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Where does the name 'Oxfam' come from? |
The name “Oxfam” comes from the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, founded in Britain during the second world war in 1942. Oxfam started out by providing famine relief to the population of Nazi-occupied Greece.
Oxfam Belgium was founded in 1964. Its initial focus was to campaign for the decolonisation of Belgium’s African territories. It subsequently gave support to the populations of other former colonies as they became independent.
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Oxfam Belgium now has three organisational elements |
- Oxfam-Wereldwinkels (°1971) buys and sells food and craft products sourced from producers in the South, using the “fair trade” mode. It also carries out educational and political activities.
The Oxfam-Wereldwinkels fair trade network has 208 local shops that are mainly managed by volunteers.
In 2002 the general assembly of Oxfam-Wereldwinkels decided to expand their sales channels, to target new consumer groups and to generate more business for their partners in the South. It also decided that products should be sold under the brand name Oxfam Fairtrade.
Oxfam Fairtrade has become a wholesaler in the importing, distributing and selling of fair trade food products.
- Oxfam-Solidariteit (fr-nl) is a Belgian non-governmental organisation. Hundreds of development projects in the South are supported by the revenue from fundraising and from the Oxfam-Solidariteit shops dealing in second-hand goods. Oxfam-Solidariteit also conducts political campaigns.
- Oxfam-Magasins du monde (fr-nl) is the French-speaking equivalent of Oxfam-Wereldwinkels. The organisation has 80 shops across Wallonia and in Brussels. It mainly imports craftworks.