Oxfam Canada Blogs

On the ninth anniversary of his son’s death, Mr Grimason will be at the United Nations in New York to push for tough, legally binding controls on the weapons trade. The two-year-old was asleep in his stroller when an argument broke out at a nearby table in a cafe in Turkey and a man opened fire, killing the toddler.    

Arms Trade Treaty comments made to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on behalf of the Canadian members of the Control Arms coalition: Mark Fried of Oxfam Canada, Hilary Homes of Amnesty International, Lina Holguin of Oxfam Quebec and Ken Epps of Project Ploughshares

"Governments don’t function well in isolation. They do better when they consciously create mechanisms for tapping into the knowledge and wisdom of public-minded citizens. The portion before you would close two key mechanisms for citizen input: the National Council of Welfare and the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy. These provide a crucial function – not just independent expert advice, but a focussing of public thinking on issues of import – functions which cannot be replicated by privately funded bodies, be they Oxfam or the Fraser Institute. We urge you to retain these valuable advisory groups."

  In Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), we brought together Oxfam Executive Director Robert Fox with three local experts: Marie Burge of the Cooper Institute, organic farmer Reg Phelen, and Ian MacPherson of the PEI Fisherman's Association. What emerged from the conversation was that fair trade for farmers and access to nutritious food for all are common issues affecting Canada and developing countries alike. 

Oxfam Canada believes that our food system is broken, and that in order to fix it, we must have the largest conversation in the history of the planet about food. That’s why this spring we hosted public dialogues on women’s rights and the food system. People want to talk about food, and we want to talk with them.

An alarming number of women and girls around the world experience sexual violence. From Congo and Kenya to Burma and Colombia, rape is used as a weapon to humiliate people and tear apart communities.  The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict unites us together into a coordinated civil society effort for change.  Take the Pledge to stop rape and gender violence in conflict.  

Rachel is the new tour coordinator for Oxfam on Tour with Coldplay. She is blogging her journey through Canada, US and Europe, discussing all the wonderful things that come with a Coldplay tour and joining up with hundreds of campaigners and fans to talk about the injustices in the food system and how they affect millions around the world, as well as the food we all love.

The last year’s events have demonstrated the immense power that grassroots organizing, social media, and collective power can have in creating change. We’ve seen revolutions and protests, campaigns and online actions, resonating with greater impact than ever before. Women, and women’s rights organizations, have remained an essential part of the momentum of these movements and activities.

Oxfam Canada policy coordinator Mark Fried blogs on the successful campaign to get the International Monetary Fund to invest more than $1 billion of windfall profits in small-scale farming, education, health care and other needs of the world’s poorest countries. Nearly $1.6 billion in gold windfall is still up for grabs, so we cannot rest easy, he writes. “But here is a victory to be celebrated.”