Our Work

Oxfam is part of a global movement for change working to mobilize people against poverty. Around the globe, Oxfam works with people and communities to tackle poverty and gender inequality. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we push for solutions. We campaign so those affected by the crisis can influence the systems that affect them. We put women's rights and gender equality at the core of everything we do. 

The majority of the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty are women and girls. Systematic gender discrimination is a major cause of poverty. Oxfam Canada believes that ending global poverty begins with women’s rights.

Why Women's Rights?

The gap between rich and poor is widening – and gender is a main predictor for who will end up poor and who will end up with power.  We live in a rich world, yet:

  • More than 70% of people living on less than $1/day are women
  • 80 million children have no access to school – most of them girls
  • Each day 1,400 women die in pregnancy and childbirth
  • Young women are two to six times more at risk of HIV infection than the population as a whole
  • One in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, and at least one in three will experience physical, mental or sexual abuse. These high rates of violence hinder women’s access to education, ability to work, participation in public life, freedom to make choices, or to exercise sexual and reproductive rights
  • Around the world, on average, only 16% of elected politicians are women
  • Laws that promote gender equality are often not enforced

Working with Canadians, our partners and allies around the world, Oxfam Canada strives to empower individuals, communities and organizations to build a world without poverty where all human beings are valued and treated equally - a world where women and girls have control over their lives and enjoy their full human rights.