Tools for activists

Oxfam America student action guide

akramer — 2012-01-05T18:54:10Z

Are you a student who wants to support Oxfam? Find our helpful tips for starting and running an Oxfam Club, ideas for campus events, and much more.

Recommendations to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force

aperera — 2011-10-20T20:27:08Z

Restoration of America’s Gulf Coast, damaged not just by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike and the BP oil spill, but also by decades of degradation from human impacts and natural disasters, is essential for protection of the region’s communities and cultures. Protection of these resources is critical at the national level as well, playing vital roles in our nation’s waterways, commerce, and economy. As the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (“Task Force”), created by an executive order of President Barack Obama, develops its comprehensive restoration strategy, Oxfam and its partners Bayou Grace Community Services, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO), Coastal Women for Change, STEPS Coalition, Terrebonne Readiness and Assistance Coalition
(TRAC), and Zion Travelers Cooperative Center—grassroots groups representing coastal communities in the lower Mississippi River Delta—offer the following recommendations to ensure that the region’s most vulnerable residents are active participants in revitalizing our coastal resources and beneficiaries of the new restoration economy. These recommendations represent a call to action for a bold, innovative, and integrated solution involving federal, state, and local governments and industry and community stakeholders.

Talking the walk

aperera — 2011-09-29T15:39:09Z

Aligning business lobbying with corporate social responsibility

Watching the watchdogs

aperera — 2011-09-29T15:16:16Z

With the expansion of the global search for oil, gas, and other natural resources in recent decades, extractive industry companies increasingly have extended their reach to remote and sensitive areas, as well as to more politically risky environments. Within this context, project-affected communities and civil society organizations increasingly demand public accountability of the corporations that implement large-scale projects with the potential to generate serious social and environmental impacts and of the public international financial institutions (IFIs) that sometimes participate in financing these projects. Expert panels bring together experienced independent experts to identify risks and opportunities and prepare recommendations to address social and environmental issues, and generally report directly to company or IFI management. The panels have emerged as a way for project sponsors and lenders to provide an external and ostensibly impartial check on project implementation.

The New Forests Company and its Uganda plantations

aperera — 2011-09-21T18:30:16Z

London-based New Forests Company (NFC) would seem to be the design blueprint of how a young modern company should conduct a major land investment in Africa in a responsible way. Oxfam’s investigations reveal that serious allegations by people who were evicted from land to make way for NFC’s operations remain unresolved. How will the company respond?

GROW: Food. Justice. Planet.

mborum — 2011-06-01T14:36:36Z

Soon there'll be nine billion of us on the planet. All of us, our friends and our families, deserve enough to eat. The food, water, and land we all rely on could soon be used up. So more of the same is not enough. It's time to change the way we produce, consume, and share. GROW is the new campaign to do just that. Starting now. To grow for all. A better way of living. Shared solutions for a safer planet. So the next generation can join us at the table.

Open publication

Enough for Everyone

cengstrom — 2011-07-18T18:25:12Z

Right now the power to overcome the failures of our food system sits neither with the billion-plus farmers who produce food nor the billions of consumers who eat it. Instead, companies and governments set policies Oxfam America’s five-point plan to respond to the emerging food crisis and reduce food insecurity around the world and control markets—and they often determine who eats and who doesn’t. We must all work to deliver a future in which everyone has enough healthy food to eat. But the most powerful actors—President Obama, the US Congress and US companies—must take urgent action to begin to build a better food system today.

This plan alone won’t end hunger. But by taking immediate action on these priorities, President Obama, Congress, and companies can ensure greater economic prosperity and national security, a better life for poor farmers, and a more stable food supply for everyone for generations to come.

Fund-raising for Oxfam: Frequently asked questions

akramer — 2011-07-19T13:44:54Z

Oxfam supporters around the country host more than 1,000 grassroots events every year, from bake sales to charity auctions, benefit concerts to Oxfam America Hunger Banquet events. Community-driven efforts like these provide essential support for our work fighting poverty and responding to disasters worldwide.

In this short guide, you’ll find answers to some frequently asked questions about fund-raising for Oxfam in your community. If you have further questions or need help, please contact us by email at actfast@oxfamamerica.org or by phone at (800) 77-OXFAM.

Menu of event ideas

akramer — 2011-07-19T13:45:43Z

Want to raise awareness about poverty and hunger? Find ideas for events you can host at your school, on campus, in your community, or or in the workplace.

Oxfam America organizing guide

Oxfam America — 2011-07-19T13:46:17Z

Ready to take action? This guide includes all the tools you need to begin organizing in your community, including step-by-step instructions for making your voice heard by legislators and in print. We’ve also included some additional suggestions for creative ways to get the word out.

Oxfam America House Party guide

mborum — 2011-07-19T13:46:56Z

A house party is a fun, informal gathering where you get your friends and family together to take action. Whether it's writing a letter or making a phone call to your legislator, having a film screening and discussion, building a support network, or educating others, you'll get to work with others committed to social justice--and you'll make an important contribution by raising awareness about the world's most important issues.

Gulf Coast government guide

Oxfam America — 2010-09-08T15:40:41Z

In collaboration with the League of Women Voters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Keep this guide handy as you read the paper or watch the news. In a glance, it will allow you to become a more active participant in your local, county, state or federal government. Inside, you will find contact information for the elected officials who represent the six counties of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from the president down to your local city council member. A quick description of the purpose and function of the different branches and levels of government will make it easier to determine the best person to contact when an issue moves you to action. Colorful maps will help you locate your ward or legislative district, and photos of your elected officials will make their faces more familiar.

In harm's way: Oxfam America's game on rethinking natural disasters

mborum — 2011-06-29T14:20:13Z

This exciting and interactive tool helps raise awareness of the causes and consequences of disasters, as well as the positive ways that communities can work to lessen the impact.

Take Action: Global Food Crisis

mborum — 2010-08-09T19:47:33Z

Already 854 million people on our planet suffer from hunger. Now, as food prices climb high and fast, conditions are becoming worse and threatening the well-being of millions more people.

Take Action: Democratic Republic of Congo

Oxfam America — 2009-06-09T21:07:17Z

One of the largest countries in Africa, with an area the size of western Europe, Congo borders nine nations and every major region of the African continent. Abundant in natural resources, it has vast deposits of diamonds, oil, and gold. Despite these riches, Congo's more than 60 million people remain among the poorest in the world. The UN ranks it 168 out of 177 countries on its human development index—a measure of health, education, and standard of living.