Mission and Vision
A just world, without poverty. That is our mission. We believe that people can build independent livelihoods, provided their rights are respected. That is why we help people around the world to stand up for their rights.
1. Right to sustainable livelihood resources
Everybody must be sure of a fair income and enough to eat. Yet this is not the case for 20% of the world’s population. That is why we are working on better access to land and water, and on fair working and trading conditions.
2. Right to basic social services
Education and health care are essential for building better societies. Yet even as we make progress towards universal primary education, around the world, there are still 130 million kids in school who fail to learn basic reading, writing and maths. When governments fail to deliver, Oxfam together with partner organizations invest in quality basic social services.
3. Right to life and security
Natural disasters, climate change and armed conflicts hit millions of people every year. We support them with relief aid and reconstruction. And we prepare people to prevent or mitigate the effects of disasters and conflicts.
4. Right to social and political participation
Knowledge is power. We believe that when people can participate in public decisions that affect them, they can build independent livelihoods and thriving communities.Together with partners we give people access to information and a voice.
5. Right to an identity
Gender inequality is both a violation of human rights and an obstacle to sustainable development. In a just world there is no place for the discrimination of women and minorities.
Our Core Values
When people’s basic rights are respected, we can rid the world of poverty and injustice. This is what we stand for:
- Empowerment
We work on the basis of the power and potential of people. We provide practical and innovative solutions to empower people to build their livelihoods without poverty.
- Accountability
We call on those in power to consider people in a vulnerable position in word and action. And we of course account for our own work to governments, donors, supporters, volunteers, corporations and almost 17 million Dutch men and women.
- Inclusiveness
We are all equal, irrespective of the accident of birth, gender, faith or sexual orientation. In all our work we give special attention to the position and rights of women and minorities. And given the potentially pivotal role of women as agents of change, gender justice is at the heart of everything we do.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 6 - 10 of 328FAIR for ALL Agric Value Chains India
General
The Power of Voices Partnership (PvP) is an influencing programme with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme FAIR for ALL led by Oxfam Novib is five year long initiative implemented jointly with consortium members Huairou Commission,SOMO andThird World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) aimed at supporting and collaborating with people’s rightful demands towards companies, governments and multilateral organizations for economic, social and environmental justice, promoting global trade andvalue-chains that are fair for all. The main focus of the FAIR for ALL programme proposal is to support and strengthen CSOs to play their diverse roles; as educators, mobilizers, creators and watchdogs to make trade and value chains FAIR for ALL. In India, FAIR for ALL programme will be working with women, girls and young people in marginalized communities, that are working in six major value chains (sugar, vegetables, food grains, poultry, diary and fishing), to have voice, agency, knowledge and thesupport they need to improve their livelihoods and working conditions, including through holding the government and private sector to account, in particular with regard to protection of worker and farmers rights and provision of social protection mechanismsfor all. The India FAIR for ALL programme will be implemented by Oxfam in India, Huairou Commission and SOMO, aiming to: 1)Strengthen civil society and workers’ collectives to address abuses of informal workers’ rights in sugar cane supply chains; 2)Support grassroots women to organize themselves into producer groups so they can increase the value and quality of their crops, access markets, enhance their bargaining power and increase their earnings; 3) Strengthen grassroots organizations and local civilsociety to advocate for women’s land rights and support for women small-scale farmers; and 4) To challenge trade, tax and investment regimes which are in favour of FDI and large companies and which cause rising inequality and social and environmental challenges. These objectives will be achieved by building the awareness of local civil society and activists about issues of responsible business conduct and inequality-reducing fiscal policies; strengthening worker’s collectives to demand living wagesanddecent working conditions, linking them with state and national networks; supporting cooperatives and producer organizations, increasing their bargaining power and access to markets and finance; and by increasing the understanding of local civil society onhow investment, tax and trade regimes impact marginalized groups and how improved regimes can pay for inequality-reducing measures such as investment in small-scale agriculture and affordable public health and education systems.
HO-Movements & Alliances Funds The Hague
General
Flexible funding mechanisms Introduction Through the programme, the consortium and partners will devise agile and adaptive influencingstrategies to respond to unexpected changes, events and opportunities. Lessons learned show thatfinance and administrative procedures are often too inflexible to respond quickly to opportunities,especially with (in)formal groups, so the consortium will reserve funds for responding to eventsoutside of the planned programme scope. Three flexible funds will be available forcapacitydevelopment and influencing. These funds aim to enable partners to respond to uniquecircumstances when existing commitments are too limited to capitalize on them. 1) Alliance Fund Given the uncertain contexts in which the programme operates, andthe unpredictability of change processes, the Alliance Fund enables flexible responses to sudden opportunities for influence – when, with a quick injection of support, we can accelerate action and achieve a quick win or pave the way for bigger gains inthe future. Activists and organizations canamplify their influence by working together. While FAIR for ALL brings organizations together in a worldwide influencing network, the Alliance Fund aims to further stimulate and facilitate collaboration amongallies in networks broader than FAIR for ALL. It will enable responses to chance circumstances and unique influencing opportunities with the possibility for catalytic change if groups canwork together. For example, when former top international footballplayer George Weah was elected president in Liberia, civil society in the country worked with international organizations and alliances such as the Land Rights Now Alliance to successfully advocatefor community land rights. The Alliance Fund will be anonline and open fund, marketed through the consortium and partners’networks.Applications will be assessed as they are submitted, according to standards of quality, accountability, reporting and the potentialfor impact. Almost EUR 2m will be availableto support alliances. On average we will support about seven alliances per year to substantially improve their ability to influence, for example by: Coming together to jointly mobilize and organize their constituenciesand audiences offline and online; Bring in women’s movements and voices to allow for increased representation and ownership; Strengthening the network and complementarity of roles by creating opportunities for new or innovative approaches; Linking national alliances to global networks and platforms to leverage external support for their own asks and Providing seed money to support theactivation of (new) alliances on emerging issues. 2) Movement Building Fund Social movements are increasingly a way for communitiesandcitizens to voice concerns abouttheir rights, welfare and wellbeing by engaging in collective action and public protest. In recentyears the reach of representative movements and their speed of development has increasedgreatly through the worldwide web and social media. Movements bring together a critical mass of voices to achieve transformative systems change.The movements we aim to supportare grassroots, independent and mostly not formally registeredas organizations. They typically have many ‘leaders’andare based on individual connections and networks rather than a formal structure. This expresses itself in decentralized fundraising and spending for autonomously determined purposes. As such activities to be supported are often adhoc, short-termand based on voluntarism, and require relatively small amounts of money. They are undertaken by individuals rather than organizations with financial or administrative structures. Flexibly supporting movements while ensuring financial accountability requires innovation in systems to comply with rules and regulations. Such movements do not usually look for ‘calls for proposals’ – instead they make activities happen by collecting online and offline donations. Funding such loosely coordinated, decentralizedactivities by people who independently drive their own agenda requires a level of risk taking. We will implement our flexible administrative procedures for movements with the utmost care. A Movement Building Fund of EUR 600,000 will be made available. Given thelocal nature of movements and how they operate, funds will be transferred in ways that best suit each particular movement, such as mobile money, cash, wire transfer, Western Union or othertypes of cash transfer, or crowdfunding linked to mobilemoney. TheMovement Building Fund is innovative for the consortium, and we anticipate a phased implementation. In Year 1 the framework and criteria will be defined, with an accountability mechanism and clarity on acceptable financial risk. In Year 2 we anticipatetesting the fund by creating dedicated periods for evaluation of various funding mechanisms. From year 3 the fund will be fully operational. 3) Rapid-Response Fund for Human Rights Defenders Influencing, especially in a shrinking civic space, isriskyfor activists. People who speak truth to power expose themselves to intimidation, threats, legal actions and attacks that sadly sometimes lead to loss of life. Those in power sometimes use crisis situations to further restrict civic space and civil liberties, and limit space for dissent and opposition. Many restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic will most likely not be lifted when the pandemic abides. We will reserve around EUR 150,000 for protecting activists andorganizations that speak out. This flexible fund will be available to partners and activists in their networks to support them in the broadest sense when they are under attack. This could range from physical protection to digital security, travel expenses, legalfeesand psycho-social support for their families. The fund will enable immediate support, before other protective mechanisms for human rights defenders – which require more time-consuming approval processes – can kick into action. When facing threats, immediate action is paramount. The fund can retrospectively cover unplanned protection and security expenses after they have been incurred – thatis, requiring no prior application process. The flexible fund is our commitment to stand with our partners and activists in their networks. In our experience, such funds are not often called on, which is why the size of the fund is limited – it is primarily important that activists and organizations know they have a safety mechanism to fall back onif needed. Accountability will take into account that expenses will mainly be activity-based. As such, ‘receipts when realistically available’ and records such as photos of outputs will be used for accountability.
RVO Insurance Conv. Addit. WAPN 21-22
General
The objective of the covenant is described in Chapter 1: The covenant focuses on the conduct of responsible investment policy by Insurers because of the international nature of this activity. This involves preventing, limiting and, if necessary, remedying as far as possible any negative impact on people, animals and the environment. This project supports the efforts of NGOs in realising concrete, implementing activities arising from their participation in the various working groups. NB: Participation inthe working groups by NGOs is already funded from the already approved Pillar 1 funding of RFO. A-05997 Working Group 1: Thematic frameworks have been jointly developed by the Parties. These five thematic frameworks will be rolled out by means of joint activities (e.g. the active promotion and explanation of) for the purpose of implementation by the insurers. The activities of this working group contribute to preventing, mitigating and remedying negative impacts on specific themes explicitly included inthe aforementioned article of the Covenant, namely: animal welfare, children's rights, land rights, climate change and controversial weapons and controversial arms trade. Working Group 2: Each year the parties will select a theme for further cooperationinthe context of 'do good'. For the year 2020, thecovenant parties have chosen the theme of 'access to medicine'. Access to medicine is a direct part of the 'right to health' (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Article 12) is in line with SDG 3: ensuring good health and well-being for everyone at all ages. It is of great importance that pharmaceutical companies worldwide, including explicitly in developing countries and emerging economies, corporate social responsibility, in line with the OECD guidelines and the UNGPs, with regard to this right to health. Working group 4: On the basis of fictitious and existing cases, the parties investigate how insurers can contribute torecovery and redress and how they can organise their commitment as optimally as possible in order to achieve a real positive impact'on the ground'. Working with existing cases, among others, provides a clearer picture of possible negative impacts of specific investments and best practice on how these negative impacts can be prevented and limited. In 2020, this working group will, among otherthings, organise a case session on 'Recovery and Story'. The proceeds of this case session (in the form of lessons learned) will bepublished. Working Group 5: In the coming year, the parties will start investigating the possibilities for improving transparency and reporting by insurers. Transparency is important for compliance with the OECD guidelines and UNGPs and the dialogue with internaland external stakeholders.In order to collaborate effectively with others, it is also important to provide insight into results achieved and challenges in the area of ESG due diligence. Finally, public disclosure of results and ambitions can serve as a good stimulus to continue to improve ESG due diligence structurally. The independent monitoring committee, which monitors the progress of the agreements made in the Covenant, endorsed transparency as an important part of the Covenant. - Save the Children contributes knowledge about children's rights in a broad sense, including child labour, nutrition and health care. Because of this expertise, they contribute to working group 1, 2 and 4. - Oxfam Novib contributes knowledge on gender equality, land rights, access to medicines, climate change, fair taxation and the fight against corruption. Because of this expertise they contribute to all working groups. - Pax forPeace contributes knowledge about controversial weapons and arms trade, protection of civilians in war situations, advocacy for victims of human rights violations and natural resources in relation to conflict and human rights. Because of this expertise, they contribute to working groups 1, 4 and 5. - Natuur en Milieu contributes knowledge about climate change, sustainable energy sources, sustainable food and sustainable use of raw materials. Because of this expertise they contribute to working group 1....- World Animal Protection contributes knowledge on animal welfare, also in relation to nature conservation, biodiversity, the protein transition, sustainable food production and climate change. Because of this expertise they contribute to working groups 1, 4 and 5.
FAIR4ALL Agric Value Chains India
General
The Power of Voices Partnership (PvP) is an influencing programme with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme FAIR for ALL led by Oxfam Novib is five year long initiative implemented jointly with consortium members Huairou Commission, SOMO and Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) aimed at supporting and collaborating with people’s rightful demands towards companies, governments and multilateral organizations for economic, social and environmental justice, promoting global trade and value-chains that are fair for all. The main focus of the FAIR for ALL programme proposal is to support and strengthen CSOs to play their diverse roles; as educators, mobilizers, creators and watchdogs to make trade and value chains FAIR for ALL. In India, FAIR for ALL programmewill be working with women, girls and young people in marginalized communities, that are working in six major value chains (sugar, vegetables, food grains, poultry, diary and fishing), to have voice, agency, knowledge and thesupport they need to improve their livelihoods and working conditions, including through holding the government and private sector to account, in particular with regard to protection of worker and farmers rights and provision of social protection mechanisms for all. The India FAIR for ALL programme will be implemented by Oxfam in India, Huairou Commission and SOMO, aiming to: 1)Strengthen civil society and workers’ collectives toaddress abuses of informal workers’ rights in sugar cane supply chains; 2)Support grassroots women to organize themselves into producer groups so they can increase the value and quality of their crops, access markets, enhance their bargaining power and increase their earnings; 3) Strengthen grassroots organizations and local civil society to advocate for women’s land rights and support for women small-scale farmers; and 4) To challenge trade, tax and investment regimes which are in favour of FDI and large companies and which cause rising inequality and social and environmental challenges. These objectives will be achieved by building the awareness oflocal civil society and activists about issues of responsible business conduct and inequality-reducing fiscal policies; strengthening worker’s collectives to demand living wagesand decent working conditions, linking them with state and national networks; supporting cooperatives and producer organizations, increasing their bargaining power and access to markets and finance; and by increasing the understanding of local civil society on how investment, tax and trade regimes impact marginalized groups and how improved regimescan pay for inequality-reducing measures such as investment in small-scale agriculture and affordable public health and education systems.
Solidarity with African Environmental
General
The project aims to support indigenous peoples and local communities and their grassroots organisations in up to seven countries inAfrica (Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Madagascar) in their efforts to resist and be protected against such threats as they defend their collective lands and territories of life. The actions and forms of support will be both defensive and preventative in nature and will respond directly to their self-determined needs and priorities, including, inter alia, awareness campaigns, trainings, digital and physical security measures, legal support, and communications platforms for regional and global advocacy. The project relates most closely to the impact themes of “improved access to resources and employment” and “open up spaces for political participation and to promote citizen engagement”. For the former, the project supports indigenous peoples and local communities to remain on their customary lands and territories and continue their self-determined ways oflife and livelihoods. For the latter, the project supports indigenous peoples and communities, especially those who are routinely marginalised and discriminated againstand face multiple intersectional inequalities, to advocate for legal and political recognition for their contributions to conservation and sustainable development and for their rights and collective responsibilities to defend their lands and territories. Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment, a not-for-profit organisation registered in South Africa and Kenya with hubs in Cape Town, Nairobi and Dakar, is the project applicant and passes the online eligibility test. The project will be undertaken by grassroots organisations in up to seven countries in Africa with focused support within the region from Natural Justice and local/regional and global support from the ICCA Consortium, a non-for-profit association registered in Switzerland with more than 175 Member organisations in 80 countries, including Natural Justice. The project is based on mini proposals prepared by grassroots organisations about specific situations and priority actions of indigenous peoples’ and communities’ territories of life and their defenders under threat. These include local and national plansfor the projected 2020 global mobilisation on land and environmental defenders (2-9December 2020), which provides an important and timely opportunity to advocate for their rights through local-to-global collective action. Their plans also outline priority actions to build momentum towards this global mobilisation and address emerging threats that may arise thereafter. Importantly, whereas many campaigns on environmental and human rights defenders focus solely on individuals, this project will include astrong focus on collective community and intersectional dimensions of defenders’ work. The proposed timeline is May 2021 - April 2022 and the requested budget is EUR 200,000. The project will also build on the African Environmental Defenders Fund implemented by Natural Justice in partnership with the International Land Coalition (ILC) and the ICCA Consortium, bringing in further synergies and opportunities for collective local-regional-global action. The goal is to minimise and manage the risks faced by Environmental and Land Rights Defenders in Africa by standing with them in solidarity through increased support to enhance their resilience in terms of protection and increased visibility of the struggle of Defenders.