A children’s charity connected to Meghan Markle faces accusations of racism and sexism, with regulators now examining the claims, reports have revealed.
The Duchess of Sussex has served as a global ambassador for World Vision since 2016, the same year she first encountered Prince Harry, and has journeyed across the globe to witness and champion the organization’s initiatives.
The Charity Commission is currently “assessing” a formal complaint concerning the international charity’s UK division, which stands accused of fostering a “toxic” and “hostile” work environment.
Claims against the organization encompass allegations that racism, sexism, and homophobia have purportedly been “ignored, silenced or inadequately handled” by executive leadership.
World Vision UK has rejected all accusations leveled against it by the Third Sector website, which reported conducting interviews with 11 current and former employees.
Additional accusations involve female staff members who were reportedly made to feel uneasy after experiencing condescending treatment during meetings. It was also alleged that non-disclosure agreements were “routinely used to silence staff leaving after negative experiences”.
World Vision has refuted all the allegations, stating they were false and made by a “small” number of former employees.
The organization is currently undergoing its second restructure in less than a year, with approximately 60 out of the 200 staff members expected to be laid off.
Recently, the charity underwent its second restructure in less than a year, putting about 90 of its roughly 200 staff members at risk of redundancy, with 60 positions expected to be eliminated by the end of last month.
In a statement, the charity said: “World Vision UK has contacted the Charity Commission and while any member of the public can make a complaint to them, there is no investigation against the charity. If the commission contacts us in relation to any complaint, we will of course co-operate fully.
“World Vision UK operates by the highest standards set by the Charity Commission. Our processes are devoted to meeting those high standards across all of our operations.
“The allegations we have been made aware of by Third Sector are false and are thought to be sourced from a small number of employees who have left the organisation.
“Our staff are extremely important to us. We provide various mechanisms for dealing with any staff complaints and if these are upheld, we act immediately to put things right and take action.”
The Charity Commission stated: “We are currently assessing concerns about World Vision UK to determine what, if any, role there is for the commission as regulator.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
