Oxfam’s Global Extractive Industries Campaigning

Abstract

During the 1990s various Oxfams began supporting the activities of organizations that were defending the rights of local communities affected by extractives activities, principally mining and oil and gas. Thus, Oxfam Australia (then known as Community Aid Abroad) supported communities in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific affected by the activities of mining companies based in Australia. Oxfam Great Britain engaged in dialogues with major oil companies, such as Shell and BP, about human rights violations associated with their activities in Nigeria and Colombia. Oxfam Intermon became involved in discussions around the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline in West Africa and Oxfam America (OA) gave grants to several organizations in Ecuador in South America working with indigenous peoples in the Amazon to defend their rights in the face of oil exploration and production.