Former Save the Children chief executive quit after complaints

Unicef is investigating Justin Forsyth after it emerged he quit Save the Children after complaints of his inappropriate behaviour towards women.

Forsyth became Unicef’s deputy executive director in 2016 and was given a reference by Save the Children which made no mention of the complaints.

It also emerged the former chief executive was awarded a £20,000 bonus on top of his £163,000 salary in 2012, a year after two of the complaints were made.

In each of the cases raised against Forsyth, the chair instructed HR to manage the process in conjunction with an independent trustee.

Two trustees carried out two separate investigations into a total of three complaints made by three female employees.

It said that both reviews resulted in “unreserved apologies” from Forsyth, and that “all the parties agreed to this.” It said Forysth apologised to the women and that “at that time the matters were closed.”

Unicef said: "Unicef was not aware of the complaints against Mr Forsyth at the time of his recruitment. We understand that informal mediation is confidential.

“We are aware of media reports related to past complaints against Justin Forsyth about events that occurred before he joined Unicef. We welcome Mr Forsyth’s decision to come forward and acknowledge past mistakes. We are discussing this matter with Mr Forsyth and his former employer so we can take appropriate action.”

This news follows reports earlier this week that Brendan Cox, widow of murdered MP Jo Cox and former Save the Children employee, left the charity after being accused of sexual assault while he working at the charity in 2015.