Oxfam India

About Us

Oxfam was launched in India by Oxfam Britain to help the victims of the Bihar Famine. Initially, Oxfam Great Britain worked in India through different civic organizations. It collaborated with these organizations in 2008 to form Oxfam India with its vision in line with policies like 'Right to Life' and 'Dignity to All'. It works in collaboration with 60 NGOs which work at the grass root level to tackle poverty and inequality among marginalized groups like women, Muslims, tribes, and Dalits. The objective is to achieve five goals namely, Right to Sustainable Livelihood; Right to Social Services; Right to Life and Security; Right to be Heard and Right to an Identity. Oxfam executes its vision through collaborations with other entities and through its five programmes namely; Humanitarian Response, Essential Services, Gender Justice, Youth and Active Citizenship, and Economic Justice. Through these five programmes, Oxfam endeavours to eliminate poverty through four goals; Livelihood, Fight for Women, Education and Health, and Human Rights. Under the Economic Justice programme, its work is concentrated in the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and Orissa where one-third of the total tribal population lives. These states have an abundance of natural resources but a dearth of literacy among the tribal population which restricts them from harnessing the full economic potential of these resources. Oxfam enables communities to exercise Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), assists them during land diversions and advocates on the role of district mineral foundations for fair usage of the resources. Oxfam also educates people about leveraging renewable sources of energy which would aid in sustained livelihood. It campaigns for leadership by women in the tribal communities. Oxfam works for essential services like Education and Health. Proper implementation of the RTE (Right to Education) and National Health Mission (NHM) is its priority goal for Dalits, Tribals, Women, and Muslims. They work with organizations like Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), the Indian chapter of the People's Health Movement (PHM), at the state and national level to achieve the same. Under Youth and Active Citizenship, Oxfam works with six partners in Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh for an audience of 4,82,500 families which are directly affected by urban poverty. These include the pavement dwellers, the homeless and the destitute. Also as part of Advocacy, Oxfam makes identity proofs like Aadhar cards so that the urban poor can be visible in the system and can utilize all the government aids. In Karnataka, 5,000 urban poor got their identity proofs made which aided them to get health benefits from government hospitals. Under Gender Justice, Oxfam has been supporting the proper implementation of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) 2005. Their campaign #Whythefarq on Twitter raises questions about gender inequality. Under Humanitarian Response Oxfam has been providing relief to the calamity-stricken areas. They have been active in the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Floods, the Phailin cyclone in Odisha, the Muzzafarnagar communal riots in 2013 and in the Assam Floods in 2012.

Vision &
Mission

• Our vision is a just and discrimination-free India. Oxfam India will always be there in times of crisis and injustice to fight the inequalities and discrimination affecting the lives of millions of Indians.
• We are here to beat discrimination and inequality. We believe in creating a society where people are not forced to fight for their right to life and security, to be heard, right to education, health, shelter, food and water. All lives are equal, and no one should face discrimination in realizing their rights.