UNICEF deputy resigns after inappropriate behaviour claims
London: Justin Forsyth has resigned as Deputy Executive Director of Unicef following accusations of inappropriate behaviour toward female staff while he was Chief Executive of Save the Children.
He announced on Thursday that he was tendering his resignation to Unicef with a heavy heart, reports the Guardian.
Forsyth said he was not resigning because of the mistakes he had made while at the charity, but because of attempts to damage aid organisations and the humanitarian sector.
"I want to make clear I am not resigning from Unicef because of the mistakes I made at Save the Children. They were dealt with through a proper process many years ago. I apologised unreservedly at the time and face to face. I apologise again," Forsyth wrote.
"There is no doubt in my mind that some of the coverage around me is not just to (rightly) hold me to account, but also to attempt to do serious damage to our cause and the case for aid. I am resigning because of the danger of damaging both Unicef and Save the Children and our wider cause. Two organisations I truly love and cherish. I can't let this happen."
It emerged this week that Forsyth was accused of sending inappropriate texts and making comments to female staff about their appearance on separate occasions in 2011 and 2015 while he was the head of Save the Children.
After the allegations came to light, the former Labour party special adviser said he had issued an unreserved apology to the women involved at the time, and considered the matter closed.
Unicef said it had accepted Forsyth's resignation and thanked him for his work over the past two years, the Guardian reported.
Save the Children apologised on Tuesday to female employees who had previously complained about Forsyth's behaviour, admitting the allegations were not properly dealt with at the time.
After inquiries into both allegations of inappropriate behaviour toward female staff, which were held in conjunction with an independent trustee, Forsyth apologised to the women concerned.
Forsyth's resignation came after Brendan Cox, the widower of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, resigned from roles at charities he helped to set up in his wife's memory following sexual harassment allegations while working at Save the Children.
After stepping down from his posts at More in Common and the Jo Cox Foundation, Cox said he made mistakes while working for Save the Children, and had behaved in a way that caused some women hurt and offence.
Cox and Forsyth worked together at 10 Downing Street under Gordon Brown before they both joined Save the Children.
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2 men dragged for 300 metres by truck in Agra; locals save their lives
Agra, Dec 23: A truck driver dragged two people for about 300 metres in Agra under his vehicle, police on Monday said.
Some locals forced the driver to stop the truck and extricated the men from under the vehicle.
Police arrested the driver and seized the truck.
The two men, both residents of Nunhai in Agra, were going towards Rambagh from Waterworks when they met with an accident around 11 pm Sunday.
The driver, instead of stopping the truck sped up, trapping both of them underneath, police said.
"In the accident, two youths were dragged by a canter driver for about 300 metres. Later, some residents saved the youths by stopping the driver using force," Chhatta Police Station Inspector Pramod Kumar told PTI.
"The youths were sent for treatment at a nearby hospital and are still being treated, but are in stable condition. The youths were from Agra. The canter driver was arrested and the canter seized after the incident," he said.
A video of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the men shouting for help.
The video was purported to have been shot by a person passing by on a two-wheeler.
“पिछली पोस्ट में वीडियो में युवकों को मोटर साइकल सहित ट्रक वाला कई मीटर तक घसीटता हुआ ले जाता गया देखा था,
— Umashankar Singh उमाशंकर सिंह (@umashankarsingh) December 23, 2024
अब जनता द्वारा उस ट्रक ड्राइवर की ठुकाई पिटाई का समारोह देखिए।”#Agra@madanjournalist
pic.twitter.com/Qh5ncyWtEa
HORRIFYING!
— Sanjay Kishore (@saintkishore) December 23, 2024
In Agra, a truck driver dragged two men for 300 meters. Locals intervened, stopping the truck and saving the men. Both are stable but continue receiving treatment. The driver has been arrested and the truck seized.
pic.twitter.com/1ply5wemfX
