Oxfam Ireland’s activities for 2010/2011 once again took place against the backdrop of the continued global financial crisis which clearly affects our ability to generate much-needed income here but, more importantly, has multiple implications for the poorest people in the world.
As well as the long-term development issues such as access to healthcare and education, developing local sustainable livelihoods and holding developing country governments to account, our partners have also had to deal with an unprecedented number of catastrophic natural disasters during this period.
Millions were still homeless and dependant on aid for day-to-day survival in the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake; there was the chronic humanitarian crisis of those displaced by conflict in the Eastern DRC and the flooding in Pakistan was the single biggest humanitarian catastrophe that the whole Oxfam family has ever had to face. Although we shouldn’t attribute the flooding exclusively to climate change, it is clear that we are very likely to see more and more climate-related disasters in the coming years.
During this period Oxfam highlighted the food crisis in East Africa; this subsequently developed into the worst food crisis of the 21st century and the terrible spectre of famine has again been foisted on the people of Somalia. I visited the region and saw the shocking situation people are facing. Our emergency appeal has been our most successful ever. The public have shown that, irrespective of the difficult circumstances many face at home, they appreciate the struggle to survive millions face overseas. Oxfam’s response expects to assist 3.5 million people.
It is a shocking indictment of the global food and resource distribution systems that, as the seven billionth citizen arrives on this planet we share, one billion people will go hungry tonight. Our GROW campaign addresses the many issues that contribute to this abomination and strives to facilitate the change required.
Oxfam, though our work with partners overseas, has contributed to the progress achieved. For instance, there have been improvements in ensuring the world’s poorest can have a sustainable livelihood; more women have been empowered in the decision-making process; there are now more children in education; and there is increased access to healthcare.
Oxfam’s campaigning work continues to drive positive change. I had the privilege of leading the global Oxfam delegation to the International Aids Conference during the year. It was clear how Oxfam’s collective campaigning can make a real difference by putting pressure on global leaders to abide by their commitments.
With growing public support despite the challenging times, Oxfam Ireland continued to grow our profile as a strong, proactive, responsible and effective development agency to the public throughout the island of Ireland. We also grew our position as a consistently reliable and trusted vocal campaigner and commentator on development issues. And, most importantly, we increased the impact of our work overseas, thanks to our loyal and committed supporters, who continued to support our life-saving efforts and our crucial campaigning work.
For every €1/£1 donated to our emergency appeals, at least 90% is spent on programme and advocacy work, with less than 10% spent on generating the income and administration costs.
In Oxfam, our vision is to beat global poverty and injustice. Together, let us continue to stand side-by-side with the poorest people in the world to make this vision a reality.
