Photo credit: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam
Impact stories
Sustainable Climate Fashion
Oxfam’s What She Makes campaign urges big clothing brands to pay the women who make our clothes a living wage, ending poverty wages and building a fairer fashion industry.
Together, we’re tackling poverty in the fashion industry.
The women who make our clothes don't earn enough to live on – making them poorer and less able to change their circumstances. Despite long hours away from their families, working full-time plus many hours of overtime, big clothing brands don't pay garment workers enough money to cover the basics of life: food and decent shelter.
Oxfam’s What She Makes campaign demands that big clothing brands pay the women who make our clothes a living wage. Together, with your voice demanding action, and Oxfam’s direct engagement with brands, we urge clothing companies to take the crucial next step in creating a fairer fashion industry.
Let’s continue to act in solidarity with Sabrina and the women who make our clothes.
Sabina [pictured], is a garment worker in Dhaka, Bangladesh with the What She Makes campaign. Sabrina has been working in garments for over 12 years now and is the sole provider for three children who live in the village.
She does shirt collar scissoring with a target of 2000 pieces in a day. With a wage of 9300 Bangladeshi Taka, shockingly, Sabina is left with nothing after sending money for the children and paying bills.
A living wage is not a luxury or a privilege. It's a universal human right for every working person around the world, including the women who make our clothes.
Strengthening climate resilience and protecting much-needed access to water
Boureima, using the borehole built in 2024. Photo credit: Mohamed Boureima Adamou/ Oxfam
Since this borehole has been operational, our families no longer have to travel long distances for water.”
Boureima, Resident of Boulsa, Burkina Faso, West Africa
In Boulsa, Burkina Faso, local organisations supported by Oxfam are working alongside community leaders like Boureima to strengthen climate resilience and protect access to water.
As growing numbers of displaced people arrive and pressure on local resources increases, Boureima’s community has responded – introducing more sustainable farming techniques and advocating for improved infrastructure.
In 2024, with support from these local communities, and partner BMZ, a new borehole was installed to replace an inadequate, overused well that had nearly dried up.
More about the partner, BMZ
The BMZ project is designed in synergy with other humanitarian and development actors to support the State's efforts to manage these multifaceted crises, particularly in the Central North region.
The project aims to reach 70,000 people, and it supports the most vulnerable local host communities. 70% are internally displaced persons, and 30% are young people, women, and households of people with specific needs (particularly people living with a disability).
Make a difference this September
A woman browses clothes at the Manchester Superstore in Manchester Fort Shopping Park. Photo credit: Fiona Finchett / Oxfam
Take part in Oxfam’s Second Hand September. Shop second hand to take a stance against fast fashion and dress for a fairer world.