About us

Our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

As an international development agency, we recognise that we can only support and partner with communities across the world if we also support the self-determination of tangata whenua here in Aotearoa.

In supporting self-determination of tangata whenua, we want a meaningful and committed relationship that better informs how we work together with partners and colleagues elsewhere in the world on their own mana motuhake journey. That means supporting the tino rangatiratanga of Māori as enshrined and protected in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The work Oxfam Aotearoa supports in the Pacific and around the world is enabled by virtue of the place that Te Tiriti o Waitangi gives us in this land.  

We acknowledge how various forms of discrimination intertwine with each other, and know that racism often comes attached to other injustices, and we commit to challenge them all. 

We recognise the complex ways in which, historically and currently, international aid and development has perpetuated power imbalances and neo-colonial relationships, and we seek to transform global development from a model of ‘charity’ to one of justice.  

Our core values – tika justice, māia courage and manaaki connections – shape our kaupapa and our commitment to it. These values are not just outward-facing, our staff live them and use them as a compass to guide our journey as individuals and an organisation.  

We commit to doing the work required of us to better understand and respond to the historical and current racism and colonisation of Aotearoa, and other intersecting injustices. This will help our team walk with authenticity alongside those who are experiencing neo-colonialism and injustice around the world today. We want to contribute constructively to conversations about the future of Aotearoa, and the political and constitutional systems that need to be transformed to live up to the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

This is only possible alongside a stronger understanding of Te Ao Māori, which brings a more holistic, relationship-centred approach, which is central to our kaupapa.

We acknowledge that it is an ongoing organisational journey to deepen our knowledge and response to the history, impacts, and contemporary importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We are committed to this journey. Some of the steps we are taking along the way include the following.

Establishing our Co-Chair model for our Trust Board that encompasses the partnership principles as well as growing the experience of Māori and Pasifika in our Trustee membership
Our Trust Board leadership providing guidance and direction as we grow our understanding of Te Ao Māori.
Building and exploring our own kaupapa ways of working that are grounded in our values: māia courage, tika justice and manaaki connectedness.
Learning and establishing our rituals and ways of marking important moments such as welcoming guests and new staff to our workplace.
Learning and using waiata to acknowledge and honour events and speakers.
Understanding more of our own whakapapa, our different heritages and how power and privilege impact and play out in our lives and in society.
Supporting the establishment of the Pacific Koloa Collective, which represents indigenous Pacific and Māori development and humanitarian practitioners within international non-government organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Changing our name to Oxfam Aotearoa.
Ongoing staff professional development: trainings in Te Tiriti, tikanga and te reo Māori.
Continuing to integrate the use of te reo Māori into our communications, such as reports, social media and the website.
Together with Oxfam International, we signed the Pledge for Change to build a stronger aid ecosystem based on the principles of solidarity, humility, self-determination, and equality.

We commit to hold our māia high as we learn more and challenge each other on power, privilege, and prejudice here in Aotearoa, as we must in other parts of the world. We will learn from  Te Tiriti O Waitangi and the promise it reflects as we progress our te pae tawhiti vision of a just, inclusive and sustainable world, now and for future generations. 

Top 10 things you need to know about Oxfam

Makin, 43, with her pineapples. She is being supported with new techniques for planting by Oxfam partner FSA. Farm Support Association (FSA), Larvat, Malekula, Vanuatu. Photo Artur Francisco / Oxfam

What is Oxfam, what do we do, and how do we do it? Here’s the information you need.

1: Oxfam is a global organisation working to end the injustice of poverty.

We believe poverty is wrong, and that it is not an inevitable fact of life. We help people build better futures for themselves, hold the powerful accountable, and save lives in disasters. Our mission is to tackle the root causes of poverty and create lasting solutions.

2: Our donors have confidence in us.

We believe in the power of people to change the world. That’s why we motivate and support members of the New Zealand public to take action towards a fairer, safer, more sustainable world. Over the last 30 years, we’ve come a long way. Managing more people and more funds mean we can support local partners across the world to provide real benefits and hope to people in poverty.

Oxfam Aotearoa is a Trust Board incorporated under the Charitable Trust Act 1957 and is also registered under the Charities Act 2005. Oxfam Aotearoa is also a member of the Council for International Development (CID) and is a signatory to the CID Code of Conduct, which is a voluntary, self-regulatory sector code of good practice. In May 2019, Oxfam Aotearoa received re-accreditation for a further three years.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s financial accounts are independently audited by RSM Hayes Audit. The auditor’s opinion on the full annual financial statements is available on request and can also be found as part of Oxfam’s Annual Return published on the Charities Services website. Globally, Oxfam applies best-practice accountability aimed at reducing the risk of corruption and fraud. All Oxfam offices are regularly peer-reviewed for adherence to governance and management standards. We know how important it is to spend every dollar wisely; the more efficient we are, the further your dollar goes, and the more people we can help.

3: We work with local and national organisations: our partners.

Oxfam worked with local organisations in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea providing water, sanitation and hygiene education and gender-separated toilets in schools. Photo Belinda Bradley / Oxfam

We provide local partners grants for their anti-poverty programs and work with them to build alliances, networks, and effective organisations that will eventually be self-sufficient. Most importantly, we work with our partners to learn; what they teach us about the best solutions to poverty is just as valuable as the funding and collaboration we provide them.

Working with our local partners, we’re active in more than 90 countries as part of the Oxfam International confederation. Our work tackles the root causes of poverty and we respond to emergencies to save lives and help communities to rebuild.

4: We believe that fighting poverty is about fighting injustice.

Poverty often arises from the violation of people’s basic rights. When someone is denied the right to own land, the right to education, access to basic services like clean water, a fair price for the crops they grow, or a fair wage for the work they do, the result is poverty. Fighting injustice is an essential means to ending poverty.

5: The projects we fund are community driven.

Reusable pads hang from a washing line in Papua New Guinea. Oxfam Aotearoa’s four-year programme FLOW aims to reach 30,000 girls in 12 rural communities. Through simple steps this programme is delivering the support needed for girls to safely manage periods with dignity and to stay in school. Photo Belinda Bradley / Oxfam

Our local partners do the work, so the results are theirs. Locally informed and locally driven solutions to poverty are the best solutions – the most sustainable and the most appropriate– because they come from the people who can keep the initiatives going after Oxfam and its funding goes away.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s work focuses on the Pacific countries of Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, as well as Bangladesh in South Asia. Discover more about our programs here.

6: Poverty puts people in harm’s way.

Poverty makes people vulnerable to calamities – from armed conflicts to earthquakes. Poverty forces people to live in violent areas or to build their houses with flimsy materials in locations vulnerable to floods, landslides and climate change. But even the poorest countries can ensure local leaders have the funds and training they need to mount an effective disaster response, and prepare for future emergencies. We help people in vulnerable communities to reduce their risks, and to advocate with their governments to support their efforts.

7: We help people learn about their basic rights and how to defend them.

Oxfam is training local leaders in Teknaf to manage social issues faced by the community. The Oxfam Protection team took their knowledge of protection challenges, and worked with Rohingya refugees and host community members to create pictographic training materials that capture complex terms like “coercion,” “empowerment” and “trafficking.” Photo Salahuddin Ahmed / Oxfam

By educating people about their rights, we help to build strong communities that compel governments and other institutions to deliver on their responsibilities. When citizens hold their governments accountable, they can change the systems that keep people trapped in poverty.

8: Oxfam is a global organisation with a massive reach.

Oxfam has 75 years of experience. Last year we worked with 3,624 partner organisations in more than 90 countries. We know what it takes to end poverty and we are mobilising people and resources worldwide to make it happen. In 2017-2018 we spent $1.14 billion and reached more than 22.2 million people (more than half of them women) in our long-term development and humanitarian assistance programs.

9: Laws, policies, and institutions have an enormous impact on poverty.

Oxfam Aotearoa with thousands of people against climate change marched from Aotea Square, before blocking the entrance to the Ports of Auckland on Quay Street. September 2019. Photo Vernon Rive / Oxfam

Decision makers rarely consult poor people about major issues like international trade agreements, climate change, or how wealthy countries administer foreign aid programs that are supposed to help them. From the halls of Congress to the World Bank, we make sure the voices of the world’s poorest people are heard loud and clear. We bring our passionate supporters together to take action on big issues that keep people poor. Every action is powerful – signing a petition, pressuring big business, meeting with policymakers. When we speak as one, world leaders listen.

10: You can join the effort. Everyone – including you – has a part to play in the fight against poverty and injustice.

Ending poverty is possible, but it will take every one of us. Each of us has a role to play. With the power of many voices speaking together, we can call on companies and legislators to change the laws and practices that keep people in poverty. We can also raise awareness and inspire action on some of the world’s most urgent issues. We can’t do this alone. Please join our online community; we need your voice and your support. No matter who you are, or how busy you are, you can make a difference.

Accountability and finances

Our work is possible because of your generous donations and government funding.

Thank you for being a part of Oxfam’s global movement to end the injustice of poverty. We wholeheartedly appreciate all those who continue to support Oxfam: our financial supporters, volunteers, interns, campaigners and corporate sponsors. With this ongoing support, we are confident Oxfam Aotearoa will continue to grow and that our work will continue to improve lives and bring us closer to a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world.

Impact reports by year: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Our commitment to you is that your support goes to where the need is greatest. We are committed to using resources with wisdom and care.

Oxfam’s audited Annual Report, including Financial Statements:

Our full audited accounts for each year can be found on the Charities Services website.

Donations to Oxfam Aotearoa go towards funding vital programmes, advocacy and campaigns and investing in raising money and awareness.

Here’s how we use your generous donations:

We collaborate with and support trusted partners who live and work in the communities our programmes aim to support. Learn more about our current programmes and where we work here.
We work to increase the number of people who believe in a world without injustice and support our work. This means maintaining and growing the support and impact we have around the world.
You have the right to expect your donations to be professionally handled, your credit card details protected, the right receipt issued and your address details kept confidential. This requires up-to-date software, trained and qualified staff and a high standard of IT and security systems. We are committed to the highest possible standards for you.
You would also expect us to protect the safety of our staff, as a human rights-based organisation, we don’t expect anything less. This has a cost in insurance, health and safety systems, training, and security services when our staff members travel to dangerous places overseas.
You also expect us to know whether the donations you have given us are making the difference you and Oxfam expect. We do not take this for granted. Quality and accountability are fundamental to what we do. We check that your donations are going to the partners we have chosen, are having the local impact we planned together and that we are constantly learning from our projects so we can improve. This means we have trained and qualified experts whose job it is to make sure we are not just ‘putting the money in an envelope and sending it overseas’ – we know you trust us to do better than that.
You have the right to hear how your support is making a difference, and rightly expect us not to take the money and disappear. You have told us you like to hear what your money is achieving on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. You also appreciate our e-newsletters. This is an investment in your support for our work!

Administrative and fundraising costs include:

Credit card processing fees
Technology to process and receipt donations securely
Bank fees
Audit and transparency fees
Legal costs
Salaries for admin support staff
Telecommunications and computer equipment
Insurance
Office rent and maintenance costs

Oxfam Aotearoa is a current member of:

Charities Commission (number CC24641)
Council for International Development
Public Regulatory of Fundraising Association (PRFA)

How we work

No one knows a community’s needs better than the people who belong to it.

LOCAL PARTNERSHIP

We value the strong working relationships that we have established with local partners, leaders, and community elders, following their lead on the solutions they seek.

PART OF A GLOBAL NETWORK

We connect people and organisations together worldwide, actively shifting power, money, decision-making, and influence to our neighbours in the Pacific.

COLLABORATION ACROSS AOTEAROA

We work in coalition with like-minded others, highlighting and campaigning against unjust systems, sharing our learning across communities.

Our Commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Protecting those we work with

Oxfam is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards, and to providing a diverse and safe work environment for all of our employees. Learn more about the policies Oxfam has in place to protect the people we work with.

Environmental sustainability

Climate change matters to Oxfam because it perpetuates and deepens the injustice that we work to overcome.

Accountability and finances

Our commitment to you is that your support goes to where the greatest need is. We are committed to using resources with care.

Protecting those we work with

This page highlights the policies and processes Oxfam has in place to protect the people we

work with from any form of abuse, exploitation and harm.

Safeguarding

At Oxfam, we are committed to zero tolerance of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse in our organization. This means that we will do everything in our power to prevent these from happening, and rigorously address it each and every time it happens. One of the most important pillars of safeguarding is our Code of Conduct, which provides a framework within which all Oxfam employees, regardless of location, undertake to carry out their duties and to regulate their conduct.

How can Oxfam staff, volunteers, partners and people we work with safely report cases of misconduct?

Anyone (including Oxfam’s partners and people we work with) can raise a concern or make a complaint to Oxfam about something they have experienced or witnessed without fear of retribution.

Our whistleblowing policy specifically affirms and clarifies Oxfam’s commitment to help and protect our employees and workers to safely report serious misconduct or wrongdoing, without having to worry that detrimental action will be taken against them.

For more general concerns and complaints you can email oxfam@oxfam.org.nz or call us on 0800 600 700 (+64 9 355 6500)

For more significant issues that you believe should be classified as serious wrongdoing / serious misconduct (e.g. sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse, fraud, corruption, or discrimination of any kind), please see your options for reporting such issues here.

How does the incident reporting process work?

We commit to engage all relevant parties and to act swiftly to conclude all cases. However, the timeline may vary depending on the nature and complexity of the complaint.

HOW DO WE WORK TO PREVENT ABUSE AND MISCONDUCT FROM HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE?

Oxfam has a global safeguarding taskforce, this taskforce is working in three main areas:

Prevention: This includes training, communications and information to prevent risk of harm and abuse, a revision of staff screening processes, risk assessment and an evaluation of staff capacity to perform the work.
Support and care: Entails providing resources to support and care for those who have experienced sexual harassment, abuse and/or violence. It also includes ensuring that staff have access to specialized training and real-life experience.
Response: This includes strengthening and harmonizing current policies and procedures, and ensuring that these are clear and accessible to all. We are aiming to cultivate an environment where information is shared and people are held accountable.

Oxfam’s safeguarding and related policies

We have updated our safeguarding policies across the Oxfam confederation – including policies on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding and Survivor Support.

How we utilise these policies is described in more detail in our Safeguarding Core Standards Document.

You can read Oxfam’s Employee Code of Conduct here.

Ending poverty & inequality

A hand up, not a handout.

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