Letter from Our Executive Director and Chair
Lauren Ravon Executive Director Oxfam Canada
Karen Sander Chair, Board of Directors Oxfam Canada
Dear friends,
This past year has not been an easy one. Hardship and hunger are on the rise. Progress to close the global gender gap has stalled. The compounding impacts of climate change, rising economic inequality and violent conflicts are exacerbating poverty and forcing more people to migrate. The future feels uncertain and the challenges increasingly complex.
And so, we have been doubling down.
Because we know that another future is possible: a future that is equal.
To build it, we are saving lives today, building the resilience of communities to withstand the shocks of tomorrow, and tackling the economic, social and political systems that are harming people and the planet.
With humanitarian disasters striking in quick succession, our dedicated Oxfam teams around the world have been saving lives and building hope for the future. In East Africa, we responded to the severe hunger crisis by providing emergency food assistance and cash transfers to thousands of families who had to flee their land in search of water and pasture. In Somaliland, we worked with communities to repair water pumps and wells to ensure access to clean water. And when a powerful earthquake ripped through Türkiye and Syria, we worked with women’s groups to provide hygiene kits, menstrual pads and solar lamps to help women and girls maintain their dignity and stay safe.
When times get tough, women are too often told to put aside their quest for equality, and progress to end child marriage, keep girls in school and get women elected tends to backslide. Thanks to your unwavering support, we have been able to respond to humanitarian disasters while also pursuing our unrelenting efforts to advance women’s rights.
In collaboration with grassroots women’s organizations from Jamaica to Bangladesh, we challenged harmful gender stereotypes that fuel violence and keep women workers underpaid and undervalued. In the Philippines, we worked with local partners to train hundreds of peer educators to help women and girls make informed choices about their bodies and prevent gender-based violence in their communities.
Time and again this year, you stood with us and helped amplify our calls for justice. After decades of advocacy, we celebrated a major breakthrough in our fight for climate justice at COP27, when world leaders established a Loss & Damage Fund to compensate the world’s most vulnerable countries for the devastating effects of climate change. And here at home, forty thousand Canadians joined our call to demand that Canadian fashion brands pay the women who make our clothes in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh a living wage.
We hope that you are proud of the change you helped accomplish this year. Thank you for your commitment to building a more equal future.
With gratitude,
COVER IMAGE:
Zagha, 14, participates in Oxfam’s Her Future, Her Choice project in Ethiopia.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
our approach
Kom is a GBV survivor and paralegal working with Oxfam local partner Adara.
Photo: M. Nugie and Andito Wasi/Oxfam
We Know That Charity Is Not Enough
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT
Oxfam Canada’s mission is to fight inequality and patriarchy to end poverty and injustice, with a focus on improving the lives and promoting the rights of women in all their diversity. We work directly with women’s rights organizations, communities and partners to challenge the systems that perpetuate inequality and keep people poor.
We provide emergency aid when disaster strikes or conflict breaks out. Together with communities, we save and rebuild lives and support the needs of refugees around the world.
We support projects that help people assert their rights and build better lives for themselves and their communities.
ADVOCACY & CAMPAIGNING
We work to change the laws and practices that perpetuate inequality and keep people trapped in poverty. We harness the power of people to change systems for the better.
As one of 21 members of the global Oxfam confederation, which works in more than 86 countries worldwide, Oxfam Canada seeks to influence those in power to ensure that women trapped in poverty have a say in the critical decisions that affect them, their families and their communities. Oxfam Canada directly supports programs in more than a dozen countries across Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
Oxfam Canada is ambitious, driven and optimistic. We are feminist. We work with partners. We listen to each other. We share knowledge. We influence policy. And we know that charity is not enough. It is about justice.
Our unique, three-pronged approach focuses on ending poverty for good. We believe that another future is possible: a future that is equal.
Photo: M. Nugie and Andito Wasi/Oxfam
We are feminist.
We shift power by uplifting our partners and supporting them in making change happen.
Together, we tackle the systems and structures that keep people trapped in poverty.
Khodeza is part of Oxfam’s Global Humanitarian Team.
Photo: Ioana Moldovan/Oxfam
together, we go far
and caribbean
We focus our resources and expertise on areas where we can make the most difference in the lives of women living in poverty. With our partners on the ground we deliver humanitarian assistance, support long-term development programs and campaign for change. Through our three-pronged approach we have the most profound and sustainable impact.
People we worked with % of women and girls we worked with Partners
In 2022-23, Oxfam worked directly with 15.5 million people and 2,248 partners around the world.
15.5 million people around the world benefited directly from our programs
51 % were women and girls
2,248 partner organizations and international allies around the world
66 % of the women’s rights organizations we work with are engaged in advocacy
1,487 organizations received financial support from Oxfam
806 partnerships supporting efforts against gender-based violence
15.4 million global citizens took actions in campaigns for social change
Humanitarian Emergencies
Oxfam staff delivering water to shelters in Aleppo city.
Photo: Islam Mardini/Oxfam
We Meet Urgent Needs and Save Lives
in 2022-2023
• Oxfam and partners supported 11.5 million people with acute humanitarian needs. That’s more than the combined population of Canada’s 10 largest cities.
• Oxfam Canada responded to natural disasters in four countries.
• Oxfam Canada helped provide clean water, sanitation, food, health and nutrition advice, shelter and protection, and more.
When emergencies strike, Oxfam works with local humanitarian partners to deliver life-saving support and assistance to communities affected by conflict and disaster. Together, we meet urgent survival needs, while ensuring that women’s perspectives inform humanitarian responses. We also advocate for local leadership in emergencies, working to shift power in the humanitarian system to local leaders who are best placed to respond to emergencies and rebuild their communities over the long term.
Our response to natural disasters
On Monday, February 6, 2023, two powerful earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks rocked southeastern Türkiye and northern Syria. Across the two countries, nearly 56,000 people were killed, and more than 10 million were left in urgent need of help.
The devastating impacts included:
• As many as 300,000 buildings damaged or destroyed
• 3 million people displaced
• 9.1 million people directly affected
Oxfam was able to support 28,872 people in immediate need, providing critical humanitarian support, such as access to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services and cash assistance to help affected communities access shelter, food. medicines, and protection support.
Oxfam Staff discuss matters to efficiently coordinate the emergency support in Turkiye.
Photo: Delizia Flaccavento/Oxfam
A mother and her two young sons are sitting in their tent in Turkiye.
Photo: Delizia Flaccavento/Oxfam
Responding to Severe Hunger in East Africa
More than 44 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somaliland and South Sudan. And the number of people facing severe hunger – 28 million – has more than quadrupled in the last five years.
Climate breakdown, characterized in East Africa by prolonged drought and erratic rains since 2021, is compounding the already dire humanitarian situation caused by conflicts, the Covid pandemic and the worst plague of locusts in 70 years.
The war in Ukraine and its impact on global food systems, energy prices and the global economy has exacerbated the situation; food prices have increased by up to 40% in some countries. Over 13 million people have been displaced from their land in search of water and pasture, while millions have had to flee their homes because of conflicts in the region.
Oxfam and partners are providing millions of people with life-saving support in the region. We are also helping communities to become more resilient to the climate breakdown, working on rehabilitation programs and developing sustainable solutions for the future.
In 2022-23:
• We have provided emergency food assistance
• Built water and sanitation systems
• Provided cash transfers and protection in conflict areas
While the emphasis is on providing immediate, lifesaving intervention, we also work to increase the resilience of affected communities through more sustainable and durable solutions to future crises.
Our response to Improving Water Accessibility in Somaliland
Hodan Mohamed, a public health engineer at Oxfam, transforms Somaliland’s water landscape. Since 2019, she’s overseen the conversion of dilapidated wells into clean water sources, bringing relief to droughtstricken villages. From repairing pumps to training local women in water maintenance, Hodan’s determination has been instrumental in successfully addressing the long-standing lack of access to clean and safe water in Somaliland.
“Joining Oxfam has been one of the best decisions of my life. I always wanted to work for an organization that makes a real difference in people’s lives. Oxfam has given me the opportunity to do just that. I am proud to be part of a team that is dedicated to providing clean water to communities in need,” says Hodan.
Photo: Vina Salazar/Oxfam
Ending Gender-Based Violence
we-talk
Women and girls in Jamaica experience some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence across Caribbean countries.
Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most prevalent human rights violations that disproportionately impacts women, girls, and people from other disadvantaged populations worldwide. In Jamaica, women and girls experience some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the Caribbean.
The country has made important strides to protect the rights of women and girls. Yet, entrenched notions, attitudes, and practices of gender stereotypes and stigmas continue to underpin sexual, physical and other forms of violence against women, girls, and other disadvantaged populations.
the
problem
1 in every 4 women in Jamaica has experienced some form of violence in their lifetime.
About 44% of Jamaicans consider intimate partner violence a private matter that does not require the involvement of authorities.
Nearly 45% of high school students have witnessed violence at home.
To address these issues, Oxfam Canada partnered with WMW Jamaica and the Caribbean Male Action Network (CariMAN) to launch a new project, WETalk. WE-Talk brings a rights-based, feminist, and intersectional approach to support and advance the existing leadership, programming, advocacy work, and collective action of local groups and organizations. The project is advancing gender equality by preventing and reducing GBV and increasing the ability of Jamaican women, girls, and people from disadvantaged groups to enjoy their human rights fully.
our solution
THE WE-TALK PROJECT
• Change harmful gender attitudes and beliefs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
• Engage men and boys as active participants to prevent and end gender-based violence in their families, communities, and society.
• Strengthen local organizations to advocate for changes in policies and practices that underpin gender-based violence.
Using AI to understand gender-based violence in Jamaica
In partnership with the international tech company Quilt AI, Oxfam Canada and WMW Jamaica used artificial intelligence to analyze how people talk about GBV online. The goal was to gain deeper insights into the influences and information that shape perceptions and attitudes on GBV in Jamaica. The outcome is the first-ever comprehensive dataset on Jamaicans’ online discussion of GBV.
The study highlighted:
• Who the key influencers were that are perpetuating harmful stereotypes
• 11 types of harmful gender stereotypes and narratives found online
• Who should be targeted to fight stereotypes
With this knowledge, the WE-Talk project will craft appropriate campaigns and activities to tackle the root causes of this type of violence.
Photo: Native Freelancers/Oxfam
Textile workers are working inside a garment factory in Savar, Bangladesh.
Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam
Gender-Just Economies
Securing Rights for Domestic Workers
Inequalities in paid and unpaid care work are root causes of gender inequality. To bring about real change for domestic workers in Bangladesh, Oxfam Canada has engaged the government, worked with partners, and delivered programming with clear and concrete results. Now, Bangladesh recognizes the work domestic workers provide and is enacting policies to ensure their rights are protected.
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Asma is a domestic worker and Securing Rights participant from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
Securing Rights takes domestic work one step closer to recognition as formal work
the problem
Domestic work has historically been unrecognized as formal work.
Without recognition as formal workers, domestic workers are denied the right to Bangladesh’s minimum wage or to labour protection.
Domestic workers face a high burden of care for family members at home.
Our solution: Securing Rights
206 occupational trainings were held for domestic workers
153 workshops were held with domestic workers on life skills, leadership and right to live free from violence
1
392 domestic workers have been offered jobs on the HelloTask platform
In September 2022, the National Conference on Rights and Dignity of Domestic Workers and Recognition of Occupation in the Bangladesh Labour Law brought together 711 attendees (571 women; 140 men), including around 500 domestic workers, government officials, and NGO representatives in discussion to advance the rights of domestic workers. The event generated significant national media coverage and raised policymakers’ awareness of the need to formalize the occupation.
A domestic worker proudly shows her official badge.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
what she makes
Fashion brands don’t pay living wages to the women who make our clothes, leaving them trapped in a cycle of poverty no matter how hard they work. This is why we are demanding Canadian fashion brands pay the women who make our clothes a living wage. It’s high time to embrace an equitable fashion industry, that doesn’t exploit women or violate human rights.
In its second year, over 40,000 Canadians supported the What She Makes campaign to put real pressure on these brands and reduce inequality and poverty.
In 2022-23:
• We communicated 120 times with 5 Canadian fashion brands to discuss their progress
• We engaged in 49 collaborations with organizations, movements and trade unions to step up the pressure
• We met with policy-makers 24 times to push for strong legislation on corporate accountability
Oxfam campaigner Mwangala Matakala outside an Aritzia store in Vancouver.
Photo: Flick Harrison/Oxfam
Cheap
clothes are not cheap. Someone always has to pay for them. And that someone is a garment worker.
- Kalpona Akter
Kalpona Akter, long-time garment worker activist in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam
Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights
A group of peer educators from Sekota, Ethiopia.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
We Stand for Women and Girls’ Sexual and Reproductive Health & rights
Sexual and reproductive health is at the heart of the most important decisions a woman makes: if and when to marry, how long to stay in school and how many children to have.
Millions of women and girls around the world do not get to freely make these choices. Poor health services and information limit their freedoms – and put their lives at risk. Globally, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19. When women can make informed choices about their bodies and have access to evidence-based services, they can make better choices for themselves, their families and their communities.
Through the Sexual Health and Empowerment (SHE) project, Her Future, Her Choice (HFHC), and Stand Up for SRHR, Oxfam Canada works closely with local partners, resulting in measurable, positive change:
The Oxfam Canada Youth Summit
Oxfam Canada partnered with the Canadian Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity for the 2023 Youth Summit.
Young people (aged 18–29) from coast to coast to coast convened in Ottawa to improve their knowledge and advocacy skills on SRHR. Topics and workshops included decolonizing SRHR, abortion advocacy, antiracist approaches to Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE), art for activism, queer advocacy, and Indigenous teachings by local elders.
• In the Philippines, the SHE project trained 893 peer educators on SRHR and GBV prevention in their communities
• In Canada, 39 Canadian youth activists were trained to undertake SRHR advocacy and promote SRHR in their communities
With SRHR under attack the world over and targeted hate speech towards LGBTQIA+ people everywhere, it is more important than ever to foster safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces for young leaders to take action and advocate for their rights – and remind us that activism and advocacy can be and should be fun, while also remembering the importance of self-care and community care.
Youth gather at the 2023 Youth Summit in Ottawa.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
Her Future, Her Choice
Advocating for the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls
Cecilia Chirinde is a maternal and child health nurse at Milange Health Center in Mozambique. She was interested in developing her skills in sexual and reproductive health and took part in an HFHC-supported training program.
Before the training, Cecilia did not know what guidance to provide to adolescents when it came to SRH services, particularly for contraception services. «I provided methods,» she explained, «but felt the need to limit which methods to talk about.» Cecilia adds that the training
broadened her understanding of gender-diverse folks and their needs. «I had never learned about sexuality and sexual diversity or about how to support adolescents and youth with diverse sexual orientations.» The training helped Cecilia communicate better with her young clients. «I now see how much I can protect adolescents and youth when I provide more detailed and accurate information,» shares Cecilia.
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam
Women’s Transformative Leadership
Photo: Carlos Zaparolli/Oxfam
We Know Women Drive Change, and We Support Them
We know that when women are supported, uplifted and empowered, their leadership makes for more equal, secure and resilient communities. That’s why we invest in their leadership. We support women from diverse backgrounds, recognizing their unique experience and expertise, knowing their diversity will lead to more durable solutions.
Our Feminist Scorecard Women’s Voice and Leadership
Oxfam partner organization in Guatemala Tz’ununija’ continued supporting their community members with their capacity-strengthening plans. In 20222023:
They trained trainers who then reproduced workshops on Violence Against Indigenous Women in their own communities.
They promoted healing and self-care among Indigenous women.
They also provided legal and psychological support to women victims of violence, including some emblematic cases, such as a young Indigenous woman who was charged with defacing public property.
They celebrated the International Day for Indigenous Women in September with two fora, social media outreach, a photo exhibit, a festival and a march. Tz’ununija’ also helped organize the Third Summit of Indigenous Women, Abya Yala, to be held in Guatemala. It aims to align their political positions, make visible and denounce the diverse forms of violence against Indigenous women, including the violent evictions happening at the local level and the criminalization of those who defend natural resources. Participants included Indigenous women from Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico.
Every year around International Women’s Day, Oxfam Canada publishes the Feminist Scorecard, which assesses the Canadian government’s progress in advancing feminist action and policy change over the past twelve months. The Feminist Scorecard 2023 analyses the government’s action across 12 policy areas and provides recommendations to keep moving the needle on gender equality.
Participants of the Camino Verde project hosting their community radio show. Photo: Cristina Chiquin/Oxfam
Climate Justice
Once a fish farmer, Sone adapted her business to focus on duck farming.
Photo: Patrick Moran/Oxfam
Carbon Billionaires
Climate change is reversing progress made in the fight against poverty and inequality, worsening conflicts worldwide and causing prolonged humanitarian emergencies.
Feminist organizations, youth, and Indigenous Peoples, who are at the frontlines of tackling the climate crisis, should be front and center in climate negotiations and lead the transition to greener and fairer social and economic models.
Yet billionaire investments are holding back progress on climate change. Oxfam’s work on climate in 2022-23 focused on holding those most responsible for climate degradation accountable and ensuring we move towards justice for those bearing the brunt of the crisis.
the problem
The investment of just 125 billionaires emits 393 million tonnes of CO2 each year at an individual annual average that is a million times higher than the global average for 90 percent of humanity.
The investment choices of billionaires are shaping the future of our economy by backing high-carbon infrastructure, locking in high emissions for decades to come.
Adaptation costs for low—and middleincome countries, which are most impacted but least responsible for climate change, could rise to $300 billion per year by 2030.
our solution
• Oxfam estimates that a wealth tax on the world’s super-rich could raise up to $1.4 trillion a year, vital resources that could help low- and middle-income countries – those worst hit by the climate crisis – to adapt, address loss and damage and carry out a just transition to renewable energy.
• Corporations should immediately put in place ambitious and time-bound climate change action plans with short-to-medium term targets to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
“We are the people that are going to move the leaders to take action.”
- Elizabeth Wathuti
COP27
For decades, Oxfam and partners have been advocating for world leaders to recognize the unequal burden of the climate crisis on already vulnerable communities. This year, our advocacy effort resulted in a breakthrough towards climate justice, with the approval at COP27 of a loss and damage fund.
Footing the Bill
The Loss and Damage campaign was led by Kenyan climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti, who wrote an open letter on the need for new financing for loss and damage. Oxfam mobilized people around the world to add their names to the letter, amplifying Elizabeth’s story through billboard advertising and social media. We supported Elizabeth in taking her message to decision-makers around the world, including negotiators at the Bonn Intercessional Conference and meetings at the European Parliament and Commission. We placed advertisements in influential publications and attended COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, where the letter was handed to the COP27 president.
YOUR DONATIONS
Oxfam staff member discusses crops with a local farmer in Guatemala.
Photo: Samuel Nacar/Oxfam
Growing as a feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization
As we strive to change the world, we must also change ourselves. That starts with looking inward with a critical eye and taking action to truly live our values in everything we do. We continue to advance our Plan of Action on AntiRacism in order to grow as the feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization we strive to be.
To achieve this vision
We are identifying and dismantling our biases and systems of oppression in our culture, our policies, processes and programs.
We are changing our operating model and the way in which we communicate, fundraise, and disburse funds to shift power and resources towards the actors who are at the frontlines of the fight for social justice and human rights, particularly Black, Indigenous, and women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and feminist organizations and movements.
We are working in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples –particularly First Nations, Inuit and Métis –in their struggles for self-determination and justice.
We are influencing power shifts in the Oxfam confederation and the broader international development and humanitarian ecosystem to ensure that those experiencing poverty, discrimination and injustice have the resources and the power to drive change for good, in alignment with the Pledge for Change.
In 2023, we finalized our Oxfam Canada Anti-Racism, Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) and Decolonization Strategy 2023-2025, which has six goals:
1. An inclusive and accountable leadership
2. A diverse staff and board
3. An organizational culture of inclusion and belonging
4. Diverse and equitable partnerships in Canada
5. Substantive progress towards localization and decolonization
6. Community-centric fundraising and communications model
Oxfam Canada staff.
Photo: Oxfam
HOW TO HELP
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Our office is located on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin First Nation. We recognize the longstanding relationship the Algonquin have with this territory that has been nurtured since time immemorial. We also pay respect to all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit on the lands that we now know as Canada. We acknowledge the historical and ongoing oppression and colonization of the people and the loss of culture and land.
We recognize the valuable past, present, and future contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit as customary keepers and defenders of this territory. We honour their culture, knowledge, leadership, and courage. As settlers, we recognize this first step in a long journey toward decolonization and move towards reconciliation.
We thank members of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation for their support in reviewing this text (September 2023).
Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam