What We Do
Oxfam America works on the scene, helping people gain the hope, skills, and direction to create a new future. We are also active in the global arena, addressing social injustice through our advocacy, public education, and emergency assistance programs.
West Africa is in the grip of a food crisis, with a deadly combination of drought, poor harvests, and skyrocketing food prices that has placed more than 18 million people at risk of hunger and malnutrition.
Though the rain has started to fall, emergency conditions for millions of people affected by a severe drought and food crisis are expected to persist well into 2012.
In October 2011, a torrential, nine-day storm caused massive flooding, but Oxfam's decade-long investment in El Salvador deepened the capacity of partners and communities to care for their own.
On January 12, 2010 a major earthquake struck Haiti near the capital of Port-au-Prince causing catastrophic destruction in the western hemisphere's most impoverished nation.
In what many consider the largest humanitarian emergency in the world, millions are living in crowded camps or on the edges of towns and villages.
For the second year, massive floods are inundating millions of acres of land in Pakistan. Oxfam is rushing aid to the region, supporting search-and-rescue, planning food distribution, and supplying clean water and sanitation facilities.
Oxfam is helping people survive catastrophes like hurricanes and earthquakes, and the dangerous upheavals of war. Learn about Saving Lives 24/7.
Some progress has been made in Afghanistan, but continued conflict and insecurity have added to the hardships that make it one of the poorest countries in the world.
Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has cost nearly 5.4 million lives. Many have fled to neighboring countries or temporary camps, and government stability is fragile.
Responding to disasters is a crucial part of Oxfam's humanitarian mission. But finding ways to help communities prepare for and prevent natural events from becoming full-scale disasters is at the cutting edge of our work.
Oxfam's GROW campaign aims to build a better food system: one that sustainably feeds a growing population and empowers poor people to earn a living, feed their families, and thrive.
Oxfam's Right to Know Right to Decide campaign challenges international oil, gas, and mining companies to respect a community’s right to revenue transparency and free, prior, and informed consent.
Oxfam is working to improve the way the US delivers aid and support new more effective efforts to fight poverty.
Five years after Hurricane Katrina, Oxfam is helping communities along the Gulf rebuild and using the lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to respond to the BP oil spill.
Having a safe place to save or access to a small loan can help a family work its way out of poverty. Oxfam America has pioneered a microfinance model called Saving for Change, which self-replicates on a large scale and at a low cost.
A growing portion of Oxfam America's work involves collaboration with new allies, including strategic engagement with the private sector.
Our mission is to do whatever we can to reduce suffering and save lives during emergencies—whether they are caused by conflict or by natural events. We partner with local groups in a network that stretches around the world.
Worldwide, nearly one in seven people now suffers from chronic hunger. Oxfam is working on solutions to ensure that no one, no matter where he or she lives, has to go to sleep hungry.
Oxfam seeks fair government policies and corporate practices in the oil, gas, and mining industries, and supports the right of communities to participate in decisions about the use of natural resources.
Insurance and rural resilience
With financial tools, such as insurance, farmers can improve their well-being.
Farm workers in the US are often subjected to mistreatment and exploitation. Oxfam seeks to expose sweatshop conditions and human rights violations in America's fields.
Seventy percent of those living below the poverty line are women. Oxfam helps women and girls overcome gender discrimination, realize their potential, and become decision-makers and leaders in their communities.
The poorest people often find vital drugs priced out of reach—despite promises from the WTO to make medicines affordable and available to all. Oxfam is asking governments and drug companies to make affordable medicine a reality.
Global Reach
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In Peru, women confront climate change with traditional gardens
Can ancient knowledge help solve today’s problems? Indigenous women in the Amazon believe that it can—and to prove it, they’re going back to their roots.
West Africa food crisis: Senegalese singer Baaba Maal performs benefit concert
Maal visits drought-affected communities to raise awareness in growing Sahel crisis
West Africa food crisis: Dry times in 2011 threaten ability to plant in 2012
A farmer recounts the struggle to grow food and prepare for the 2012 growing season
West Africa food crisis: Farmers cope with food shortages
Confronted with a poor 2011 harvest, farmers find creative ways to earn money to buy food.
A government decision could mean good news for families in Peru's most polluted town, and for their supporters here in the US. But the struggle to clean up La Oroya is far from over.
In Kolda, Senegal, farmers are struggling to feed their families
The last harvest of peanuts, a major cash crop in this region, plummeted by 60 percent leaving families with little money to buy the food they need.
In Cambodia, System of Rice Intensification helps families climb out of poverty
Low-cost agricultural techniques help a farmer achieve a six-fold increase in annual production in one small field, and become a leader in the community.
Struggle in Sahel: 'If there's no pasture, nothing works'
'We've stayed on our ancestors' land and we've put up with everything, but if rain doesn't come, life would turn into a nightmare," says Koubra Hamid.
As food crisis looms, the lean season hits early in northern Senegal
An Oxfam team assesses the conditions around a group of small villages where many of the food reserves are now exhausted.
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Events in your area
- Oxfam America blogs
- In South America, indigenous women break new ground May 24, 2012
- G8 Leaders set a bold goal, with a questionable plan to achieve it May 21, 2012
- Shining a light on food workers May 17, 2012
- When does a trickle become a trend? And what about Goldman Sachs? May 16, 2012
- The G8 is on the trail to food security this week. How will we know if they get there? May 15, 2012
- Topics
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aid reform global food crisis disaster risk reduction trade Central America natural disaster Horn of Africa Ethiopia West Africa United States South America public health politics and government equality for women environment human rights indigenous people violence women climate change Sudan humanitarian relief livelihood water hunger Peru agriculture Haiti food security oil, gas and mining
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