OXFAM International
Pace University
Economic and Social Council Plenary
Oxfam International was formed to respond to poverty and related injustice in an era in which the structural causes of these problems are globally increasing. Oxfam’s mission is to empower people to exercise their rights and manage their lives. We take a right-based approach to development, which includes five aims:
· The Right to a sustainable livelihood
· The Right to services
· The Right to life and security
· The Right to be heard
· The Right to an identity
Oxfam has regional organizations throughout the world that monetarily support development projects, providing emergency relief in times of crisis, and also campaigns for social and economic justice. In our work with the poor we have observed that poverty comes from the lack of knowledge, resources, and the inability to meet basic human needs due to the systemic imbalances in countries. Oxfam’s most recent statistics paints a grim picture of the world: 11 million people die each year from easily preventable and treatable diseases; 36 million people live with HIV/AIDS, three quarters of them from Africa; 125 million children are out of school, two thirds of them girls; and almost one billion adults, mainly women, cannot read or write properly. Oxfam commits itself to disseminating information and enhancing cooperation in the Economic and Social Plenary. Oxfam, along with other NGOs, is an advocate for the humanization of structural adjustments needed for long-term solutions to inequality, hunger, and unemployment that the poor desperately need.
I. A Global Campaign for the Prevention and Prevention of Dispersion of Infectious Diseases
Oxfam believes that prevention and prevention of dispersion of infectious diseases is a global issue rooted in denial of rights for dignity among the poverty stricken in this world. We strongly encourage more strategic research and development to supply necessary drugs and vaccines, particularly against diseases prevalent in developing countries. In Southern Africa, for example, HIV/AIDS infection rates are as high as 25%, and the epidemic accelerates and compounds an already drastic food crisis. In addition, 40% of the world’s population is at risk from malaria. In some areas of Africa, more than 80% of children are infected with malaria parasites. Each year, almost 12 million children under the age of five die as a direct result of avoidable infectious diseases associated with poverty. Over one-third of HIV/AIDS sufferers live in countries classified as “heavily indebted.” Repayments of creditors by these countries are diverting resources needed to break the links between ill-health and poverty. Oxfam feels that radical reform of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative is vital to mobilize the resources needed to protect current and future generations from the threat posed by HIV/AIDS as well as other diseases. In some HIPC countries, such as Burkina Faso, it has been estimates that malaria treatment now accounts for over one-third of recurrent health expenditure. Oxfam firmly believes that to even come close to eradicating these infectious diseases, training and retention of health and education professionals is a necessity in developing countries. Oxfam considers that education and poverty are inseparable, and feels that with basic education comes improved health, the chance for at least a sustainable level of existence, and optimistically, hope for the future. Vaccines can help those at risk or already infected with diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, but basic education is a necessity that can offset these vaccinations if there is global cooperation. Oxfam’s global “Education Now” campaign calls for urgent changes to international policy, deeper debt reduction, the conversion of debt liabilities into investments in basic education, increased and improved aid for basic education, reform of IMF and World Bank policies and programs to protect access to basic education, and certain specific changes in the governments of poor countries. Education Now provides healthcare and adult literacy classes, which are based to themes such as nutrition, childcare, family planning, and AIDS. Such programs are specifically tailored to fit the needs of each individual country and community. Oxfam’s Education Now programs offer poverty-stricken communities and diseased individuals a chance to be educated and provide them with the tools needed for a healthier life. As one proverb says “ Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
II. Further Economic and Political Advancement for Women through Empowerment and Mobilization
For centuries, women have been striving for equal rights across the world. In the past fifty years, unparalleled heights have been reached concerning the advancement of women. However, gender inequality still pervades in many societies around the world and women continue to be treated as non-significant property. Nations have to understand that women are the ones who bear the burden of responsibilities associated with being wives, mothers and supporters of their family. Acknowledging this, Oxfam is determined to make women's issues an important dimension of the achievement of civil and political rights. Oxfam International believes that empowering women is imperative in protecting women’s rights, thus fostering development around the world. Oxfam feels that it can make achievements by campaigning for woman’s rights using the model of our community-based programs. Our programs aims are to strengthen the skills and roles of women in their communities so they become more independent and have a better standard of living. Monthly, Oxfam America provides various types of aid to 61,000 people in Zimbabwe, in partnership with the Association of Woman Clubs (AWC), a woman run organization. Oxfam supports grassroots organizations that encourage women to defend their rights and enforce new policies that are based on meeting women’s needs in society. One such organization is The Center for Women Migrant Workers Rights and Relief (CMR) led by Sri Lankan women activists that works in conjunction with Oxfam’s Community Aid Abroad Campaign to provide support to migrant workers and their families. These programs assure that good working conditions are given to these women. Oxfam also believes in educational initiatives and plays a catalytic role in growing regional and social movements, particularly in Africa, by sponsoring learning forums in areas such as gender violence and woman’s rights. Oxfam is part of many UN regional programs that support community organizations in their quest to involve women in political and social decision making to achieve more equitable public policies. All of the regional programs that Oxfam has effectively executed continue to have profound and enduring effects on the rights of women across the globe. Oxfam International cannot stress enough the importance of educating, and therefore empowering women, in order to improve human rights and overall social development for all members of the international community. The first step in doing this is for nation states to sign all relevant conventions in international treaties relating to women, specifically the Convention on the Political Rights of Women and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Oxfam is also highly committed to promoting and advocating equality of women and men, and to see women and the economy immersed as a single entity instead of regarded as mutual issues isolated from each other.
III. Drug Trafficking and Narcotics
Oxfam International feels that narcotics’ trafficking is a severe global quandary that needs immediate attention from the international forum. Nations must realize that narcotic trafficking increases violence and crimes, thus reducing economic development and increasing poverty. Narcotic production in many countries is a major factor in increasing poverty because people cannot produce their own food for sustenance living. An essential pillar in reducing drug abuse and trafficking is decreasing the supply of narcotics. Interpol reports that drug trafficking accounts for 8% of total international trade, about the same as textiles, oil and gas, and tourism. In Bolivia, 30% to 50% of export earnings are attributed to money from illicit drug trafficking, employing approximately 10% of the entire population. Oxfam International agrees with UNESCO’s approach of “drug abuse prevention through education.” We strongly assert that one of the many factors of involvement with narcotics trafficking comes from a lack of knowledge, resources, and opportunity that creates widespread poverty. Oxfam’s main objective is to work toward the long-term development of eradicating poverty in all its forms, throughout the globe. Oxfam concurs with the UN protocol on money laundering, and encourages governments to freeze assets and attack the main or most vulnerable aspect of the drug trade threatening their country. We are certain that cooperation within governments can only strengthen our mission of reducing poverty and hunger by increasing the chances that our constituency can find sustainable livelihoods, which are both legal and productive to themselves and their families. Oxfam supports the UN Security Council Resolution 1373 that provides insight into the correlation that exists between narcotics trafficking, and terrorism. Oxfam believes that money laundering is the lifeline for virtually all forms of transnational crime and views the Global Program against Money Laundering (GPML) as an important step to improving worldwide efforts to combat money laundering and financial crime. In addition to this, Oxfam is working with Make Trade Fair, which is an organization that gives a voice to farmers, laborers, and factory workers in poverty-stricken nations who are being defrauded by the rules of world trade. This is in an effort to stabilize country profits and induce an end to the exploitation of countries by making trade fair. Many nations with trafficking problems are being unjustly taken advantage of in world trade. Developed countries are using subsidies for farmers thereby making farming unprofitable for the most needy nations. Fairness in trade would help eradicate the value of narcotics trafficking in many underdeveloped countries. We are all affected by the illicit trafficking of drugs, therefore Oxfam considers this issue to be highly important and that it should be addressed in the most cost-effective manner; crop substitution. Crop substitution programs would aid countries by providing food instead of narcotics. Developing long lasting agricultural programs by providing farming and irrigation techniques, promoting the use of organic fertilizers, distributing seeds, and donating watering cans to families are some of the ways that Oxfam is trying to promote crop substitution. Oxfam believes that food security is a human right and that it should be a top priority of the governments of nations facing narcotic supply problems. Oxfam believes nations should support NGOs best practices and ongoing initiatives, whose aim is to find solutions to their challenges.