Campaigns blog

Big bamboo makes big impression at Number 10

2008-07-03T22:18:58Z

Having spent all of last weekend taking in the rays and watching Glastonbury - or at least the best bits from the Oxfam and Greenpeace video bloggers - it's clear that summer is now well and truly upon us.
And though we're now into July (and hopefully the start of barbeque season), there's been little time for such sunshine-fuelled frolicking for the Oxfam G8 team over on the other side of the planet in Japan.
Having barely stopped for the past few months, the last few days has seen the Oxfam team there continuing their final preparations - polishing the papier-mache Big Heads, briefing the papers and the media, and generally getting things in place to make sure they hammer the message home to the G8 that tackling poverty must be top priority.
Meanwhile, a little closer to home, three months of hard-graft G8 campaigning in the UK came to a head yesterday morning when campaigners from six different anti-poverty organisations could be seen lugging 6-foot tall bamboo trees up a wet and drizzly Downing Street.
Though big bamboo might not be the most obvious tool in a campaigner's extensive list of over-sized novelty props, it was what was attached to the trees that was important.
Dangling - Japanese style - from the branches were just a few of the 55,000 Tanabata messages from the UK public (and by that we mean you) who've called for the G8 to: keep their promises to deliver more aid money; make health care for all of the poorest people a reality; stop making climate change worse and start helping poor people adapt; and to put and end to the global food crisis.
We even managed to get one of the Tanabata bamboo trees on show at the Department for International Department - the section of Government responsible for helping to tackle poverty in poor countries - so if you're one of the people who've sent a G8 message then it might well be wafting on display inside a Government building.
And if you're one of the people that hasn't sent a message yet, then what are you waiting for? There's but a few days left before the Summit begins on 7 July, so browse on over to our virtual Tanabata tree and tell the G8 to honour their promises to deliver justice for the world's poorest people.

All eyes on Japan as G8 countdown begins

2008-06-26T10:01:37Z

For the last few months, people throughout the UK have been hanging messages to the G8 from Japanese Tanabata trees.

The petitions are being collected. The Japanese phrase books are packed. And Oxfam's 'big heads' are waiting to be unravelled from the bubble-wrap.
It can mean only one thing - the G8 Summit is almost upon us...
You might recall that in 2005 thousands upon thousands of people called for world leaders to Make Poverty History. It happened because the leaders of the world's eight most rich and powerful countries - the G8 - were meeting in Scotland to discuss global issues.
Three year's later and it's Japan's turn. Starting on 7 July, the Japanese Government will be hosting the G8. It will be one of only a handful of moments this year where many of the most powerful people on the planet will come together at the same time.
Oxfam just happens to have an office in Japan. And on the other side of the planet, our small team there have had little rest the last few months as they've worked determinedly to build public pressure to remind the G8 of their responsibility to tackle poverty.
So, what should you expect to see when the Summit starts?
Aside from getting even fewer hours sleep than they have done for the past weeks, our campaigners in Japan will be making sure the voices of the hundreds of thousands of people who've called for called an end to poverty are heard.
They'll be working tirelessly to get the attention of the world's media, just like they did in Germany last year, to make sure the message is clear - tackling poverty must be at the top of the G8's agenda.
Bill Nighy, of Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually fame, will also be in Japan to talk about his trip with Oxfam in 2007, when he headed out to Tanzania to see the real difference that aid makes.
Keep a firm eye on our blog over the next two weeks, as our campaigners in Japan will be bringing you the sights and sounds. You'll be able to see the latest on our international blog, and we'll be featuring the best bits here.

Forget Sex and the City - watch Sisters on the Planet

2008-06-12T16:41:10Z

There's been a lot of hype in recent weeks about the new Sex and the City film, which premiered in London a few weeks ago. But last night another film, Oxfam's Sisters on the Planet, which also happens to be about four women, premiered at Prince Charles Cinema on Leicester Place - coincidentally just around the corner from where the Sex and the City launch took place.

As we blogged last week, Sisters on the Planet is a series of four short films about climate change.

The films are unique in that they bring together the human stories of climate change, showing how poor people are struggling to cope with more and more extreme weather, and they also explain how women in poor countries are at greatest risk.

If you want proof that our planet's climate is changing, then you need look no further.

Over two hundred people attended the premiere and watched intently, taking in the stories of the four remarkable women who feature in the films.

Guardian journalist Lucy Siegle took questions from the audience after the screening, along with Melissa Davies Oliveck, one of the women who featured in the film, and Oxfam GB's chief executive, Barbara Stocking. And as Lucy Siegle put it herself, the films demonstrate why "it's absolutely necessary for us all to become engaged with climate change".

If you didn't make it to the launch last night you can watch one of the films below, where Sahena Begum from Bangladesh tells her story - though it's worth heading across to oxfam.org.uk/sisters to watch the full, high-quality version as the subtitles are a bit small on this page.

Four women and the fight against climate change

2008-06-05T09:40:03Z

As obvious as it sounds, climate change affects everybody. That means women, men, children - and all those polar bears you've seen on the TV. We're all in this together.

But climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on people in developing countries, and it's hitting women hardest.

Poor people rely more on natural resources, are more vulnerable to disaster and have fewer ways to protect themselves. And because women tend to do the jobs that are most affected by changes in weather, they are feeling the greatest pressure.

Climate change is exasperating existing inequalities - pushing the gap between men and women even wider.

It's not the easiest idea to understand, so to help explain the issue yesterday Oxfam launched four short films about women and the fight against climate change.

We've called the films Sisters on the Planet, and they were published to coincide with World Environment Day, which took place around the world yesterday.

The films bring together the stories of Martina, Muriel, Sahena and Melissa - from Uganda, Brazil, Bangladesh and the UK respectively. Though each is experiencing climate change in a different way, and though they all come from seperate continents, they all believe that climate change is a problem that must not be ignored.

Spare a few minutes to watch the films - really sit back, get comfortable and take the stories in.

We're confident you'll be moved. That you'll become aware of the impact our changing climate is having on people's lives. And that you'll be inspired to join the fight against climate change too.

Martina Longom (foreground) joins women from Caicaoan village, Uganda, collecting water from the traditional water hole. Credit: Geoff Sayer/Oxfam

Huge campaign victory as cluster bomb ban agreed

2008-06-02T12:38:08Z

Last week in Dublin, more than 110 countries reached agreement on a groundbreaking treaty to ban cluster bombs.

Oxfam's head of arms control Anna Macdonald campaigned throughout the cluster munitions conference in Dublin where the agreeement was reached. Here, Anna shares her thoughts on the Treaty and it what means for ordinary people.

Cluster bombs are nasty, indiscriminate weapons. They disperse many small bomblets, over a wide area, making it impossible to pinpoint a target accurately, and like landmines, they often stay unexploded on the ground for years, even decades after.

Children are especially vulnerable, as naturally curious; they are attracted to their bright colour and interesting shape.

On 29 May, after two intense weeks of negotiations in Dublin, 100 countries have put aside their differences, and agreed a Treaty that will ban all cluster bombs from now on.

And that's not all. Countries will have to destroy all their stockpiles of cluster bombs within 8 years, take action to clear cluster contaminated areas, and to provide wide-ranging assistance to victims.

Not bad for a two week conference.

The UK turned up trumps too. After months of claiming they needed to hang on to certain essential types of weapons, and have a transition period in which to get rid of others, the Prime Minister announced this week that the UK would immediately get rid of all its cluster bombs, and work for the strongest possible Treaty.

It had a big effect. The last days of the conference were incredibly exciting. Government after government lined up to declare their support for the Treaty. Those who had fought for changes to the text on all sides compromised, and suddenly we were there.

And the US, the world's biggest cluster bomb user? They weren't there. And neither were Russia or China. But we're not too worried about this.

The political message that such a strong treaty sends out means that it will be very hard for any governments to use cluster bombs in the future. The same thing happened in 1997, when the US did not sign on to Landmines Treaty, and yet has not used landmines since that time.

Of course this had not just happened in two weeks, campaigners have worked for 5 years to get to this point. Many cluster bomb survivors have been active campaigners, communicating their powerful stories direct to decision-makers.

Campaigners and diplomats are celebrating that common sense and basic humanity have won out over narrow political interests, and we have together achieved a Treaty that will save thousands of lives in the future.

Tun Channereth (pictured far right), from Cambodia, celebrates with other cluster bombs survivors and campaigners as the Treaty to ban cluster bombs is announced in Dublin.

A story of big hair, disco dancing, and broken promises

2008-05-21T13:18:50Z

Oxfam campaigners make sure health ministers 'feel the heat' at the UN Health Assembly. Credit: Oxfam.

Remember 1978?

Cast your mind back to a time when disco sales were through the roof, Argentina won the World Cup, Lyrca was well and truly 'in', and people flocked to see Superman at the cinema.

It was a great year.

But in-between the big hairstyles and the flares, something else happened.

Exactly thirty years ago, health ministers from 134 countries came together and made a promise to deliver health care for all by the year 2000.

It was ground-breaking. The leaders of some of the richest nations in the world were working together for the better. And the realisation that with a bit of will power they could help create a world where all people are able to afford the drugs and treatment they need, and where no one dies from entirely preventable diseases like malaria or tuberculosis.

However, the sad reality is that three decades on from when these promises were first made, millions of people are still missing out.

Every minute, a woman with no medical care dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Every day, 4,000 children die of diarrhoea caused by dirty water.

It is outrageous that this is still allowed happen when the world has the resources and the money to stop it.

This week, as the World Health Assembly meets at the United Nations in Geneva, Oxfam is there - reminding health ministers of the promises they made all those years ago.

We've been talking with pharmaceutical companies, governments, and civil society about what needs to be done so everyone has access to the medicines they need.

We've been pushing home the need for free public health care, and not private care services, which are often unavailable or priced out of reach for most people in poor countries.

Along with Save the Children, World Vision, Action for Global Health and Global Movement for Children, we've been pushing for health ministers to reaffirm their commitments thirty years on by asking them to sign a statement making action on health a priority for 2008.

And in-between the meetings, the conferences, the debates, and the lobbying, Oxfam campaigners have even been protesting in full 70's style, saying that "it was wrong then" and "that it's still wrong now" that millions of the world's poorest people are denied basic health care.

Food, not fuel

2008-05-21T09:45:14Z

A big thanks to those of you that took our bio-fuels action last month.

Together with our other CAFOD, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and RSPB we sent over 10,000 emails to Secretary of State Ruth Kelly and the fantastic news is that Government is now reviewing its policy.

Though we're keeping our fingers crossed that the UK Government are starting to see sense, we now have to set our sights on proposals for similar legislation at European level.

The European Union is proposing to introduce legislation that will mean all European member states will have to include 10 per cent bio-fuels in their transport fuels by 2020.

Basically, this would mean that even if the Government do change the UK policy, it'd be effectively wiped out if the EU manages to introduce the higher target.

This would spell disaster for poor people in developing countries, who are having their land seized, being subjected to labour exploitation and face spiralling food prices as a result of the scramble for bio-fuels.

The cost of food is soaring across the globe and currently sits at record levels.

For poor people, who typically spend between 50-80 per cent of their income on food, an increase in prices could be devastating.

At the current rate, 600 million people will be hungry by 2020 - that's ten times the population of the UK.

We've already seen food riots in Mexico, Egypt, Tanzania and Senegal - and they're not alone.

The increasing demand for bio-fuels, set in large part by targets from rich countries, is a major contributing driver to increasing food prices. Food is quite literally being turned into fuel.

Oxfam thinks this is madness. And we are calling on the EU to drop the bio-fuel targets it wants to include in new laws.

The UK Government still has an important role to play - we'll be watching the outcomes of its current review closely and keeping up the pressure to amend its own bio-fuels policy.

People power prevails in the Philippines

2008-05-15T18:39:43Z

Some of the issues Oxfam works on aren't that simple. But as things go, access to cheap medicines is a fairly simple one - no one should have to make a choice between putting food on the table and getting treatment from illness.

Unfortunately, in the poorest countries, vital drugs are often priced out of reach - effectively making clinics and hospitals useless, as people can't afford to pay for medicines.

But people are fighting back, and winning.

You might remember that last year, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis launched a legal battle to challenge India's right to produce cheap, generic versions of medicines - which millions of poor people worldwide depend on.

Half a million people - including 80,000 Oxfam supporters - voiced their opposition. And it worked - India won the legal battle, stood firm, and put patients before profits.

And it's happened again in the Philippines.

Last week a new law was passed which will allow 26 million people - 30% of the population - to access affordable medicines.

The law was passed because hundreds of those most affected by the high price of medicines - people like Lola Eufemia and Lolo Jose, in the photo below - stood up and spoke out.

For over two years they defied their age, the elements, and sometimes even hunger to stage numerous demonstrations and monitored the bill as it passed through the Filipino Congress.

Their efforts, supported by Oxfam and other local partners, captured the public imagination and galvanised public support.

The tide is turning, but there is still much more to do - 2 billion people still go without access to medicines - but the victory in the Philippines and in India sends an important message that developing countries can and will fight for their right to protect public health, and win.

And, it is yet another example that campaigning works and that when we speak out, change happens. Add your voice by signing the '6 million more' pledge and join a growing global movement demanding health and education for all.

Last week campaigners in the Philippines successfully won their battle for affordable medicines. Credit: Gerry Carreon

Teachers and pupils set World Record

2008-05-08T10:53:33Z

We're over the moon to report that two weeks ago, 7.5 million children and adults in more than 100 countries set a new World Record by taking part in the 'World's Biggest Lesson'.

As we reported on our blog in the run up to the event, the day was held to remind world leaders that 72 million children are denied a basic education.

We'd like to say a huge thank you to all the teachers and pupils who took part, especially to the hundreds of schools and an estimated quarter of a million children and adults in the UK.

To give you an idea of what went on in schools in the UK, we've posted some photos below, but there are many more over on Flickr.

And though the World's Biggest Lesson may be over for this year, there's still plenty of time to get involved with the campaign and keep the pressure on in the run up this year's G8 summit, where world leaders will continue to discuss progress on making education for all a reality.

You can still order a free schools pack with everything you need to take part, and help make sure world leaders keep their promises to provide primary education to all children by 2015.

A pupil from Ysgol Rhud y Grug School in Wales talks to a visitor from Christian Aid India.

Stephen Crabb MP visits a school in his constituency in Pembrokeshire. During the week there were also important events at the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament.

G8 campaigning off to early start

2008-05-06T18:32:46Z

In July this year, the leaders of the world's eight most most industrialised countries (commonly known as the G8) will come together for their annual summit, which will this year be held in Japan.

It's a couple of months away yet, but we've already started to ramp up the pressure and have just this week unveiled a super newfangled G8 action, which you can use to tell the G8 to take Action Now to end poverty and inequality.

As it uses bright and bold colours, and contains animation, it looks a bit different to the actions we normally have on our website, and (even we say so ourselves) we think it's pretty snazzy.

But the difference is not just skin deep. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the action can be added to other websites. There's another example on the whiteband website.

We've gone to all this effort to create something different because decisions made by the G8 have a huge impact.

During the 2005 summit, debt cancellation and aid increases were agreed for some of the world's poorest countries.

Zambia was one of the countries that benefited. They received debt cancellation, and since then the Zambian government has been able to introduce free health care for people in rural areas - scrapping fees that once stopped millions getting care they needed.

However, the last two year's summits have been rather more underwhelming, despite that fact that great things were promised.

At this year's summit we're campaigning for the G8 leaders to pull their socks up and show us what they're really capable of.

Over the next two months running up to the summit, we're hoping that the action will be hosted on more and more websites, that it will spread across the tentacles of the web, and that we'll create one deafening global call for world leaders to act.

(Ethical) shop 'til ya drop

2008-04-21T11:54:21Z

Ok, let's be honest. Making decisions about what we buy can be tough. It's difficult to resist that new pair of shoes, that swanky new gadget, or that plasma TV with a screen the size of a wall - even though you probably don't need the thing in the first place. Problem is, as we all probably know deep down but find it difficult to admit, there are moral and environmental implications tied to every purchase. The dilemma. What do we do when we're thinking about buying stuff? Spend hours researching? Try to work out whether that t-shirt was made in a factory where workers get decent wages, are entitled to join trade unions, and where working practices are monitored by an independent NGO? Argh! It's ethics overload! Luckily, help is at hand. (Well, at least if you can get to Bristol, that is). Staff at Oxfam's South West office have been beavering away the last few weeks helping to put on Ethical Expo 08, the consumer show with a difference. Organised alongside friends from Christian Aid and the Fairtrade Foundation, Ethical Expo - which will take will take place at Castle Park in central Bristol on 9 and 10 May - will give visitors the chance to discover and explore how what we buy and how we live our lives has an impact on people and the environment. It's all about how your purse (or wallet, if that's more your style) can be used to do positive things. It's free entry too, so with more than 60 trade stalls, a food hall, workshops, and even an ethical fashion show, you'd be daft not to go along. At the Oxfam stall we'll 're-working' clothes into fab fashion creations with local outfit Urban Threads. Alternatively, if you can't make it, but you're still interested in finding out how to consume more ethically, there's still time to take part in our Swap It parties, which are taking place around the country this week. If you've not come across them on Oxfam's website already, a 'Swap It' is a party based on a simple concept: people bring stuff, swap stuff, and then take the surplus to their Oxfam shop. And with almost 250 people signed up to host a Swap It this weekend, our planet can (at least temporarily) let out a little sigh of relief.

Countdown to World's Biggest Lesson

2008-04-16T23:37:08Z

Though it is generally accepted that lower class sizes are better, this rule-of-thumb will be thrown out of the window for one day only next week, when teachers and school children around the world come together to attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the biggest lesson... EVER!

The World's Biggest Lesson will take place on 23 April, and it is hoped that hundreds of thousands of school children and teachers, in no fewer than 120 countries, will take part.

The record attempt forms part of the Global Campaign for Education, and is being organised in the UK by the Send My Friend to School campaign (Oxfam is a member organisation), which sets out to remind world leaders that 72 million children are denied a basic education.

Without education, it's near impossible for poor people to begin to learn the skills they need to work themselves out of poverty.

Imagine if you couldn't read or write. Would it hold you back?

Helping make sure that children and adults have access to basic education is a huge part of Oxfam's work. But we don't just help build schools and pay for exercise books. As part of our Health and Education For All campaign, Oxfam is calling for Governments and institutions to provide the two million extra teachers the world needs to make education for all a reality.

In the run up to the record attempt next week, pupils Diana and Mustafa, pictured below and from Bowes Primary School in Enfield, went to Downing Street last month, where they asked Gordon Brown to support the campaign.

The Prime Minister pledged to redouble his efforts to get the remaining 72 million children into school by 2015 and to improve their quality of learning.

If you're a teacher or a pupil, there are some freebie lesson plans and instructions on how to take part in the day on the Send My Friend website.

Or, if you're not a teacher, why not think of a friend who is, and then tap them out an email to tell them about what's happening. It shouldn't be a difficult sell - most teachers are already up to their eyeballs in work, so some free lesson plans will probably come as a welcome relief.

Children from Bowes Primary School in Enfield ask Gordon Brown to "send my friend to school". Credit: David Rose/ActionAid

Bonkers bio-fuels law launched today

2008-04-15T10:38:37Z

So it's official. Starting today, thanks to some quite frankly daft work by the UK Government, a new law has come into place meaning that each time we visit the petrol station; we're all going to have no choice but to fill our cars with fuel that contains crops that are harming poor people.

"Eh?", you might ask yourself.

What's happened is that new legislation means fuel suppliers must meet targets for blending bio-fuels with petrol and diesel.

Made from plant products, bio-fuels have been championed for their potential to help tackle climate change.

But there's mounting evidence that bio-fuels are deepening poverty - poor people are being pushed off their land, are subjected to labour exploitation, and face spiralling food prices.

For the last few months, supporters of CAFOD, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB and Oxfam have all joined forces to demand that Ruth Kelly (the government minister responsible for overseeing the whole charade) sorts things out by introducing proper sustainability standards for bio-fuel production.

Almost 10,000 supporters across the coalition emailed or wrote to Ruth Kelly to ask her that this new law is postponed, but despite this the Government has still ploughed ahead. So, as we're sure you can imagine, with the laws coming into effect today, we're not particularly impressed.

In an attempt to get the Government to see sense, campaigners headed down to the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

They were featured on Channel 4 news last night in a report which detailed that even the Government's own research has found that if bio-fuel production increases in Columbia it may well lead to "forced evictions, land grabs, pollution and destruction of forests".

Thanks to some jiggery pokery, we've managed to import the clip from the Channel 4 website into our blog. Though if you've read this far in this article you'll already know the news isn't good, it's still worth a watch just to see some campaigners dressed up as giant ears of corn.

We need a Bill with balls

2008-04-14T18:43:53Z

Just this weekend our friends over at ICount released an eye-watering video on their website. It's a tragic story about a man named Bill, who suffers a rather unfortunate run of groin-related incidents.

As you can see in the film, this Bill's got no balls, and there's little we can do about it. However, there's another Bill out there we're interested in - the Climate Change Bill - which is due to be voted on in Parliament this summer.

The Climate Change Bill is a potentially ground-breaking piece of legislation to set binding targets to reduce the UK's CO2 emissions. The Bill must include 80 per cent reductions in emission by 2050 if we are to avoid a climate catastrophe.

Problem is that Government have only committed to 60 per cent cuts so far. A fine start, but that 20 per cent gap could be the difference between climate bliss and climate chaos.

ICount have been piling the pressure on MPs during their 'week of action' earlier this month.

The hard work is starting to pay off too as the Government have already conceded to one of ICount's three key demands to include annual milestones in the Bill.

Still though, Government are yet to commit to the cuts needed, so we need to keep on the pressure for a Bill with guts. A Bill with attitude, with chutzpah. A Bill that's got balls, you might say.

You can give your own MP a squeeze, by heading over to the ICount website (but make sure you register first so they can find out who your MP is).

When is a promise not a promise?

2008-04-08T16:59:19Z

We all break promises every now and then. There can't be that many of us out there who've promised to show up for a friend's birthday, or a get-together with the grandparents, knowing full-well we had no intention of going in the first place. Politicians are no exception. They're well-known for exaggerating the possible and not keeping to promises they made while they were campaigning to get voted in. A little slip here and there, perhaps that can be forgiven. But promising to boost aid to developing countries and then only providing a fraction of it? Well, that's a bit different. These are promises that can be the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, breaking promises is something that the G8 have become remarkably good at. In 2005, people around the world stood up and spoke out by taking part in Make Poverty History. It was a landmark year for anti-poverty campaigning, with more than 43 million people taking part by wearing white bands, going to concerts and by protesting. The G8 world leaders listened and promised to boost aid to developing countries by US$50 billion by 2010. Thing is, most G8 governments are far from sticking to their words. If the G8 countries carry on as they are, they're going to miss the target by about $30 billion. Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. have increased aid to Africa by less than half of the amount needed. That money could pay for more doctors, nurses and teachers. It could help save 5 million lives. And it's not a case of rich countries not being able to afford it either. Current aid levels are just 0.28 per cent of the combined income of rich countries. That's less than one tenth of global military spending. And only half the proportion of their income that was given as aid to poor countries in 1963. Last week, the G8 leaders met in Tokyo at a Development Ministers' meeting and reaffirmed their aid promises. But it's not enough for them to simply make more promises if they're just going to break them again. There needs to be an emergency plan and a clear timetable of how they are going to get back on track. You can keep the pressure, and help make sure they get back on track, by signing our Six Million More pledge, and demanding a world where everyone has access to free health care and education.