Oxfam America http://www.oxfamamerica.org These are the search results for the query, showing results 1 to 5. New report shows 17 million lives at stake in farm bill negotiations http://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/pressreleases/new-report-shows-17-million-lives-at-stake-in-farm-bill-negotiations Washington, D.C. – More than 17 million people could receive life-saving food aid at no additional cost to U.S. taxpayers if Congress cuts red-tape in the U.S. Farm Bill – according to new research from international relief and development organizations Oxfam America and American Jewish World Service (AJWS). A new report and food aid infographic from the groups showed that lifting regulations, which cost taxpayers more than $491 million, could enable food aid to reach millions more people and make the programs significantly more effective and cost efficient.

Reaching 17 million additional people is the equivalent to feeding every person in Michigan, Oklahoma and Iowa combined. Cutting red tape would also allow the U.S. to respond to hunger crises up to 14 weeks faster.

“How often do we have the chance to reach millions more people with life-saving assistance without asking taxpayers for a dime?” said Paul O’Brien, vice president for policy and campaigns at Oxfam America. “Save lives. Save tax dollars. This is a no-brainer.”

"Our one-size-fits-all food aid system is outdated, but Congress has the opportunity to fix it with this year's farm bill reauthorization," said Timi Gerson, director of advocacy at AJWS. "Our research shows we can reach millions more hungry people by passing long overdue reforms, so why wait?"

The report puts a human face on the negotiations over the Farm Bill in Washington, DC, calculating the number of additional people U.S. food aid programs could reach if long-overdue reforms are enacted. This includes increasing flexibility in food aid programs to allow for the local and regional purchase (LRP) of food, as well as ending the monetization of U.S. food aid programs whereby aid agencies are forced to sell off U.S. food in developing country markets to finance development projects.

The report finds that these reforms would allow food to reach millions more hungry people much quicker during crises and build self-sufficiency in local communities. It also finds that even conservative approaches to these reforms would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in waste and enable life-saving aid to reach millions of additional people facing crisis.

"Food aid is a vital part of U.S. foreign policy, but we are shortchanging millions of hungry people with unnecessary red tape," said Gerson. "U.S. policies are ripe for reforms that will save lives now and reduce the need for aid later by enabling local farmers to thrive."

“In this budget climate there can be no justification for turning down the chance to spend tax-dollars more wisely,” said O’Brien. “Members of Congress face a clear choice: stick with the same old policies that prop up special interest, or reform the program and stand up for American taxpayers and hungry people around the world.”

Notes to editors:
To read a copy of the report, see the infographic or get more information go to:
www.oxfamamerica.org/foodaid
or
www.ajws.org/foodaid

American Jewish World Service
Inspired by Judaism’s commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) works to realize
human rights and end poverty in the developing world. www.ajws.org

Oxfam America
Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 90 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. Oxfam America is an affiliate of Oxfam. To join our efforts or learn more, go to www.oxfamamerica.org

]]> No publisher bgrossmancohen aid reform farm bill food security 2012-04-06T16:00:07Z Press Release OXFAMExchange, Winter 2012 http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/oxfamexchange-winter-2012 What if development took the kind of time and commitment it takes to raise a child? (It does.) Oxfam's work is about structural change—a long, slow process. How slow? Well, we generally think about our field programs as approximately 15-year investments. In other words, a development program requires almost as much time and commitment as it takes to raise a child.

A shorter commitment won't get the job done. It takes time to help people build skills and infrastructure, to get policies changed, and to ensure that governments spend their money more effectively.

Smart development demands monitoring and evaluation. Organizations should be accountable to report not only what they do, but also how they measure it. Don't believe stories that guarantee long-term impact after one or two years' investment; that's barely time to lay some groundwork.

We all crave the easy answer, the quick solution, but if eradicating poverty were simple, people living in poverty would have sorted it out long ago. They may lack resources like land, but they certainly don't lack intelligence or insight. Poverty is a global challenge—one that we can overcome together, but listening and learning from people living in poverty, and developing solutions with them, takes time and sustained effort.

This issue of OXFAMExchange includes inspiring stories, but they are just snapshots from a family album: moments in a long journey together. Each story is ultimately about perseverance and the need for long-term commitment.

]]> No publisher Oxfam America Caribbean Central America East Africa El Salvador Ethiopia Haiti Horn of Africa agriculture aid reform drought farmers food security global food crisis humanitarian relief hunger livelihood water 2012-09-20T14:59:45Z Oxfam Exchange GROW: Food. Justice. Planet. http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/grow-food.-justice.-planet An overview of Oxfam's global GROW campaign 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
]]> No publisher mborum GROW agriculture aid reform equality for women farmers food security global food crisis hunger land 2012-10-03T14:46:51Z Campaign Publication Oxfam outlines four stepping stones to the G20's 'new world order' http://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/pressreleases/oxfam-outlines-four-stepping-stones-to-the-g20s-new-world-order WASHINGTON, DC — G-20 leaders must take four concrete steps during the next few months to demonstrate their promise of a new world economic order will move beyond rhetoric to reality, Oxfam said today.

Urgent action is required to make the bailout work for poor countries, complete the crackdown on tax havens and speed up reform of the IMF and World Bank, Oxfam said as it published its initial analysis of the London Summit, What Happened at the G-20?

The analysis also raises question over how much of the $50 billion promised for poor countries will be new money. Money distributed through the Multilateral Development Banks, in particular, could come from existing aid budgets.

Oxfam's recommended next steps towards for a 'new world order' are:

  • An end to harmful conditions imposed by the IMF in return for money given to poor countries;
  • Accelerated reform of the World Bank and IMF to give developing and poor nations parity of voice. As a first step, the US must give up its veto and European nations should give up some seats on the executive boards;
  • The immediate personal engagement of G-20 Heads of State in pressing for a global climate change deal—by December it will be too late;
  • A multilateral agreement requiring automatic disclosure of financial information by tax havens to developing countries.

"The G-20 could mark an historic turning point but we have been here too many times in the past to take rich countries' promises at face value," said Duncan Green, Oxfam spokesperson. "World leaders need to take decisive steps to turn their rhetoric about a new world order into reality.

"That means an end to the damaging conditionality imposed on poor countries when they ask for assistance from the IMF. If the price of a bailout is to close health clinics and schools then the financial medicine offered by the G-20 will make the patient worse, not better.

"And it means real action to tackle climate change. It would be a tragedy if having benefited from an economic bailout, the world economy and the millions of poor people at greatest risk, quickly become the victims of climate change."

]]> No publisher mborum G20 aid reform food security foreign policy livelihood politics and government trade 2010-09-27T20:02:28Z Press Release What Happened at the G20? http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/what-happened-at-the-g20 Initial analysis of the London summit G20 leaders met for the second time in London on April 2, as the global economic crisis began to crash across the borders of poor countries with ever-greater severity. Oxfam's research shows rising human impacts in the shape of job losses, falling remittances to the families of migrant workers and a particularly severe impact on women workers in global supply chains. Based on the latest forecasts, published on the eve of the summit, Oxfam estimates that the crisis could push 100 million people into poverty in 2009 alone.

Against this backdrop, how did the G20 leaders perform?

]]> No publisher mborum G20 aid reform food security hunger livelihood politics and government trade 2010-09-27T20:11:16Z Briefing Note