Aid & development

One person in three in the world lives in poverty. Thousands of people die each day due to lack of access to clean water or basic medicines. Young people are pulled out of school and sent to work so that families can earn enough to survive. And just 8 billionaires, all men, own the same amount of wealth as 3.6 billion people.

Oxfam is determined to change this world — we believe a just world free from poverty is possible.

It will come about through ensuring universal access to affordable healthcare, clean water and quality education. We need to make sure people have access to work that is safe and fairly paid, and communities are supported to adapt to the changing conditions of the world around them, including the weather.

As a wealthy nation we have both the ability and responsibility to support communities around the world so that they too can benefit from the gains of development.

We have made great progress over recent decades with the halving of global poverty, 90% enrolment in primary education globally and the halving of child and maternal mortality.

This progress has been possible because of aid and development finance. But currently, Australia’s aid is at its lowest ever level as a proportion of the budget at just 0.23% of gross national income.

We must continue to join together to tackle poverty, so we can empower more communities to build better lives for themselves.

For more information on Oxfam’s position on Australian Aid you can read our Australian Aid Policy Brief.