The Close the Gap Campaign aims to close the ten to 17-year life-expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ within a generation. Founded in 2006, it marks its fifth anniversary today.
Written by Oxfam Ambassador Kristin Davis
Today is a special day. In China, women get the day off work. In Bosnia and Italy, women receive gifts of flowers. In Cameroon, women dance in the streets. What will you do today to make it a special day?
It shocks, disappoints and angers me that in a world where man has travelled to the moon and where we can connect to people anywhere on earth instantly online, men and women are still not equal.
It is no secret that Australia is seeking a seat on the UN Security Council, the body responsible for maintaining global peace and security. This would place Australia in the inner sanctum of the most powerful body of the UN, albeit without the veto rights of the five permanent members.
As Australia’s aid program continues to grow – in line with the bi-partisan commitment for aid funding to reach half a per cent of our national income by 2015 – it will become even more important to make sure we are using this money effectively.
Cancun is an important chapter in the epic story to tackle global climate change. If countries view Cancun as they should – a turning point from which to build from – the end of the book could well be in sight.
The revenue the extractives sector generates each year in poor countries is far greater than official aid flows and could see major improvements within countries if a portion was directed towards essential services for local people.
As the evening light rapidly faded, a group of children stood silently posing with wide eyes staring intently into my camera lens.
I was on my second trip with the international agency Oxfam as a Global Ambassador, to see for myself the devastating impact that climate change is already having on some of the world’s poorest places. Last year I traveled to Peru, my mother’s native country, to take photographs that were exhibited at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, which I also attended.
While in South Western Bangladesh last week, I watched as a woman named Shahana sat cross-legged on the ground with thirty members of her community noting down the many ways changing weather patterns were impacting their lives.
The challenge of climate change is a global one. But it is poor people in developing countries who are suffering its impacts first and worst. And they simply cannot afford to wait any longer to receive the assistance that they so desperately need.