Introducing Oxfam

8/7/2019 Introducing Oxfam

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Oxfam (United K ingdom and Ireland) is a private and independentnon-governmental organisation. This book gives a brief introduction toour many different functions, our objectives, and our ways of workingwith people in long-term development and disaster-relief programmes

around the world.

Designed by Oxfam Design Department 1296/PK/92Registered as a ch arity (N o. 202918)Oxfam 1993

This book converted to digital file in 2010


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Introducing OxfamOxfam's main objectives are: 'To relieve poverty, distress andsuffering in any part of the world ... and in connection therew ithto educate the public [of the UK and Ireland] concerning thenature, causes and effects thereof.

Oxfam believes in the essential dignity of people in poorcommunities and their capacity to overcome the problems andpressures w hich threaten to crush or exploit them. These may arisefrom climate and geography, from war or conflict, or from thecomplex areas of economics, politics, and social conditions.Oxfam is a partne rship of people w ho share these beliefs menand wom en w ho, regardless of race, sex, or politics, work togetherfor the basic huma n rights of food, shelter, and reasonablecond itions of life.

To relieve poverty, distressand suffering in any part ofthezvorhi... and in

connection therewith toeducate the public

concerning the nature,causes and effects thereof.

DevelopmentOxfam is comm itted to a process of developm ent by peacefulmeans. This development will often be pursued through localorganisations and small groups whom Oxfam calls its partners.Whether working through partners or directly, Oxfam hopes toachieve constructive change which allows people m ore fulfillinglives, uph olds their dignity, encou rages their self-determination,and acknowledges their cultural styles and priorities.Such developm ent should also take full acco unt ofenvironm ental factors. It should be sustainable by preserving orimproving the environment. It should not improve life at theexpense of future generations.

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WitnessOxfam h as learnt that one of the way s it can help peo ple is byreporting to its supporters and the wider pub lic on the position ofthose in need as it has found it, the causes of their poverty, a nd theobstacles it has encountered in its work on their behalf.

Always in the context of this experience Oxfam recognises itsresponsibility to influence, wh ere appro priate, the o rganisations(both national and international) that affect the relationshipsbetween rich and poor countries.

Ecuador: Pimbaro village school,Simiatug.JULIO ETCHART/OXFAM

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Brief history1942 Oxfam founded A group of people in Oxford in the UKmet to see if they could help starving civilians in Greece duringWorld W ar Two. They called themselves 'The Oxford Comm itteefor Famine Relief.1945 W ar ended Many people in Europe were hung ry andhomeless, and m any w ere refugees. The Comm ittee collectedclothes and money and sent them to agencies working on thespot. Working through local groups, rather than running our ownprogrammes, has been our main way of operating since then.1948 First shop opened The first big national appeal raised96,692 worth of clothing and goods. The first shop opened inBroad Street, Oxford. It is still there.1949 New aim The Committee decided to continue, and addeda new aim: 'the relief of suffering arising out of war or any othercause in any part of the world'.1950-59 Help for refugees Local group s were formed in the UK,and when 1959-60 was declared World Refugee Year, contributedover 755,000 to the worldwide effort to resettle displaced people.1950s Natural disasters We also responded to naturaldisasters such as drought in Bihar in India, earthquak es, and evenflooding in the UK. Ever since then w e have ma de occasionalgrants to em ergencies in the UK.1960s Oxfam becomes a development agency We decided tosupp ort long-term develop ment work instead of just giving reliefto hungry, sick, or homeless people. We wanted to work w ithpeople to attack the causes of poverty, hun ger, an d disease. In1961-62 we were helping over 400 projects in more than 50countries.1961 First field staff Oxfam's first permanent overseas

Greek girl, in the early 1940s.Oxfam began as a pressure group,trying to help the people of Greece,during World War Two.

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representative was appo inted to look after projects in Southernand Eastern Africa. By the end of the 1960s there were 11FieldDirectors around the world.1962 'Oxfam' The shortened name 'Oxfam', which had beenwidely used since the 1950s, was officially adopted.1965 Strong support in UK 20 region al staff across the UKstrengthene d our fundraising and helpe d to set up over 400Oxfam gro ups. Volunteer-run gift sho ps multiplied, selling goodsdona ted by the p ublic. There were 200 by 1970.1965 Oxfam Trading set up Ou r fair trading com pany, OxfamActivities Limited (which included O xfam Trading), was set up toimpo rt handicrafts from produ cers in poorer countries and p aythem fair prices for their goods.1970s Education work in the UK and Ireland There wa s agrowing understanding in the UK and Ireland that hunger,poverty, and disease are not simple problems. Rich and poorcountries depend on each other, contributing to each other'swelfare or harm . To widen the discussion, we increased oureducation w ork, and in 1974 we decided to spend up to 5 per centof our income on edu cation and information in the UK andIreland. Our Education Department has ever since providedmaterials for use in schools, and supp ort for teachers. Our PublicAffairs Unit (now the Public Policy Department) was set up in1974 to research and publicise particular causes of pove rty in moredepth.1974 Wastesaver started Wastesaver, a w aste recycling cen trein Huddersfield, ex perimented by recycling various items, butnow concentrates on recycling textiles and alum inium, mainlycollected from our shops.1970s New units We set up three specialised U nits:Emergencies, Technical, and Health, to help in disasters andadvise on longer-term work. As a result of experiences gained indisasters in the early 1980s, we dev eloped a water-sup ply kit,well-drilling and water-testing kits, an emergency sanitation unit,and feeding kits, which are all ready for use at any time inemergencies around the world.1980s Work in the UK and Ireland We expanded our work inthe UK and Ireland by increasing the number and improving thequality of our shops to increase our income. The Campaigns Unitwas established to involve people in the 'Hungry for Change'campa ign, which was launched in 1984. Volunteer cam paigninggroup s w ere set up to inform the public about the effects on poo rpeople of the international debt problem , and unfair aid and tradepolicies.1980s Wider issues Oxfam began to produce many well-

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researched pub lications to encourage pe ople to discussdevelopm ent issues in more depth. In 1984-85 we mo unted ourbiggest-ever emergency operation, with over 23 million going torelief programmes for famine victims in Ethiopia and refugeesand local people in Sudan.1985 GADU set up We set up our Gender and DevelopmentUnit in 1985 to ensure tha t wo me n's n eeds and issues are fullyincorporated into development programmes supported byOxfam.1988 Arid Lands Unit The Arid L ands Unit was set up toexchange information and ideas across sub-Saharan Africa. TheUnit also examines environmen tal issues as they affect poorpeople - a growing concern worldwide.1990s In 1992 we raised 73.3 million and allocated 43.4million to around 2,900 projects in over 70 countries around theworld.

The first Oxfam shop in Broad Street,Oxford.

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Structure and legal

7 have always identifiedwith the idea of Oxfam as

a bridge, of people - thatwe n$ an institution areonly a link between people

of good 'will in the Northand South.'

D A V I D BRY EK ,DiKi.-.i.iOK O F O M - ' A . M .

Oxfam is a voluntary agency governed by a Council of Trustees,currently num bering about 40. The Trustees, who are all un paidvolunteers, are responsible in law for everything Oxfam does.They are based in the UK and Ireland, and usually serve for threeor six years.

Volunteers are very important for Oxfam. Some 30,000volunteers work for us in the UK and Ireland. There are also manythousands of volunteers connected with the developmentprogrammes that we support around the world.

In 1991 we em ployed 958 staff in the UK and Ireland, of whom495 were w orking at the Hea dqu arters in Oxford. We also have 12Area Offices, whose w ork in educ ation, fundraising, andcampaigning work is also supported by hund reds of volunteers.

Another 682 staff worked in Country and Regional Officearound the world. Most senior posts are now advertisedworldwide. Increasingly we recruit local people to fill them. Staffworking in Country and Regional Offices need to be familiar withlocal needs and developm ent issues. They meet and discuss issueswith partners and potential partner groups who may requirefunding, advice, or opportunities for them to meet other groupswho are tackling similar problems.

Charity statusWe are a registered 'ch arity' un der UK law, which forbids charitiesfrom taking part in partisan po litical activity. But we are allowedto make representations to Members of the national and EuropeanParliaments about the obstacles we encounter in our work 'torelieve poverty, distress and suffering' worldw ide. Oursupporters also ask the government to bring about changes in

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policies which will benefit the poor, such as increases in thequantity and quality of aid and fairer terms of tradeinternationally for poorer countries.

Being registered as a charity brings tax advantages. Under UKlaw Oxfam can reclaim tax paid by certain types of donors, and isexcused from paying tax for some services. This brings anadditional 5-6 million of income per year!

Profile of a TrusteeEconomist Kate Kirkland could h ave had a career mak ing lots ofmoney for herself. Instead she has balanced her working lifebetween a part- time career and giving 16 hours of her week toworking with us . She is one of Oxfam's volunteer Trustees and isthe new Chairperson of the Trustee Com mittee looking after ourPublic Affairs, Campaigns and Education programme.

'At first I just thought of myself as working for a good cause',she says. 'Now I see us wanting to build solidarity with people inthe South. I wou ld like to see a much more equal distribution ofthe world's resources and want my country to change its policiesto that end, realising that it will mean a drop in our own materialwealth.'Kate's own decision not to pursue greater material wealth wasreinforced when, as a volunteer shopleader in one of the 890

Oxfam Shops, she went on a 'Knowledge of Oxfam' course andbegan to look at the effect of unfair debt and trade policies onpeople in poor com munities in the South. She became involved incampaigning work and continues to work as a volunteer. 'Thiscause is too imp ortant, and 1 don't need money that much,' shesays.She feels m any other peop le in the UK and Ireland would usemore of their time in a similar way if they did not have to workfull-time. 'A great benefit from being a volunteer/ she says, 'ismeeting other volunteers from many backgrounds. I learn somuch from them.'

JAMES HAWK INS / OXFAM

7 would like to see a muchmore equal distribution ofthe world's resources, ...realising Hint it xoill mean adrop in our own m aterialwealth.'KATE KHI AMP

STRUCTURE AND LEGAL STATUS


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How Oxfam worksaround the worldIn 1961 the first Field Office Oxfam's work arou nd the world takes place against widelyions opened in Southern different social, political and economic backgrounds. So, although

Africa people m ay share similar problem s the lack of health care,education, and rights to land; a deteriorating environm ent theirsolutions to these problems are many and varied. Where Oxfamcan help is by supp orting c omm unities' own initiatives. Above all,Oxfam believes in people, and in w orking 'at the grassroots'. Longexperience shows that developm ent projects work best when theycome out of people's ow n needs as they identify them , and aredesigned and run by them . So we do not usually set up projectsouselves, but fund the work of local agencies and g roups, w orkingalongside them as partners, suppo rting them with funds an d,where a pprop riate, advice. Sometimes the m ost effective help wecan give is to put them in touch with other g roups, enabling themto set up networks a nd associations that give them a stronger voicein challenging the causes of their poverty, where approp riate.Sometimes we suppo rt them by bearing witness to their experienceand helping them bring their needs to international attention. H owdo we decide w hat to fund? Oxfam has only small am ounts ofmoney to spend in relation to the size of the problems, so thefunding must be carefully planned as a coherent programm e ineach country, not just a series of unrelated projects. Bulding up aprogram me d epe nds on the answers to a series of questions: whoare the poorest and m ost marginal group s of people? What causestheir poverty? What are they doing to build better lives forthemselves? How can Oxfam suppo rt this process?

The grant-making processOxfam's partners may be farmers' associations, women's groups,co-operatives, commun ity organisations, or specialist agencies

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providing services to poor people. The grant-making processusually begins with an application from a group to a CountryOffice, although som etimes a group m ay request funding at theplanning stage of a project during a visit by an Oxfam staffmember. The local Country Representative or the Project orProgramm e Officers always visit the group , to assess how bestwe can help. The knowledge that the staff gain from otherprojects is often relevant, and they can pas s on usefulinformation to the group .

According to the size of the project and the amo unt of fundingrequested, the decision to fund is taken either in the local office,or (for very large amou nts) by the Regional Manag er in Oxford,with a recommendation from the local office. A project will oftenneed funding for m ore than a year. During the time a project isfunded, it will be supported through regular visits by staff fromthe Country Office. When o ur funding stops, there is anevaluation to consider how the project's aims have been met. Thehope is that the group w ill have become strong eno ugh tocontinue their activities independently, perhaps drawing on othersources of help available, such as grants from their owngovernment.

In 1991-92 we allocated13 per cent of our total fundsto social organisation

schemes, 9 per cent to educationprojects, 15 per cent to agricul-

ture, 8 per cent to health,3 pe r cent to production andincome-generation projects,

and 39 per cent to emergencies.

How Oxfam allocated its grants overseas during the year

World General &

aLatin America &Caribbean 17%

a

UK 4% M iddle East 9% Asia 17%

Africa 53% a " B a -

a" a - . a aa aa a

aa

Oxfam main field offices

1991-92

How OXFAM WORKS AROUND THE WORLD


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hi 1991.-92 Oxfam allocated43.4 million to 2,900 groupsin over 70 coun tries

worldwide.Half the grants were under

4,000.

Working in the fields, Zambia.Women grow 80 per cent of food insub-Saharan Africa.CHRIS JOJINSON/OXFAM

The types of work that Oxfam supportsOxfam suppo rts a wide variety of groups who are working inareas such as health, education, agriculture, prod uction, disability,income generation, social organisation, wom en's issues,unemployment, landlessness, or environmental concerns. Wesupport organisations which have developed from local people'sideas, are run by local people, and reach the poorest and mostdisadvan taged in that community. Below are some examples ofthe kind of groups we support.

We have learnt that creating equal opportunities for wom en isessential. As Eugenia Piza-Lopez, Coordinator of our Gender andDevelopm ent U nit, says, 'The key to what we are doing is thatwo men 's work is invisible to the eyes of their husb and s,comm unities, and developm ent agencies. Oxfam's role is to makethat work and contribution visible.'

Ou r aim is to enable grou ps to becom e self-sufficient in theirdevelopm ent journey. As the situation changes, in p articularcountries and in the world as a whole, we must retain theflexibility to respond to new challenges and to new definitions ofthe root causes of poverty by deve loping fresh approach es to theopportunities that occur.Women farmers in ZambiaWithout support from traditional or governmental structures thewom en of Zambia feed, care for and educate their children in the

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face of rising malnutrition and widespread poverty.Tisuake Z ulu, a m other of six, has wo rked for m ost of her life inthe fields, wh ere wom en like her produce ab out 80 per cent of thecoun try's food. Her husban d is away looking for work an d 'as awom en I can't be given a loan'.

Tisuake joined an Oxfam-supported women's agriculturalproject. The group of 16women have a comm unal field of hybridmaize that nee ds chemical fertiliser and they work in each other'sfields, sharing the burde n of the agricultural wo rk. But their hardwork has not proved enough. Ever-rising prices of fertiliser, seedsand pesticides, compounded by drought and reliance on a fewcash crops, mean that the women cannot feed their families allyear round . The project m embers met to discuss their problems.They came to realise that relying on expensive chemical fertilisersnot only caught them in a credit trap, but also destroyed the soil.They decided to grow alternative cash crops like ground nuts ,beans and vegetables, and reduce the maize grow n for homeconsum ption. The results have been outstand ing. T his year I haveno hunge r in my hou se,' Tisuake says.Land rights in BangladeshLand is the single most im portant asset in Bangladesh, whe re thevast majority of the population rely on farming for a living. Butbetween 60 and 75 per cent of people are land less, and are o pen toexploitation by wealthier famers, for who m they work as day Samata m eeting, Bangladesh.

T A N V I R / O X F A M

H O W OXFAM WORKS AROUND THE WORLD 1 1


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In 1991 O xfam employed6S2 staff working in ou50 Country and RegionalOffices around the. world.

labourers for below the minimum wage. Poverty and insecurityare endemic.In 1983 the govern men t tried to improv e the situation of

landless people. The law now decrees that all 'khas'(governme nt-owned, untitled) land should be distributed among landlesspeople and that a legal minimum wage should be introduced foragricultural labou rers. Despite this, attemp ts to redistribute theland m ore fairly have alw ays met w ith strong opposition from thelanded classes. Most poor families still don 't know that they havea legal right to the land. Oxfam is helping local people gain accessto 'kha s' land by funding local groups like Samata anorganisation of landless men and women who live by the Ganges.Over the last eight years, Samata hav e pressed claims to hund redsof acres of land. Their success has incensed powerful local elites,who have responded with harassment and intimidation. But withover 400 gro up s of landle ss peop le now affiliated to it, Samata isbecoming a force to be reckoned with.

At school on the West Bank.Uz C L A Y T O N / O X F A M

Refugee resettlem ent in El SalvadorOver a million people were up rooted during the civil war in ElSalvador, which ended recently. Oxfam supported a communityof 8,000 refugees from the wa r wh o took shelter in neighbouringHonduras in 1981. Confined to a camp, they set up w orkshop s,making their own clothes, shoes, and furniture. 'Even though ourbeing in the camp was a tragedy, we learned many new things,'says Rafaela, a health worker. 'To read an d w rite, to understa ndhealth and nutrition. And we learned to work together.' They builta strong, self-reliant com munity, bu t with the w ar coming to anend, they wa nted to return to El Salvador. 'We wanted tocontribute to the peace process and continue developing ourcountry.' When they went back they renamed their old villageCiudad Segundo Montes, after a priest murdered by theSalvadorean military. They took over a coffee-processing plant, tobe run co-operatively, and ha ve set up a bank to funddevelopment projects that offer alternatives to subsistencefarming.

Kindergartens on the West BankMost of the 400 kindergartens on the West Bank are housed inpoorly-maintained, rented buldings. With no professional training,many teache rs are regarded as little mo re than 'babysitters'. In 1985,the Early Childhoo d Resources Centre (ECRC) began a teacher-training programm e as part of its suppo rt for the kindergartens.Around 100 teachers now complete the course each year, and thetraining has a strong child-centred approach, encouraging childrento develop initiative and solve problems through imaginative playactivities. A number of new kindergartens have been set up,

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equipped with educational toys, games and m aterials produced inECRC's workshops. Oxfam has provided funds for the purchase ofland, and for salaries, classroom furniture, and equipment. ECRCaims to help poor children in rural areas or refugee camps, and thenew kindergartens h ave places for over 300 children.

Responding to emergenciesAll too often, the long-term impro vem ents that pe ople arebringing to their lives are undon e by factors beyond their control.Floods, earthquakes, and other more directly man-made disasterssuch as conflict or economic collapse, can wreak havoc oncommunities made vulnerable by poverty. When emergencieshapp en, ou r Cou ntry and Regional Offices can release fundsquickly to suppo rt the w ork of local grou ps, strengthening theircapacity to help people survive and get them back on their feet.Almost half of overseas grants are spent on emergencies wo rk.We maintain stocks of water-supply kits, feeding kits, plasticsheeting for em ergency shelter, and b lankets, in order to be ableto respond quickly to disasters wherever they occur.

In 1991-92, Oxfam w orked through national branches of theRed Crescent Society in Turkey and Iran to help Kurdish refugeesfrom Iraqi repression; in Bangladesh, there was a cyclone in April1991 which killed some 200,000 people. On Hatiya Island, wheredam age w as very severe, a local organisation supp orted byOxfam was able to distribute rice and lentils to the most need yfamilies. In Ethiopia and Somalia in particular, insecurity andinstability con tinued to make dema nds on O xfam's relief fund s.In Somaliland (northern Somalia) Oxfam engineers helped toinstall emergency water sup plies in towns and rural areas forpeople returning from Ethiopia. When Mount Pinatubo in thePhilippines erup ted, the Oxfam country office supported localpartne rs in providin g shelter, food, and clean water for evacueesfrom the slopes of the volcano. Work with refugees and displacedpeople with Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Bhutanese inNepal, Malian Tuaregs in Mauritania, Cambodians returningfrom exile, and people displaced within their ow n country continued to be a major aspect of Oxfam's emergency program meas conflict, environmental deterioration, or poverty forced agrowing number of people to leave their homes.

In 1984-85 we launched ourbiggest-roer emergenc y reliefoperation in response to famine

in Ethiopia. Our income rosefrom 23.9 million in 19S3-S4

to 57.7 million in 1984-85.

Providing clean water in refugeecamps safeguards health.N. COOPER AND J. H A M M O N D / O X I - A M

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Specialist units

When people were fleeing from theinvasion of Kuwait in 1991, Oxfamwater engineers were sent with waterequipment, 1,000 shelter units, and11,000 blankets. Working with theJordanian Water Authority, theysupplied water to 100,000 people.PAUL SHERLOCK / OXFAM

The work of Oxfam's staff aroun d the w orld is supported byseveral specialist Units based in the UK.Emergencies UnitWe can respon d to disasters quickly a nd effectively, by combiningthe central resources of our specialist Emergencies Unit and thelocal resources of our country offices, whose staff manage theemergency p rogram me , and can release extra funds as soon as theneed arises. Supplies can be flown out from our Em ergenciesStore at Bicester (near Oxford), which is always fully stocked withequipment. There are other stores of emergency equipment inUganda and Ethiopia.

Technical UnitOxfam's w ater engineers are internationally respected for settingup large-scale water supp lies rapidly in the most difficultemergency situations. They are suppo rted b y a small team of

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engine ers based in the Technical Unit in Oxford. 'In the futurewe w ill continue to fund technical work in em ergenc ies/ says BenFawcett of the Technical Unit, Isut increasingly our aim is to passon our experience to local counterparts, sending out p eople fromthe UK only w hen it is really necessary.'

The Technical Unit also suppo rts Oxfam's long-termdevelopment work throughout the world, specialising inenvironm ental health issues. This work rang es from liaison w ithconsultants and sup pliers for the rehabilitation of Phnom Penh 'swater supply, to advice on handpum ps and studies of hygienebehaviour. The Unit aims to act as a focus for sharing the lessonslearned from projects around the world.Health UnitAt times of disasters, our Health Unit staff assess the initial healthand nutrition requirements, and supply materials and resourceswhich they have developed themselves, such as feeding andimmunisation kits, and information manuals.

In the long term Oxfam tackles the causes of illness in poorcountries by promoting Primary Health Care programmes. PHCincludes training community health workers, and promotingimproved diets, access to clean water, health education,immunisation programmes, mother and child health-careservices, family-planning services, and policies on appro priatedrug use. Comm unity participation at all levels of decisionmaking is crucial to this approach .

We support many health clinics likethis one in Tanzania in their long-term programmes.CHRIS JOHNSON / OXPAM

Gender and Development UnitOxfam's Gender and Development Unit (GADU) was set up in1985. The Unit's role is to consult wom en in poor c omm unities,identify their needs, promote understanding among Oxfam'sown staff and all groups about women's needs and theircontribution to survival and development, and ensure thatwom en benefit as m uch as men in all that Oxfam do es. Anincreasing num ber of Oxfam's staff wo rldwid e are wome n, andsome are specifically recruited to be advisers on gender anddevelopment.

A recent innovation is a scheme to facilitate netwo rkingbetween wo men's groups worldwide, to enable them to explorecommon problems and possible solutions. This will continue tobe an Oxfam priority in the future.

Public Policy DepartmentOxfam's Public Policy Departm ent, based in Oxford, unde rtakesresearch and advocacy wo rk. Informed by the experience of ourpartners around the world, the staff talk to decision-makers in the

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UK governmen t, and other institutions, asking for changes inpolicy (for example, on international debt, term s of trade, and aid)that would benefit people oppressed by poverty a nd injustice inthe South. The Department also facilitates the lobbying work ofOxfam's Southern partn ers and shares information on policydebates, working in close liaison with other no n-governm entorganisations in the South and North.

Co-funding UnitOur C o-funding Unit applies to the UK governm ent's O verseasDevelopment Administration, and to the European Community,for 50 per cent funding of selected Oxfam development projects.The Unit currently raises approximately 4 million from the ODAand 2.5 million from the EC each yea r. Oxfam has set a limit sothat no more than 10 per cent of our income can come from eithersource. This means that we can maintain our independence andcontinue to work in a non-partisan way around the world.

Planning and Evaluation UnitThe Planning and Evaluation Unit supports the country andregional offices to ensure good practice in planning, monitoringand evaluating o ur work. The Unit also suggests suitableconsultants for evaluations when requested.

Information and Systems UnitThe Information and Systems Unit supports the management andadm inistrative work of Oxfam's offices wo rldwide . The Unit has alibrary of resources, and a Decentralisation Project which aims tostrengthen the skills of all our country and regional offices incomputers, finance and management systems.



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Future directionsThe support of networking between groups with commoninterests has become an important part ofour w ork. It helps themto escape from their isolation and learn from each other. It canalso promote the formation of local and national federations,strengthening the access of groups to funding and informationindependently of us , and enabling them to draw up and p resentproposals to decision makers.

Josephina (Fifa) Stubbs, coordinator of our South-SouthEnvironment Linking Project, talks of her project as one of twopilot initiatives through which we ho pe to share experiences andideas among our counterparts in the South, and betweenourselves and other organisations in the North.

'We are becoming involved in South-South linking,' says Fifa,'not only because grou ps in the South have m uch to gain andlearn from each other, but also because it is essential that we learnabout wh at is going on in the South and in the N orth innetworking and push towards a more global process of change.'

Josephina Stubbs in discussion withsome of the facilitators of theEnvironment Linking Project.J AMES H AW KI N S/ OX F AM

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"We are becominginvolved in South-Southlinking ... because it isessential that we learn

about what is going on inthe South and in the

North in networking andpush towards a m ore

global process of change.'

The Environment Linking Project su pporte d a series ofexchanges between women and men from Latin America, theCaribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East who faceenvironmental challenges related to conflict, access to land andwater, fishing, pastoralism, and other issues. A central objective isto enable our counterparts to engage directly in internationaldebates on issues that affect their lives, and to begin to influencethe way those debates are initiated and conducted.

In a similar way 'Women to Women Worldwide', a projectorganised over three years by our Gender and Development Unit(GADU), aims to create a global in-depth discussion of theproblem s faced by wom en. The first step w as to bring tog etherwomen working with wome n's groups from the South and enablethem to visit groups w orking on similar issues in the UK andIreland, as well as to network with each other.

The Southern wom en are help ing to plan a conference to be heldin 1993 for develpm ent practitioners from South and N orth, w hichwill look closely at Oxfam's develop men t aid from a Southerngender perspective and enable people working in the South todefine their priorities and dra w u p guidelines for future g ender-aware approaches to development.

The aim of both these exciting initiatives is to enable pe oplefrom the South to join in formulating Oxfam's policies and thepolicies of other Northern-ba sed agencies like ours. Theyrepresent a vital new stage in Oxfam's ability to approach debateson development from a Southern perspective.

Vanete Almeida from Brazil (right)and Viji Srinivasan from India (farright) from the 'Women to WomenWorldwide Linking' projectPHOTOS BY ROBERT DAV IS/OX FAM



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Oxfam TradingWe in Oxfam like to think of ourselves as forming a bridge ofpeople who work together to confront the causes and effects ofpoverty. This idea inspired us to use Oxfam shops in a specialway.

The 'Bridge Scheme', a part of Oxfam Trading, sells goodsmade by groups around the world. They include hand-craftedgifts, textiles, household items, and foods, which are sold inOxfam shops and to mail-order customers.

Bridge is a fair-trade p rogram me. It suppo rts prod ucers withadvice on design and marketing, and p ays them good prices (inadvance, w here approp riate). A quarter of the annual profits ispaid to the produce rs, while the rest is used for loans and grantsto new or already-established produ cers.

Bridge is targeted particularly at marginalised group s in poorercountries who have few alternative sources of income, likelandless farmers, people living in urban poverty, refugees, andpeople with disabilities.

The new fair-trade coffee, CafeDirect,and many other Oxfam Tradinggoods, are sold through our shops.

Y H AR T LEY/ OXF AM

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Oxfam Activities Limited,incorporating OxfamTrading, was set up

in 1965. All trading profitsare donated back to Oxfam.

In 1965 Oxfam Trading'sincome from sales ivas3,000. In 1990-91 it

was 9 million.

Bridge imports goods front300 groups in 40 countries inAsia, Africa, Latin America

and the Caribbean.

Bridge produces a magazine called Bridge News three times ayear. It is distributed to craft produ cers thro ugho ut the wo rld, aswell as to Alternative Trade (fair trading) Organisations.

Oxfam Trading is a central part of a fair-trade m ovem ent thatextends across Europe, and rectntly we joined w ith three otherfair-trading organisations - Equal Exchange, Traidcraft, and TwinTrading - to market a fair-trade coffee called CafeDirect, whichwill help small-scale coffee producers in Mexico, Peru, and CostaRica to get better prices.

Oxfam Trading has increased the number of its staff basedaroun d the world, to give more practical support to produ cers inIndia, South East Asia, and Central A merica.

The Good Neighbours SchemeOxfam Trading also promo tes goods from worksh ops in the UKwhich employ people with disabilities or train young unemployedpeople. In this way w e are a bridge of people sup portingproduc ers of fair-trade go ods across the world.

The l00 Nakshi Kantha embroiderers are Oxfam Trading partners in jamalpurin Bangladesh. The wom en producers put some of their earnings into a group sav-ings scheme, from which loans are made to buy cattle, and purchase land or seeds.For each of the 22 groups there is a small school for the women's children.



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FundraisingMost of Oxfam's income comes from voluntary dona tions fromhund reds of thousan ds of people, companies, private trusts,schools, community groups, and trade unions, all of wh om believein the right of people everyw here to food, health, fair w ages, andreasonable conditions of life.

People sup port o ur wo rk for a variety of reasons, and give theirtime as well as their money. Member of Parliament Lynne Jonesrespo nds to special appeals, but also gives 0.7 per cent of hermonthly salary. That is the United Nations target for theproportion of their Gross National Product that richer nationsshould give to poorer co untries. The British governm ent g ives lessthan half of that. But 0.7 per cent of my income is a tiny sum . It aeven mo re shameful that w e can't achieve it as a nation. We spendmore on hairdressing than we do on aid.'

Jean Lennock is a highly qualified nurse who makes an effort tofind out about the wider world. She is also a post-graduate studentin Development Studies and works as a part-time volunteer inOxfam's office in Birmingham. 'Working for Oxfam makes my

hi the past five years w e havereceived donations from 7,000

compan ies, 785 trusts, over5,000 churches, community

groups and schools, and manytrade unions.

Over 5,000 students helped to raisefunds for Oxfam at the BirminghamFun Run.ROBERT DAVIS /OXFAM

FUNDRAISINC 2 1


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In 1991-92 our income was733 million pounds.29 million came, from

donations from indmidualsand groups.

interest less academic and more practical/ she says. 1 want to havean effect. I feel I benefit from the real contact which Oxfam h as withpeople in other countries which I cannot have as an individual.'

Thousan ds of regular donors give us more than one kind ofsupport. Yvonne Hodgkinson, for example, gives a regular'Covenant' donation to Oxfam over an agreed period. Apart fromcollecting m oney, she and her h usban d also write to their Memberof Parliament, h elp on Oxfam information stalls at public events,and explain Oxfam's concerns to the wider public. 'Maybe becauseI have eno ugh money, I have a sense of guilt,' she says. 'I feel Ishould give to people who a re poor, and particularly to thoseliving in poorer countries, because they seem so exploited by therich world.'

'I want to have an effect. I feel I ben-efit from the real contact whichOxfam has with people in othercountries which I cannot have as anindividual.'AN T H ON Y SW I F T / OXF AM

Where the money comes fromThrough our Central Fundraising Section we run nationaladvertising campaigns and centralised schemes for donors.

Tens of thousands of people respond to newspaper andtelevision appeals at times of emergencies aroun d the world, andmany of them becom e regular d onors. Some people give directlyfrom their salaries, others to a 'Project Fun d' w hich suppo rtsparticular aspects of our w ork projects which help p eople w ithdisabilities, or farming comm unities, for example. Everyone whocontributes is given up-to-date information about long-termdevelopment work around the world, describing people's effortsto achieve dig nity, justice, and self-sufficiency.

Many supporters ask friends and others for donations whenthey take part in sponsored events. In 1991, for exam ple, over5,000 studen ts raised 40,000 by taking pa rt in a run ningcompetition where their friends promised them a fixed donationfor every kilometre they ran.New ideasIn a new ap proach , we are asking particular types of workers tosupport development work around the world which is directlyrelated to their own w ork. For example, a 'Health F und' tries toraise money from medical professionals to supp ort healthprogrammes. In return they get information about the healthproblems of people in poorer co untries.

'Oxfam cannot ho pe to help people overseas in their struggleagainst hung er, disease, exploitation, and pov erty withou t firstcontributing to a deep er und erstan ding of the problems faced inthose regions,' says Mark Luetchford, appointed to pioneer theseso-called 'Sector Ap peals'. 'That is why fundraising has to becombined w ith giving information ab out the work of group s thatOxfam supp orts. If this information is relevant to their own work,then people will have a greater understanding of how they cancontribute to the work of our partners.'



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Oxfam ShopsWhen, in 1947, we op ened our first shop to sell some of the goodsgiven to us by mem bers of the public, we had little idea wha t wewere starting. Today our shops are found throughout the UK andIreland.

Oxfam shops m ake mo ney because most of the goods they sell books, records, or anything which other people may have ause for are given by the public, and because m ost of thepeople involved in running them are volunteers.

People buy from Oxfam shops for different reasons. Increasinglevels of poverty in the UK and Ireland m ean that m any peoplecan't afford to buy ne w clothes and other items. For others it justmakes good sense. Anna Claude, an architecture student, buysclothes from Oxfam shops "because it's silly not to. You can gethigh-quality clothes at a reasonable price, and feel that y ou maybe doing some go od.'

Many sh op volun teers greatly value the opportu nity to be ofservice to people in poor com munities around the world. 'Peopleare increasingly aw are of wastefulness an d they wa nt to recyclething s/ says Dorothy Clarke, a Shop Manager in Coventry. Asone of our paid man agers, she heads a team of 60 or so shopvolunteers. 'I see Oxfam as recycling not only g oods, but also thetalents and skills of people w ho volunteer to work for us.'

A host of helping handsJessie Aitken, a volunteer in our shop group in Lanark inScotland, agreed to work as a shop volunteer be cause she hadsome spare time w hen she retired from her job as a schoolheadm istress. Many of the 50 volunteers w ho wo rk with her areretired and find that working in the shop has been a good way ofmaking friends. The volunteers also hold fundraising events likecraft show s, talks, and cake sales.The shop has a w ell-run booksection, and the goods dona ted by the local farming comm unityare of a high q uality. The shop attracts customers from far a ndwide.

Ruth Crawford: 'Even/one benefits.'Ar>fTHONY S W IFT /O X F A M

OXFAM SHOPS 2 3


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The first O xfani shop openedin Oxford in 1947.

Their are. currently 890 shopsin tlw UK and Ireland.

In 1990-91 there were 30,000volunteers working for

Oxfani. Around 27,000 ofthem worked in Oxfani shops.

In Newcastle a ne w shop forchildren and mothers sendsall its profits to a children's

project in Africa.

Most shop volunteers are wom en, often retired, but there aremany younger volunteers. The growing problem of long-termunemploymen t prom pts them to volunteer for some worthwhilework. In some cases it can lead to full-time employm ent; ma ny ofOxfam's ow n staff started as volunteers! Some volunteers workregularly half a day a week, others work every day. Theyvolunteer because they hav e time to spare. 'I have a pension andso I can choose to think about o the rs/ says one volunteer. 'Weshop helpers benefit from the social oppo rtunities; the people w hocome to buy benefit from the low-priced go ods; and the people w ework w ith overseas also benefit,' says Ruth Crawford, w ho helpsto supervise the book section in the Lanark shop.

The D rury Lane shop in London is a lively, city-centre shopwhich is suppo rted by m ore than 100 volunteers, many of themyoung people. Shona A bantu, the volunteer Shop leader, is awhite South African who was orphaned and brought up by blackSouth African paren ts. Yinka Sobande and her friend MercyOghenekaro are volunteers with Nigerian backgrounds. The largeBengali commu nity settled in the area find themselves ad dressedin their own language by volunteers from their own community.

Yinka set aside a year to w ork in the sh op before going tocollege. 'I felt I could give a yea r', she say s, 'thou gh of course I willalways be involved now.' Shona reinforces the message: There arepeople in this country who are genuinely concerned about what ishappening to people in poorer countries and feel a strongsolidarity w ith them not the superficial concern of so man ypoliticians, but that of people who are willing to give their time.That was a very important discovery for me when I came here.'

Clare O'Doherty (below, left) says volunteering makes her feel she is doing some-thing useful with her life. Tim Cole (below, right) is an artist-sculptor who worksalone in a studio. V olunteering in the shop enables him to meet other people.JEREMY HABTLE Y/OXFAM



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In 1975 Oxfam Activities Limited, a subsidiary trading com panywhose profits are given back to Oxfam, established Wastesaver,which has become Eu rope's largest reprocessing plant for textiles.Clothes and textiles that cann ot be sold in Oxfam shops are sentto this enormous waste-recycling centre in Hudd ersfield.Wastesaver staff sort throug h textiles, aluminiu m cans, bottletops and other items collected by Oxfam su ppo rters. The betterclothes are taken and sold at low prices through 15 'Surplus

Shops'. The remaining items are sold as industrial rags an d fillingfor furniture.Forty employees work a t Wastesaver, sorting the m aterials intolarge bales of leather, trousers, blankets, woo llens, and othercategories. Each bale has a different m arke t valu e, from 150 perton for neckties to 8,500 per ton for Cashmere wool! Wastesaveris developing new ways of addin g v alue to the materials it sells.Wastesaver also sends large quantities of clothing foremergency relief w ork arou nd the world. The reports back fromthe refugee camps confirm that the clothing continues to beuseful. A trial shipm ent of warm clothing ha sbeen sent to a non-governm ental agency in the

former Soviet Union. It will be sold cheaply inlocal shops, and the profits will be used tosupp ort a range of local small-scale develop mentprojects in Russia. This experiment could lead to amore regular trade with appropriate charitableorganisations in Eastern European countries.Staff at Wastesaver are committed to Oxfam'swider work. Lillian Sylvester, for example, raised38 by asking friends to give her mon ey for goingwithout food in Oxfam's annual Fast.Lillian alsoorganised a sale of items, including cakes, givenby friends and Wastesaver colleagues. 'I've

known wha t it is like to be poor,' she says.

Wastestnw is now the biggesttextile reprocessing plant in

Europe.In 1990-91 Wastesaver dealt

with approximately 10,000tonnes of textiles and 60 tonnes

of aluminium.

Staff at Wastesave r sorting textilesan d recycled clothes.ROBERT DAVIS/OXFAM

WASTESAVER 25


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Educationand Youth work

'We encourage youngpeople to challenge their

prejudiced European inewof the world.'

School pupils use one of the manydevelopment education games tolearn about people's lives in othercountries.

Oxfam reaches out to young people - between the ages of 5 and 18years - in the UK and Ireland to help them understand the unfairrelationships between rich and poor countries and what they cando about them.Fiona Collins is an educational adv iser wh o w orks in Londonwith teachers. 'Most teach ers/ she says, 'believe in equal rights.

We want to ensu re that the issues of equal opp ortunities are h ighon the list of priorities, and we know that we will get supportfrom Oxfam.'Just as Oxfam funds community projects around the world,Oxfam's Youth and Education Department co-funds more than 50independent Development Education Centres, youth work andschool projects, and theatre-in-education g roups w hich helpteachers and y oung people to understa nd the lives of people inother countries, their problems and their achievements, and theinterdependent nature of global concerns.

GEOFF SAYER/OXFAM



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A lot of teaching is done by getting yo ung people to playlearning games. 'Hanging by a Thread' is a game about unfairtrade. Young peop le take on roles such as cotton pickers, clothesmakers, and b uyers. These groups are then told that a pair ofjeans sells for 24, and they have to decide what they should eachbe paid. 'They always want more than 24/ says Ros Wade, oneof our Education A dvisers who uses such games w ith schoolpupils. 'The children then discover that the pickers get almostnothing and m ost of the money goes to the rich countries. Thenthey go on to look at comm odity prices, why manu facturingdoesn 't usually happe n in Tanzania (which is used as theexample in this game) and why Tanzania is forced into produ cingcotton.'Our Ed ucation Advisory U nits help school teachers toinclude good teaching materials in their lessons. Subjects likegeography, history, and science can all include information onpeople and issues around the world, and older pupils now haveto study a dev eloping co untry and its people to increase theirknowledge of world issues.

Many volunteers he lp our education work. Debbie Hall is anecologist interested in human and environmental developmentma tters. She organ ised a conference for 90 stud ents from differentschools on environm ental issues. One of the discussions centredon the idea that 'Men exploit the environment in the same way asthey exploit wom en'. Students said afterwards that it had beengood to have a serious discussion abo ut issues not normallytouched on at school, and which they wo uld u sually only jokeabout.

The best way for young people to learn abo ut their links wirh_other people in the w orld is by using their own skills. 'Theteaching methods we use promote grou p work and cooperationamon g the children,' says Sarah Crowley, a wo rker in one ofOxfam's Education Resources Centres. 'We encourage y oungpeople to challenge their prejudiced European view of the world.They can also develop problem-solving skills while playing thegames we use.'Oxfam's Youth Work Unit also provides m aterials and trainingfor youth workers w ho w ork in a wide variety of youth clubs. Itcontributes to the magazine The Edge, which highlights issues ofpoverty, culture, and development, and makes links between thepeople of the Northern and Southern hemispheres in ways thatare relevant to you ng people. It also assists with exchange visitsfor youth workers around the world and advises the governmenton national youth work policies.Through our Youth and Education Department we are linkedinto the development education movement in the UK, Ireland,and Europe. The Department wants to share the philosophy ofdevelopment education with Oxfam's partners around the world,and is concerned to extend and strengthen its networking withSouthern partners.

Youth and Education staffan d "volunteers work in fiveEducation Advisory Unitsmid other regional Oxfam

offices around the UKan d Ireland.

The Education Enquiryservice in Oxford dealt with

7,000 letters from teachersand young peoplein 1990-91.

EDUCATION AND YOUTH WORK 2 7


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volunteers who pay a small fee to belong to the OxfamCamp aigning N etwork. They receive four new sletters each yearwith detailed information on campaigns issues. 'Urgent ActionMailings' also ask mem bers to w rite to their Mem bers ofParliament and other influential people w hen, for examp le, moregov ernm ent aid is needed a t times of disaster, as in Africa in 1992.

Peter Walsh is a Campaigning Network volunteer in London.He w orks for a charity that pro vides housing a nd a d ay-carecentre in the area where he lives, and exp lains: 'I volunteer in myspare time because poverty strikes me as being the biggest of allinjustices.'

Sandra Hew ett, the director of a public relations com pany, isalso a Network member and the coordinator of another Londoncampaign s grou p. Her g roup visited all their local politicalcandid ates at election time to try to persuad e them to supp ortanti-poverty policies. They write regularly to their MPs, and runinformation stalls in public places. She says, 'We have moreinfluence on politicians whe n w e talk to them and we ma ke itclear we are volun teers. They pay m ore attention to ord inaryvoters than to Oxfam or its staff.' Sandra says she began to learnabout development from her involvement with environmentalorganisations, and belonging to the Network gives her moreinformation a bout the links between po verty and theenvironment.

Richard Wallace, our Ca mpaign s Organiser in B irmingham,England, says that giving people from development programmesaround the world a chance to visit and talk to people (includingdecision-makers, journalists, and Oxfam's staff and volunteers) isa very effective way to campaign. Richard w rites a regularcolumn for his local newspaper on environment and developmentissues.

Oxfam started in 1942with a cam paign, collectingsignatures on a public petitionasking the UK government to

alloxo aid to go to staroingrefugees in Greece.

In the 1960s Oxfam was activein the United Nations

'Freedom from Hunger'campaign, wh ich stressed the

need to tackle the causes ofpoverty.In 1991 Oxfam launched its

nexo 'Oxfam CampaigningNetwork'. By 7.9.92 there were

4,000 members.

Mark Turpin talks with an IrishMinister at a campaigns event withother agencies in Dublin, Ireland.AN T H ON Y SW I F T / OXF AM

CAMPAIGNING 2 9


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Information andPublications

Julia Mosse, author of our bookIndia: Paths to Development, andKishore Saint, a project partner fromIndia, travelled around the UK andIreland to help to launch the newpublication.) AM ES H AW K I N S/ OXF AM

Oxfam's Information D epartment provides written and spokeninformation about Oxfam's work and concerns for the general pub-lic and for other staff and volunteers involved in communications.The Department produces Oxfam News, an illustrated quarterlymagazine featuring Oxfam's overseas programm e a nd activities inthe UK and Ireland; the organisation's Annual Report; and a seriesof information leaflets on different aspects of Oxfam's work. Inaddition, the Department responds directly to enquiries by phoneand letter from the general public (averaging 6,500 a year). TheResources Centre at Oxfam headq uarters in Oxford acts as a show-case for all current Oxfam comm unications ma terials.

The Publications Unit produces books, journals, and reports writ-ten by staff and contracted authors about a variety of developmentissues. The wid e-ranging list ranges from specialist books, writtenby Oxfam's own health and technical staff targeted at developmentwork ers, to illustrated rep orts, such as the 'Coun try Profile' series,for reade rs with a general interest in Oxfam's work.

One of the most valued publications is TheOxfam H andbook for Development W orkers, a guideto Oxfam's ow n developm ent practice. Now awidely-used text on development issues, itincludes case studies, strategies, and practicaladvice and is regularly upd ated and revised.

Both the Information and PublicationsDepartment are involved in one of Oxfam'simportant functions to educate and informpeople in the UK and Ireland about the nature,causes and effects of poverty. To produ ce allthese varied m aterials, Oxfam can call upo n th eservices of a team of skilled d esigners, in theDesign Unit, and a m odern and efficient in-housePrint Unit.



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Press and TelevisionOxfam's busy Press Office plays many different roles besides theusual one of trying to publicise our organisation as widely aspossible. It responds to a large num ber of enquiries fromjournalists interested in dev elopme nt issues, and tries to alert themedia to news stories like the growing famine conditions inmuch of Africa in 1992, and important issues like inadequatelevels of international aid.

Our Press Office staff also work hard to improve the quality ofradio and TV programm es on Southern issues in the UK andIreland. They do this by reacting quickly and creatively to storiesand ev ents in the world, and by developing long-termrelationships with journalists. This means con tinually having toupdate information and material from around the world.We also try to improve m edia com munications by w orkingtogether with other international developm ent agencies, forexample by supporting the work of the InternationalBroadcasting Trust, an agencywhich specialises in makingeducational programmes on

Southern issues, to be shown onnational television.The Press Office wo rksclosely w ith Oxfam 's officesaround the world to make surethat all the news items andfeature material that itproduces for magazines andnewspapers represent people'slives as accurately as possible.

David Bryer (standing), Oxfam'sDirector, with invited speakers, at oneof our frequent press conferences tobrief the UK and Irish media on devel-opment issuesROBERT DAVIS /OXFAM

PRESS AND TELEVISION 3 1


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Oxfam International

OX FAMQUEBEC

.Oxfam!America'

Originally Oxfam was an organisation that existed only in the UKand Ireland. However, over the years other internationaldevelopm ent o rganisations associated w ith a common set ofhum anitarian values have been established in several countries,under the name 'Oxfam'. They are:

Belgique / Belgie H O N G K O N G

Community Aid Abroad.WORKING FOR CHANGE

O X F A M C A N A D A

The international Oxfams are united by their common purpose,but the development programm es that each supports around theworld are quite indepe nden t, as are their styles of working and theways in which they are organised. H owever, representatives fromOxfams wo rking in the same countries or regions do meet todiscuss comm on w ays of working and priorities. There are alsoother times w hen all the international Oxfams wo rk together: intimes of disaster and em ergencies around the world, for exam ple,or in joining together to ask governm ents to take steps to reducepoverty an d suffering in the wo rld.



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Now that you have found out m ore about Oxfam, we hope you willwant to become involved. There are many different ways of helping by giving time, as a volunteer; by raising mone y; by campaigning orhelping in our education work; or by giving clothes and other saleableitems to your local Oxfam shop. If you want to know more aboutgetting involved, get in touch with your local Oxfam Office (addressin the telephone directory) or write to:

Oxfam Information,274 Banbury Road,Oxford OX2 7DZ.

All our work needs money, and we depend on the generosity of peoplelike you to help us to support the efforts of people in other countries totackle the causes of poverty and build a better life. There a re differentways of giving to Oxfam, and if you ring us on 086 5 313131 we cantake a credit card donation imm ediately or explain how you can makeregular gifts.

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