GEM Learning Space
You can start your global citizenship education today before you engage with our GEM workshops.
We'll guide through a step-by-step introduction to the GEM learning experience, helping you understand how small actions, big ideas and collective voices can create lasting change. Oxfam is on a mission to build a future free from poverty, a world where everyone has equal rights, opportunities and the power to shape their own lives.
Every story, video and reflection you will explore aligns with the Dochas Guide to Ethical communications, meaning that everything you see shared respects the dignity, truth, and humanity of the people behind the stories.
Understanding Ethical Supply Chains & Consumerism
Did you know? Every product you buy, from a T-shirt to a chocolate bar, travels through many hands before it reaches you. This journey is called a supply chain.
It includes:
- Raw materials (cotton, cocoa, metal)
- Manufacturing (factories where items are made)
- Transportation (ships, trucks or planes)
- Retail (the shops or online stores where you buy)
Each link in this chain involves people, places and processes, and not all are treated equally.
An ethical supply chain ensures that everyone involved is treated fairly and that the planet is not harmed in the process.
That means:
- Workers earn fair wages and work in safe conditions
- No child or forced labour is used
- Companies respect human rights
- Production minimizes harm to the environment
Fair trade is a global movement that ensures producers in developing countries get a fair deal. When you see the fairtrade logo it means the farmers and workers behind that product were paid fairly, their communities' benefit, and the environment is protected. Example of Fairtrade products include coffee, tea, cocoa, bananas, and sugar.
Every time you buy something, you are making a choice that shapes the world. Ethical consumerism means buying goods that:
- Are made under fair working conditions
- Are environmentally sustainable
- Support local or transparent businesses
You can also start to make a difference by asking:
- Who made this?
- Were they paid fairly?
- Is it harming the planet?
Reflection: Next time you go shopping, pick one item maybe a T-shirt, or a chocolate bar and read the label:
- Can you guess where it was made?
- Do you know who made it and under what conditions?
How Your Everyday Choices Shape the World
Did you know? What you buy, use, or throw away here can impact lives and environment thousands of miles away. That’s called interdependence. Why it matters? Because we are connected, the actions we take in one part of the world can affect people in another.
For example:
- When one country burns too much fuel, it adds to global warming that affects everyone.
- When farmers in Africa can sell their crops fairly, it helps reduce poverty and hunger globally.
- When people share ideas and cultures, it helps build peace and understanding. Interdependence teaches that we all share one planet and must work together to solve common problems like climate change, poverty, inequality.
Reflection: Pick one item you eat often like (rice or bread) and trace:
- Where it comes from
- Who grows it,
- Who sells it, and
- How it reaches you
Acting local, Thinking Global
Thinking globally, helps you connect local issues to a wider global system.
For example:
- A decision to buy fair-trade products supports farmers across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
- Advocating for gender equality in your town contributes to global efforts for women’s right.
- Climate change in Ireland connects to rising sea levels affecting communities in Pacific Islands. When you act locally with global awareness, you become part of a wider movement tackling inequality, climate change, injustice and poverty.
- Poverty & Inequality
- Gender justice
- Racism and discrimination
- Refugee and migrant right
- Many more...
Reflection: What is the issue you care about most and why does it matter to you personally? Take a minute to write it down in your phone notes or journal.
