News & Media

Oxfam signs open letter to PM: end oil exploration

March 12, 2018

Oxfam is proud to have signed an important and powerful letter to our Prime Minister, alongside many other Kiwi businesses, actors, musicians, churches, unions and academics, calling for an end to oil and gas exploration – a vital step in addressing climate change.

Read the full letter below.

Open letter to Jacinda Ardern: End oil exploration in New Zealand.

Dear Prime Minister,

Your commitment to make climate change the nuclear-free moment of your generation has the power to inspire a nation, and indeed the world. We are calling on you to turn this passion into action, by taking bold and decisive measures to protect our future and our children’s future.

Together, we pledge support for the New Zealand Government to end oil and gas exploration now, as a vital step in addressing climate change.

We must apply our ambition, ingenuity, and courage to hasten the transition to a stable and resilient society, powered by clean energy.

The climate science is clear. If we are to avoid catastrophic impacts, the world cannot afford to burn even existing reserves of fossil fuels, let alone seek out and burn new reserves.

Climate change is an existential threat, posing grave danger to our health, homes, communities, food security, culture and livelihoods, as well as the wildlife and wild places with which we share this Earth.

Climate change is an injustice that disproportionately affects our neighbours and kin in the Pacific, developing nations, indigenous people, people of colour, women and poorer working people. These are also the people who are least responsible for causing this crisis.

But the steps we take to address this threat also provide us with opportunities to move towards a more just and equal society, to boost innovation and employment, create more resilient communities, improve our health, and live in better balance with nature.

Now is the time to back the booming clean energy industries, and invite the transformational economic opportunities that shifting to a low-carbon society can bring. This must be a just transition – one that fairly distributes the costs and benefits across the economy and provides opportunities for those affected to actively engage in determining the future wellbeing of themselves and their families.

More than ever, the world needs bold leadership. We wholeheartedly support your ambition for New Zealand to be at the forefront of this planetary challenge. Not only can we live without fossil fuels, but we must. If our small nation can again inspire the world, as we did in our stand against nuclear weapons, then we would earn our place on the right side of history. Ending the development of new oil, gas and coal now, is vital to that success.

Yours Sincerely,

Sir Alan Mark, FRSNZ, KNZM, Chair, Wise Response Society NZ
Jeanette Fitzsimons, CNZM, Former Co-Leader, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Dr J. Morgan Williams, Former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Rt Hon Sir Edmund Thomas LLB(NZ) LLD(VUW) KNZM QC
Dave Cull, Mayor of Dunedin

Prof Margaret Mutu FRSNZ, Chairperson, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Toro Waaka, Ngāti Pāhauwera Development Trust
Rikirangi Gage – Te Whānau a Apanui
Toa Faneva – Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere & Grant Brookes, President, New Zealand Nurses Organisation (Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa)
Glenn Barclay, National Secretary, Public Service Association (Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi)
Gary Cranston, climate justice spokesperson and fast food lead organiser Auckland, Northland, Unite Union
Sandra Grey, President, Tertiary Education Union (Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa)

Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh, Assoc. Prof, Poet Laureate
Lucy Lawless, ONZM, Actor
Tiki Taane, Musical Activist
Robyn Malcolm, NZ Actress
Peter Lange, MNZM, Potter

Prof Grant Guilford, Vice-Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington
Prof James Renwick, Victoria University of Wellington climate scientist
Prof Ralph Sims, Massey University and the Global Environment Facility
Dr Jim Salinger, Climate change scientist
Dr Terrence Loomis, Coordinator, Fossil Fuels Aotearoa Research Network (FFARN)
Dr Bob Lloyd, Associate Professor (ret), Climate Consultant Pacific Region
Prof Jonathan Boston, Professor of Public Policy, Victoria University of Wellington

Dr Kate Baddock, Chair, New Zealand Medical Association
Dr Felicity Dumble, President, New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine
Warren Lindberg, MNZM, Chief Executive Officer, Public Health Association of New Zealand
Dr Rhys Jones & Dr Alex Macmillan, Co-convenors, OraTaiao: The New Zealand Climate and Health Council
Dr Rye Senjen, Scientific Advisor Environmental and Human Health Aotearoa

Rt Rev Justin Duckworth, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Wellington
Rev Dr Peter Matheson, Emeritus Professor, Knox Church, Dunedin

Phillip Mills, Managing Director of Les Mills International
Michael Mayell, Founder, Cookie Time
Chris Morrison, Co-Founder, Karma Cola and All Good
Brendan Winitana, Chair, Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand
Malcolm Rands, Founder, Ecostore

Livia Esterhazy, Chief Executive Officer, WWF-New Zealand
Kevin Hague, Chief Executive, Forest and Bird
Niamh O’Flynn, Executive Director, 350 Aotearoa
Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director, Oxfam New Zealand
Dr Russel Norman, Executive Director, Greenpeace New Zealand
Rosemary Penwarden, Coordinator, Oil Free Otago
Cindy Baxter, Coordinator, Coal Action Network
Emily Bailey, Climate Justice Taranaki
Robyn Harris-Iles, Coordinator, Frack Free Aotearoa New Zealand
Denys Trussell, Friends of the Earth
Guy Salmon, Ecologic
Gary Taylor, Environmental Defence Society

Improving livelihoods in Vanuatu

February 28, 2018

Our livelihoods project in Vanuatu has been running for two years, with a focus on empowering farmers to improve their practices for a more stable income, more diverse range of food, and greater wellbeing. It’s thanks to your ongoing support that we’ve been so successful so far.

Programme location: Vanuatu.
Programme length: Five years.
Local partner: Farm Support Association (FSA).

Two years in, we’ve got many things to celebrate! Here’s our top four.

Sila Ambon, Pinalum Village, Malekula Island, Vanuatu. 31-year old mother-of-two, Sila, is the main farmer in her household – her husband works primarily in construction – and has been working with the FSA since 2012. After seeing the success that others in her village had had selling pigs, she decided to start her own pig farm. She now has 13 pigs and piglets, and sold one sow for 4000VT (approximately 60NZD) which she put straight into savings. Sila finished school at the primary level – but her goal is to earn enough to send her kids to secondary school, and hopefully further study after that. Photo: Anna Mosley

Through the Vanuatu Thrive project, we’re supporting a young farmers’ training course for 150 youth, and our first group of students have graduated from the course on Tanna island. At their graduation, the three young women and seven young men had combined total earnings of 610,500vt (about NZ$80,000). They also had over 7000 heads of taro in their gardens, over 200 chickens, and many other crops, livestock, and timber growing that will earn them money in the future. One of these graduates, Jimmy, has gone on to provide training to other farmers in his home village, where he has a vegetable nursery house, a fish pond, a piggery, poultry, beehives and a coffee plantation. The next intake was the highest ever seen, at 30 trainees (24 males, 6 females).

Another project goal was to improve the accessibility and affordability of materials for farmers on Malekula and Tanna islands, and vegetable seeds are now available on Malekula, and vegetable seeds, pig feed and chicken feed are available on Tanna. Having to get materials shipped from Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, takes time, is susceptible to delays, and can result in disrupted farming. A local supply of materials means the essentials are available to farmers as soon as they need them. Once the seed sales are well-established on Malekula, our local partner will work with the supplier to expand into chicken feed.

Fruits and vegetables can sell for a lot more if they’re sold in the off-season, so we’re helping interested farmers get involved in this. Many have had great success selling pineapples in the winter, often for between 50VT and 200VT more than in the summer. Thrive farmers are refining their farming techniques so that they can sell cabbages at the beginning and end of the season when prices are higher.

Lisi Lingi, Larafat Village, Malekula Island, Vanuatu. Lisi is the lead farmer in her group and says her job is to give people the heart to work together, support people who are struggling, and keep people united. In September 2017, the FSA demonstrated how to grow pineapples in the off-season by applying a hormone to the plant, which Lisi is having great success with – selling them for a lot more than she can during the height of the season. The farmers in her village have also developed ‘bank gardens’ and any money they earn from these gardens they’ve committed to putting straight into savings for long-term community development. Photo: Anna Mosley

An unexpected success was that we spent less money in the second year of the project than we budgeted for, which means we’re able to use the money saved to further expand the project and reach an additional 150 farmers with training and services.

The results we’ve seen so far have been incredible – and we’re just getting started. We’re really excited to see how this programme develops over the next three years and we will keep you up to date. Lives are changing because of your commitment to and support of our projects – we hope you know just how wonderful you are.

Oxfam releases report into allegations of sexual misconduct in Haiti

February 19, 2018

A full copy of Oxfam’s final internal report has been released today.

The final internal report into allegations of sexual misconduct and other unacceptable behaviour during Oxfam’s humanitarian response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake has been made public today.

Oxfam is publishing the report, written in 2011, in order to be as transparent as possible about the decisions made during the investigation and in recognition of the breach of trust that has been caused.

Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International’s Executive Director, said “Oxfam is urgently committed to act upon the moral responsibilities we have towards women in Haiti. We are also meeting with the Government of Haiti to apologise for our mistakes and discuss what more we can do. It is vitally important we re-examine what happened, and learn from it.

“The measures we put in place as a result of the investigation mean that the case would be handled differently today, but it is clear that there is much more to be done. The action we are now taking, including an independent review of our culture and practices by women’s rights leaders, will help ensure abuse is rooted out of Oxfam and help us become more effective in our mission to help create lasting solutions to poverty.”

Last week Oxfam announced a comprehensive action plan to strengthen safeguarding systems across the organisation and stamp out abuse. The package of measures includes:

A new independent High-Level Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change, comprised of respected women’s and human rights leaders, which will be able to access Oxfam records and interview staff, partners and communities it supports around the world. The names of the Commission co-chairs will be released shortly.

The immediate creation of a new global database of accredited referees – designed to end the use of forged, dishonest or unreliable references by past or current Oxfam staff. Oxfam will not be issuing any references until this is in place.

An immediate injection of resources into Oxfam’s safeguarding processes, with the number of people working in safeguarding more than doubling over the coming weeks and annual funding more than tripled to just over $1 million.

A commitment to improve the culture within Oxfam to ensure that no one faces sexism, discrimination or abuse, that everyone, especially women, feels safe to speak out, and everyone is clear on what behaviour is acceptable or not.

Notes to Editors

We have redacted names and identifying characteristics to comply with the need for due process and confidentiality required by both privacy law and recommended UN guidelines on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse. The full, un-redacted report has been shared with the Haitian Ambassador in London and a copy will be given to the Haitian government in a meeting on Monday morning (19 February 2018). We have informed the relevant national authorities of the names of the seven men involved in sexual misconduct.

Oxfam announces comprehensive action plan to stamp out abuse

February 19, 2018

Oxfam today announced a comprehensive plan of action to strengthen safeguarding systems across the organisation and stamp out abuse, including asking leading women’s rights experts to lead an urgent independent review of its culture and practices.

The plan was agreed yesterday by Oxfam International Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in partnership with Oxfam GB Chief Executive Mark Goldring and directors across the international confederation. The wide-ranging package of measures includes:

A new independent High-Level Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change, comprised of leading women’s rights experts, which will be able to access Oxfam records and interview staff, partners and communities it supports around the world.
The immediate creation of a new global database of accredited referees – designed to end the use of forged, dishonest or unreliable references by past or current Oxfam staff. Oxfam will not be issuing any references until this is in place.
An immediate injection of money and resources into Oxfam’s safeguarding processes, with the number of people working in safeguarding more than doubling over the coming weeks and annual funding more than tripled to £720,000.
A commitment to improve the culture within Oxfam to ensure that no one faces sexism, discrimination or abuse, that everyone, especially women, feels safe to speak out, and everyone is clear on what behaviour is acceptable or not.
Oxfam is also committing to publish its 2011 internal investigation into staff involved in sexual and other misconduct in Haiti as soon as possible, after taking steps necessary to prevent witnesses being identified. The names of the men involved have already been shared with the authorities in Haiti.

Winnie Byanyima said: “What happened in Haiti and afterwards is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years, and rightly so. In my language: “Okuruga ahamutima gwangye, mutusaasire.” It means “From the bottom of my heart I am asking for forgiveness.”

“Of course words are not enough. I’ve agreed a plan of action with Mark Goldring and Oxfam’s board of international directors. Right now I have two utmost priorities for Oxfam: continuing to provide support to the millions of vulnerable people we work with around the world, and learning vital lessons from our past mistakes to make sure such abuse and exploitation does not happen again. Mark is absolutely the right person to implement these changes in the UK.”

Mark Goldring said: “People put their trust in Oxfam and we betrayed that trust. What happened was a disgrace and we are absolutely committed to rooting out abuse across the organisation. We are doubling the number of people who work on safeguarding to make sure we are living up to our responsibility to protect staff, volunteers and the communities we support around the world. An independent commission is being established which will review our entire operations and tell us what we need to change about our culture and practices.

“It’s vital that we act to prevent those guilty of gross misconduct from simply moving onto another organisation and potentially harming other vulnerable people. Within Oxfam, we’re are urgently setting up a new database of people authorised to give references with an immediate freeze on references until that is in place.

“These problems cannot all be solved by Oxfam alone, and we will work with the government, Charity Commission, women’s rights organisations and others in the sector to implement urgent reforms.”

The High-Level Commission will operate at arms-length from Oxfam and shape its own approach. Names will be announced within a few days. Oxfam will provide the resources it needs to do its job effectively, across the confederation, including full access to records, staff as well as partners and communities supported by the organisation. As part of the Commission’s work, it will create an historical record about cases of sexual misconduct and abuse of power that is as complete as possible, which will be made publicly available.

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70% of Tongan population affected in wake of Cyclone Gita

February 14, 2018

The full scale of destruction is beginning to emerge from Tonga in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Gita.

Around 50,000 people, or almost 70% of the country’s population, have been affected, a third of whom are children.

Water supplies across the main island of Tongatapu have sustained significant damage, making the risk of further outbreaks of waterborne disease a very real threat. Tonga was already addressing an outbreak of dengue fever in Tongatapu before the storm hit.

Jane Foster, Oxfam’s country director for Tonga, said: “Homes have been destroyed, government buildings flattened, and churches devastated. We have one report of a man, who is one of our local partners, sheltering in his home with his family as part of it was ripped away while they watched in horror.

“The impact of this severe storm will be felt on many people’s livelihoods for a long time to come. We also have grave concerns for the immediate threat from damage sustained to water supplies as the risk of contamination is high. There is a real risk of a second disaster from water and mosquito borne illnesses like dengue.”

“Our focus right now is to support our local partners to conduct assessments as quickly as possible – they are out there now finding out exactly where the most urgent needs are. Oxfam’s main relief efforts will focus on our area of expertise: providing safe water for people, as well as sanitation supplies and public health support to help prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.”

Severe tropical cyclone Gita made landfall in the southern part of Fiji last night. Ms Foster said the agency was deeply concerned for communities in the outer islands, who are yet to make contact.

“Some of these islands that are going to be affected are extremely remote and hard to reach in the best of times. We hope that preparedness plans and evacuation centres keep people safe until support reaches them.”

New Zealanders wanting to support people affected by Cyclone Gita are urged to ensure their generosity has the biggest impact by sending cash, not goods, Ms Foster said. “In a disaster, many people are often moved to send goods they think can help. But for the cost of shipping nine litres of bottled water from New Zealand to Nuku’alofa, Oxfam can produce over 16,200 litres of safe drinking water in Tonga.”

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses in the Pacific and around the world can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

Cyclone Gita heading towards Tonga: Oxfam poised to respond

February 12, 2018

Oxfam is on standby to respond to Cyclone Gita, as latest forecasts predict the storm could intensify up to a category 5 cyclone before affecting Tonga later tonight.

Up to 70% of the country’s population is at risk with the severe tropical cyclone expected to pass near the populated main islands of Tongatapu and ‘Eua. The storm’s impact may also be felt in the low-lying Ha’apai group, where damaging winds, rain and storm surge are likely.

With the country already addressing an outbreak of dengue fever in Tongatapu, the deterioration of sanitation conditions on the island could increase the risk of a second disaster due to the spread of dengue and other vector and water-borne diseases.

Oxfam stands ready to support the Tongan government, which may include mobilising local partners and other emergency personnel.

Oxfam, along with its partner the Tongan National Youth Congress (TNYC), has disaster preparedness programmes in Ha’apai and Vava’u. Oxfam is liaising with TNYC and the Tongan government to prepare for an appropriate and coordinated response.

Jane Foster, Oxfam’s country director for Tonga, says: “Once the urgent needs are assessed we are expecting to help coordinate the supply of clean water and sanitation for those affected by the disaster.

“Oxfam has a long-established presence in Tonga and Samoa and we have pre-positioned emergency supplies already in-country ready to be deployed should they be required.”

If you’d like to help us support those affected by disasters like Cyclone Gita, donate to our Disaster Response Fund.