In the midst of a maddening rise in inequality under COVID-19, there is reason for hope. Over the past year, social justice movements have taken centre stage, from the growing momentum of Black Lives Matter to the Wet’suwet’en Nation standing up to defend their land. The rising up of people around the world to challenge systemic sexism and racism has energized a new generation of activists.

At Oxfam Canada, our mission – to fight inequality and patriarchy to end poverty and injustice – has never felt more vital. In this new Strategic Framework, we recommit to our vision of a just and sustainable world and renew our conviction that ending poverty begins with women’s rights. When responding to emergencies, supporting long-term development projects and advocating to change laws and practices that perpetuate inequality, we will continue to put women and their organizations at the centre of our work, ensuring they have more power to claim their rights.

Over the next five years, we will deepen our work to end gender-based violence, fight for economic justice, and secure sexual and reproductive health and rights. In response to increasing humanitarian emergencies and the threat of climate change, we will ramp up our efforts to ensure women’s perspectives inform humanitarian responses, and we will work with women- and youth-led organizations to build a just and inclusive transition to a carbon-free future.

As we speak truth to power, we must also look inward with a critical eye. We commit to living our values and growing as a feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization. We will act with integrity and continually seek to earn the trust and respect of the communities we aim to serve and those who support and believe in our work. We commit to acting in solidarity with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in their struggles for self-determination and decolonization, and, as a member of the global Oxfam confederation, we will make critical changes to shift power, influence and resources from North to South.

As ever, we rely on the compassion, indignation and generosity of people and organizations in Canada who share our vision of a kinder, fairer world – a world less divided by borders, money, race or gender. We emerge from a turbulent 2020 with hope for the future and the conviction that the time for change has come.

Please download our Strategic Framework to learn more.