Corporate Responsibility Weblog - Instituto de Empresa Business School

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November 14, 2006

The Oxfam Report - How much value is it adding?

Oxfam International has just brought out their report on Health, Education, and Water and Sanitation for All.

This report shows that developing countries will only achieve healthy and educated populations if their governments take responsibility for providing essential services.
Water Sanitation.jpg
Rich country governments and international agencies such as the World Bank should be crucial partners in supporting public systems, but too often they block progress by failing to deliver debt relief and predictable aid that supports public systems.

For those job hunting, in order to provide basic health care and education for all, the world needs 4.25 million more health workers and 1.9 million more trained teachers.

I believe that Oxfam reports, by being so critical put things in balance and bring people, institutions and governments into action, which is already a big contribution; but I also find it important to be critical with such reports and moreover with their overall contribution.

It is interesting to see raising critical voices on this year’s Oxfam report, as being “more of the same”, arguing that “The Oxfam doctor's prescription is to throw more money at these self-same entities - but more consistently and in larger amounts”.

How much value are these reports really adding? Can they be improved or modified in accordance to new realities?

Read the Oxfam Report.