Oxfam is a development, relief, and campaigning organization that works with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering around the world. Oxfam was first organized in 1942 to foster international famine relief efforts.

Oxfam's Beliefs

• The lives of all human beings are of equal value.
• In a world rich in resources, poverty is an injustice which must be overcome.
• Poverty makes people more vulnerable to conflict and natural calamity; much of this suffering can be prevented, and must be relieved.
• People's vulnerability to poverty and suffering is increased by unequal power relations based on, for example, gender, race, class, caste and disability; women, who make up a majority of the world's poor, are especially disadvantaged.
• Working together we can build a just and safer world, in which people take control over their own lives and enjoy their basic rights.
• To overcome poverty and suffering involves changing unjust policies and practices, nationally and internationally, as well as working closely with people in poverty.

Oxfam's Identity

• Oxfam works internationally as part of a world-wide movement to build a just and safer world.
• Oxfam is an independent British organization, registered as a charity, affiliated to Oxfam International, with partners, volunteers, supporters, and staff of many nationalities.
• Oxfam is accountable both to those who support it and to those whom it seeks to benefit by its efforts.

Log on to www.oxfam.org to learn more about Oxfam's mission and how you can be a part of this good work.