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Tomorrow marks World Fair Trade Day, which each year sees people from around the world join together to campaign for the rights of small producers, farmers and artisans.

International development agency Oxfam Australia has applauded the Government’s move to increase the aid budget and stay on track to meet the bipartisan commitment to the world’s poorest people.

Oxfam Australia Executive Director Andrew Hewett said: “This is a good news story. The money will save lives and help some of the world’s poorest men, women and children.

Coalition forces are not doing enough to prevent abuses by Afghan forces and have been too slow to address the issue as they prepare to hand over responsibility for security to the Afghan government, Oxfam and other agencies said today.

International development agency Oxfam Australia will be watching tomorrow night’s budget to see if Australia remains on track to meeting its aid promise to the world’s poorest people.

Oxfam Australia today welcomed the launch of Fair Traders of Australia, a new accreditation body for Australian businesses which have fair trade at the core of what they do.

Oxfam Shop is Australia’s leading fair trade retailer, selling beautiful hand-crafted kitchenware and homewares products created by artisans around the world as well as delicious Fairtrade food and a wide range of other fair trade items in its 19 retail shops around Australia and online shop, www.oxfamshop.org.au

Australia’s biggest celebration of everything fair trade, Fair Trade Fortnight 2011, begins tomorrow and will give Australians the opportunity to understand more about how the fair trade system benefits those in developing countries, says Oxfam Australia.

Among keynote events, Oxfam Australia and the Fairtrade Association of Australia and New Zealand have teamed up to host a Fairtrade-certified Sri Lankan tea producer, to help raise awareness of how producers in developing countries are benefiting from Fairtrade.

More Australians are choosing ethically produced Easter eggs and bunnies this year, according to international aid agency Oxfam Australia.

Oxfam’s Fairtrade Easter chocolate sales are up by 50% so far this year, compared to the pre-Easter period last year.

Fair trade Easter products will be hidden around the Adelaide CBD today, to raise awareness of fair trade in the lead up to Easter.

Four months of violence, looting and displacement have created a humanitarian crisis that will take months and perhaps years to ease, Oxfam said today.

Violent attacks and looting has forced thousands to flee Ivory Coast for Liberia over the past 24 hours, international aid agency Oxfam said today.