On 4 November, I opened a debate in Westminster Hall about exploitation and abuse by international peacekeepers and overseas aid workers. When they perform their roles correctly, they represent the best of humanity. However, when, as is all too common, they abuse their positions of responsibility, they harm their relations with the host country population, jeopardise peacekeeping and development efforts, and leave victims behind with no idea of where to obtain redress.
Revelations of exploitation and abuse surface periodically every few years, and in my position as a member of the International Development Committee I am determined that after the many scandals in 2018 the UK implements measures to ensure that our international aid is not misspent enabling exploiters and abusers in the world's most vulnerable countries.
We discussed several proposed solutions, including requiring aid workers to obtain DBS checks, introducing an aid worker registration scheme, and creating an ombudsman. You can listen to the full debate here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/c9f20591-2ac3-4832-8142-558fa7297…
