A watchdog’s bark was worse than its bite
As the reins change hands at Cafod, with Chris Bain (pictured) departing as director later this year, it’s a moment for the development agency to take stock. But that was overshadowed by some unfortunate coverage last week, when Cafod received a slap on the wrist from a regulator.
At first, it looked pretty bad. The Guardian report said that Cafod had been “suspended from an international scheme which aims to protect aid beneficiaries from sexual exploitation and abuse”. The Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative (HQAI), which sets minimum standards for the aid sector, had told Cafod its safeguarding procedures were inadequate. The agency would not be certified until it had fixed the problem, which had to do with its complaints system.
