Oxfam wants to expand presence in NK

Oxfam's Humanitarian Lead Richard Corbett speaks at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Park Ji-won

By Park Ji-won

Oxfam Humanitarian Lead Richard Corbett said the organization was worried about humanitarian issues in North Korea, emphasizing the importance of working closely with governments both there and in South Korea to deliver aid.

“We are slightly worried about North Korea because of the political situation. We are watching the situation,” he told The Korea Times during an interview Friday. Corbett visited South Korea to give a lecture regarding the U.K.-based international charity organization's work at its first international seminar here.

Oxfam is a global charitable organization that focuses on resolving problems by helping communities with issues regarding water, food and security for people in danger, such as refugees from Yemen and Myanmar. The charity is actively considering working with South Korea's government from next year to expand its operations here.

Corbett mentioned the group's Hong Kong branch and its relationship with North Korea in the past, saying, “At the moment, the issue is access. We are not clear on the situation on the ground… because we don't have access.”

Humanitarian aid to North Korea has been gradually prohibited under U.N. and U.S. sanctions in recent years. Many international organizations have pulled out of giving help to North Korea citing operational difficulties and looking for alternative ways to increase their footprint in the North.

Regarding the possibility of expanding operations into North Korea, Corbett emphasized that the North Korea humanitarian issue was not a priority for the British organization, but added, “That could change if there are triggers. It is early days in the process because of sanctions and the regime, etcetera.”

“In terms of what happens next, it comes back to a question of access. What is the position of the South Korean government and the North Korean government?”

The international organization which provided aid to South Korea during the Korean War, opened its Seoul branch in 2014. South Korea raised 6.2 billion won ($5.47 billion) from private and corporate sector contributions between April 2016 and March 2017, mostly through street promotions.

Regarding a sex scandal reported in February by the British daily The Times in which “Oxfam's most senior staff paid survivors of the Haiti earthquake for sex and hosted parties with prostitutes 'wearing Oxfam T-shirts' and that the charity tried to cover it up,” Corbett made it clear that the organization is working to regain people's trust through various efforts.

“So now we have to rebuild that trust. Especially now we have newer organizations like in South Korea. We are doing that by looking at it in three ways,” he said. Regarding personnel, he said that Oxfam needed to have better references checks for candidates before hiring them. He also noted that it was essential to make it known throughout the organization that actions like those in Haiti are not tolerated. Finally, Corbett added that it was important for Oxfam to work very closely with communities, making sure that people know their rights and how to report when something is wrong.

When it comes to providing aid, Corbett emphasized the effectiveness of directly giving cash to impoverished people so that they can use the money for what they genuinely need. This is part of Oxfam's cash learning partnership (CALP) strategy in humanitarian aid. In order for the initiative to work, he highlighted the necessity of having inspectors who oversee the money flow to receivers.

“Organizations like ourselves or local partners, somebody still has to be checking that money is going to the right people, the markets are working, and the system is working.”

He implied there were possibilities for Oxfam to expand its work with government organizations here. Government funding consists of some 43 percent of Oxfam's income for its headquarters in the U.K. there is almost nothing given here.

Corbett is hopeful about the future. He remarked that the Seoul office has the potential to grow and noted possible areas of focus, such as fundraising, advocacy, government policy and working closely with KOICA. “There's lots of potential but that will be down to Oxfam in South Korea to decide what it wants to do.”