019 following an inquiry which called for 'significant systemic and cultural' change to protect people safe from harm.

An investigation from 2019 said that 'racist and bullying behaviours' had blighted the work environment at the charity.

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The initial report was produced by the Independent Commission after the charity was accused of covering up an investigation into the hiring of sex workers by Oxfam staff working in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

The country since banned Oxfam GB's right to work in the country.

A new report published today, however, has said the charity has responded positively to the commission's scrutiny.

It said since the initial review, the charity has implemented wide-ranging changes to its organisational culture, and strengthened its approaches, resources and process, so that people served or employed by the charity are now 'better protected against abuse, exploitation and other forms of harm'.

The commission has stressed, however, that effective safeguarding is 'never complete' and systems and processes, however good, need to be underpinned by leaders remaining vigilant and placing people's safety as a highest priority.

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Helen Stephenson, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said the Commission’s inquiry had been the catalyst for significant progress at Oxfam GB, but warned against complacency.

She said: “Oxfam GB’s leadership has done much work since 2019 to respond to our inquiry, and learn lessons from the charity’s past mistakes and failings.

"That effort, overseen and scrutinised by the Commission, means that Oxfam GB is now providing a safer environment for all who come into contact with it.

"But safeguarding is never ‘done’.

"As our report makes clear, while Oxfam has made significant progress, its leaders must ensure that the charity’s living culture – the spoken and unspoken expectations placed on all staff and all volunteers – continues to promote an environment that keeps people safe into the future.”

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Ms Stephenson said that all charities should prioritise safeguarding.

She added: "The public expect the way charities go about their work to be consistent with the spirit of charity – charitable aims don’t justify uncharitable means.

"No charity can afford to lose sight of its core purpose in the way it operates on the ground, no matter how large or complex its operations become.

"And when a person comes to harm because of their contact with a charity, it betrays everything charity stands for."