Every year, the gap between rich and poor gets even wider – and it’s being fuelled by the use of tax havens. Today, 8 individuals have the same wealth as the poorest half the people on our planet. It is time to bring an end to inequality. It is time to Even it up!
For 40 years, the Quechua communities in Peru have lived with contaminated rivers, and poor health as a result of oil drilling. Teddy Guerra is leading the effort to obtain integral land rights for his community before any more concessions are given to oil companies. Read his story and sign the petition.
Millions of people are being forced to flee their homes, risking everything to escape conflict, disaster, poverty or hunger. We are working in nine of the ten top refugee source countries as well as in refugee host countries. We urgently need your help to reach people in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and in Europe.
With no end in sight to the conflict in Syria, hundreds of thousands of people are living in desperate conditions and exposed to continuing violence. Today, half the pre-conflict population of 22 million Syrians have fled their homes and more than 13.5 million people urgently need your help.
The Republic of Rwanda, a country of 11 million people in just over 26,000 km², sits in east and central Africa. The three year civil war and subsequent genocide of 1994 had a devastating impact on Rwanda’s social and economic fabric. Large-scale loss of life, mass displacement and economic turmoil left a profound legacy and regional conflict dynamics still strongly influence Rwanda today.
However, the country is moving beyond its tragic past and has achieved impressive growth and stability. Progress against education, health and gender millennium development goals has been made and in 2010 Rwanda was named the “world’s top reformer” in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. Yet massive challenges remain with nearly half the population still living in poverty and needing support to create work in both rural and urban areas.
Oxfam has been engaged in Rwanda since the 1960s and physically present since 1982, delivering humanitarian response, water and sanitation, conflict management and sustainable livelihoods projects.
Today, Oxfam acts as a catalyst and facilitator, bringing people together to influence how change happens and ensure it benefits the poorest and most vulnerable. Working with civil society, private sector and government bodies, we create partnerships, build capacity and facilitate access to skills, knowledge and technical expertise.
Our partners include farmers’ associations, civil society, private sector enterprises, national organizations, women’s groups, research centers, government bodies and finance institutions. We work closely with all of these groups to bring about long-term changes to the lives of people living in poverty.
Our work focuses on sustainable livelihoods and participatory governance. Our aim is to ensure the poorest and most vulnerable directly benefit from development and can influence the decisions which affect their own lives, leading to a more stable and sustainably peaceful Rwanda. We passionately believe in supporting women’s empowerment and equality between men and women.
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