Oxfam’s February Round Up
IDW and SRHW
International Development Week and Sexual and Reproductive Health Week are important moments for organizations like ours to showcase the impact of our efforts and the efforts of our partners on the issues we work on. This February, we were able to shine a light on how A.I. is being used to better understand gender-based violence in Jamaica; how clean tech has been a game-changer for small-scale farmers in Guatemala; and how feminist research is reshaping local norms towards gender-based violence through art in India.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
In celebration of black history month, we sat down with former Oxfam Canada board member Paulette Senior to hear about how a passion for advocacy led to an illustrious career in social justice and now, the Canadian Senate.
She shares a story of how, despite being in this country for almost 50 years and leading national organizations for a long time, people still ask her – how did you get here? And that is precisely why it’s essential for racialized women like Senior to step into these roles of leadership in all sectors, and in all levels of government.
Read the full interview here.
GAZA
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As the situation in Gaza becomes unimaginably worse by the day, we continued to call on the Canadian government to stop all arms transfers to Israel. People power works: On February 25, we coordinated a cross-Canada hunger strike in partnership with Oxfam- Québec, Islamic Relief Canada and Gaza Starving that engaged 300 participants and 12 MPs. As we continue collectively calling on the Canadian government to stop selling arms to Israel and to use their power to call for a lasting ceasefire, thank you to the people who have already sent a letter to Minister Joly!
If you haven’t already, send your letter today – it takes ten seconds!
TRANS RIGHTS HERE IN CANADA
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Following the Government of Alberta’s announcement of planned policy changes to gender-affirming care, education, and sports in the province, we joined other feminist and gender equality organizations in strongly urging Premier Smith to abandon the proposed policies. Supportive school environments and communities, gender-affirming care, and comprehensive sexual education all contribute to the safety and wellbeing of trans youth—and Alberta’s proposed changes threaten all these protective factors.
At Oxfam Canada, our feminism is unequivocally and unapologetically inclusive of trans rights. We recognize that feminism is deeply interconnected with trans liberation — supporting the rights of trans, non-binary, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people is essential to protecting ALL women from violence and discrimination.
HUNGER ALERTS
In the month of February alone, we issued four press releases raising concerns of hunger and starvation in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Gaza.
In Gaza: Israel’s military bombing of agricultural farmlands as well as its severe restrictions on humanitarian aid are putting 300,000 people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine.
Our Executive Director, Lauren Ravon, spoke with CTV News on the matter:
“We’re seeing hunger being used as a weapon of war. This is accelerating the risk of genocide in Palestine, in particular in Northern Gaza”.
In Tigray, Ethiopia: 3.5 million people are in urgent need of food assistance, with one million people facing acute hunger. Nearly 400 people – mostly children and elderly – have died of starvation in the last six months. Unless humanitarian efforts are drastically scaled-up, the region could risk plunging into further starvation.
In Kivu, DRC: More than 133,000 people who fled fighting in North Kivu live in unimaginable conditions without one single toilet or water. People are without water, food or assistance, and face a high risk of disease outbreak.
In South Sudan: As over half a million people flee conflict in Sudan, transit centers in South Sudan are at four times their capacity – with 300+ people sharing a single water tap, and 100+ people sharing a latrine. Over 80% of the population in South Sudan are already in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Overlapping crises, including five years of floods and conflicts in some parts of the country, have already devastated the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.
TAKE ACTION
As the month of February comes to a close, here’s how you can take meaningful action to address the issues we faced this month:
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