February 2008

activist news (The monthly newsletter for Oxfam activists(

activist support team Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY, tel 01865 473123 or email [email protected]

www.oxfam.org.uk

The fight against unfair EPA deals continues

News in brief Fairtrade Women – are you up for the challenge? Last year an Oxfam Campaigner, “Fairtrade woman”, ate nothing but Fairtrade food during Fairtrade Fortnight. This year, we want a whole nation of Fairtrade women (and men!) taking part. From 25 February to 9 March, Oxfam will guide you through fun and simple things you can do to raise awareness of Fairtrade. Fairtrade recipe books are available, and you can order “stock it” cards to take to local food stores to request your favorite Fairtrade foods. We even have Fairtrade goodies up for grabs! To find out more, add Fairtrade Woman as a friend on MySpace (myspace.com/fairtradewoman) or join the Facebook group by searching for “Fairtrade Woman”.

Oxfam campaigners join other Trade Justice Movement delegates to present the 'trade justice key' to a representative of the German Ambassador outside the German embassy, Belgrave Square, London, in April 2007. Photo: Andy Aitchison/Oxfam

Whilst no countries have yet signed full Economic Partnership Agreements, as of January 2008, 35 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have “initialled” (signed interim) agreements with the European Union. Oxfam believes that these countries will now be worse off, because of the forced liberalisation measures the agreements contain. Those ACP countries that have initialled are committing themselves to 97% liberalisation of their economies over the next 10-15 years, reducing their capability to protect vital sectors such as agriculture. In return, the EU has made no binding agreements on critical issues such as subsidies, or development assistance. There is still real resistance however, from some of the least developed countries, and bigger countries with more power, such as Nigeria and

South Africa. This is a massive tribute to your campaigning, without which their bargaining power would have been greatly reduced. The EU will now begin the complex process of ratifying the various interim agreements. Oxfam will continue to support developing countries through this process, to look for alternatives to these damaging agreements and where possible to help countries negotiate development-friendly solutions before the final agreements are signed. We will keep you informed of developments and further campaigning opportunities as they arise. And until the end of February, you can still petition the UK government to put pressure on the EU to improve these deals, at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ unfairtrade/

Send My Friend to School Are you a parent or a teacher? Between March and June, young people in the UK will be encouraged to find out why millions of children around the world don't get the chance to go to school. Why not get your school involved in the World's Biggest Lesson on 23 April – a global attempt to beat the Guinness World Record. Find out more at www.sendmyfriend.org

Portsmouth activists raise money for water projects The Portsmouth Oxfam Group held three events at the end of 2007 to raise funds to support water projects in Africa and elsewhere. With the funds they took advantage of the “Oxfam Unwrapped” scheme to supply large water containers. Money raised at the three events totalled £2,052, sufficient to buy containers to supply over 2,800 people with clean water.

Campaign successes and celebrations With the sleepy month of January behind us now, the busy campaigns schedule of 2008 stretches out before us. Demanding as ever, it will invite a renewed passion and motivation from us all over the year ahead, so let’s take a moment to look back and celebrate the successes and achievements of last year, and remind ourselves what we can achieve when we work together to fight injustice and campaign for change. Last year saw the power of collective action clearly demonstrated, when coffee giant Starbucks finally agreed to deal with the Ethiopian government. The negotiations followed an international campaign lunched in October 2006, which called for Starbucks to sign an agreement with Ethiopia that recognized the country’s right to its speciality coffee names. This success has enabled farmers to negotiate a better price and significantly increase the country’s revenue.

campaigners should take credit. In 2007, half a million people, including 80,000 Oxfam supporters, voiced their opposition to Swiss company Novartis when the pharmaceutical giant launched a legal battle challenging India’s right to produce cheap, generic versions of medicine. The Indian high court ruled against them, a celebration for citizens of India and campaigners alike. Many other positive things happened last year too. We saw the fourth year of consistent economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of children

dying before the age of 5 fell below 10 million for the first time, down from 11 million just 3 years ago, and various countries continued to back their promises of increased aid and support. Change may be slow, and we may have a long way to go, but it is happening and we are having a real impact. In 2008, we must continue to raise awareness, continue to recruit people to the movement and continue to lobby governments and businesses for more aid, more changes, and more justice for the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people.

During 2007, 4 million extra children entered primary education worldwide, bringing the total of children not in school down to just 72 million, dramatically less than the 120 million in 2000. With the launch of the new Health and Education For All campaign in September last year, we have a real opportunity to increase pressure on world leaders to increase aid and bring this figure even lower. The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, lobbied for by Oxfam and established at the Japanese G8 in 2000, has now distributed $8.6 billion in grants to 136 countries, and paid for 1.1 million people to receive treatment for HIV/AIDS. The fund is able to do this in part due to its use of cheap generic medicines, again, a victory for which

Novartis – Profit Pills stunt, Leeds. Photo: Guppi Bola

Bali road map is launched to fight climate poverty Campaigners from around the world came together to demand urgent action on climate change at the UN’s conference in Bali in December. Oxfam was among those calling upon world leaders and decision-makers to cut emissions, keep global warming below 2 degrees and help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change. After a fortnight of intensive campaigning, and strong negotiating by developing countries, a deal of sorts was finally struck. The “Bali roadmap” has been launched to tackle climate change. Although clear targets were not set, it is crucial that, for the first time, all countries, including the USA, have now agreed to discuss their respective actions to cut emissions. The need for support for poor countries to cope with the effects of climate change has also been acknowledged with the creation of an “Adaptation Fund”. Although there is strong developing country representation in funding decisions, no targets have yet been set to raise the billions of dollars urgently needed to fund adaptation in these countries. Further support in the form of finance, technology and capacity-

Activists in Bali during a Polar Bear media stunt, asking world leaders to save humans too. Photo: NG Swan Ti

building was also agreed to support future actions by developing countries to reduce their emissions. However, once again, no clear funding mechanism for this new strategic programme is in place. There is still a lot to do over the next two years to make sure that the Bali roadmap delivers a fair and strong global treaty, but Oxfam will continue to support developing

countries. The support you have given and continue to give is essential. We hope that you will continue to join us in the fight to end climate poverty. To read more about the outcomes from the Bali climate change conference visit our blog at: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_ involved/campaign/climate_ change/bali.html

Win a visit to Westminster

Stop Aids final week of action

Are you concerned that politicians aren’t doing enough to tackle climate change and its effects on the world’s poorest people? Then here’s your chance to tell the three main political parties’ environment spokesmen to get their act together!

With the launch of the new UK AIDS strategy from Dfid now due in early April, the Stop AIDS campaign is having a final week of action from Monday 4 February. Enclosed with this copy of Activist News is an action card aimed at influencing the strategy.

We are running a competition for three lucky winners to meet the Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP (Labour), Peter Ainsworth MP (Conservative) and Steve Webb MP (Liberal Democrats) to have a cup of tea at Westminster and a chat about climate change and its impact on the world’s poorest people.

One part is for the government, via Stop AIDS, asking for ambitious funding levels, reducing the cost of treatment, addressing the health worker shortage and providing longterm financing for health systems. The other is for your local MP, asking him or her to write to Gordon Brown and Douglas Alexander to ensure that the strategy addresses these issues. There is also an e-action online at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/campaign/actions/ world_aids_day.html

It’s easy to enter. All you have to do is use the link to the Oxfam website www.oxfam.org.uk/carboncompetition to measure your carbon footprint, and submit your result online when you’re done. The three entrants with the lowest carbon footprints will be the lucky winners on their way to Westminster in March to meet the three MPs. The closing date for the competition is February 29. Be green, be political be involved!

Nearly 6,000 people die every single day from AIDS-related illnesses and the UK government has a leading role in helping prevent this injustice. You can help to hold them accountable.

Oxfam reaches out in the North East Outreach North East has been up and running for 18 months now and over the past year, has started to mature into something that’s definitely making a difference in the North East. There may not be a campaigns office in Newcastle but that certainly doesn’t mean there’s a lack of Oxfam supporters. Outreach is making full use of over 100 volunteers to get campaign messages out, and people all over the North East are engaging with Oxfam’s work. In 2007, a large part of what we did was campaigning at gigs, where Outreachers collected petition sign ups for Oxfam’s campaigns. Amongst smaller gigs, we went on tour with Klaxons and Kaiser Chiefs and collected over 1,000 sign ups for the climate change petition. The gigs go down really well and are great places to have that first contact with a person and get them thinking about Oxfam’s work. There is more to Outreach than gigs though; it’s not just aimed at engaging with the young. Outreach has ongoing successful partnerships with Make Poverty History North East and VSO in the area, which brings in all ages and helps to spread Oxfam’s message far and wide. This year, Outreach North East also successfully

Materials and Resources New: Fairtrade “Stock it” cards and Recipe books World AIDS Day action cards and posters Health and Education “For All” campaign action cards, posters and a petition on the website. Stop Climate Chaos Information leaflet, barrier tape Teaching resources Oxfam Catalogue for Schools 2007

Activist calendar February 9-16 iCount popular mobilization week 11-15 Arms Trade Treaty meeting, New York 25- 9 March Fairtrade Fortnight March 8 International Women’s Day 14-16 ‘Change’ training event, London 28-30 ‘Change’ training event, Edinburgh

Outreachers collecting signatures at a Klaxons gig, 2007 Photo: Oxfam

co-ordinated involvement in the Starbucks Global Day of Action, World Poverty Day “Stand Up, Speak Out” events, World AIDS Day, and attended many local festivals. The North East has a reputation for its friendly Geordies and this is definitely beneficial when campaigning. People are receptive and interested to be involved and thanks to Outreach, hundreds, maybe even thousands, have found a way in to Oxfam’s work. In 2008, we can only hope to go from strength to strength. With new schemes involving training and accreditation for volunteers and a social network that strengthens every week, Outreach North East is booming and fast becoming a campaigning force to be reckoned with.

April 4 Landmine Awareness Day 4-6 ‘Change’ training event, Leeds 5 Oxfam Live, Manchester 5 iCount rally 12 Oxfam Live, Keswick 18-20 Change training event, Manchester 19 Oxfam Live, Birmingham 26 Oxfam Live, Truro 20-30 Oxfam Live in Scotland Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh 21 27 Global Call for Education Week Of Action May 3 Oxfam Live, London 9 -11 ‘Change’ training event, Birmingham 16 EU Latin America Caribbean summit June G8 popular campaigning begins Launch of Poverty Report 5 World Environment Day 14-22 National Bike Week July 7-9 G8 Summit, Japan

Anna Collins Education website: www.oxfam.org.uk/education Policy papers and reports... ...are downloadable from www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/policy/i ndex.html or paper copies available from the Activist Support Team. General “Live your life, change your world” leaflets, badges and tattoos (aimed at young people) “Change minds” wallet cards “The art of self-defence” (myth-busting) www.oxfam.org.uk/changeminds

New recruitment materials will be available in the spring Websites we’ve come across this month… http://www.dothegreenthing.com/ green_actions/take_the_stairs/video (videos encouraging green action) http://www.wdm.org.uk/aroundthe worldin80protests/index.htm (global journey of campaigning action) http://www.ted.com (ideas on global issues, including a fantastic young inventor from Malawi)

Activist News is all about you, so get those articles in! The next publication deadline is 14 February 2007. The Activist Team is: Adam Askew, Naveed Chaudhri, Roudabeh Shafie and Suzanne Saunter. Contact us on 01865 473123 or email [email protected]