Oxfam set to reform "porous system" that allowed sex offenders into organization

Oxfam says it will act on past and present allegations of exploitation and sexual harassment by staff in response to recent revelations of sexual misconduct.

The international aid organization's reputation has been dragged through the mud over recent weeks after it was revealed that in 2011, in the wake of a devastating earthquake, several staff hired prostitutes on the island.

Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima told the BBC that the organization would "do justice" and "atone for the past".

After admitting she was deeply ashamed for what happened, she said that she is "appointing a high level independent commision that will look into our culture and practices and make recommendations that make us stronger and protect the people in need."

"We our going to root out and create a vetting system that will keep sexual exploiters out," said Byanyima.

"We have almost 10,000 people over 90 countries doing the right thing, but unfortunately we have a porous system that have brought in some people that don’t share our values. We don’t know how many people like this are in our organization, we will have to investigate the cases."

She said the organisation was "hurt" but that there was no way it could die because it was too important for the world.

She also explained that Oxfam has planned certain reforms of the organization to "root out" these people that take advantage of the charity.

These new measures include doubling the budget for the charity's safeguarding team and tripling the staff working in the department, setting up a global database of accredited referees to ensure sex offenders can't falsify references and won't be hired at other charities and making "whistleblowing" external, safe and confidential.

Ms Byanyima has also said "Right now I have two utmost priorities for Oxfam: continuing to provide support to the millions of vulnerable people we work with around the world, and learning vital lessons from our past mistakes to make sure such abuse and exploitation does not happen again."