Oxfam Canada

About Oxfam Canada:

Founded in 1963, Oxfam Canada (OXC) is an affiliate of Oxfam Confederation, an international charity based in Oxford, UK. It works with over 100 partners in local communities to tackle the root causes of poverty and inequality in the Americas, Africa and Asia. OXC believes that ending global poverty begins with promoting women's rights and that three key actions must be taken: humanitarian response, long-term development and advocating for social change. The charity spent $15.2m on international programs and program management in F2017, making up 94% of program costs. The charity’s work includes emergency response and tackling long-term problems with education, health, poverty, gender inequality, and water. In F2017, Oxfam responded to 31 emergencies worldwide, providing life-saving assistance to 8.6 million people. OXC also campaigns to raise public awareness of causes of poverty and encourages people to act. The charity spent $990k on education and public affairs programming in Canada in F2017, making up 6% of program costs.

Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Oxfam Canada estimates that Cox’s Bazar is one of the densest areas of refugees worldwide with 860,000 Rohingya refugees. Over 70% of newly arrived refugees do not have shelter and only 50% have access to safe drinking water. OXC has provided 140,000 people with food rations containing rice, sugar, and fortified biscuits, 15,000 people with drinking water via a water purification system, and 3,446 hygiene kits including soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and rubbing alcohol.

Syria Refugee Crisis: OXC estimates that in Syria, 13.5 million people are in urgent humanitarian need, 7 million people do not have enough food and 60% of the population needs healthcare. OXC has assisted 2 million people with clean drinking water, vouchers for hygiene supplies, as well as cash and other necessities like blankets and stoves for the winter months.

Yemen Crisis Work: OXC has worked in Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, for over 30 years, with the goal of improving water and sanitation services as well as the livelihoods of poor people. Since July 2015, OXC provided aid to 2.8 million people at the frontlines, including cash payments to over 270,000 people to help with food purchases.

South Sudan Crisis: Since rebel forces erupted in 2013, OXC reports that nearly 7.5 million people are in urgent need of help. In its most recent March 2017 update, OXC states that in 2016 it reached over 600,000 people with emergency and longer-term support.

Results and Impact: In response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, OXC provided safe drinking water to 16,000 people by installing four water tanks. Since 2012, in Yemen, Oxfam restored water systems in 41 rural communities in western Yemen, providing over 125,000 vulnerable people with safe drinking water. The charity reports that as of September 2017, it provided safe clean water, cash assistance, and sanitation to 1.08 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somaliland.

Recent news: In February 2018, Oxfam was rocked by international news coverage of its Haiti team paying for sex in 2011. Oxfam Canada denies any Canadian funding was involved in this Haiti scandal. Global Affairs Canada provided funding to Oxfam Canada for Haiti WASH operations. More concerning is subsequent whistleblower allegations of sex-for-aid in Oxfam’s East Africa operations in 2016. This includes aid into Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. This has raised safeguarding issues across all international aid charities. The Canadian government is reviewing safeguarding policies and reporting by Canada’s major international aid charities.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article

https://www.independent.co.uk/news

Financial Review:

Oxfam Canada is a Large charity with donations of $11.1m in F2017. Administrative costs are 7% of revenues and fundraising costs are 22% of donations, excluding international donations (which includes amounts contributed by other Oxfam entities). Per dollar donated, 71 cents go to the cause, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. OXC holds funding reserves of $7.4m, which can cover 5.5 months of annual program costs, indicating a funding need. Funding reserves have risen consistently from $763k in F2014.

OXC used external fundraisers in F2017. The charity paid $401k to raise $223k from the external fundraiser for a cost of $1.79 per dollar raised. Therefore, donating directly to OXC is more cost efficient.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Oxfam Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 16, 2018 by Joeyanne Cheung.