Oxfam IrelandOxfam

Why We Campaign

CampaigningOxfam campaigns for changes that will make the world fairer, safer, and more just for its poorest people. Every day our work alongside people around the world tells us that change is urgently needed.

Here are a couple of examples. We work alongside small farmers trying to build a basic income by selling their crops for a fair price - so we know that until rich countries stop subsidising their own agriculture and dumping excess products on poor countries, the odds will always be stacked against those farmers and their families. Oxfam works directly in communities caught up in conflict - so we know that without tougher controls on the flow of arms and more respect for the rights of civilians, those conflicts will continue to inflict huge suffering and keep people in poverty.

Oxfam has been campaigning for change like this since the organisation was formed sixty years ago. But in the last few years we have been building our contribution as a truly global campaigning force, in a number of ways:

  • Increasing the numbers of individuals who work with Oxfam to campaign for change - currently more than 30,000 in Ireland, and many more worldwide;
  • Campaigning in alliance with other organisations and coalitions, so that our combined efforts have much greater impact;
  • Communicating with decision makers and the media in critical centres like New York, Brussels, Geneva and Washington;
  • Ensuring that the things we say and do in our campaigning are informed by the people we work with and the issues we face in our programme work around the world.

Campaigning is only worthwhile if it leads to real, long-term change. A newspaper headline, a big event, or a lobbying meeting are worth nothing unless change follows. Sometimes it's hard to measure the impact of campaigning, and we know that change can take a long time. But we know our efforts have made a difference in the campaigns to increase aid budgets, cut third world debt and have begun to change the rules of world trade. We believe that if we continue to campaign for change, alongside our emergency response to disasters and our long-term development work, Oxfam will play its part in the fight to overcome poverty and injustice.