On 2 April 2013, history was made as the Arms Trade Treaty – the first agreement to control global arms sales – received an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote at the United Nations in New York. This momentous Treaty is the culmination of more than ten years of campaigning to rein in the irresponsible trade in arms […]
In countries like Indonesia, many women and men making goods for big-name brands are struggling to make ends meet. Workers who enjoy freedom of association (freedom to form unions and negotiate with employers) have the best chance of obtaining fairer working conditions, escaping cycles of poverty and debt. But even when countries recognise freedom of […]
Tomorrow we are hoping to make history. After 10 years of campaigning for a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that works to curb the irresponsible weapons trade, world governments will finally vote on the treaty text in the UN General Assembly in less than 12 hours. Over the past two weeks, Oxfam campaigners have been […]
By Oxfam Australia’s Lauren Robertson – blogging from Tunisia We walked down to Mohammad Bouazizi Square in central Tunis on the afternoon of March 26; a place which held significance for the start of the opening march of the 2013 World Social Forum (WSF). The square was renamed after the fruit seller whose suicide sparked […]
On the penultimate day of the ATT negotiations we got the media’s attention early morning with a helicopter assembled on a New York rooftop, with the UN in the background. Monday started with a press conference, where it was made clear to the world that the text on the table was not something that was going […]
Here’s an Easter treat for chocolate lovers: proof that no brand is so big it can ignore its customers. A month ago Oxfam launched Behind the Brands with a call to “change the way the food companies that make your favorite brands do business.” In just a few weeks thousands of tweets were sent to […]
“What do you actually do all day over there?” That’s a question a friend back home skyped me on Wednesday. I’ve been working on the Arms Trade Treaty for a long time now, and spent a lot of time at the various UN meetings. But what actually happens? What do we do all day? I thought I’d […]
By Oxfam Australia’s Lauren Robertson – blogging from Tunisia Last week, 22 young activists from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Middle East came together in Tunisia to participate in Oxfam International Youth Partnership program’s Gender Justice Project. Selected out of a network of 300, the Action Partners taking part in this project […]
Last week was National Close the Gap Day with more than 900 events held around the country by ordinary folk wanting to show their support for ending inequality in Indigenous life expectancy. Close the Gap was invited by the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) to be the charity partner for this year’s Centenary of Canberra […]
HELP SAVE LIVES Right now Oxfam is responding to emergencies around the world, including the recent earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Donate now The disaster, the muazin and the fried grasshopper By Juan Martorana – blogging from Indonesia This post should be titled “disasters”, plural, not disaster, singular. The last couple of days have […]
