OXFAMExchange, Fall 2012

During this election season, our mission to eliminate injustice and poverty is more important than ever. Our voices must remain strong and steady.

Our goal is to help people make fundamental changes in a world that often denies the basic rights that many in the US take for granted: protection under the law, clean water, education—the list goes on. Many of you have joined Oxfam because of our collective willingness to engage powerful interests as we tackle the systemic inequalities that keep nearly one in three people worldwide living in poverty. But some of you may not be aware of the depth and breadth of the campaigns we undertake. In the pages ahead, you’ll read about two of them and the years of steady and focused effort required to bring about deep and lasting shifts in policies that have direct bearing on the well-being of millions of people. It’s a long, laborious process, often as exhausting as it is exhilarating, and worth every minute invested.

One campaign—aided by tens of thousands of messages from supporters—has been to help stem corruption in resource-rich countries by encouraging oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose the payments they make to host governments. That’s money poor countries could be spending on clean water, roads, and education that would benefit everybody.

The second campaign—launched nearly a decade ago, propelled forward by a petition signed by a million people, and now so close to its goal—aims to see world governments agree to a global treaty that would regulate the transfer of arms and ammunition across international borders and make the planet a safer place for all of us.

An unflagging commitment to addressing injustice is the thread that binds these two campaigns, and your loyalty and commitment contributed to producing these results. There’s still a great deal of work to do. We need you with us!