First Person

Moving in the right direction: A pledge to end sexual abuse and exploitation

March 28, 2018 Posted by Abby Maxman

More than 110 aid organizations commit to stronger global standards

Here’s some positive news: The heads of 116 development organizations based here in the US have endorsed a pledge to protect their staff and the people they serve from sexual abuse and exploitation, and to take concerted action against harassment and abuse.

It’s called the CEO Pledge on Preventing Sexual Abuse, Exploitation, and Harassment by and of NGO Staff, and it was created by the members of InterAction, the alliance of international nongovernmental organizations here in the US. Oxfam is a longstanding member of InterAction, and I was honored to serve as co-chair of the group tasked with creating this CEO pledge, which we started working on in December, 2017.

I see the CEO Pledge as an essential and welcome first step to get all of us who work on international development to agree on and commit to fundamental standards for our organizations to address problems of sexual abuse and exploitation. While many InterAction members (including Oxfam) already have more robust standards in these areas, the CEO pledge will help all the signatories to create transparent policies and a culture that encourages reporting of incidents. It will also commit us all to find ways of ensuring our investigations of incidents are comprehensive and we prevent offenders from being re-employed by others in our sector.

I hope this is just the beginning of coordinated and collective action that the aid and development world needs to stamp out sexual abuse and harassment. Our staff and the people we serve demand it. We must create an environment for our work where we prevent the more powerful people from preying on the more vulnerable. This type of injustice is not unique to the aid and development world, but organizations committed to ending poverty and human rights violations have a special responsibility to respond to it.

I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow CEOs to move our sector in the right direction. But I am also hoping the US organizations signing this pledge, along with InterAction, will facilitate collaboration with organizations based in other countries to build a global pledge to do the same. It may be a small step, but it is the start of a new era.

Abby Maxman

As President and CEO of Oxfam America, Abby Maxman seeks to create a future that is equal. She mobilizes people and resources worldwide to make positive social change and to provide lifesaving support to people in crisis.

Over 30 years, Abby’s approach has been informed by the everyday economic, climate, and gender injustices faced by the people she works with and for, as well as her experience living and working through social change movements, regional and geopolitical shifts and humanitarian and development challenges. These include: apartheid in southern Africa; the HIV/AIDs and Ebola epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa; chronic food insecurity and famine in Ethiopia; post-genocide relief and recovery in Rwanda; strengthening community organizations during the Rose Revolution in Georgia; and large-scale responses to humanitarian disaster in Haiti.

Abby strives for accountability by examining and changing the power dynamics within the aid sector. Since joining Oxfam America in 2017, she has transformed the Senior Leadership Team and Board of Directors to be more representative of the diversity of people Oxfam works with and has elevated the organizational focus on gender and climate justice and fighting inequality.

Abby is a leader on safeguarding systems and cultures in the aid sector, as well as humanitarian and development policy, practice, and learning. She has been at the forefront of Oxfam’s response to the COVID pandemic; launching and leading the organization's ambitious 2030 strategy; championing accountability, and galvanizing action for vaccine equity.

Recognizing that long-term change to address the root causes of poverty and injustice requires joining with others, Abby plays an important role supporting, coordinating, and sharing efforts and expertise with NGOs and other organizations. This includes serving as Vice Chair of Interaction, Chair of the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response, Representative on the UN Inter Agency Standing Committee, and representing Oxfam on the boards of Frontline AIDS, Global Executive Leadership Initiative, and the Classy Leadership Council.

Abby has served as Deputy Secretary General of CARE International, Vice President of International Programs and Operations and in leadership roles in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Middle East for CARE USA. She has also served with US government agencies, the German development agency, and the UN World Food Programme. Abby holds a BA in History and Political Science, a Masters in International Administration, and several Honorary Doctorate degrees. She is a mother of three and lives in MA with her husband and children.

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