On Saturday, it was revealed that Brendan Cox, director of policy and advocacy, has resigned from Save the Children following complaints by female staff members of inappropriate behaviour. Cox strenuously denies the allegations, but left in September.
On top of that, Save the Children’s chief executive Justin Forsyth has announced that he will be leaving in February, for unrelated reasons. Forsyth – who previously worked for Tony Blair and Oxfam – has been head of STC since 2010, and has seen a £150m increase in the organisation’s income. He has not yet said what he will do next, but “has a few exciting irons in the fire”.
Over the years, we’ve heard both good and bad things about Save the Children. The gigantic children’s rights NGO has more than 14,000 employees, operates in 66 countries and received more than £650m last year.
On the positive side, the number of children the NGO has reached has increased from eight to 17.4 million since 2010. Save the Children has also been at the forefront of the humanitarian responses to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, in Syria, and during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
But there is also plenty of criticism. The NGO faced backlash from staff in November last year after Save the Children USA presented Tony Blair with a “global legacy award”. More than 500 staff members signed an internal letter condemning the award, calling it “morally reprehensible”. And their takeover of NGO Merlin in 2013 contributed to a perception from some that STC is getting too big.
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