Oxfam GB Campaigns Blog

Oxfam supporters call for aid promises to be kept

2009-04-20T17:32:08Z

What can you do with £863 million? Well, if you're the UK government you can decide whether to put it towards a third of a nuclear submarine, or you can use it to help pay for 1.3 million teachers throughout Africa.

Late last week we got wind of the fact that in Wednesday's budget government promises of hard cash for development were about to be slashed over the next two years. It's a difficult time at the moment and Oxfam understand the pressures that people in the UK face.

Through our own work in the UK we can see that people living in poverty need help from the government. From our work abroad we know that people in the developing world are being hit by the global financial crisis and also need help now.

So, with huge cuts of £863 million at stake this year , £1.4 billion at stake for next year, Oxfam's UK-wide network of activists kicked into gear. Emails were fired off, MP surgeries were visited and faxes were, erm, faxed.

There's still time for you to write to your MP about this, or any poverty issue. It's very simple to do and you can find out who they are, and how to contact them, here. They might even be pleased to hear from you.

I was fairly impressed at receiving a hand written response the very next day from my MP. He assured me that, as my representative, he'd (once again) take up an issue. Hundreds of others, at very short notice, have done the same.

We'll find out on Wednesday whether the government is sticking to their earlier promises or not. But we already know that Oxfam campaigners will be waiting intently for the result.

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

Carteret Islands sunk by climate change

2009-04-17T16:22:25Z

For most people in the UK, climate change feels like something that will happen at some undefined point in the future - to our children and grandchildren's generation.

For the people of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea, it's a bit more serious than "one of those summers". As the sea level rises, their drinking water and crops have been poisoned by salt. The 1000 Islanders are packing up and their home abandoned to the waves.

They are the first entire people to officially be evacuated because of climate change.

For Ursula Rakova, seeing her ancestral homeland disappear is a hard reality. As she says, "Climate change is not just about statistics. Climate change is not just about science. Climate change is about human rights."

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

Global aid figures show a lack of commitment

2009-04-09T11:44:02Z

With all of the head spinning stuff going on in the last few weeks, the announcement of the latest global aid figures got lost between the marches and the meetings.

This money helps to provide things like HIV and AIDS treatment for people, as well as training doctors and nurses, throughout the developing world.

As well as doing fairly life saving stuff like that, these figures are an indication of how rich nations are doing in meeting their commitments to developing countries.

So, what did we learn from global aid figures?

The main headline is that most rich nations still have a mountain to climb to meet their promises to increase global aid by $50 billion by 2010. Italy, the G8 chair in 2009, is the worst offender. They'll need to increase aid spending by 145% to meet their promise.

However, the good news is that there has been a 10% increase in global foreign aid - to $120 billion. At first glance this is impressive. But we live in a world where $173 billion can be found to save an insurance company.

Stack this up against the massive sums that have been found for 'fiscal stimulus', 'cash injections' and other things that require figures running into the trillions, $8.4 of them - I don't think my brain knows what that is - then this figure is tiny. In fact it's 0.3% of national income.

Therefore, in real terms aid levels haven't changed since 1993. A time when South African apartheid was coming to an end, the North Ireland Peace Process began and Mr Blobby was number 1. I thought the world had well and truly moved on.

When belts are being tightened, people start questioning the value of aid. But developing countries are being hit hard by the current crisis.

Foreign Direct Investment into developing countries has collapsed, global trade has ground to a virtual halt and tax havens continue to deprive developing countries of much needed income. Aid is needed now more than ever to help the poorest countries weather the economic tsunami.

Aid alone is not enough for the poorest countries to escape the poverty trap, but quality long-term aid does make a huge difference. In Tanzania aid has helped to provide free schooling to its primary-aged children - allowing 3.5 million more children to attend.

After many commitments, summits, meetings, plans and goals, when it comes to aid, things are much the same now as they were 15 years ago.

Now that the whirlwind around the G20 is over, it's back to making sure that world leaders stick to their commitments. Lives depend on it.

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

More big meetings, more disappointing climate mumblings

2009-04-07T11:31:12Z

Whoever it was that said '24 hours is a long time in politics' certainly wasn't kidding. While I'm still feeling worn out by the political frenzy that surrounded last week's G20 summit, even by Saturday the world had moved on.

The story at the weekend was Obama's speech in Prague. And given it's the new president's first official tour of Europe, he's certainly been making the most of it.

In between the invitations for dinner and beers, he managed to deliver a historic speech to an audience of 20,000 (though by his crowd-pulling standards, I imagine it was all in a day's work) where he outlined his vision of a nuclear weapons free world. And from the language he used, and with the intensity with which he spoke, it was clear that he meant what he was saying. A notable moment indeed.

But what much of the world's media missed is that Obama's speech - and the corresponding EU-US meetings - were about more than the need for nuclear disarmament. It was also about the relationship between European nations and the States, and - importantly - climate change. And when there's climate change on the agenda at big, important meetings, then Oxfam's never too far away.

Oxfam activists took the opportunity to dust off the infamous 'big heads' (see the photo above) to restate the point that the clock is ticking down to December's climate change talks.

After the vague political mumblings about "[building] an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery" that came out of the G20, we had our fingers crossed that the new president was saving the real, gusty climate change policy for the weekend.

No such luck.

The outcome of the EU-US meetings was more talk. Particularly of the 'ambitious' role the EU has taken with regard to tackling climate change (we'd beg to differ), and the need for the EU and US to work together on achieving an 'ambitious outcome' (there's that word again).

Sure, it's language that's a million miles on from the noises the Bush Administration had been making.

Given we've now only eight months until the world must agree how to replace the Kyoto Protocol, there's a pressing need for real commitments to action.

What's all-the-more worrying is that it was the second major meeting in less than seven days where some of the world's most influential heads of state had managed to demote climate change to little more than a footnote.

The EU and US have an unprecedented opportunity to take a truly leading role in the global efforts to fight climate change. And to do so, as international political heavyweights, they will have to work together. But that means not just talk, but action.

That's real action which puts figures for providing adaptation financing (and that means providing poor countries with the cash they need to adapt to the effects of climate change) on the table. Real action that commits to emissions reductions that have a chance of limiting global warming to 2°C. And real action that puts the lives of the world's poorest people - those suffering worst from the impacts of climate change - at the heart of the global deal.

Mr Obama did go so far as to say that "the United States is now ready to lead [on tackling climate change.]" But, in such an important year, we need to see Obama and Co talking with the same language with which he talked about nuclear weapons. And we need to see it now.

Richard Casson, Oxfam campaigner

The $1.1 trillion verdict's out. But what does it mean for poor countries?

2009-04-03T17:17:22Z

So the G20 verdict's out. Obama and the rest of the visitors have jetted off. And a full communiqué - dazzling with lines of 'restoring growth', 'financial supervision' and the (incomprehensibly ginormous) '$1.1 trillion cash injection' - arrived on the summit website late last night.

But what does it all mean?

35,000 people in Hyde Park last Saturday. A weekend of marching through the streets of London. The arrival of the new president and his five-hundred-strong security force. Add in the blanket coverage on the news and papers, and I'm not only trying to figure out where the last five days of my life went, but also wondering what victories Oxfam can claim.

I'll try to break down some of the announcements here (there's more detailed analysis from Duncan Green, our Head of Research, here).

Tax Havens
They're not only the hang-outs of flamboyant businessmen, tax havens also cause developing countries to miss out on up to $124 billion every year in lost income (to put that into perspective, $16bn a year would be sufficient to give every child in the world a school place).

According to one of Oxfam's G20 Voice bloggers (who questioned Gordon Brown directly and simultaneously made blogging history), the Prime Minister is making the right noises about clamping down on tax havens, and yesterday's final G20 communiqué says that "the era of banking secrecy is over".

A step in the right direction? Yes. But the next leap is for the G20 to put words into action.

The stories that have barely made the headlines since the global financial crisis began are those of job losses in poor countries and the impact on their economies.

Though we welcome yesterday's announcement of a $50 billion rescue package for poor countries, it pales into significance when you compare it to the proposed $8.4 trillion bailout of rich country financial institutions. And considering that the portion allocated is a fraction of the $1.1 trillion total - poor countries are hardly set to get an equal share of the global bailout pie.

Climate change
Distinctly lacking from the discussions was any progress on tackling climate change. The best we got was a vague plan to create "low carbon technologies and infrastructure". But quite what this means is anyone's guess.

A binding commitment to keeping global warming below 2°C? Missing. Money set aside to help poor countries adapt to rising sea levels and the effects of increased drought? Not even a mention.

Action on climate change has been delayed until later this year. Exactly the opposite of what we were calling for. (Though there might be some progress at the EU-US meetings happening this week - but more about that next week).

It's a mixed bag of results, but one victory that we can claim that wasn't in the communiqué is that the G20 has now well and truly arrived.

Though there's a long way to go before all the world's 192 countries are represented at such summits, the G20 is a move away from the elite decision making process associated with the G8 (where developing countries would normally only be invited for a press photo on the last day of negotiations).

Richard Casson, Oxfam campaigner

Flying Kites: A symbol of freedom and joy in Afghanistan

2009-04-02T16:31:20Z

As the UN convenes in The Hague to discuss the country's future, the people of Afghanistan need to be put at the top of the agenda says Achmed Sadat, Oxfam Volunteer and Dutch Afghan.

This week is an important week for the people of Afghanistan. UN decision makers are meeting in the Netherlands to discuss providing more money for humanitarian relief and the protection of civilians. Oxfam campaigners and Afghans were there in front of national press and journalists, flying a colourful array of kites on the beach outside the Kurhaus hotel, in The Hague - where many of the delegates were staying.

I am 22-year-old Dutch Afghan and I volunteer for Oxfam. I left Afghanistan 13 years ago with my parents. I love kite flying. This is a great sport for Afghans, everybody enjoys it: old, young, the rich and the poor. Our kites are fighter kites, and we compete with them and for many Afghans they are also a symbol of freedom and joy.

My friend Habib and I grew up in the Netherlands, we have not been back to Afghanistan yet, but are planning to go there this year as part of our project Back2ourRootz. We are looking for two young men of our age and would like to make a film about our lives. We would like to show how growing up in different countries, in peace and in conflict, had affected us: how we are different and how we are the same. The situation is really complicated in Afghanistan but we are very proud to be Dutch Afghans and do not want to forget where we are coming from.

Today we arrived at the beach and the sky was beautifully covered with kites of all sizes, colors and shapes. The sun was shining and the people were smiling. We are so happy to see that the kite is becoming a new symbol of Afghanistan: a positive symbol. It is a much better symbol than the images of war and the oppression of women.

Our message to the diplomats meeting this week is simple: put the people of Afghanistan on top of your agenda. This meeting can't only be about military strategy and counter-terrorism tactics. The real needs of Afghans must be central to any discussions on the future of the country. We believe governments attending should put Afghan civilians first by; protecting civilians, making aid effective, improving humanitarian responses, and building peace and a peace process.

We are so happy to see that the world remembers Afghans and shows solidarity with their problems.

Achmed Sadat, Afghan blogger

35,000 people brave rain and blisters for G20 rally

2009-03-30T12:31:29Z

We'd like to say a great big thank you to the throngs of Oxfam supporters who joined the crowd of 35,000 for the Put People First G20 rally last weekend.

Thank you for giving up your Saturday to come to London. Thank you for helping us to bring the voices of poor people to the rally. But most of all, thank you for braving the rain, and the blisters.

For those of you who couldn't make it, we've put a video together of some of the highlights of the day. Watch it below.

Other rallies and demonstrations will continue through this week, but our attention now turns to London's Excel Centre, where heads of state will gather on Thursday this week.

Now usually these types of big, international conferences are walled events, with the detail of the discussions taking place well away from the watchful public eye.

Given the "global economic reach" of the G20, what is - or is not - decided this week will undoubtedly have a profound effect on the lives of people everywhere (not to mention the impact on poor nations), the closed-door approach has always left us wondering whether what's publicly announced after previous summits reflects the real conversations between heads of state. (Remember the Bush-Blair encounter of two years ago?).

With that in mind, Oxfam has helped set up G20 Voice - an initiative where 50 of the world's most interesting and influential bloggers will be your eyes and ears at the G20 Summit.

The bloggers come from 22 different countries, and together have a combined audience of over 14 million. Some of them are from poor countries, and so they will help bring a more global perspective to the G20 summit - as even though the G20 is more representative than the G8, the majority of delegates are still from rich countries.

But most importantly, all the bloggers are active citizens, committed to the eradication of poverty and injustice.

They're people who include Daudi Were (mentalacrobatics.com) and Jotman (jotman.com), both of whom have combined powerful writing and reporting with the global reach reach of the Internet. Daubi is recognised as one of Africa's most influential citizen journalists, and Jotman (whose real name is not disclosed for security reasons) posted some of the first images of 2006 Bangkok coup and interviewed escaped monks during the 2007 Burma crisis.

Between them, the bloggers will pull back the curtain at the summit as leaders draw up their blueprint for global recovery.

Earth Hour 2009: The giant switch off

2009-03-26T12:13:04Z

I'll be completely honest, when I first heard about Earth Hour, I wasn't won over. The idea of encouraging individuals to switch off at a collective time during the day seemed like a completely implausible campaign action. It's not that I'm pessimistic, but just think, one house on one street in one of the many hundreds of towns, in our small country going lights down? I found it hard to think anyone would notice. After all, there are so many houses on so many streets in millions of towns across the globe, the majority of which will undoubtedly just stay on. I thought. Oh I was so wrong! So sure, in it's first year (2007) Earth Hour wasn't even global. It started as a local action led by WWF in Sydney, but even then for a local action - it was massive. Over 2 million people took part. Within a year Earth Hour went global. The results were profound - over 50 million people switched off for an hour. And we're not just talking individuals, whole streets held candle-lit street parties, entire campuses of students dimming down in their halls, local councils getting on board and flicking the switch, plus some of the worlds largest cities most illuminated landmarks plunging themselves into darkness, all to join in the global statement for voting Earth. So this year there's no holding back. Now joined by the UN Secretary General himself, Ban Ki Moon, as well as other highly influential global organisations such as EU, UEFA, and the Olympics, Earth Hour is looking to reach an incredible 1 billion people this Saturday at 8.30pm. Good ideas are certainly hard to come by, but with something so simple it seems silly not to take part. Whether it's just you on your own, a group of family and friend, or joining in at one of the large-scale switch off's (Big Ben being one of many around the UK) - then it's yours for the taking. This year, more than ever, we need to show collectively that global civil society want action on climate change - and I can't think of a better way to do it than Earth Hour. Guppi Bola, Oxfam Campaigner

G20 rally – things to do if you're going, and things to do if you're not

2009-03-25T12:08:40Z

Just a few days to go until this Saturday's G20 rally, and with the pre-demonstration-buzz growing by the day, we thought we'd pull together a quick update on what's planned for the day, and what you can do to help even if you can't make it. Working with others from the Put People First coalition (the group of organisations who've helped pull things together for the rally), we're looking for budding citizen journalists to send SMS and photo updates live from the rally. All you need to take part is a mobile and a Twitter profile (and if you've already got the former then you're pretty much sorted as the latter doesn't cost a penny). There are full instructions on how to take part here. If you make it to London before 11am, then first of all well done for getting up early on a Saturday. But secondly, why not come along and march with our contingent and join the rally with a crowd of other Oxfam supporters? A big group of Oxfam staff and volunteers will meet at 11am on the corner of Middle Temple Lane and Embankment (map here). We'd love it if you could join us for a chat and help us wave some giant Oxfam banners. And if you'd like to come to London for the rally but can't (we realise that getting there isn't possible, or realistic, for everyone), then there are other ways you can take part. First and foremost, you'll be able to watch as the SMS and photo updates steam through live. Secondly (and really you can do this whether you're going or you aren't), the Labour Party yesterday opened up their website for questions from the public for the G20 leaders. So if you've got a point to make about climate change, or a comment about the need to honour promises to meet aid commitments, then their website is the place to do it. Quite how all these comments will be handed in and how the G20 will respond isn't clear. I like to think submissions will be sent via SMS direct to Barack Obama's mobile. But I guess that's being optimistic. Right. Think that's about it. Apart from to say make sure you bring a raincoat and suncream (yes, I sound like nagging parent, but this is Britain and the weather could go either way). Hopefully see you there. Richard Casson, Oxfam campaigner

One mum's wish this Mother's Day

2009-03-21T12:19:14Z

It's Mother's Day here in the UK this Sunday. So, this is the day when we can say, "thanks Mum" for everything she's done. I might be grown up (in theory) but I know that when I was a child my mum would have done anything to protect me. But imagine if fulfilling that instinct was out of your hands. This is true for many parents around the world - and especially true for many women living in poverty. I think it must be even worse if the thing that's causing this massive concern is climate change. Many people are powerless to do anything to halt it - unlike the leaders of the G20, the most powerful nations in the world that are meeting next month. We met Martina in Kotido, Uganda, last year. She is one of our Sisters on the Planet, and told us she knows only too well that the weather has become more and more unpredictable. Droughts followed by floods were killing crops and livestock. She felt pretty hopeless and told us, "there aren't enough words to express the pain". At the end of the video she made as part of Sisters on the Planet, she fed her youngest child and was regretful that she had to raise her children at this time, "What can I do for them now? What can I give them?" she asked. We returned to the village this year to see how life had changed (see video). Martina can't do much to stop climate change but she is doing lots to help her community adapt to the effects that global emissions are having where they live. And for those now getting ready to work out what last minute gift to buy for your mum, then you could go with something from our Unwrapped catalogue. Send your mum an e-card, it'll get there in time. And, more importantly, it will make a massive difference to the lives of people in situations similar to Martina.
Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

African leaders ask Brown to put people first at the G20 Summit

2009-03-18T16:36:39Z

The buzz around the G20 has well and truly begun. Well kind of. Unfortunately, it's not yet getting quite as much press coverage as the football results. But here in our office, people are talking about our hopes for the upcoming summit.

We're also getting ready to participate in the Put People First rally on March 28. Then there's G20Voice project, where bloggers like Oxfam's Duncan Green will be reporting back from the summit itself.

One of the items you might have missed earlier this week was Gordon Brown meeting with African leaders to discuss the impact that this crisis is having on the continent.

News of bank collapses, cash injections, market tumbles and stimulus packages, dominate our news. It's easy to forget that this crisis was made in the West but is now being exported out to developing countries. It all sounds a bit similar to climate change to me.

Hundreds of millions of people are at risk of falling into poverty. Unless developed nations contribute more money to help poor nations cope with the shockwaves of the downturn, the poorest people are at severe risk. Now is the time when we can make a massive difference to the future.

The boffins reckon that developing nations need $24 billion right now- or a few bankers pensions, as we like to think of it. This is only a fraction of what has been pumped into developed economies.

Despite being least responsible for causing it, Africa is in danger of being clobbered by it. Does that sound familiar? Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete warned, "This is a very unprecedented problem. Africa is a victim. We are not responsible for its genesis but all of us are suffering."

I double-checked to make sure that he wasn't talking about climate change, he wasn't. He and other African leaders were talking about the "chaos" that this economic crisis could well cause throughout Africa.

It isn't just about ensuring that aid commitments are kept. Yes, that's important as aid provides money for schools and it helps people afford medicine and life-saving treatments. When the big decisions are taken, that will change the face of the financial system, developing nations must have a place at the table.

Our government needs to ensure that developing countries can adapt their economies to new realities. People's lives depend on it. No, I'm still not talking about climate change.

But this G20 we're asking for justice. And now we're talking about economic justice and climate justice. Rich country governments have proved that they can take big action when they need to. Yes, the economy is vital but so is the environment - and it's clear that we need action on both.

So make sure that you attend the Put People First G20 rally on March 28 in London's Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park. Also make sure you follow all the action of the G20Voice bloggers. It might be big enough to get the football off the front pages. After all they're discussing the future of the world.

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

What happens at the EU this March matters - a lot

2009-03-13T14:09:41Z

Even as a self-confessed politics enthusiast (yes, I watch Newsnight and I'm not afraid to admit it), I have to say that I'm baffled by the workings of the European Union.

If the question "who is the current president of the EU?" came up in a pub quiz, I'd be guessing at best. And if you asked me to list the names of my representatives in the European Parliament, I'd be well and truly flummoxed.

My patchy Euro-knowledge has never much bothered me. Until recently, I'd been pretty happy with things that way.

That changed after last December's UN climate change negotiations, which took place in Poznan, Poland.

After good progress at the 2007 UN meetings (these get-togethers have happened once a year for the last few years), last December's talks could have been a moment when the world took a giant leap forward on agreeing an international solution to tackle climate change.

Sadly, decent progress in Poland never materialised. Developing nations put suggestions on the table and then the whole thing ground to a halt. EU leaders showed a distinct lack of desire to match developing nations ambition.

EU leaders bowed down to lobbyists from industry and refused to commit to cutting our carbon usage. They've since been a bit hazy about agreeing to help poorer nations adapt to the effects of climate change. Essentially, they're refusing to stop harming and start helping.

One thing these talks did make clear though was that decisions made by the EU matter. They affect how much tax we pay, and our freedom to work in other countries. But most importantly, they affect how the world chooses to tackle climate change. Throughout March, Government officials from member states - Alistair Darling, Ed Miliband, and Gordon Brown, are the three main politicians representing the UK - will meet once again and continue to negotiate Europe-wide climate change policies.

The EU will have a choice of anything from agreeing rigorous cuts in CO2 emissions, or doing nothing while already rising sea levels wash away livelihoods in areas of Bangladesh, and more frequent droughts make life harder for communities in Uganda.

The EU meetings aren't likely to make it to the front pages of the papers, or get top billing on the News at Ten, yet what's decided over the coming weeks matters profoundly.

Decisions made will have a knock-on effect on UN climate change talks, which this December will take place in Copenhagen. They could ultimately strengthen our chances of nailing-down a global solution to tackle climate change.

Oxfam, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Practical Action and WWF have started a combined email action - fill it in here to ask Gordon Brown to make sure the EU gets it right.

Richard Casson is an Oxfam campaigner

G20 Voice - calling bloggers from around the world...

2009-03-12T14:56:29Z

I often find myself shouting at the TV as the latest politician comes on to tow the party line. I read the newspaper and think to myself that they just don't get it; they're not saying what I want to hear.

If you're like me, then now is your chance to lend your throat and to vote for someone to speak out for you. As the world lands on our doorstep, with the G20 carnival rolling into town, we're looking to promote some unique views and voices.

When it was announced, I thought it would be very cool to get bloggers from around the world to go as well. And that was the start of the G20 Voice. I didn't know then how much work and effort this project would take. But after some stalling, stopping and reversing (and a bit of aging) the G20 Voice got the official nod.

We've arranged for 50 bloggers from around the world to attend the G20 summit this April 2, and to blog about what they see from inside. We want bloggers from all over the world to attend and engage in the debate.

It's vital that at the G20 the leaders hear views on why it's important to tackle global poverty reduction and climate change, especially during the financial crisis. Oxfam's voice will be represented by our Head of Research, author of From Poverty to Power and more importantly, expert blogger, Duncan Green.

If you know someone who you're sure will hit the nail on the head, then nominate them on the G20 Voice website. They can come and spend the day in the media centre - I'll be there running around crazily.

We want everyone to use his or her voices to create a din. So, you can follow live streams of what's going on. You can write your own blogs from your bedroom, your desk, the park and just about anywhere. That's the beauty. So get tweeting, get tumbling, make videos - get the web buzzing. Get your G20 Voice heard by more than just your TV and cat.

You can find out more about the G20 Voice on the Facebook fan page, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and RSS

Karina Brisby Oxfam interactive campaigns manager

We can end violence against women this International Women's Day.

2009-03-07T16:38:13Z

This Sunday, 8th March, is International Women's Day (IWD). While in the UK it gets only a small amount of attention, in some parts of the world it's a pretty big deal. For instance, in Russia, it's not only a national holiday - lucky people - but it's the custom for men to buy flowers for every female member of their family.

This year the theme of the day is, 'Women and men united to end violence against women and girls'. This is very similar to our 'We can end violence against women' campaign in South Asia.

It makes me upset when I read that violence against women is the biggest cause of death and disability among women aged 15-44. Our We Can campaign breaks down customs and attitudes that tacitly condone and support violence against women.

One of our We Can 'Change makers' is Beauty Ara. She's taking the message to her local community in Bangladesh, have a look at her story in the film above. There are already 350,000 people, like Beauty, who are determined to force a sea change in attitudes and beliefs.

We've come a long way since the first International Women's Day almost 100 years ago. However, there is much more that needs to be done. Do I think we'll get there? As the campaign name says, "We can!"

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam

Make banana history

2009-03-05T17:56:33Z

It's time for the biggest challenge in Fairtrade Fortnight history. In previous years we've had Fairtrade woman. She consumed nothing but Fairtrade products for the whole fortnight.

This year people all over the country have taken fairtrade to their hearts. Fairtrade pancakes have been eaten, Fairtrade coffee drunk - mainly by me - and now the Fairtrade event to end all Fairtrade events is upon us.

This year we're going bananas. We're making banana history, although there isn't a Geldoff or Bono banana in sight, as we set a world record for the highest number ever of Fairtrade bananas eaten in a day. And when is this day of record breaking? Well today (as long as your reading this between midday 6th March and midday 7th).

Why not get some extras and then tell your friends, family, children, grandparents, green grocer and everyone you meet in the next 24 hours to eat a Fairtrade banana. Record-breakers here we come!!

As you do so you'll be safe in the knowledge that although you're only consuming one humble banana, that banana's destiny is to live on in the record books, as well your stomach.

So far well over 300,000 people have signed up for this banana mayhem. You can be part of the fun. Make sure that you register with the Fairtrade Foundation so that you're literally on the map.

If you're truly bananas, like these guys, then you can send in a video or photo of you, well, looking a bit daft. I've not done that, as my photo of me looking daft appears at the bottom of this page.

Or, follow my plan and just get yourself some lovely Fairtrade bananas and eat them. You'll be making banana history.

Ian Sullivan is a campaigner at Oxfam