Why I joined Oxfams National Youth Board and the exciting things we get up to...

Why I joined the Oxfam National Youth Board

Since September 2011, I've been lucky enough to be involved with the Oxfam National Youth Board, which gives young people between the ages of 18-25 the chance to feed into Oxfam's strategic plans. Also, to offer their perspective on how Oxfam should engage with young people and of course it allows young people a remarkable opportunity to get involved in some brilliant campaigning.

This year as part of our role on the National Youth Board we are looking at doing monthly blogs on our Oxfam experiences, whether that be on campaigns we've been running, events we've been too, or just why we're involved with Oxfam. So I am going to start things of just by explaining why I'm passionate about Oxfam and why I applied to be on the National Youth Board.

My interest in Oxfam stems from my passion for economic justice. After spending four months volunteering in South Africa five years ago I started to see how economic hardship can lead to injustice in all areas of life, which prompted me to get involved in campaigning on these issues. Since then my interest in economic justice has only intensified, particularly in the area of corporate social responsibility.

During my time at university I became involved in the Environment and Fair-Trade Team, focusing particularly on educating students about how the decision we make in our daily lives often help to maintain a system in which people live in poverty. During this time I was also campaigning with the Amnesty International Society on both the Arms Trade Treaty (which Oxfam were also a part of) and the Demand Dignity campaign - which shares similar themes with a number of Oxfam campaigns, including land grabs.  Finally in my third year I chose to do my dissertation on our obligations to assist people living in absolute poverty, focusing particularly on how those in more affluent nations could successfully help to make lasting sustainable economic change for those living below the poverty line - especially through lobbying corporations and governments to become more ethical with their business dealings.

After leaving university I didn't want to stop campaigning on these issues, especially because I feel so strongly about them. This is what first appealed to me about Oxfam's National Youth Board. Being involved in the National Youth Board has not only helped me to stand up for economic justice and to draw on the skills I obtained whilst studying, but it has also offered me the chance to meet liked minded people and to see the inner workings of Oxfam and to do some creative campaigning. I've made some brilliant friends, had real opportunities to feedback on Oxfam's work and not to mention been able to dress as a chilli whilst campaigning for GROW at Coldplay's Manchester gig in June 2012 - who could ask for more?

Looking ahead to 2013, I am excited to see what we are going to do together as a board. We're looking forward to focusing more on campaigning, social media, and communications - whilst still offering our views on how Oxfam can broaden its appeal to young people. So stay tuned and make sure you read next month's blog to find out more about Oxfam's National Youth Board as a whole and the remarkable young people who I get to work with - because trust me, they're all incredible!

Blog is authored by Oxfam National Youth Board member Lizzy Norman - who #LovesFoodHatesInjustice