When was Oxfam founded, how did it get its name and what does Oxfam stand for?
The organisation is a confederation of 19 charities headed up by Oxfam International aimed at combating poverty around the world.
OXFAM was thrust into the international spotlight earlier this year after a series of damning scandals were uncovered.
Here are the ins and outs of how the anti-poverty organisation started.
What is Oxfam?
Oxfam is a confederation of 19 charities headed up by Oxfam International aimed at combating poverty around the world.
They work mainly through local organisations in the affected areas hoping to help eliminate the structural causes of poverty and injustice.
Oxfam states that it believes in several key rights which are:
- the right to a sustainable livelihood
- the right to basic social services
- the right to life and security
- the right to be heard
- the right to an identity
Where did Oxfam start?
Oxfam was started in Oxford in 1942 midway through the Second World War.
Its first stated aim was to relieve the famine in Greece caused by the Nazi occupation.
The organisation was originally titled the Oxford Committee for Famine relief which was set up by a group of concerned citizens.
Its founding members included Henry Gillett (a prominent local Quaker), Theodore Richard Milford, Gilbert Murray and his wife Mary, Cecil Jackson-Cole and Alan Pim.
The Committee met in the Old Library of University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, for the first time in 1942.
Oxfam International was formed in 1995 by joining several non-governmental organisations across the globe.
They were registered as a non-profit foundation at The Hague in the Netherlands the following year.
What does Oxfam stand for?
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Oxfam comes from the shortening of its original name of the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief.
It now has over 19 affiliates dotted around the globe with the stated aim of doing charitable works.
Shops from the charity are a regular fixture on British high streets.
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