Oxfam Hong Kong is an independent international development and humanitarian organization working against poverty and related injustice. We recognize that much poverty is caused by injustice and that poverty alleviation requires economic, social and structural change. We work with people facing poverty and with partner organizations on development, humanitarian, policy advocacy and public education programs.
Oxfam Hong Kong’s work builds on our local understanding and identity and focuses on Southeast Asia and China, including Hong Kong. We also support poverty alleviation and humanitarian activities in other parts of Asia and Africa, and wherever we feel we can make the most valuable difference. Oxfam Hong Kong works with other members of the international confederation Oxfam on international campaigns and programs supporting people’s right to development.
Oxfam Hong Kong began in 1976, when volunteers came together, opened a second-hand shop, and raised funds for anti-poverty projects around the world. Some of the first actions in the 1970s and 80s were to advocate for justice in the Vietnamese Boat People/Refugee crisis in Hong Kong, and to help save lives in Ethiopia during the 1984 famine. To date, Oxfam Hong Kong has assisted poor people in more than 70 countries/states around the world.
Oxfam Hong Kong is one of 15 affiliates in the Oxfam international confederation that began in 1995. While allied in purpose and perspective, these organizations have functioned largely independently, with different affiliates working in a total of 99 countries.
Starting in 2010, Oxfam is working towards bringing the projects of all the affiliates together under a single strategy and management structure, in order to maximize the impact of the US$870 million we spend altogether each year to help people fight poverty.
Oxfam Hong Kong has been working on poverty alleviation and emergency relief in mainland China since 1987. More than 500 million Yuan has been allocated to help thousands and thousands of people, mainly poor farmers in remote mountainous areas, ethnic minorities, women and children, migrant workers and HIV/AIDS patients. The agency has supported projects in almost every province, region and municipality.
By 2021, with the support of 100,000 regular donors, Oxfam Hong Kong conducted poverty alleviation projects in over 70 countries. Focusing in mainland China, until 2020, Oxfam supported over 3.7 thousand projects in 31 regions, benefitting nearly 13.8 million people. In these programs,
