Oxfam

From Wikinfo

Oxfam is an international agency that organizes famine relief and promotes development. It was founded in England in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief by Canon Theodore Richard Milford (1896-1987), with a mission to send food through the Allied blockade to the citizens of Nazi-occupied Greece. The first overseas branch of Oxfam was founded in Canada in 1963. The committee changed its name to its telegraph address, OXFAM, in 1965. Today, Oxfam operates a large number of charity shops on British high streets.

Though Oxfam's initial concern was the provision of food to relieve famine the charity has, over the years, developed strategies against the causes of famine. In addition to food and medicine Oxfam also provides tools to enable people to become self-supporting and opens markets of international trade where crafts and produce from poorer regions of the world can be sold at a fair price to benefit the producer.

Oxfam today, in addition to traditional famine relief, works on these issues:

• International trade
• Education
• Debt and aid
• Livelihoods
• Health
• HIV/AIDS
• Gender equality
• Conflict and natural disasters
• Democracy and human rights

External link

• Oxfam Home Page
• Oxfam International
• Oxfam Fairtrade
• http://www.maketradefair.com/
• Oxfam New Zealand Home Page

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Oxfam" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfam, used under the GNU Free Documentation License