Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to your questions about Oxfam quickly by searching the most common FAQs.

General

Oxfam is constantly in need of dedicated individuals to mobilize their communities in the fight against hunger, poverty, and social injustice. Here are just a few suggested ways to channel your energies to help:

Learn more about what we do, the fundamental rights that Oxfam defends, and which underlie the issues we work on
Address the root causes of poverty by taking action online
Contact your nearest Oxfam and get involved at a local level
Donate to your nearest Oxfam
Follow us and share the inspiring stories, images & videos we publish every day on social media: Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

The Oxfam International Secretariat headquarters is in Nairobi, Kenya, and there are offices in Addis Ababa,  Brussels, Geneva, New York, and Washington DC.

The Confederation is made up of 21 affiliates and has two public engagement offices - in South Korea and Sweden - which concentrate on raising awareness and funds for our work.

You will find contact information for all the Oxfam affiliate organizations and the Oxfam International Secretariat in the Contact us section.

You will find contact information for all the Oxfam affiliate organizations in the Contact us section of this website. When contacting Oxfam, please make clear the specific information you need or the reason for your inquiry: this will help us respond more quickly.

You can reach the International Secretariat of Oxfam by mail, telephone, or mobile at:

Office address:
Oxfam International Headquarters
ACS Plaza
Lenana Road
Kilimani,
Nairobi, Kenya

Telephone: +254 (0) 20 2820000
Mobile number: +254 722 200417

A summary of Oxfam’s combined expenditure by region can be found in our most recent Annual Report. You can also access current and past Financial Statements, which are published in the OI Trustees' Annual Report.

In addition, each Oxfam affiliate publishes annual reports on its website which includes details of expenditure. If you require more detailed figures about a particular Oxfam affiliate's expenditure, please contact them directly through the Contact section of this website.

We receive many requests each year from students asking for help. Unfortunately, due to our limited resources, we cannot advise research students on an individual basis or assist with specific questions. We are also unable to arrange interviews, answer questionnaires, or arrange visits to our projects.

Oxfam produces a wealth of information, covering various topics. For an overview of the range of Oxfam’s activities, see our latest Annual Report. A comprehensive list of research reports and policy papers can be found in the Policy section of our website. There is also a great deal of useful information available on the Oxfam affiliates’ websites, particularly in the policy and resources areas. Oxfam affiliates may also be able to respond directly; see our Contact page for their contact details.

Online, taking part in an event, baking, marching, fundraising in your neighborhood or getting your school involved; there are multiple ways to join our movement and take action with us. Just contact your nearest Oxfam affiliate and get involved at a local level.

You can also take action now online with us: help us tackle inequality through our Even it Up campaign; fight for Land Rights; challenge those in power to make sure small-scale farmers, fishers and workers who produce our food are being treated and paid fairly; and say 'Enough' to violence against women and girls.

Would you like to be part of our worldwide community of active supporters and change-makers? Then, join our movement.

You can also help us spread the word to end poverty and injustice by sharing the inspiring stories, images & videos we publish every day. Tweet, Like, Pin, or Share what touches you to start a conversation with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Not sure if you can follow everything on social media? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the top news and stories directly in your inbox.

Oxfam believes that any stakeholder has the right to raise a complaint, have that complaint addressed, and receive a response for mistakes, wrongful actions or breaches of the codes to which Oxfam confederation and its affiliates subscribe. Every effort will be made to address and resolve the complaints at the Oxfam confederation and affiliate levels. All complaints will be logged.

Complaints about Oxfam affiliates: In the first instance complaints about an affiliate's activities should be referred to the relevant affiliate. Please find the full list of Oxfam’s 21 affiliates in our Contact page
Complaints about Oxfam confederation: Where there is a complaint about the joint activities of the Oxfam confederation (e.g. an international campaign, program, or advertising, etc.) or its Secretariat, or if the complaint has not been satisfactorily addressed by the affiliate, please contact the Oxfam International Executive Director in writing using the following contact details:

Office address:
Oxfam International Headquarters
ACS Plaza
Lenana Road
Kilimani,
Nairobi, Kenya

More details on our complaints mechanisms and procedures are available on our Governance page, in our Board Accountability Policies (3.1 Making a complaint).

Employment

Volunteers play a key role in helping Oxfam achieve its mission to reduce poverty and injustice around the world, from office work to helping in shops or stewarding at events and concerts. The Oxfam International Secretariat does not place volunteers overseas, but the Oxfam affiliates around the world rely on volunteers in a wide variety of capacities. Please check the website of your nearest Oxfam affiliate for further information on volunteering.

Oxfam International Secretariat often runs short-term, voluntary, unpaid internships comprising a single role, based in either our headquarters in Nairobi, our UK office in Oxford, or in one of our Advocacy offices.

You can find available internship opportunities on our Job Opportunities page. These internships offer the opportunity to work on a specific project or discipline within one team. Although we cannot guarantee employment beyond the internship, our internships are designed to offer work experience, and interns are welcome to apply for our paid vacancies.

Unfortunately, due to limited resources, we cannot keep resumes/CVs on file, so please only respond to advertised vacancies. Please also check with the individual Oxfam affiliates, as each one runs its own internship program.

Donations and fundraising

Clothes and blankets are among the many items some Oxfam affiliates sell in their shops to raise funds, but Oxfam does not send clothes and blankets overseas, however good their condition. This is because customs regulations, fumigation of second-hand items, transport, and communications make the process of exporting second-hand items very complicated, time-consuming, and expensive.

It is much easier to buy these items (with the money our supporters donate) in the countries where they are needed. It reduces the cost to Oxfam, helps stimulate local markets and economies, and we can be sure that the goods that we source are appropriate - both for the local environment and the local culture.

There are many local initiatives in poor countries where women knit or make clothes, and Oxfam tries to support them by buying their products and distributing them through its programs. This ensures women can learn new skills, earn an income and support their families, buy crops, send their children to school, and get the healthcare they need.

That's why making a cash donation is one of the most effective ways to support our emergency work as it enables us to deliver humanitarian assistance based on people's vulnerabilities.

Partnerships

We are privileged to be able to partner with thousands of local civil society organizations in our different projects, and the number is growing year by year. We believe that it is only through the collective efforts of many actors that we can make a sustained and significant positive impact on global poverty and injustice.

You can contact your nearest Oxfam office to apply. Please note that the Oxfam International Secretariat (the coordinating body of our Confederation) does not have any involvement in partnership decisions.

Oxfam understands partnerships as mutually empowering relationships, which are aware of power imbalances and focused on mutual growth, organizational development, institutional strengthening and above all, on achieving impact. We believe that programs implemented in partnership increase the collective knowledge, skills, reach, and experience applied to an issue or challenge. Reflecting this understanding, we have developed a set of core Partnership Principles.

At Oxfam, we strive to ensure that these principles underpin all our work: with local communities, local civil society organizations, and other actors:

Shared vision and values
Complementarity of purpose and value-added
Autonomy and independence
Transparency and mutual accountability
Clarity on roles and responsibilities
Commitment to joint learning

Oxfam website

Grants/Funding

All the Oxfam affiliates share a policy not to provide loans or grants to individuals, preferring to use our limited resources to support groups of people in the countries where we work to set up development, humanitarian assistance, and advocacy projects that will benefit a whole community, region, or nation.

The International Secretariat of Oxfam is not a funding body and is not directly involved with program decisions such as choosing or funding partners. These decisions are made by our members in line with the Oxfam International global strategy. You should, therefore, approach Oxfam affiliates directly. Our member organizations can then respond according to their program priorities. Please check out our list of countries in which Oxfam has a program.

Safeguarding

At Oxfam, we are committed to the prevention of all forms of abuse and responding to all safeguarding concerns or allegations that come to our attention.

Oxfam is introducing new policies across its confederation - including policies on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding and Survivor Support. Check out the list of already approved safeguarding-related policies.

Anyone (including Oxfam’s partners, supporters, volunteers, suppliers 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.
You can do this through our confidential whistleblowing lines:

By email whistleblowing@oxfam.org.uk
Or over the phone:

English: +44 (0) 1865 47 2120
Arabic: +44 (0) 1865 47 2121
French: +44 (0) 1865 47 2122
Portuguese: +44 (0) 1865 47 2124
Spanish: +44 (0) 1865 47 2123

Alternatively, you can reach out to your nearest Oxfam office.

From 2011, we introduced a range of measures to prevent sexual abuse and misconduct from happening in the first place and to improve how allegations are handled, including the establishment in October 2017 of a Global Safeguarding Taskforce to lead on structural change across Oxfam.

In February 2018, we agreed on a Ten-Point Action Plan to transform and strengthen our safeguarding policies, practices and our working culture; As part of this plan, we appointed an Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, led by women’s rights and human rights leaders, to interrogate all aspects of Oxfam culture and safeguarding work, past and present. Check out our progress against the plan.