Australian spending up, but more still needed
A 10% increase in global foreign aid spending by OECD member countries announced overnight overnight is welcome but still nowhere near enough to meet the needs of poor countries in the face of global economic meltdown, international aid agency Oxfam said today.
Thousands of Australians will take part in events to mark the third annual National Close the Gap Day on Thursday 2 April, to urge State and Federal Governments to end the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health crisis.
Anthony Lee, David Venour, Richard Does and Stephen Paine ran 100km in just 10 hours and 34 minutes, breaking the record for the Oxfam TRAILWALKER Melbourne endurance challenge.
As the sun rises over Melbourne today, 2800 people will set off on a 100km trek in
teams of four sacrificing toenails and struggling with blisters in an effort to raise money for international aid agency Oxfam.
Oxfam is calling on Pacific Brands and other major Australian clothing companies to take more responsibility for the rights of the overseas workers who make their goods. This follows today’s release of a report that found a Hong Kong-based company that coordinates the manufacture of some Pacific Brands products rates poorly on efforts to eradicate sweatshops.
Buried on page ten of a World Bank Background Paper prepared for last weekend’s G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting was a sober but profoundly distressing statement.
International aid agency Oxfam welcomed today’s decision by the Rudd Government to change the Family Planning Guidelines, which apply to Australia’s overseas development program.
Oxfam is one of several major aid agencies facing expulsion from northern Sudan following the issue of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
The Close the Gap coalition has welcomed the Rudd Government’s Report Card on closing the gap in Indigenous life outcomes, in particular the $58.3 million over four years for eye and ear health – with a trachoma element – and the appointment of a Coordinator General for remote Indigenous services.
Women from all sides of politics will sit down with 88 Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women from around the country to talk about the issues facing indigenous communities in an historic national summit held by international aid agency Oxfam Australia at Parliament House on Friday 27 February.