Background
- Introduction
- Economic and Political Opportunities
- Oxfam in West Africa
OXFAM IN WEST AFRICA
West Africa has made enormous progress towards democracy in recent years. The region is also rich in natural resources, including diamonds, gold, oil, timber, and fish. But the people of West Africa continue to struggle with severe poverty and violent conflicts.
Oxfam America's West Africa regional office is in Dakar, Senegal. The office employs 11 staff people and is a well-respected and influential program in the region.
Oxfam is an active participant in the Oxfam International Make Trade Fair campaign, and has helped launch an influential National Coalition for Trade Equity. The coalition includes peasant federations, academic institutions, and student organizations.
The National Coalition for Trade Equity is partly responsible for the emergence of a national student movement for fair trade, and the creation of the National Coalition of Students for Equity in Trade. This group has helped collect hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions calling for fair rules in international trade, including that of Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, who visited the Oxfam exhibit at a national agriculture fair in March of 2004.
The government of Senegal has also used Oxfam’s research and policy recommendations to formulate its own trade negotiation positions for meetings with the G8 and WTO. The government invited Oxfam to be part of its National Commission for International Trade Negotiation, and consulted with Oxfam staff, partners, and trade justice coalition allies before attending the most recent WTO meetings.