Oxfam's Head of Public Policy and Advocacy Max Lawson and Dr. Stephen Davies, Education Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs recently went head-to-head for the latest Speakers' Corner Trust debate, entitled: Overseas Aid - What's The Point?
The frame of the debate is what is the justification for overseas aid - in good and bad economic times? Does experience not show that aid is misspent, encourages... Read more
When it comes to humanitarian crises, Oxfam specialises in the appropriate acronym of 'WASH' (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion ).
In 2011, hundreds of Oxfam staff delivered water and sanitation and other relief to millions of people afflicted by drought, floods or earthquakes. But in much of the world, a growing proportion of our humanitarian aid flows through local organisations, and this proportion is rising rapidly.... Read more
Last year countries in the Horn of Africa were hit by a major drought. Approximately 13 million people have been affected by the impacts of the drought, conflict, high food prices and chronic poverty. Peoples' lives in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti have been turned upside down and many thousands are struggling to recover, pushed into desperate poverty from which it will take decades to recover. No one knows exactly how many people... Read more
The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) was launched in 2008 in Accra and aims to make information about aid spending easier to find, use and compare. Using IATI, those involved in aid programmes will be able to better track what aid is being used for and what it is achieving.
Why are we publishing our data?
Oxfam is committed to being accountable to our key stakeholders, in particular people living in poverty.... Read more
In a remote village in Tharaka, in the Eastern province of Kenya, severe drought has caused subsistence crops to fail and food prices have skyrocketed, leaving the poorest families hungry.
Mbaka Kathiga is one of about 150 people in her village who is now receiving a monthly cash transfer, roughly the equivalent of US $20, enabling her to buy food on the local market.
Each month, a humanitarian agency automatically... Read more