The ten NGOs call on the Security Council to give high priority to finding a peaceful political solution to achieve long-term stability in Mali, while ensuring that any military action would come with strong measures to mitigate harm to civilians.
“The deployment of a military operation could have significant humanitarian consequences as many families have already been badly affected by fighting and the severe food crisis. We fear any intensification of violence could affect the civilian population with an increase in humanitarian needs and the continued displacement of people. Throughout its decision-making process, the Security Council must make sure that any military planning includes humanitarian consideration to minimize harm to civilians at all stages,” said Michael Quinn, Country Director of Oxfam in Mali.
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a total of 412,000 persons were forced to flee their homes. This figure includes some 208,000 refugees who are currently hosted in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauritania, the Niger and Togo. An additional 204,000 Malians have been internally displaced and live in tough conditions, reliant on humanitarian assistance as well as the solidarity of host communities.
“Women and children are among the most vulnerable groups when military operations are launched. In some parts of Mali we already have alarming reports of sexual violence against women and girls and we ought to protect the rights especially for women, children, persons with disabilities and elderly who are the most vulnerable,” said Chance Briggs, National Director of World Vision Mali.
The 10 organizations are calling on the UN Security Council to implement a series of recommendations including:
Signatory organizations: CARE International, Christian Aid, Handicap International, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council, Refugees International, Tearfund, World Vision International.
]]>Oxfam’s Unwrapped gift-giving campaign encourages shoppers to look for deeper meaning in the gifts they give, reminding shoppers that “You Are What You Give.” Shoppers can have a card mailed to recipients or send an electronic card to recipients.
“We all start the new year off with resolutions, some of them are easier to keep than others,” said Stephanie Kurzina, vice president for fundraising and communications at Oxfam America. “This one is a slam dunk – give a pig through oxfamgifts.com and you can help fight poverty and help change a life in 2013.”
Oxfam’s Unwrapped catalog offers items that symbolically represent the organization’s lifesaving work, and each purchase is a contribution toward Oxfam’s many programs that help people living in poverty throughout the world.
All gift contributions are general donations to support Oxfam America’s mission of fighting poverty, hunger and social injustice in over 90 countries around the world. Gifts are fully tax-deductible. For more information on how to gift better this holiday season, visit oxfamgifts.com.
Camera-ready art, a video featuring Aziz Ansari and Oxfam America spokespeople are available to the press.
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Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. To learn more, go to OxfamAmerica.org.
]]>Close to three years after the earthquake, around 358,000 people live in 496 camps scattered around the capital. Three quarters of these camps are on private property, which includes schools and churches. An estimated 78,000 living in the camps located on private land are currently under threat of eviction by landowners, gangs or local authorities. While some people living in public and state-owned land were part of return-relocation programs, alternatives solutions for people living on private land are few and security remains a serious concern for all 358,000 people living in temporary camps.
“The Haitian government has shown important leadership on the return and relocation of internally displaced people. However, it needs to address the issue of people under threat of forced evictions. Thousands of people are in very precarious situation and at risk of finding themselves on the street with nowhere to go. The government should ensure the security and protection of displaced people against violence, intimidation and unlawful threats to evict families,” says Andrew Pugh, Oxfam´s Country Director in Haiti.
In a briefing note, Salt in the Wound, published today, Oxfam welcomes the Haitian government’s efforts to help families leave camps in order to move to back to their neighborhoods. However, it also calls on the Haitian government and landowners to halt forced evictions and work toward a practical solution that balances the needs of camp residents and landowners. On the anniversary of the human rights declaration, Oxfam denounces the violation of rights of the more than 60,000 people have been forcibly evicted from 152 temporary sites since July 2010.
Oxfam has worked since July 2010 in collaboration with the Platform of Haitian Organizations of Human Rights (POHDH) to mediate potential conflicts, ensure that residents are not being evicted with nowhere to go, and training people in camps to know their rights. The organization has done mediation and negotiated with dozens of landowners. After three years, many landowners also have a right for their properties to be returned to them, according to Oxfam.
Women are more affected by forced evictions, the survey found, especially those who are heads of household (36 percent of all households surveyed).
In the briefing note, Oxfam calls on the international community to provide more support to the Haitian government to help the victims of the 2010 earthquake leave the camps. All stakeholders involved in the future of Haiti, including donors and the United Nations, must give a higher priority to this issue on their humanitarian agenda.
*Oxfam-Quebec commissioned a survey in 16 camps in the commune of Delmas. The methods to collect the information included interviews with camp committees, focus group discussions, assessment of needs and other participative methods. The survey is entitled Viv Tankou Moun, Oxfam-Quebec, December 2012. An executive summary of the survey results is available here.
]]>Key priorities include getting clean, safe drinking water to disaster-hit areas; establishing basic sanitation facilities; and providing cash and starting cash-for-work projects to help families buy food, clothing, and other shelter needs.
Water treatment supplies and hygiene kits are being sent to the worst-hit areas in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental provinces, where around 505,000 people were severely affected.
The seven-month emergency response targets 12,000 families. It is the biggest rural response the organizations have ever mounted in the Philippines.
“The needs are enormous. It will take a very long time to recover from the impact of this disaster,” said Paul del Rosario, Oxfam’s humanitarian program coordinator in the region.
“In the short term, we need to get people urgent help – basic shelter and access to safe water and food. In the medium to longer term, we need to support families with livelihoods. Farming communities were the worst hit and it could take many years for them to fully recover.”
The HRC, supported by Oxfam, will initially target the devastated towns of New Bataan, Compostela and Laak, in Compostela Valley province; Baganga (where the typhoon first made landfall), Cateel and Boston in Davao Oriental province and Lingig in Surigao del Sur province after carrying out rapid technical assessments.
“Our emergency teams are in place and we sent water treatment supplies, water and hygiene kits and emergency shelter supplies to the affected areas,” said Kevin R Lee, HRC lead and executive director of A Single Drop for Safe Water. “There have been some logistical challenges with roads, bridges, and communication lines affected, but items are getting to where they’re most urgently needed.”
The teams are also looking at repairing and rehabilitating damaged water systems and setting up waste disposal systems.
According to the latest figures (December 10) from the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), 647 people died during the typhoon, with 780 people still reported as missing. More than 302,000 people are still staying in temporary evacuation centers.
Note: The Humanitarian Response Consortium, supported by Oxfam, is made up of A Single Drop for Safe Water (ASDSW); the Kadtuntaya Foundation Inc.(KFI) ; People’s Disaster Risk Reduction Network (PDRRN) and Rural Development Institute of Sultan Kudarat (RDISK)
]]>“A goat is the perfect gift. Goats produce a ton of milk, they’re very hardy, and they have dope goatees,” says Ansari, as a goat, in the 30 second animation.
It’s not too late to give a last minute gift that can make a long-term difference. Cards will be delivered by December 25 for orders placed before midnight on December 13. Shoppers also have the option of sending an electronic card to recipients.
“If you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet, you can still head over to oxfamgifts.com to cross those final names off your list without even standing up. No wrapping paper, ribbons, or fighting for the last sweater at the mall required – and you can rest assured that your gift will help a family fight poverty and hunger,” Ansari says.
Oxfam’s Unwrapped catalog offers items that symbolically represent the organization’s lifesaving work, and each purchase is a contribution toward Oxfam’s many programs that help people living in poverty throughout the world.
While you can “be a goat for only $50” according to Ansari, there are over 70 life-changing products to choose from at oxfamgifts.com, ranging from $12 manure to $5,000 help a village recover from a disaster.
All gift contributions are general donations to support Oxfam America’s mission of fighting poverty, hunger and social injustice in over 90 countries around the world. Gifts are fully tax-deductible. For more information on how to gift better this holiday season, visit oxfamgifts.com.
Camera-ready art, a video featuring Aziz Ansari and Oxfam America spokespeople are available to the press.
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Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. To learn more, go to OxfamAmerica.org.
]]>Oxfam, with funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, partnered with Swiss Re, The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the Relief Society of Tigray, Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution, Nyala Insurance Company, and Africa Insurance Company to start HARITA in 2007. Last year, The United Nations World Food Program (WFP), supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Oxfam expanded HARITA, now known as the “R4 Rural Resilience Initiative" to help poor farmers protect their crops and livelihoods from the impacts of climate variability and change, including drought.
“In the history of weather index insurance programs, this is the first-ever set of large payouts directly to small scale farmers in Ethiopia,” said David Satterthwaite, senior global micro-insurance manager at Oxfam America. “Until now payouts have been for small pilots. But at this new scale, we are proving that weather insurance can be a successful and market-ready financial product. These kinds of products are the new face of development: They empower people to take chances and build a better future for themselves.”
“With today’s changing climate, crop insurance has become a critical tool in building the resilience of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations,” said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “With this first significant payout, we clearly see the impact of innovative insurance products that can reach the poorest small holder farmers by utilizing the most current technology. We can provide farmers with no better form of food security than by empowering them to protect themselves from the impacts climate change.”
“We used to be blocked because it was too expensive, if not impossible, to get drought and crop loss data in time to help the farmers,” said Dan Osgood, an economist at IRI. “This payout was triggered by rainfall estimates measured by the same cutting-edge satellite technology used by NASA and NOAA, but engineered together with Ethiopians to target their risks and vulnerabilities. This allowed us to calculate the payouts just as crops were beginning to suffer, so farmers will get the money when they need it most."
In many rural areas, disaster often strikes poor farmers hard, forcing them to make choices that drag their families deeper into poverty. To survive, they might have to sell their tools for cash to buy food, or take their children out of school to save on fees. With weather insurance, farmers can protect the investment they make in their crops, and feel confident in taking out loans for fertilizer and better seeds to improve their harvests.
The R4 project has scaled from 200 households purchasing insurance in one village in 2009 to more than 18,000 enrolled households in 76 villages this year. Farmers have been able to purchase insurance with cash, or for the first time, partially with cash and partially with labor. As a progressive step toward building a commercial insurance market in rural Ethiopia, R4 is strategically expanding to areas where farmers are capable of paying for insurance with cash, while continuing to serve the poorest and most vulnerable farmers through government’s Productive Safety Net Programme, using the project’s innovative Insurance-For-Work (IFW) model. The products are priced at commercially viable rates for both, cash-paying farmers as well as for farmers purchasing through the IFW program.
“Access to finance and risk management is pre-requisite for financing investments into better farming technology, hence increasing incomes. With this in mind Swiss Re engages in developing solutions for small holder farmers around the world,” said Christina Ulardic, Head Market Development Africa, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. "We are glad to see that the product developed for the Ethiopian farmers does what it is designed for; financially compensating farmers during years of adverse weather conditions."
This innovative public-private partnership is expanding from Ethiopia to Senegal over the next four years. R4 enables poor farmers to strengthen their food and income security by managing risks through a four-part approach—improving natural resource management (community risk reduction), accessing microcredit ("prudent" risk taking), gaining insurance coverage (risk transfer), and increasing savings (risk reserves).
/ENDS
]]>“The pre-emptive evacuation and other preparatory measures taken by local government officials together with the cooperation of residents saved lives,” said Paul Del Rosario, Humanitarian Coordinator for Oxfam in the Philippines. “However, our rapid assessment teams are currently on the ground to determine how Oxfam will respond to urgent needs.”
Oxfam’s rapid assessment teams, supported by local partners, are currently in Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Palawan. Typhoon Pablo will weaken as it moves toward Northern Palawan before finally existing out of the Philippines Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Thursday, December 6, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomic Services Agency (PAGASA).
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) currently estimates 82 deaths and 24 missing. In Cagayan de Oro City, an area badly hit by Typhoon Washi in December 2011, there were no recorded casualties according to news reports, underscoring the local government and the community’s preparedness facing a disaster.
A total of 24,380 families or 120,627 individuals were affected in Regions VIII (Eastern Visayas), X (Northern Mindanao), XI (Davao Region) and XIII (Caraga),of which 21,560 families or 106,730 individuals are currently displaced and are being served inside and outside evacuation centers.
Oxfam is currently the convenor of the Philippine INGO Network (PINGON), a network of international and national humanitarian groups, and is working with the group to coordinate preparedness measures. Oxfam is also working closely with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Office of Civil Defence (OCD).
]]>Despite receiving a fair hearing in the SEC’s two-year rule-making process and before Congress passed the law, the oil industry is trying to avoid compliance with the law which requires disclosures by 2014. On Monday, the plaintiffs submitted their formal petitioner’s brief in the first salvo of the legal proceedings in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Their lawsuit was initially filed in October.
In response, Ian Gary, senior policy manager with Oxfam America’s oil, gas and mining program, issued the following statement.
“The global tide is moving toward more openness in the extractive sector, not less. Oil companies should side with investors and citizens, not kleptocrats,” said Gary. "If payment disclosures truly hurt bottom lines as they claim, then leading companies like Statoil and Talisman Energy would not already be disclosing this type of information. Any well-run company should already collect and account for this information and if systems aren't in place for tracking payments, investors need to ask why.
“The European Union is close to finalizing a similar requirement and there is concrete movement in Canada. The companies behind the API suit are fighting a losing battle,” said Gary. “As a party to the case, Oxfam will continue fighting to protect the law to ensure that the court isn’t just hearing from the oil companies as they try a last ditch effort to use the courts to hide payments from public view.”
]]>Oxfam trucks are today delivering vital clean water to people in Lac Vert camp, on the edge of Goma, many of whom have fled violence in Sake over the past few days. Oxfam teams have constructed 40 new latrines for 8,000 people sheltering in squalid conditions at the Don Bosco site in Goma city. With tens of thousands of people descending on Goma this week, and a lack of power in the city, there are serious shortages of water and better sanitation is urgently needed to prevent the spread of cholera.
Tariq Riebl, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator, said: “Conditions here are grim. Thousands of people are sheltering in schools and churches throughout the city, under plastic sheets hung from the walls. They have nothing, and they tell us they are hungry and tired.”
Oxfam teams are also setting up water systems for a new camp at Bulengo, to the west of Goma, which will shelter the overspill of people that have flooded into the Mugunga 1, Mugunga 3 and Lac Vert camps. An estimated 15,000 people are expected to move there in the coming days.
An Oxfam assessment team found people living with very little shelter, food or water. There are reports that the prices of staple foods have risen in recent days, and although food may be available in the markets many people are unable to afford it.
"We walked all day to get here from Sake," said Evelyne*, who is now staying at Lac Vert camp. "I came with my nine children and I had to tie them together so that I did not lose them. We are tired of always moving, and we are tired of the fighting."
The agency called on all parties to the conflict to ensure that people can safely access vital aid. Insecurity is hampering aid efforts, with ongoing fighting and attacks preventing aid workers from reaching some areas for prolonged periods of time.
The massive new displacement of people has added to what was already one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. Yet the crisis, which has been deteriorating for several months, remains underfunded across eastern Congo. Of the $791m appeal for the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012, only 56 per cent ($442m) has been funded so far, while needs are increasing by the day.
*Names have been changed
]]>Recent conflict has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, with an estimated 120,000 people now in urgent need of aid. Many are sleeping in the open or sheltering in schools and other buildings and are now without vital humanitarian assistance.
“People are living in chaotic conditions. There are real fears that cholera and other fatal water-borne diseases could spread, as shortages of power and water in Goma have left thousands of people with no choice but to get water straight from Lake Kivu,” said Tariq Riebl, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator.
The agency called on regional and international governments to increase emergency aid to the region, ensure that people are protected from further violence, and urgently work towards finding a lasting solution to the crisis.
This week’s crisis in Goma may only be the tip of the iceberg, Oxfam said. Since April the number of rebel groups has mushroomed after the Government army pulled troops out of much of the east to focus on the M23 rebellion. Other armed groups took advantage of the security vacuum and now at least 25 rebel groups are active across North and South Kivu. Most of the people affected by this week’s fighting were already living in camps after fleeing the massive increase in insecurity this year that has displaced 767,000 people across the east.
A shifting patchwork of territory, allegiances and agendas has created a constantly changing situation, and communities that Oxfam works with are afraid that some of these armed groups may opportunistically seize more territory as the crisis deteriorates.
“Chaos breeds chaos. It is communities that will get hit the hardest,” Riebl said. “Every day we hear of another attack against farmers as they work in the fields or traders as they go to market. There are hardly any places left that are safe from conflict and violence.
“The world is watching Goma but there are many towns and villages across eastern Congo completely forgotten and run by predatory men with guns. Across vast areas, people are stranded with little or no protection from security services. As the violence intensifies the UN must do all it can to protect Congolese civilians caught in the middle. Women and men have suffered too much for too long; they want security and the chance to get on with their lives. They must not be ignored.”
Oxfam hopes to scale up its response to the crisis, where it has been providing emergency water and sanitation to 115,000 people for the past few months. The uncertain security situation is hampering aid efforts and Oxfam called on all parties to ensure civilians have safe access to aid.
“It’s vital that the fighting stops and aid efforts are stepped up. With almost 2.5 million people now displaced across Congo, this catastrophe needs a humanitarian and diplomatic response that matches the enormity and urgency of the situation. This new crisis must be the final wake up call for action from the African Union, regional institutions and governments, and the international community,” said Riebl.
Notes to editors:
There are eight major armed groups operating across North and South Kivu: ADF-NALU, FDLR, M23, Mai Mai Nyatura, Mai Mai Yakutumba, Raia Mutomboki, Sheka, UPCP, plus other Mai Mai groups and numerous other self-defense groups and other armed actors of a smaller scale.
]]>In reaction to the resolution, Oxfam America’s senior policy advisor for Humanitarian Response, Scott Stedjan stated the following:
“The United States already has some of the toughest regulations governing the international trade of weapons. This treaty is about getting other countries with weak or ineffective laws to raise their standards.
“The existing patchwork of laws around the globe allows irresponsible arms brokers to operate in the black holes of the international regulatory system and circumvent the jurisdiction of countries like the United States. These weapons often end up in the enemy and rogue hands, putting civilians and US troops at risk every day and threatening our national security.
“Our nation has the opportunity and the responsibility to stand on the right side of history. This resolution must not block the progress we’ve made to date. For the millions of people living in fear and poverty around the world there is no time left to waste.
“The Obama administration has publicly stated numerous times that it will not support a treaty that infringes on Second Amendment rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There is also language in the treaty text acknowledging that the trade of weapons for recreational, cultural, historical, and sporting activities and lawful ownership is legitimate and will remain to be determined by a country's national laws. Members of the House of Representatives need to separate fact from fiction and stop fueling the paranoia special interest groups are using for fundraising purposes.”
]]>The report is launched as fight engulfs the town of Goma in North Kivu, displacing at least 50,000 people most of whom had already fled fighting north of Goma earlier this year to find shelter in internally displaced camps in the town.
"Only now with the strategic town of Goma under threat, the world is starting to take notice. But since April the civilian population has been subjected to a staggering increase in killing, rape and extortion," Oxfam America's Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor Noah Gottschalk said.
According to Oxfam, Congolese civilians are not only suffering violent abuse on a massive scale - including rape, kidnap and murder – but are also being subjected to an unprecedented level of financial exploitation, as belligerents loot and extort illegal taxes in their battle for control.
Evidence gathered recently by Oxfam in a survey of more than 1,300 people in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Province Orientale shows that government soldiers and civilian authorities, including the local police, and armed rebel groups are vying for control over local communities to extort money and goods from them. In some areas such as northern Masisi and southern Lubero, vulnerable communities have become one of the most important sources of income for armed groups.
The crisis in DRC has deteriorated rapidly since April of this year when former CNDP (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple) soldiers defected to form a new group, the M23 (Mouvement 23). Over the past eight months eastern Congo has seen increased activity among armed groups who consistently rape, kill, kidnap, torture and abuse civilians. Many of these groups are taking advantage of power vacuums left as government troops have moved to fight M23 rebels elsewhere. The most insecure areas are those where rebel groups are fighting for control and the number of contested territories has increased significantly in 2012.
“Ruthless militias and government troops are both mercilessly exploiting local communities to help fund their war,” said Oxfam’s associate country director, Elodie Martel. “Preying on people has become an extractive industry in which armed groups plunder money, food and whatever other resources they can find. People are leaving their homes everyday to escape the terror of rebel rule and the relentless extortion that makes existence almost impossible as their lives and livelihoods are looted.”
The aid agency said exploitation has reached appalling levels with people facing violent forced recruitment, forced labor and continuous illegal taxation. As battles rage back and forth over strategic territory and communities, people are fleeing - many to rapidly growing camps where they are forced to live in terrible conditions with very little help. Since the beginning of the year, 767,000 people in North and South Kivu have left their homes due to conflict.
In northern Masisi in North Kivu, the small market town of Kashuga was attacked 12 times between April and July 2012 by Congolese army troops, as well as the APCLS (Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain) and FDLR (Forces Démocratique de Libération du Rwanda) rebel groups. They were fighting over control of illegal tax revenues imposed on local people selling or buying goods at the weekly market.
Elsewhere in Masisi farmers said they had to pay 1,000 Congolese Francs (approximately $1 or the equivalent to 2–3kgs of beans) to the local rebel group, Mayi-Mayi Nyatura, for each person wanting to access their fields to farm their crops.
In Irumu, Ituri, in Province Orientale, women market sellers said they had to give wood and straw to the militia when arriving at the market, and that every household had to give 500 Congolese Francs ($0.5) to the militia each month. Oxfam was told that taxes are seen as a way of reducing the risk of abuse by armed groups and have become known as protection taxes labelled lala salama – Swahili for “sleep peacefully” – or remger ubuzima for “protect life”.
The assessment found that communities face pervasive abuse by both armed rebel groups and government forces but around two thirds of people said that, despite the abuse and the environment of impunity, they felt more secure living under FARDC control.
In the absence of an effective state authority, many people said they feel abandoned by central government and in some areas have taken justice into their own hands by forming their own armed force – adding to the plethora of armed groups in the east.
“In the face of abuse and exploitation on this scale there is no room for apathy. This is a humanitarian catastrophe on a massive scale and the world cannot continue to turn its back on this tragedy. Communities in eastern Congo are living on the very edge of survival with the little they have being taken to fund the war. Not only does the conflict mean that people are under constant threat of violence, but it is taking the clothes off their backs and the harvest from their fields,” said Martel.
“It is reprehensible that another year goes by with people telling us they go to bed afraid of killing, lootings and abductions and that women are too afraid to go to their fields for fear of being raped. The Congolese Government, the United Nations, the international community must listen and respond to the people paying the ultimate price for the conflict.”
Notes to editors:
In a stunt in front of the Capitol, Oxfam activists inflated a giant 15x18 foot yellow duck to make its point that cutting foreign aid would simply be lame. The activists also delivered a packet of yellow duck-shaped candies and information about life saving foreign aid directly to each House and Senate office to help drive the message home.
“Congress shouldn’t duck common sense as it wades through the upcoming budget negotiations,” said Linda Delgado, government affairs director for Oxfam America. “The fight against global poverty is one of America’s proudest traditions and smartest investments. Congress must protect these vital programs from cuts – they save millions of lives, help people thrive, and reduce the need for assistance in the long run.”
Effective aid has reduced the number of children who die before their fifth birthday by four million since 1990, put 33 million more children in the classroom, provided urgent humanitarian assistance to tens of millions of people affected by natural disasters and conflicts, and increased tenfold the number of people receiving HIV/AIDS medication. US aid also helps people and countries around the world invest in their own self-reliance, reducing the need for assistance over the long term.
“America’s investments in the fight against poverty have helped eradicate polio, fuel the Green Revolution, and rebuild shattered economies,” said Gregory Adams, director of aid effectiveness for Oxfam America. “Foreign aid has also helped build some of America’s strongest allies, like Turkey, South Korea, and Poland. When you look at that record, and then consider the cost—less than one percent of the federal budget—Congress would have to be quackers to vote to cut aid!”
In order to help address the need of those living in acute poverty, Oxfam urged Congress to fund poverty-focused accounts to at least FY 2013 Senate levels. Any further cuts would disrupt life-saving programs and dismantle much of the progress the US government has made in recent decades to improve the efficiency and impact of our assistance. Worse yet, if Congress is unable to reach agreement on sequestration before the end of the year, devastating automatic cuts will kick in that could make the difference between life and death for many of the world’s poor but would not even make a dent to help solve our federal budget deficit.
“Lifesaving foreign aid is often unfairly singled out for ugly duckling cuts in Washington’s budget fights,” said Delgado. “The leadership in the House and Senate must get their ducks in a row and support Senate funding levels for poverty-focused development assistance and prevent devastating mandatory cuts to these life-saving programs.”
]]>“Gift-giving can be a thoughtful process that reflects on the giver as well as the recipient. We think ‘you are what you give’ so why not give a gift that helps others and is fun at the same time?” said Stephanie Kurzina, vice president for development and communications at Oxfam America. “Be a hardy pig, an income-generating vegetable garden, or an essential and productive tool.”
Oxfam’s Unwrapped catalog offers items that symbolically represent the organization’s lifesaving work, and each purchase is a contribution toward Oxfam’s many programs that help people living in poverty throughout the world.
“You can ‘be’ over 70 products offered at oxfamgifts.com.com. So this year, give a helpful gift with a little more meaning,” Kurzina said. “You can be proud of the gift you give. Your family, friend, or colleague receives a card explaining the good the gift does, and someone in need receives the help they need.”
Oxfam America’s 2012 holiday campaign will be featured nationally in an integrated marketing campaign including outdoor, print, and online ads, a social media presence on Facebook (www.facebook.com/oxfamamerica) and Twitter (@OxfamAmerica), and a video featuring comedian and actor Aziz Ansari which will air on television and the internet.
Oxfam America is offering a selection of gifts at a range of prices, including everything from goats and honey bees to books for kids and mosquito nets. All gift contributions are general donations to support Oxfam America’s mission of fighting poverty, hunger and injustice in over 90 countries around the world. Gifts are fully tax-deductible. Visit OxfamGifts.com now to choose what you will ‘be’ this holiday season.
Camera-ready art and Oxfam America spokespeople are available to the press.
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Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. To learn more, go to OxfamAmerica.org.
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