2023-01-11

BRUSSELS - Experienced staff are being fired, volunteers are dropping out and losses are piling up. Meanwhile, external consultants earn up to €20,000 a month. What is going on at Action Damien?

 The NGO Action Damien is in danger of going down at breakneck speed due to the 'corporate culture' that has been guiding its course since 2015. The arrival of new management caused an unprecedented turnover within the organisation, with experienced staff leaving en masse and new recruits from the business community. While the number of management positions is being greatly expanded and externals are pocketing generous salaries, lepers and TB patients are quietly paying the price: 46 health workers will be laid off in project countries next year. An investigation by Ruben Brugnera and Marieke Brugnera. 

Marieke Brugnera

Marieke Brugnera is a freelance investigative journalist.

Ruben Brugnera

Ruben Brugnera is an independent investigative journalist, based in Brussels.