76-561: A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency , usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar , euro , or pound sterling . It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultra high-net-worth individual . The American business magazine Forbes produces a global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an internet version of this list in real time. The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became
152-411: A billionaire. The top 10 universities produced just 99 of the top 400 billionaires combined, significantly less than the total number of billionaires who were not college educated. Military service produced 21 billionaires, more than any single university. Very few college-educated billionaires pursued business interests in their field of study, with the exception of computer science majors. All twelve of
228-538: A boycott of Israeli goods or to support groups that do so, and will not partner with organizations that advocate violence or oppose a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ". Despite this agreement, there were still those on both sides who objected to this project. As of 2013, Oxfam endorsed the two-state solution and wants Israel to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip and dismantle all of
304-622: A clearly political agenda above any humanitarian concern. Far from advancing peace, such an approach undermines the prospects of reaching a negotiated resolution to the conflict." In January 2013, Oxfam UK partnered with the Board of Deputies , who represent the Jewish community of the UK. The project, Grow-Tatzmiach, included sending 25 people to an activist training programme to help fight global hunger. In exchange for partnering, Oxfam agreed not to "call for
380-594: A firm may be worth more (or less) if sold as a going concern , or indeed if the business closes down. Net worth vs. debt is a significant aspect of business loans. Business owners are required to "trade on equity" in order to further increase their net worth. For individuals, net worth or wealth refers to an individual's net economic position: the value of the individual's assets minus liabilities. Examples of assets that an individual would factor into their net worth are retirement accounts, other investments, home(s), and vehicles. Liabilities include both secured debt (such as
456-563: A fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement ." In February 2015, pro-settler Israeli NGO Regavim released a report stating that the European Union had illegally funded the construction of houses; Oxfam and other NGOs participated in the project. Oxfam defended the construction "on humanitarian grounds". In 2019, the Israeli intelligence services implicated Oxfam Belgium in funding
532-420: A government's net worth is an alternative measure of the government's financial strength. Most governments utilize an accrual-based accounting system in order to provide a transparent picture of government operational costs. Other governments may utilize cash accounting in order to better foresee future fiscal events. The accrual-based system is more effective, however, when dealing with the overall transparency of
608-497: A government's spending. Massive governmental organizations rely on consistent and effective accounting in order to identify total net worth. A country's net worth is calculated as the sum of the net worth of all companies and individuals resident in that country, plus the government's net worth. For the United States, this measure is referred to as the financial position , and totalled $ 123.8 trillion as of 2014. Net worth
684-411: A home mortgage) and unsecured debt (such as consumer debt or personal loans). Typically intangible assets such as educational degrees are not factored into net worth, even though such assets positively contribute to one's overall financial position. For a deceased individual, net worth can be used for the value of their estate when in probate . Individuals with considerable net worth are described in
760-552: A member of Oxfam. Around the same time, the name was modified from IBIS to Oxfam IBIS, and in 2023 they made the complete transition and changed its name again to Oxfam Denmark. Today the organization mainly focus on transformative education, climate justice, economic justice and humanitarian aid. Oxfam GB's headquarters are in Cowley , Oxford. The finance office is in Newcastle , from where Oxfam shops are managed. Oxfam GB had
836-720: A million people in the UK make a regular financial contribution to its work. In April 2017, the Information Commissioner's Office fined Oxfam charities for breaching the Data Protection Act by misusing donors' personal data. Oxfam was fined £6,000. Oxfam International consists of 21 affiliates and the international secretariat in Nairobi . Additional offices were in Addis Ababa, Washington, DC, New York City, Brussels , and Geneva . Oxfam Japan
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#1732794195287912-574: A net worth of at least $ 100 billion. According to the UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2019 report released in November 2019, there are currently 2,101 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, from 66 countries, with a combined net worth of $ 8.5 trillion. Also according to the report, billionaires have a substantial positive impact on the sustainability and success of companies controlled by them. Billionaire-controlled companies listed on
988-502: A population of 53 million, of which 40 million relied on subsistence farming to live. This would compound for India in the future; production of food had not been parallel to its exploding population. It is estimated that, over the course of the droughts and famines, 2,400 tons of milk was bought by Oxfam and at the height of this was feeding over 400,000 children and mothers. In 1968 Oxfam's first field director in India, Jim Howard, created
1064-504: A regular supporter magazine called "Voices". Oxfam's involvement in India began when money was granted in 1951 to fight famine in Bihar. Bihar at the time was one of the poorest and most populated states in India. Oxfam had launched an appeal that led to the first report of Oxfam's work in the House of Commons in UK. On 31 May 1951, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations had commended
1140-402: A result of death or divorce, including Julia Koch , and Jeff Bezos 's former wife MacKenzie Scott . From 2014 to 2019, the number of female billionaires grew by 46%. That is more than the number of male billionaires in the same period (39%). As of 2019 there were 233 female billionaires in the world, compared to 160 in 2013. Billionaires come from a very wide number of backgrounds. A review of
1216-631: A senior staffer, Helen Evans, who had been the lead investigator of organizational sexual misconduct between 2012 and 2015. A commentator in the medical journal The Lancet , Mishal S. Khan, argued the Oxfam sex scandal was "not surprising." It was reported that the scandal cost Oxfam £16 million in unrestricted funding, and job losses and closures of some Oxfam shops were admitted to be likely in consequence. In June 2021, The Telegraph reported that leaked staff training documents claimed that "privileged white women" and "mainstream feminism " were supporting
1292-733: A succession of reviews of operations, growing in independence and criticism." Oxfam's study from January 2015 on wealth inequality stating that the richest 1% at the end of 2016 will own more than half of the world's assets has been criticized by several scholars as overestimating wealth inequality and ignoring other indicators of quality of life. Because Oxfam calculated personal assets in net worth , individuals in first-world, developed nations with high incomes who have more debts than assets appear as poorer than rural subsistence farmers with no debts and no assets. Oxfam's 2022 "Profiting from Pain" report claims that 1 million people fall into poverty every 33 hours. Journalist Noah Smith observed that
1368-570: A total income of £408.6m in 2016/17, had 5,000 employees, and used the services of 23,000 volunteers. In 2016 it received £31.7m from the British government. Mark Goldring was the chief executive officer from 2013 until January 2019, followed by Dhananjayan (Danny) Sriskandarajah who held office from January 2019 until December 2023. Halima Begum was announced as his successor as chief executive officer in December 2023. Oxfam GB produces
1444-495: Is a representation of where one stands financially. This can be used to help create budgets, influence wise spending, motivate one to pay off debt, and it can motivate someone to save and invest. Net worth is also important to look at when considering retirement . Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty , founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as
1520-514: Is made possible by supporters, interns, staff, volunteers, board and overseas partners. Most of the staff are based in their Auckland office. They also have a policy unit in Wellington . Most of Oxfam New Zealand's funds come from donations, supplemented by New Zealand government funds. In 2002, Oxfam Belgium published a poster encouraging the boycott of Israel , with an image of a bloody orange. Some critics alleged that it bore resemblance to
1596-524: Is not prescriptive, it is intended to help authors communicate with the diverse range of people with which we work." An animated video posted by Oxfam International in June 2023 for Pride Month attracted criticism, particularly from anti-trans activists, for its inclusion of a caricatured group of people representing "hate groups" that included one wearing a button badge labelled " TERF " and described by some critics to resemble J. K. Rowling . The scene
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#17327941952871672-433: Is the excess of assets over liabilities. The assets that contribute to net worth can include homes, vehicles, various types of bank accounts, money market accounts , stocks and bonds. The liabilities are financial obligations such as loans, mortgages , and accounts payable (AP) that deplete resources. Net worth in business is also referred to as equity . It is generally based on the value of all assets and liabilities at
1748-621: Is the setting of tariffs , where nations enforce high taxes on imported goods, restricting the sales of products from other nations, unbalanced labour rights for women, who often earn lower wages than their male counterparts, and stringent patent issues that prevent the prices of medication, software, and textbooks (e.g. gene patents , chemical patents , and software patents ) from being lowered. Thus, such essential goods are often inaccessible to developing nations. As part of its work Oxfam has also campaigned on issues regarding coffee farming. In October 2006, Oxfam accused Starbucks of asking
1824-466: The Israeli settlement infrastructure. On 17 January 2014, Oxfam UK cancelled an exhibition, "Gaza: Through my Eyes", which had been due to take place at East London Mosque after Left Foot Forward presented information to the charity detailing homophobic and potentially anti-semitic comments by one of the organizers, Ibrahim Hewitt. Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was reported as welcoming
1900-548: The Israeli–Palestinian conflict , North Korean famine , 2011 East Africa drought , 2012 Sahel drought , Nepal earthquake , and Yemeni crisis . The Bosfam NGO was also founded in May 1995 by women participating in an Oxfam GB psychosocial 'radionice' project to support internally displaced women during the Bosnian war . Oxfam has become a globally recognized leader in providing water sanitation to impoverished and war-torn areas
1976-489: The Make Poverty History movement. In a 2011 Columbia Journalism Review article, journalist Karen Rothmyer accused NGOs in general and Oxfam in particular of being unduly influenced by the priorities of the media, of providing inaccurate information to the press ("stories featuring aid projects often rely on dubious numbers provided by the organisations") and of perpetuating negative stereotypes which "have
2052-922: The National Coffee Association (NCA) to block a US trademark application from Ethiopia for three of the country's coffee beans, Sidamo , Harar and Yirgacheffe . They claimed this could result in denying Ethiopian coffee farmers potential annual earnings of up to £ 47m. Following this Starbucks had placed pamphlets in its stores accusing Oxfam of "misleading behavior" and insisting that its "campaign need[s] to stop", while The Economist derided Oxfam's "simplistic" stance and Ethiopia's "economically illiterate" government, arguing that Starbucks' (and Illy 's) standards-based approach would ultimately benefit farmers more. In June 2007, Ethiopian Government representatives and senior leaders from Starbucks Coffee Company worked out an agreement regarding distribution, marketing and licensing that recognized
2128-677: The PFLP , which carried out a bomb attack the same year and killed the Jewish teenager Rina Sneirb. Oxfam Belgium transferred funds to the subsidiary in the amount of 288,002 euros from 2017 to 2018, but claims to have made no funding since. In March 2020, the ambassador of Israel in the United Kingdom, Mark Regev , protested that antisemitic books, notably the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , were being sold on Oxfam's website. In response,
2204-585: The Russian invasion of Ukraine , in spite of the fact that the World Bank already considers the war in Ukraine when making its poverty projections. In 2010 Oxfam was criticized by independent bookshops and the booksellers association for aggressively expanding its specialist bookshops , using tactics more often associated with multi-national corporations. The charity's critics claim its expansion has come at
2280-406: The carrying value which is the value as expressed on the financial statements . To the extent items on the balance sheet do not express their true (market) value, the net worth will also be inaccurate. On reading the balance sheet, if the accumulated losses exceed the shareholder's equity, net worth becomes negative. Net worth in this formulation does not express the market value of a firm;
2356-583: The global population of 400 million. In the same period, the wealth of the richest 62 people between the World's Billionaires increased by $ 500bn (£350bn) to $ 1.76tn. More recently, in 2017 an Oxfam report noted that just eight billionaires have as much net worth as "half the human race". However, the Oxfam report has been criticized for considering debt as negative wealth, which leads to wealthy people with large amounts of debt to be considered poor or not wealthy. These aggregated statistics for billionaires include
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2432-615: The 1970s, it mainly worked with projects in Africa and Latin America, and usually focused on democracy, education and the causes of poverty . In 1991, the affiliate broke loose and founded the independent organization IBIS, International Bistand International Solidaritet (in English: 'International Aid International Solidarity'), and was mainly involved with transformative education, inequality, women's rights and democracy. In 2015 IBIS became
2508-490: The Bihar appeal, stating "the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief has made an appeal for donations and I hope individuals will reply to that generously". Among the many donations received was one for 100 British pounds from an Indian Rajah in appreciation of what Oxfam was doing for the hungry of his country. Bihar and famine would bring Oxfam back to India in 1965 to address drought due to bad monsoons. Bihar held
2584-574: The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA ) which is mandatory for charities, NGOs and any non-profit organisations receiving foreign funding in India along with 6,000 other such organisations. Oxfam New Zealand is an aid and development organization and affiliate of Oxfam International. Oxfam NZ is also responsible for delivering Cyclone relief in several countries in the Pacific region. Oxfam New Zealand's work
2660-495: The National Famine Relief Committee. The first permanent Oxfam gift shop was on Broad Street, Oxford; it opened in 1947. Oxfam's first paid employee was Joe Mitty , who began working at the Oxfam shop on Broad Street, Oxford, on 9 November 1949. Engaged to manage the accounts and distribute donated clothing, he originated the policy of selling anything people were willing to donate, and developed
2736-564: The Old Library of University Church of St Mary the Virgin , Oxford, for the first time in 1942, and its aim was to help starving citizens of occupied Greece , a famine caused by the Axis occupation of Greece and Allied naval blockades and to persuade the British government to allow food relief through the blockade. The Oxford committee was one of several local committees formed in support of
2812-549: The Oxfam GB chief executive apologized and removed the books from sale. In October 2020, NBC News reported that Oxfam was on the list of human rights organizations the Trump administration was considering branding as antisemitic. In October 2005, the magazine New Internationalist described Oxfam as a "Big International Non-Government Organisation (BINGO)", having a corporate-style, undemocratic internal structure, and addressing
2888-708: The Oxfam Gramdan Action Programme, or OGAP. This was the first joint rural development programme in Oxfam and the first step to a new 'operational' Oxfam. Oxfam India was established on 1 September 2008 under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 as a non-profitable organization with its head office in Delhi and is now a member of Oxfam International Confederation. This was marked by Oxfam's 60th year in India. Effective from 1 January 2022, Oxfam lost its foreign-funding license registration under
2964-945: The Oxfam charity shops around the UK, around 100 are specialist bookshops or book and music shops. Oxfam is the largest retailer of second-hand books in Europe, selling around 12 million per year. In 2008, Oxfam GB worked with over 20,000 volunteers in shops across the UK, raising £17.1 million for Oxfam's programme work. In the wake of the 2018 sexual abuse scandal, CEO Mark Goldring admitted closures of some Oxfam shops were likely. Allegations also appeared at this time regarding sexual harassment in Oxfam shops in Britain. Sector press later reported that Oxfam closed 26 of its shops in 2020 and that shops made an operational loss of £12.9 million in 2020, with further closures reported in local media thereafter. Oxfam has several successful fundraising channels in addition to its shops. Over half
3040-460: The Oxfam team house there, and that one of Oxfam's staff members had been fired for his behaviour. Oxfam's deputy chief executive Penny Lawrence resigned, taking full responsibility and acknowledging that "(c)oncerns were raised about the behaviour of staff in Chad as well as Haiti that we failed to adequately act upon". CEO Mark Goldring also resigned a few months later. New allegations were made by
3116-579: The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in Oxford, UK, in 1942, to alleviate World War Two related hunger and continued in the aftermath of the war. By 1970, Oxfam had established an international presence, in India, Australia, Denmark, and North America. Since 2005, Oxfam International has been involved in a series of controversies as it expanded, especially concerning its operations in Haiti and Chad. There have been criticisms of its management of operations in
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3192-451: The UK as well. Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford , as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief by a group of Quakers , social activists, and Oxford academics in 1942 and registered in accordance with UK law in 1943, the original committee was a group of concerned citizens, including 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
3268-500: The UK, with around 750 Oxfam GB shops, including specialist shops such as books, music, furniture, and bridal wear. Oxfam Germany has 45 shops, including specialist book shops; Oxfam France shops sell books and fair-trade products, and Oxfam Hong Kong has two shops selling donated goods and fair-trade products. Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Australia (with over 20 fair trade shops), Oxfam Ireland and Oxfam in Belgium also raise funds from shops. Of
3344-556: The age of 40, while the list of American-only billionaires, as of 2010, had an average age of 66. Different authorities use different methodologies to determine net worth and to rank them, and not all information about personal finances is publicly available. In 2019, Forbes counted a record 607 billionaires in the U.S.. Over the course of the 2020s, depending on the source and the year, the world's richest person has been reckoned to be Jeff Bezos , Bernard Arnault and family, or Elon Musk . In 2019, 19 people became billionaires. Four were
3420-483: The antisemitic blood libel , including the Simon Wiesenthal Center . Following complaints, Oxfam International said that it did not support the boycott of Israel, and that it considered the poster message to have been inappropriate, that it regrets Oxfam's association with this type of message, and offered an apology. Oxfam Belgium was reprimanded by president Ian Anderson. In October 2009, Oxfam
3496-763: The charity's work and reputation. Allegations were also circulated by the Daily Mail at this time regarding sexual harassment in Oxfam shops in Britain. Oxfam did not report any of the incidents to the Haitian authorities, because "it was extremely unlikely that any action would be taken". Although Oxfam disclosed details of the incident to the Charity Commission , the Commission revealed after The Times investigation that it had never received Oxfam's final investigation report and Oxfam "did not detail
3572-420: The computer science major billionaires worked in computer science, while only half of engineers worked in engineering, and less than a quarter of finance and economics majors ever worked in finance or economics. The most common field for billionaires to enter was sales and military service. According to a 2016 Oxfam report, the wealth of the poorest 95% dropped by 38% between 2010 and 2015, due to an increase in
3648-538: The deputy chair and treasurer from among its voting members. The board is responsible for ensuring that Oxfam International is accountable, transparent, and fit for purpose. In 2009–10, it had about 77 staff (including secondment placements and temporary staff). It is funded by contributions from affiliate organizations and has an operating budget of US$ 8.7M. The legal name of the entity is Stichting Oxfam International. In 1970, Oxfam America became an independent nonprofit organization and an Oxfam affiliate in response to
3724-432: The education and work histories of the top 400 billionaires shows little correlation between education and success. Nearly 30% of billionaires do not have a college degree, greatly exceeding any other educational background. The most common field of university education was finance and economics, which only contributed to a combined 15.5% of billionaire educations. There is little correlation between any university and becoming
3800-674: The equity market returned 17.8 percent, compared with the 9.1 percent of the MSCI AC World Index . According to the authors of the report, this Billionaire Effect is connected with smart risk-taking and willingness to plan and invest for the long term. The majority of billionaires are male, as fewer than 11% (197 of 1,826) on the 2015 list were female billionaires . The United States has the largest number of billionaires of any country, with 536 as of 2015, while China , India and Russia are home to 213, 90 and 88 billionaires, respectively. As of 2015, only 46 billionaires were under
3876-537: The event's cancellation but expressed disappointment that the organization "did no proper checks on (Mr. Hewitt) before agreeing to his presence." On 29 January 2014, actress Scarlett Johansson resigned as an international spokeswoman for Oxfam after appearing in a TV ad for SodaStream , a company with presence in the West Bank . Her publicist stated that Johansson "respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years ... She and Oxfam have
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#17327941952873952-558: The expense of independent secondhand book sellers and other charity shops in many areas of the UK. In February 2018 an investigation by The Times newspaper found that Oxfam allowed three men to resign and sacked four for gross misconduct after an inquiry concerning sexual exploitation, the downloading of pornography, bullying and intimidation. A 2011 confidential report by Oxfam had found "a culture of impunity" among some staff in Haiti and concluded that "it cannot be ruled out that any of
4028-425: The financial services industry as high-net-worth individuals and ultra high-net-worth individuals . In personal finance , knowing an individual's net worth can be important to understand their current financial standing and give a reference point for measuring future financial progress. Balance sheets that include all assets and liabilities can also be constructed for governments. Compared with government debt,
4104-496: The globe. Much of their stock comes from public donations but as of 2012 they still sold fair trade products from developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America, including handcrafts, books, music CDs and instruments, clothing, toys, food, and ethnic creations. These objects are brought to the public through fair trade to help boost the quality of life of their producers and surrounding communities. As of 2010, Oxfam had over 1,200 shops worldwide. More than half of them were in
4180-611: The humanitarian crisis created by the fight for independence in Bangladesh . Oxfam America's headquarters are located in Boston , Massachusetts , with a policy and campaigns office in Washington, D.C. , and seven regional offices around the world. A registered 501(c) 3 organization, Oxfam America campaigns for climate change adaptation , food security , aid reform, access to medicines, and fair trade . Ray Offenheiser served as
4256-545: The importance and integrity of Ethiopia's specialty coffee designations. An Oxfam spokesman said the deal sounds like a "useful step" as long as farmers are benefiting, and a big step from a year prior when Starbucks "wasn't engaging directly (with) Ethiopians on adding value to their coffee". Oxfam has shops all over the world, which sell many fair-trade and donated items since their first charity shop opened in 1948, although trading began in 1947. The proceeds from these are used to further Oxfam's mission and relief efforts around
4332-464: The non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities . Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net worth can be expressed as the sum of non-financial assets and net financial assets. This concept can apply to companies, individuals, governments, or economic sectors such as the financial corporations sector, or even entire countries. Net worth
4408-661: The potential to influence policy". She drew on earlier work by journalist Lauren Gelfand, who had taken a year away from journalism to work for Oxfam: "A lot of what Oxfam does is to sustain Oxfam"; and Linda Polman, author of the Crisis Caravan: "Aid organisations are businesses dressed up like Mother Theresa". In 2015, Omaar and de Waal, in Food and Power in Sudan , commented, "the 1990s have seen growing pressure for humanitarian institutions to become more accountable. There has been
4484-402: The precise allegations, nor did it make any indication of potential sexual crimes involving minors". A spokesperson for the Commission commented that: "We will expect the charity to provide us with the assurance that it has learnt lessons from past incidents". Oxfam later explained it had not given details to the Commission beyond "inappropriate sexual behaviour" because using prostitutes in Haiti
4560-545: The president and CEO of Oxfam America from 1996 until 2016. As of 2017, the president and CEO is Abby Maxman. Oxfam Australia is an independent, not-for-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organization, and an affiliate of Oxfam International. Oxfam Denmark has its roots in the Danish department of World University Service and has been active since the 1966 (initially mainly against apartheid and similar situations in other southern African nations). Since
4636-464: The prostitutes were under-aged". Among the staff who were permitted to resign was the charity's Belgian country director, Roland Van Hauwermeiren. In the internal report, Van Hauwermeiren admitted using prostitutes at a villa whose rent was paid for by Oxfam with charitable funds. Oxfam's chief executive at the time, Dame Barbara Stocking , offered Hauwermeiren "a phased and dignified exit" because sacking him risked "potentially serious implications" for
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#17327941952874712-418: The publication of Oxfam's "Inclusive Language Guide", which included apologising for its use of English given that it was the language of a "colonising nation" and making suggestions to the reader such as using "parent" as opposed to "mother" and "father" or avoid the phrase "stand with" for potentially being regarded as ableist to those who cannot stand. Oxfam defended the guide, in part stating that "this guide
4788-524: The report depended on incorrectly cited numbers, allegedly from the World Bank , claiming that 198 million people would become poor in 2022. However, the number in question represented the worst-case increase in global poverty between 2020 and 2022, rather than the increase for 2022 alone, which was according to the World Bank likely closer to 12 million. Further, the Oxfam data added an additional claim of 65 million people further falling into poverty due to
4864-459: The root causes of sexual violence by wanting "bad men" fired or imprisoned, and adding that reporting sexual assault "legitimises criminal punishment, harming black and other marginalised people." In the same month The Times reported that staff at the organisation being angered by an "offensive and divisive" staff survey that took aim at "whiteness" as well as asking them to state if they were anti-racist. In March 2023 further controversy followed
4940-428: The shop into a national chain. Fundraising innovations led by advertising adviser Harold Sumption , including rigorous testing of advertising campaigns, direct mail, the trading catalogue, and the first multimedia fundraising campaign the "Hunger £ Million", helped Oxfam become, for a time, the largest charity in the UK. By 1960, it was an international nongovernmental aid organization . The first overseas committee
5016-521: The symptoms rather than the causes of international poverty – especially by acquiescing to neoliberal economics and even taking over roles conventionally filled by national governments. Similar criticism came from Red Pepper magazine in July 2005 and Katherine Quarmby in the New Statesman in May 2005. The latter article detailed growing rifts between Oxfam and other organisations within
5092-457: The total number of known billionaires and the net worth of the world's wealthiest individual for each year since 2008. Data for each year is from the annual Forbes list of billionaires, with currency figures given in U.S. dollars. Data since 2018 also includes the Wealth-X billionaire census which typically finds higher numbers than Forbes . Net worth Net worth is the value of all
5168-582: The wealthiest 1 percent will own more than half of the global wealth by 2016. An Oxfam report released in 2017 stated that eight billionaires possess the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of humanity. The Make Trade Fair campaign organized by Oxfam International focuses on the elimination of trade practices, such as dumping , which occurs when highly subsidized, surplus commodities from developed countries such as rice, cotton, corn, and sugar are sold at low prices and farmers from poor countries have difficulty competing. Another practice Oxfam opposes
5244-485: The world over. In 2012, Oxfam became one of the humanitarian groups that comprise the UK's Rapid Response Facility to ensure clean water in the wake of humanitarian disasters. A January 2014 Oxfam report stated that the 85 wealthiest individuals in the world have a combined wealth equal to that of the bottom 50% of the world's population, or about 3.5 billion people. More recently, in January 2015, Oxfam reported that
5320-449: The world's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916. As of April 2024, there are 2,781 billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$ 14.2 trillion, up from US$ 12.2 trillion in 2023. According to a 2024 Oxfam report, the world's top 1% of earners own more combined wealth "than 95% of humanity". As of October 2024, seventeen people have reached the status of USD centibillionaires, meaning that each has had
5396-725: The wrong thing" by not reporting the detail of the allegations to the government. The incident led the International Development Committee of the UK Parliament to issue a report about sexual harassment and abuse in the humanitarian sector on 31 July 2018. Former supporters who withdrew from their association with Oxfam at this time included Minnie Driver . Oxfam had been aware that Van Hauwermeiren while director of Oxfam's relief operation in Chad in 2006 and other staff had repeatedly used prostitutes at
5472-524: Was a member from 2003 until its closure in 2018. The Oxfam International Secretariat (OIS) leads, facilitates, and supports collaboration between the Oxfam affiliates. The OIS Board comprises the executive director, chair of each affiliate, and the OI chair. The affiliates' chairs are voting members and are not remunerated. The executive directors and the OI Chair are all non-voting members. The board also elects
5548-656: Was accused by pro-settler Israeli NGO Regavim of aiding Palestinians in illegal activities in Kiryat Arba , including water theft . Oxfam has denied its participation. In response to a 2012 Oxfam report that blamed Israel for poor economic development in the Palestinian territories , a spokesman for the Israel embassy in the UK said: "Oxfam's latest report on the situation in the Palestinian territories puts
5624-456: Was announced publicly and staff members were suspended pending the outcome". The statement also added that the allegations "that under-age girls may have been involved were not proven". Speaking on the BBC 's Andrew Marr Show , the international development secretary , Penny Mordaunt , said Oxfam had failed in its "moral leadership" over the "scandal". Mordaunt also said that Oxfam did "absolutely
5700-594: Was founded in Canada in 1963, and in 1965, the organization changed its name to its telegraphic address , OXFAM. The Oxford committee became known as Oxfam GB . In 1995 Oxfam International was formed by a group of independent non-governmental organizations. Stichting Oxfam International was registered as a non-profit foundation at The Hague , Netherlands , in 1996. Winnie Byanyima was the executive director of Oxfam International from 2013 to 2019. Oxfam has provided relief services during various global crises, including
5776-502: Was not illegal. In response to the revelations, Liz Truss , the chief secretary to the Treasury, described the reports as "shocking, sickening and depressing". Oxfam issued a statement in which it asserted "Oxfam treats any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously. As soon as we became aware of a range of allegations – including of sexual misconduct – in Haiti in 2011 we launched an internal investigation. The investigation
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