Christmas record shop for Oxfam! Just a quickie about a great Christmas event coming up soon... DJ/music agency Film Noir and Oxfam are hosting a Christmas record shop at 93 Feet East, Brick lane, London on Sunday 11 December. It's the perfect opportunity to buy some amazing Christmas gifts and listen to some of London's best known DJs, whilst supporting Oxfam at the same time. The event will be held during the Brick Lane Sunday market from 4.00 pm to 10.00 pm. More info about the event here >> posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Ethical tourism: two events to look out for There has been lots of stuff in the papers over the past few months about how we should travel more responsibly, so we thought you might like to hear about a couple of events coming up. First up, on Tuesday 6 December, seasoned explorers Benedict Allen and Jim McNeill will be speaking at the Royal Geographical Society in London. As well as their own personal achievements, they will discuss conservation issues and new priorities arising as tourists seek out ever more remote destinations for travel. Secondly, on 10-11 December, Tourism Concern will be hosting a free two-day workshop in London about responsible tourism, called "Avoid guilt trips: exploring the issues of exploring the world". The first day will ask the interesting question: are gap year volunteers the new face of colonialism? posted at 11:52 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Exhibition of photography to mark World AIDS Day Just a quickie - if you're in or near Oxford this week, there's a great photo exhibition from photographers all over Europe, professional and amateur, on the theme of AIDS and Hope. The One Vision Exhibition will be staged in the Ashmolean Cafe, Oxford on Wednesday 30 November, the eve of World AIDS Day. Tickets are £2.50 and there will be a talk about AIDS orphans and an auction of photographs and other items, sponsored by Bonhams. All profits will go towards Cecily's Fund and its work in Zambia. And here's a bit of background information from the people at Cecily's Fund: "Zambia is one of the worst-hit countries in the world by AIDS. Largely as a result of the pandemic, the life expectancy in the country is the world's lowest- a mere 33 years. "It is not only those who are infected who have suffered. The pandemic has left a generation of orphans in its wake, many of whom can not access their basic rights. Cecily's Fund aims to enable 10,000 of these children to go to school. We focus on education because we believe it is crucial in ensuring these children can have a better future and can learn to avoid AIDS themselves." posted at 5:54 PM | Permalink 0 comments

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It marks the start of 16 days of action against gender violence around the world. As the Unifem website puts it: "Violence against women is the most pervasive violation of human rights, occurring every day, in every country and every region, regardless of income or level of development. On 25 November people around the world are coming together to condemn this universal crime against women." The 16 days of action is an international campaign that started in 1991. Participants chose the 16 days leading up to 10 December, as that marks International Human Rights Day, to symbolically link violence against women and human rights. Find out how you can get involved with the campaign on the Centre for Women's Global Leadership website. You can also take action today, right now. Sign up to the Women Under Fire petition, part of the Control Arms campaign against the proliferation and misuse of small arms and deep-rooted discrimination against women. As the campaign website says: "Armed violence against women is not inevitable. In many countries women have become powerful forces for peace and human rights in their communities. Their actions show how real change can be effected and women's lives made safer." For more info, have a look at the information on gender equality on the main Oxfam website. You should also have a look at Oxfam's campaign to end violence against women in South Asia, as well as Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign. Sign the Women Under Fire petition now >> posted at 11:26 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Feeder support Oxfam on forthcoming tour Guitar legends and all-round great blokes Feeder are getting right behind Oxfam and Make Trade Fair on their forthcoming UK tour. They're giving us their full support and helping us to put pressure on MPs in the run up to the WTO talks in December. A statement from the band said: "In December world leaders are to once again meet at the World Trade Organisation summit in Hong Kong to set the rules for trade for the years to come. Their decisions have the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty, but the opportunity is being lost. Grant, Mark and Taka are behind it. You could be too." And that's not all: fresh from their own tour special guests Goldie Lookin Chain will provide the support. If you're going along, look out for us. We'll be busy spreading the word about Oxfam and collecting signatures for the Big Noise Petition. Our very own cuddly intern Adam Askew is co-ordinating our presence on the tour, and will be collecting quotes and exclusive pics for Generation Why. Tour dates Mon 28 November Doncaster Tue 29 November Blackpool Thu 1 December Cardiff Fri 2 December Brighton Sun 4 December Birmingham Mon 5 December London Tue 6 December London Tickets are available here (among other places) or, if you're feeling lucky, XFM is giving away a stack of tickets for the Hammersmith Apollo gig on Tuesday 6 December... posted at 10:33 AM | Permalink 2 comments

Update on the West Africa food crisis Earlier this year, severe drought - combined with a locust invasion in 2004 - plunged huge areas of West Africa into a food crisis, in particular Niger, Mali and Mauritania. Oxfam has been there from the outset, reaching people across the region. The work has been incredibly varied, including vouncher-for-work schemes, destocking and veterinary services. The recent harvest has meant the worst is over for the year, but, as the latest update shows, the situation is a complicated one. Ultimately the real cause of the crisis is chronic poverty. As the update explains: "The most marginalised people... have become locked into a cycle of poverty. Every day is a struggle for survival and they are extremely vulnerable to any change in their economic or physical environment." More about the crisis and Oxfam's response >> posted at 1:21 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Fighting those annoying myths about Oxfam Have you ever been cornered at a party by the know-all who is convinced that "Oxfam spends all its funds on admin", or sat next to the bloke in the pub who tells you not to give money to support Oxfam's work in Africa because "all African leaders are corrupt". If so, you might be interested in this cool new feature on the main Oxfam website, which aims to rid the world of ten annoying myths about Oxfam. It has everything you'll need to de-bunk those myths, from "Oxfam's director earns a small fortune" to "Oxfam threw our tsunami cash down the toilet". So read up on it now - you need never be stuck for words down the pub again... posted at 3:10 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Climate change will hit least polluting countries hardest... Just been reading stuff on The Guardian website about climate change, and found this interesting (but slightly depressing) article. It shows how climate change - which is driven by pollution generated by rich countries - will impact most heavily on the world's poorest countries. According to a recent report, the least wealthy countries with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions are the most vulnerable. As the article says, "they can expect a doubling of deaths from malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and malnutrition by 2030 as a result of climate change". This comes as the Bristih government prepares to "to open the door for other nations to abandon setting compulsory targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions", as The Observer reported yesterday. Take action on climate change now >> posted at 11:10 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Make Poverty History: the (brilliant) story so far As 2005 draws to a wintry close, and we build up to the WTO meeting in December (as well as White Band Day 3), we thought it would be great to look back at what Make Poverty History has already achieved this year. OK, so let's blind you with some magnificent statistics. The Make Poverty History coalition now represents 540 organisations, with a combined membership of a whopping 15 million people. A quite unbelievable 10 million white bands have been sold, and the Make Poverty History website has received 22 million visits - the highest for any NGO. That's not all - 100,000s of people have taken further action to put pressure on world leaders and organisations to make poverty history. Over 444,000 e-mails have been sent to Tony Blair, asking him to put an end to global poverty. What's more, well over 200,000 online votes have been cast for trade justice, a significant part of the 650,000 votes to date. And when you combine all this with the 20,000 people who braved the cold back in February to hear Nelson Mandela launch the campaign, the 25,000 who stayed up all night for trade justice in April and the 225,000 who took part in the Edinburgh rally before the G8 summit, not forgetting the 8,000 who got drenched lobbying their MP for trade justice the other week, and you've got yourself a pretty amazing year. No doubt about it, all this popular action has really helped to raise awareness of the issues, and focus the minds of the world's leaders on what they should be doing about global poverty. The challenge now is to make sure they deliver. Find what you can do to keep the pressure on and support White Band Day 3 here >> posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Have your say on... trade justice! After a great response to the Make Poverty History debate, when loads of you sent in your thoughts and ideas, we're opening up another debate on Generation Why. Ahead of the WTO talks in early December, we want your thoughts (up to 200 words) on the issues of trade and the Make Trade Fair campaign. What does it mean to you? Is it something you feel passionate about? Have you been involved in the campaign? What message would you send to world leaders meeting in Hong Kong? E-mail your thoughts to generationwhy@oxfam.org.uk, or add a comment below... posted at 12:18 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Interesting stuff about the WTO... Hey there, just a quick blog. Been reading a lot in the papers and online about the WTO lately, and the need for the rich world to get rid of its agricultural subsidies, especially after Tony Blair's speech the other day. First up, there was the report from Oxfam, highlighting that the trade talks in Hong Kong could actually make Africa worse off, despite Blair calling this the 'year of Africa'. There was an interesting leader comment on this in The Guardian. Basically, the WTO summit in Hong Kong needs to make real cuts in agricultural subsidies, provide greater access to rich country markets for poor farmers and allow poor countries to decide their own trade policies, or it could mean a bitterly disappointing end to 2005. Found a cool little blog about all of this, if you're interested - it's been set up by The Guardian to kick out all agricultural subsidies. Appropriately enough, it's called KickAAS (Kick All Agricultural Subsidies). Want to do something about this? Support Make Trade Fair >> Show your support for poor countries >> Write to the EU and US >> posted at 8:45 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Take action on climate change Yesterday Greenpeace dumped five tonnes of coal at the entrance to Downing Street, protesting about Tony Blair's failure to tackle global warming. After promises at the G8 to tackle climate change head on, the Prime Minister has backed out of setting legally binding targets, saying recently that "no country will want to sacrifice it's economy". Speaking at the Shared Planet student conference this weekend, Caroline Lucas, MEP for the Green Party said that, to achieve the goal of a 60 per cent cut by 2015, there would need to be a revolution in economy, welfare and consumerism. So what's the answer? Governments need targets We need to keep the pressure on our leaders to state their support and place legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gases. Carbon cards Domestic carbon rationing has been put forward as one of the key factors in tackling climate change. It has been suggested as a more effective tactic in cutting carbon emissions than 'green taxes'. The idea is that everyone has a credit card-style 'carbon card' and uses it to get their 'ration' of carbon, that way the amount we are polluting can be controlled and carbon emissions would drop. No to nuclear Nuclear power definitely doesn't offer an alternative solution to climate change. Wind, solar and tidal energies offer cleaner alternatives as well as making our lives more energy efficient. Positive visions of a sustainable future We need to avoid nightmare, apocalyptic images of climate change. They make the task seem too steep when really we can do something about it. Take action on Climate Change >> posted at 11:48 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Essential viewing: The Constant Gardener If you're planning a trip to the cinema this week, you should definitely check out the new film from City of God director Fernando Meirelles, The Constant Gardener. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes and adapted from the novel by John le Carré, highlights the issue of corporate social responsibility and the huge profits made by the pharmaceutical industry. Whilst the film is pure fiction, the reality is that more than two billion people in developing countries have no regular access to the drugs they need. Companies can set these extremely high prices because global trade rules mean every country has to grant 20-year patent protection on new medicines. Patents give companies the exclusive rights to make, use and sell the patented product. These rules stop competition from manufacturers who could otherwise produce cheap copies of the drug, called generics. Oxfam is calling for the World Trade Organisation to reform its rules so that poor country governments have the right to obtain the cheapest possible life-saving medicines, without facing the threats of legal challenges or trade sanctions. We're also calling for pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline to fully support these reforms. More info on the Make Trade Fair website >> Channel 4 review of The Constant Gardener >> Support the Make Trade Fair campaign >> Have you seen the film? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts below... posted at 1:14 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Get Bush to support a Global Emergency Fund Oxfam America is targeting President Bush, asking him to support the UN's Global Emergency Fund. If the fund takes off it could save millions of people, and make sure emergencies are met with fast, effective and equal responses. The US is one of six governments that Oxfam International is putting pressure on. Take action on this now - follow this link. posted at 1:35 PM | Permalink 1 comments

Glasto Make Poverty History moment wins award! The amazing moment at Glastonbury, where thousands of festival go-ers linked hands to protest against global poverty, has won 'Best festival moment' in Virtual Festivals' 2005 Festival Awards. The awards received over 30,000 votes from festival fans, so for the Make Poverty History moment to win proves that it had a huge impact, and shows that the campaign is still going strong. As Glastonbury's Emily Eavis said: "It was an incredible moment and part of the integrity of this year's Glastonbury. It's important that it's acknowledged that way but also that it's seen as a beginning and not an end to the campaign". Carry on campaigning with White Band Day 3 on Saturday 10 December. posted at 10:25 AM | Permalink 0 comments

Justice Junction, Clapham Grand, 13 November In the run up to World Band Day 3 in December, Christian Aid is putting on a great night in London this Sunday (13 November). Held at the Clapham Grand, 'Justice Junction' features DJs such as DJ El Nino, Steve and Four Kornerz. And if that's not enough there are going to be loads of fair trade freebies too. Tickets are £8.50 in advance and £10 on the door. Click here for more info. posted at 2:21 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Survey shows that more young people are giving to charity A new survey of young people by the research company TGI shows that the impact of campaigns such as the Tsunami appeal and Live8 appears to have filtered through to the younger generation. 5 million cash donations from young people The last five years has seen an increase of 12% in the number of 11-19-year-olds giving to charity. Five million of them donated cash last year and celebrity endorsement of the good causes that were supported may well have played a key role. Coldplay & U2 fans are more likely to have pledged money to overseas relief charities. The impact of celebrities associating themselves with charities seems to have been successful. For example, fans of U2 are 59% more likely than the average 11-19-year-old to have pledged money to overseas relief charities. Coldplay fans were also 59% more likely than the average 11-19-year-old to have done this, Travis fans are 44% more likely. In contrast, 50 Cent's following are 15% less likely to have donated to overseas relief in the past year. Have you donated any cash (or time) to charity this year? What prompted you? Do you think celebrity endorsement helps? Let us know by commenting below. posted at 12:08 PM | Permalink 3 comments

French farmers love subsidies If you've seen our rather nifty 'subsidies counter' on the site lately, as well as our beautiful 'Cows love subsidies' e-card, you might be interested in a news snippet we've just seen on the main Oxfam site. French newspaper La Tribune has published figures that show the biggest French farming businesses swallow up the vast majority of its EU agricultural subsidies. The new figures show that France's biggest 12 recipients each get more than 500,000 Euros a year in subsidies alone. The biggest two get 1.7 million Euros a year between them. And that's a staggering amount, by anyone's reckoning. France is one of the big supporters of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which helps to keep these subsidies in place. As an Oxfam spokesperson says: "This gives a lie to the French argument that it uses EU subsidies to support its small farmers... The CAP is a gravy train for Europe's biggest, richest farmers." 'Lid comes off French farm subsidies' >> Send a 'Cows love subsidies' e-card >> posted at 1:11 PM | Permalink 0 comments

South Asia Relief concert - tomorrow What are you doing this bonfire night? There are still tickets left for the South Asia Relief Concert at Wembley tomorrow night. So if loud bangs and sparklers frighten you but you're too scared to tell your mates, get them to go down to this gig. It's going to be great with some brilliant artists including Ali Azmat, who is set to blow the audience away with one of his renowned live performances. Tickets are £15 and all proceeds go to the Disasters Emergency Committee. posted at 3:36 PM | Permalink 0 comments

Over 8,000 lobby their MPs for trade justice The Generation Why team were proudly strutting their stuff on London's Embankment yesterday - with the help of very fetching yellow jackets - stewarding for the trade justice lobby. Over 8,000 people from around the country came together to lobby their MPs for trade justice. The line of lobbyists stretched from the Houses of Parliament, across the Lambeth Bridge and along the other side of the river. 100s of MPs (over half of Parliament) met their constituents - either inside, or outside via rickshaw... A planned 'moment' at one a clock got slightly confused due to Big Ben's bells having a break - though parts of the line still took up the one minute silence and raised something white to the air. Although the lobby wasn't covered in the news yesterday evening (something to do with some chap called "Blunkett"), it still showed that solidarity is strong. People are prepared to stand in the rain for hours to fight for what they believe in and politicians are actually listening. And with the World Trade Organisation conference coming up in December, it's more important than ever. Find out more about Make Trade Fair here. Did you go to the lobby? Did you meet your MP? Have your say below posted at 1:57 PM | Permalink 1 comments

Lobby of Parliament - tomorrow! Everyone at GWhy HQ is getting very excited about the MASSIVE lobby of Parliament tomorrow, when 1,000s of people will come to Westminster to ask their MPs for trade justice ahead of the WTO meeting in December in Hong Kong. In case you weren't sure, a mass lobby is basically when lots of people go to parliament to raise the same concern with their MP at the same time. And I've just found out that the lobby tomorrow is set to be the biggest this year - if you're heading down there, we'll be helping out with the stewarding, so be sure to say hello! If you want to find out more, everything you'll ever need to know about the lobby is on the Trade Justice Movement website... posted at 11:09 AM | Permalink 0 comments