Organisational values are also critical to developing strategic plans and determining goals. The strategic plan of Oxfam International (2007-12) is heralded as a landmark document. Its title, “Demanding Justice”, certainly infers upholding a strong value position within the humanist paradigm and for the organisation’s advocacy function. The plan is the outcome of extensive consultation with affiliates and partners in the developing world, underpinned by an appraisal of global issues and explicit beliefs about development as shown in Boxes 6.2 and 6.3. Oxfam International’s views on world trends (Box 6.2) focus on an increase in inequalities, the lack of political will to protect security and to prevent and reduce poverty, the potential shifts in the global political economy, and a global concern for human rights. Box 6.3 rephrases these concerns as beliefs, which can be translated as values: equality, accountability, protection for vulnerable populations, and change through advocacy. Of course, strategic plans in any organisation are always full of ‘big ideas’ and proposals for great outcomes. Nevertheless, the declaration of views and beliefs indicates a strong sense of organisational values, and particularly an opposition to the dominant global political economy and development policies which short-change primary stake-holders.
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Box 6.2: Oxfam’s View of World Trends
• Overall, poverty is decreasing but the levels of inequality are increasing: gains in human development have been unequally shared, between countries, within countries, and between women and men. Conflict and more frequent natural disasters, some caused by climate change, also contribute to this.
• Continued failure of global governance: the UN, the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO have failed to prevent and reduce poverty, insecurity, terrorism, environmental threats and HIV and AIDS, largely because of lack of political will by member states and the dominance of powerful countries. Adequate protection and assistance for civilians in humanitarian conflicts and disasters has not been provided despite repeated promises, and the world has failed to make real progress on the Millennium Development Goals.
• The landscape of power is rapidly changing: for example, the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and the implications of their foreign policies will have major effects and create new dynamics and inequalities within and between countries.
• A growing global movement for change: people around the world are increasingly concerned with ensuring that human rights are not violated and that we win the fight against poverty and injustice.
Source: Oxfam International, Strategic Plan 2007-12
Box 6.3: Oxfam’s Beliefs
• Achieving greater equality is a crucial factor in reducing poverty. Economic growth and increasing wealth through trade and other means is important but will not alone lead to sustainable poverty reduction. We know we also need to reduce inequality, especially for women, if we are to achieve greater economic justice.
• Poverty, insecurity and environmental threats are closely linked. The women and men enduring the greatest poverty in the greatest numbers are farmers living in vulnerable circumstances. They are also the most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. It is not possible to address one problem without addressing the others. • Governments and corporations must be accountable. Changing
unfair global rules is essential, but national governments have the biggest direct impact on the lives of their citizens. Citizens must be able to hold governments to account for providing essential services, such as education, health and water. Citizens also must be able to ensure that their rights are not abused by big corporations.
• Protection is everyone’s responsibility. Conflicts and disasters have enormous human, economic and security costs for us all. Protecting women, children and men from violence and providing the best possible humanitarian assistance is a priority.
• Ideas, attitudes and beliefs are the key to change. Supporting women and men to challenge the causes of poverty, injustice, discrimination and exclusion from society is fundamental to achieving real change.
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The strategies promulgated by Oxfam International to act on these beliefs, and adopted by all affiliates (including Oxfam New Zealand), are described as Change Goals, itemised in Box 6.4.
Box 6.4: Oxfam Change Goals
• Economic justice: More women and men will realize their right to secure and sustainable livelihoods.
• Essential services: The Millennium Development Goals for essential services will be achieved, and people living in poverty, especially women and girls, will realise their rights to accessible and affordable health, education, water and sanitation.
• Rights in crisis: All women and men in humanitarian crises will be assured both the protection and the assistance they require, regardless of who or where they are or how they are affected, in a manner consistent with their human rights.
• Gender justice: Many more women will gain power over their lives and live free from violence through changes in attitudes, ideas and beliefs about gender relations, and through increased levels of women’s active engagement and critical leadership in institutions, decision-making and change processes.
Source: Oxfam International, Strategic Plan 2007-12
These change goals present the line that Oxfam is drawing in the sands of development. It is an explicit agenda, establishing the organisation’s primary interests and opposition to perceived trends in official development planning and programmes. The strategic plan goes on to outline what needs to be done to ‘make it work’. Achieving the goals will require internal changes to the organisation, strengthening their role as a global campaigning force, promoting membership and income, and enhancing country-level collaboration and communications. Staff and volunteer development are also recognised as crucial to ensure a truly inclusive confederation. Improvements to monitoring, learning, development and accountability mechanisms are also on the agenda, as is a focus on making links between global and local, between long-term development work, campaigning and policy change. These intentions suggest Oxfam is embarking on the kind of organisational change undertaken by Action Aid (David & Mancini, 2004).79
79 See Chapter 4, page 71.
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In addition to the four goals outlined above each Oxfam organisation has identified additional internal goals. For Oxfam New Zealand these are “informing the public, securing funds, and walking the talk”80