CHINA: Red-white-blue Homes for the Sichuan Earthquake

PHILIPPINES: Affordable Medicine for All

CAMBODIA: Justice for Girls and Women

GLOBAL: Climate Experts meet Disaster Experts

HONG KONG: Fair Trade in the Workplace

HONG KONG: Sustainable Fashion

In the town of Xiushui, in Sichuan,

hardly a building remains standing af-

ter the earthquake, and almost all of

the survivors are homeless.

This woman (left) stays with about

50 other people in a makeshift tent

erected next to the pile of rubble which

once was her house. Her husband re-

mains missing.

Her tent is made of a plastic woven

fabric commonly called “red-white-

blue” – named after the colours of the

rain-resistant material. Formally, it is

called polyethylene or polypropylene.

The fabric was specifically requested

by the residents. They want the flexibil-

ity of how to use it – as ground cover, for

shelter, and to be able to easily adjust

the size of the area to be covered.

A typical temporary shelter made

with the red-white-blue. For people’s

A survivor in Xinshui – at least 109 people have died here, and many remain missing, including this woman’s husband HOMES

OF RED-

WHITE-BLUE

Text and photos by Keith Wong on 21 May 2008

June 2008

in China

HO Wai-ChiWhen I was young, I wanted to be

a professional footballer. But like many

fans, my dream didn’t come true! Yet, I

managed to develop a career in another

field I have a great passion for: human-

itarian work. I never thought the two

would ever connect.

The first time was 2005, when I

coached a football team of homeless

people – I didn’t have any coaching ex-

perience, and most of the players had

not played much football, yet, togeth-

er, we represented Hong Kong in the

Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh.

The experience changed my life,

starting from the very first training

session. The players were rather unfit,

physically and in other ways. One lit up

a cigarette, a few swore, several eas-

ily ran out of patience with each oth-

er, and themselves. Instead of focus-

ing on footwork, the social worker and

I concentrated on teamwork. Months

later, somehow, there was synchronic-

ity. Those days in Edinburgh, as a real

team, with true solidarity, were the

most extraordinary and glorious days

of our lives.

Then, a few months ago, I joined

Oxfam, and football arrived again, this

time as part of the Fair Trade movement.

I learned that many footballs are pro-

duced in Pakistan, under exploitative

conditions, with very low wages, espe-

cially for women and children. If we all

change the way we do business, if we

do it ethically and responsibly, trade can

solve poverty; but right now, because

it is often done unjustly, it doesn’t:

factory workers in Pakistan remain

poor, and we in Hong Kong who use

those balls are also poor, in conscience,

in spirit. To me, we are all part of the

same team, and we each have a role to

play, from CEO to consumer. I am play-

ing my part: I have urged the Homeless

World Cup to use Fair Trade footballs

in their games – ones that are made in

factories that do pay good wages and

do prevent poverty.

As I write, the news is full of re-

ports from Sichuan, and I can’t help to

say to myself that I am ‘lucky’ to have

joined Oxfam just at the ‘right’ time.

Not that I want to satisfy any heroism,

thinking that I could save the world

single-handedly, but to offer myself in

helping those who are in great need. I

know I am not strong enough to move

the rubble, I am not that professional

footballer with endless stamina, but I

at least can make sure I communicate

people’s needs to the public and appeal

for support, and justice, in Sichuan, in

Myanmar, in Sudan, in Hong Kong, in

as many places as possible.

Ho Wai-chi is the Director of the Hong Kong Unit.

in Cambodia

in China

BREAKING THE CODE By Tobias Jackson

became addicted to drugs. He began

arguing with her, beating her, repeat-

edly, to the point where she had to

do something. But she did not know

what to do. Volunteers helping with

the community development organisa-

tion Banteay Srei heard her story from

people in the community, made con-

tact with her and arranged for her to

stay in a safe shelter. This gave her the

space and time to decide her next step.

She chose to take the crime all the way

to the courts, and her case was han-

dled by a lawyer from Banteay Srei who

helped secure the ruling she had hoped

for: a divorce, with half of the family

assets. She also went to several coun-

seling sessions to rebuild her sense of

self that had been shattered. Other fol-

low-up services helped her re-integrate

into the community and re-establish a

normal life again, without violence at

home, and with a higher status in her

everyday world.

A 13-year-old girl, also in the north-

west, used to live with her mother, a

day labourer, and stepfather, a hunt-

er. At nine o’clock, on the first night of

As a consequence, violence against

girls and women has generally not been

seen as ‘wrong’ in Khmer society and

this attitude was exacerbated by the

years of civil war (1967-1975). During

those years, violence was typically the

first way that people resolved con-

flicts, both within the family home, and

in society as a whole. In a 2003 survey

looking at views about rape among

youngsters, only 13 per cent of respon-

dents viewed rape as wrong. Similarly,

in a 2005 survey conducted by the

Ministry of Women's Affairs, 23 per cent

of the women said that their husbands

had been physically violent recently; a

figure likely to be an underestimate as

many cases remain unreported.

Here are two cases that illustrate the

violence and also the actions taken by

two community groups.

A 35-year-old rice farmer in the

northwest, near the border with

Thailand, married a policeman in 1992

and they had four children together.

They needed more money, so he decid-

ed to do construction work for some

extra income, and around this time, he

the Khmer New Year, 14 April 2007, she

was raped by her stepfather while her

mother went to make the traditional

round of greetings to her neighbours.

The mother returned home and saw the

rape taking place, and screamed as loud

as she could for the whole neighbour-

hood to hear. The next day, the mother

and daughter reported the incident to

the police who immediately arrested

the stepfather. The teenager was re-

ferred to stay in a safe shelter run by

the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center,

where she could get practical assistance

and emotional support from a counsel-

or, a doctor, and a lawyer.

In addition to these straight-for-

ward ways to help these survivors of

violence, Banteay Srei and Cambodian

Women’s Crisis Center – two of sever-

al organisations supported by Oxfam

Hong Kong – also do extensive advocacy

and awareness-raising to persuade lo-

cal, provincial and central government

of the importance of tackling these is-

sues and implementing existing laws.

Change is happening. There are fewer

cases of violence in the communities

where these organisations are working.

There is a greater determination from

the government to address the issue, as

indicated by the passing of the Law on

Prevention and Protection of Domestic

Violence (2007). More and more survi-

vors are gaining justice in the courts,

which sends a clear indication that the

violence against people like the 13-year-

old girl and the 35-year-old woman is

indeed ‘abnormal’ and wrong.

Based in Phnom Penh, Tobias Jackson is the Pro-gramme Officer for Cambodia and Myanmar. Oxfam Hong Kong support s a number of organisations in Cambodia on different ways to reduce violence against girls and women in general, and to stop rape and trafficking, in particular. The agency has been supporting projects in the country since the 1970s.

Girls and women in Cambodia face

discrimination in many areas of their

lives: unequal access to an education,

inappropriate and inadequate health

care, limited options for jobs, little or

no voice in public affairs, little involve-

ment in the family or the society’s de-

cision making, and the high risk of be-

ing abused. Three common types of

this gender-based violence are rape,

human trafficking and domestic vio-

lence. Girls and younger women are

especially at risk.

Cambodia has traditional moral

codes for women (called Chbab Srey)

and for men (called Chbab Pror) which

were written in poetry form by Krom

Ngoy (1865-1936), who is regarded as

the father of Khmer poetry. His poem-

codes have been taught at secondary

schools across the country, and rein-

forced by parents and grandparents

through the generations. The Law for

Women suggests that women should

serve and respect their husbands at all

times, whatever the circumstance. Girls

grow up believing that a man’s violence

is ‘normal’ and acceptable and private.

Clients at a shelter in northwest Cambodia in a skills training session / Photo courtesy of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center

in the daytime, it is about 25 to 30 de-

grees Celsius, and many men go about

shirtless. At night, it drops to about 15

degrees.

People in Xiushui have shown a

strong resilience in the face of the cri-

sis. They are cooking outdoors, even

though flies surround her food and

utensils. To feed their surviving live-

stock, they have searched through the

rubble to find maize. The poultry will

be their meals in the future.

Oxfam Hong Kong has almost 20

staff members in the disaster zone.

Working alongside government units,

local NGOs and a disease control centre,

we are focusing on shelter, water and

sanitation, and prioritising the needs of

women, children, elderly people, peo-

ple in remote areas, and people with

specific needs. For instance, we are sup-

plying sanitary pads for women; nutri-

tious milk for children and elderly; and

Halal food and milk to five remote Hui

(Muslim) communities.

For a map of Oxfam’s work: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/news?ha=&wc=0&hb=&hc=&revision%5fid=79572&item%5fid=79328

For more photos: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/sichuan_earthquake/photo/chinese.html

OXFAM in CHINA: Oxfam Hong Kong has been working in the country since 1987. Last year, Oxfam allocated over HK$68 million (over USD8.7 million) on about 230 development and emergency projects in Mainland China.

OXFAM in an EMERGENCY: Oxfam Hong Kong, founded in 1976, has responded to hundreds of disasters over the years, including the 1984 famine in Ethiopia, the ongoing crisis in Sudan, and the Asian tsunami. In any crisis, 100% of all donations received go to assist the survivors.

For a book (published in Chinese) about Oxfam Hong Kong’s disaster management experience, please go to: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore/list?page=3&lang=big5.

Keith Wong, at the disaster site in Sichuan, is a member of the communications team of Oxfam Hong Kong.

Howard Liu, the director of the China Unit of Oxfam Hong Kong, distributing milk in Xiushui – the priority is for children, elderly people and women. Oxfam is distributing over 250,000 packets of milk in a dozen or so areas of Sichuan, including five Muslim communities.

immediate needs, they have requested

this fabric for its versatility in use.

Yet, the red-white-blue home can

only be a temporary measure. The ma-

terial is not strong enough to endure

the rainy season and its typhoons: the

rains are due to start in June and run

until September or so. In Xiushui, it has

already been raining for several days

straight.

The supply of stronger tents is ex-

tremely limited in Sichuan. According

to official figures, only about 280,000

tents have been delivered to affected

areas so far. The government has just

announced, and has sought Oxfam’s

support, to supply one million tempo-

rary pre-fabricated shelters, but this will

takes many weeks. Overseas shipments

of about 150,000 donated tents are on

the way from outside Mainland China.

Oxfam Hong Kong is sourcing tents

from Gansu, just north of Sichuan, from

Hebei to the northwest, and from oth-

er locations. But it may take two weeks

or more to receive the bulk order, and

in the meantime, the red-white-blue

is meeting people’s immediate needs

for shelter.

In addition to the red-white-blue

material, Oxfam Hong Kong has also de-

livered packaged milk to people in Xiu-

shui, with a priority for children, wom-

en and the elderly – families with these

members received the supplies first.

The milk can help people endure

the temperature changes in Sichuan:

in The Philippines

Being able to get medication has

been hard in The Philippines. The cost

of prescription drugs there is second

highest in Asia, after Japan. About 26

million Filipino people, almost one out

of every three citizens, can not afford

the basic medicine they need.

People like Lola (grandma) Eufemia

and Lolo (grandpa) Jose, a couple in

their eighties who live on the edge of

poverty in Metro Manila, have been

suffering from hypertension for years.

They pay exorbitant prices for their pat-

ented medicine, and sometimes they

too have to go without.

Lola and Lolo are not quiet about

their pain, about the injustice. They

have made their situation public, cam-

paigning the government to take bet-

ter care of its citizens, as right now the

government is barely covering ten per

cent of public health care costs.

The couple can claim a victory:

the government recently passed the

Universally Accessible Cheaper and

Quality Medicines Act of 2008, which

everyone calls the Cheaper Medicines

Bill.

What this means is that Lola and

Lolo can now use a different, equally

effective, yet less expensive drug man-

ufactured in Pakistan, medicine that

saves them 62 Pesos a day (HK$8.60).

When their income is only 100 Pesos a

day, every Peso counts. They can now

turn on their old electric fan whenev-

er the heat beats down. Now they do

not have to choose between paying

for food and paying for the medicine

to stop their dizzying headaches and

blurred vision.

For millions of poor people like Lola

and Lolo, the parallel importation safe-

guard is one of the most important pro-

visions of the bill. This provision confers

new power on government to set aside

patent privileges of drug companies and

to import medicine that is cheaper from

Many elderly people joined the many rallies to get the law passed.

anywhere in the world. The bill intro-

duces several basic public health safe-

guards into the country’s intellectual

property code.

In fact, all of these provisions are

already recognised in the World Trade

Organization TRIPS (Trade Related

Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)

Agreement of 2001, yet millions of the

poorest patients in the poorest devel-

oping countries in the world have been

denied access to life-saving and pain-

relieving medicine simply because they

operate under patent rules that do not

include the TRIPS safeguards.

The few developing countries that

have succeeded in incorporating these

safeguards have had to do battle in the

courts and even now are being subject-

ed to punitive trade measures by phar-

maceutical companies. These countries

include India, Brazil, Thailand, and now

the Philippines.

The Bill also limits what kind of med-

icine can be patented, and ensures that

as soon as a patent expires, generic ver-

sions of that medicine can be introduced

immediately into the market.

Lola and Lolo are not first-time

campaigners for better public health.

Defying the infirmities of their age, the

elements and sometimes even hunger,

they have joined hundreds of other el-

derly Filipino people to stage numerous

public actions since 2006. They patiently

monitored all-night deliberations on the

bill through two Philippine congresses.

Their passion and tenacity in the halls

of Congress captured mass media and

galvanized broad public support for

affordable medicine like nothing else

could. They have also been an inspira-

tion for all of us at Oxfam International,

which has been working on fair access

to medicine through the Make Trade

Fair campaign for years.

In early 2006, Lola and Lolo pro-

tested against the pharmaceutical

company, Pfizer, which had brought

the Philippines government to court

when it imported a cheaper version of

a patented drug. This case is still in the

courts, yet the Cheaper Medicines Bill

will ensure that such companies can no

longer mount a similar court offensive

in the country, ever again.

Shalimar Vitan, whom colleagues call Shally, is the Philippines coordinator of the Oxfam International Economic Justice campaign. She is based in Manila. Photos courtesy of Oxfam Great Britain.

62Lola Eufemia and Lolo Jose can now get their medicine at an affordable price - saving 62 pesos a day

A unique net work has

just been formed: the Harbin

Alliance for Harmonisation of

Climate Change Adaptation

and Disaster Risk Reduction,

called Harbin Alliance for short,

is named after the city in the far

north of China.

The Harbin Alliance is a

worldwide partnership of ten

NGOs, UN bodies, intergov-

ernmental bodies and research

organisations: Asia Disaster

Preparedness Centre, Asia Dis-

aster Reduction Centre, Care

International, Climate Action

Network South Asia, Climate

Action Network South East Asia,

International Disaster Reduction

Conference, Prevention Consor-

tium, Oxfam Hong Kong, UNDP

South Asia and UN/ISDR (Inter-

national Strategy for Disaster

Reduction).

It all began last year, at a

major conference in Harbin on

disaster risk reduction. Oxfam

Hong Kong led a discussion

about the importance of inte-

grating climate change in disas-

ter response, and we brought

together internationally regard-

ed experts in and practitioners

of disaster risk reduction and cli-

mate change adaptation.

How do the two fields over-

lap? How is adapting to climate

change related to reducing

risks in a disaster? Both address

the many risks in emergencies,

such as cyclones, floods and

droughts; and both aim to re-

duce the vulnerability of peo-

ple, as well as their animals and

crops, yet, there are several dif-

ferences that have often kept

the two groups apart. The two

groups, for instance, can use

very different language to dis-

cuss their work. People working

on climate change adaptation

usually use longer time frames

and see risks over a period of

time, whereas people in disaster

risk reduction work usually de-

scribe situations in shorter time

frames. Oxfam Hong Kong led

that meeting in Harbin to try

to facilitate a closer link. We

wanted to facilitate more com-

munication and better informa-

tion exchange between the two

groups, so that development

policies would not be conflict-

ing, and disaster management

and short- or long-term de-

velopment projects would be

sustainable.

The Alliance has meshed

well. So far, the members nego-

tiated ahead of and during the

UN climate change meeting in

Bali in December 2007, and they

are currently preparing the re-

port, “Global Linkages between

Disaster Risk Reduction and

Climate Change Adaptation –

Can two roads become one?”.

In general, the work of the

Alliance includes:

• Promoting best practices by

sharing, analysing and dis-

seminating information

• Engaging policy-makers and

practitioners on the bene-

fits of synergising the two

fields

• New research

• Lobbying the UN that disas-

ter risk reduction is the first

and foremost strategy to ad-

dress climate change

• Build up a critical mass of

disaster risk reduction prac-

titioners who understand

climate change negotia-

tions, in particular the UN

climate change adaptation

framework

Sahba Chauhan is Humanitarian Policy Officer of Oxfam Hong Kong. Please contact her for more information on the Alliance, including the report.

CLIMATE EXPERTS

WITH

DISASTER EXPERTS

by Sahba Chauhan

More Pesos a Day by Shally Vitan

From left to right: Pham Tung Lam, Nguyen Hien Thi, Chris Adams and Mark Blackett of Oxfam Hong Kong; Nguyen Duc Chinh, Vice Chairman of Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee, and Hoang Dang Mai, Director of Foreign Affairs of Quang Tri

OXFAM HONG KONG WEBSITEwww.oxfam.org.hk

OXFAM BOOKSOxfam Hong Kong has created

more than 30 books, some in Hong

Kong, some in Taiwan, some on the

Mainland, some in Chinese, some in

English, some bilingual, and some

mostly with images, which cross

all languages. Through publishing

the voices of poor people around

the world, we want to change the

way people think about poverty.

We want justice.

To order books: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore/list?lang=iso-8859-1

OXFAM in the NEWS VIETNA M: Oxfam Hong

Kong was recently awarded

with a Certificate of Merit for

its contributions to humani-

tarian and development work

in the central province of

Quang Tri. Oxfam

has focused on rural, often

remote, ethnic minority villages in the high-lands of Quang Tri, such as in Kieu and

Pa Co, near the Laos border. Over the past 15 years, more than 90,000 people have

been participating in anti-poverty projects run alongside governmental units and

community groups. Oxfam Hong Kong has been working in Vietnam since 1988 and

is currently active in three central provinces: Ha Tinh, Nghe An and Quang Tri.

MOKUNGOxfam Hong Kong publishes this quarterly magazine

in Traditional Chinese. Mokung, which means both “no

poverty” and “infinity”, highlights a different aspect of

development in each issue. The Editor is Tung Tsz-kwan.

The March 2008 edition looks at the poverty news poll

in Hong Kong.

To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore/?lang=big5

Mokung is online at www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/category?cid=1017&lang=big5

ONEO.N.E – Oxfam News E-magazine – is uploaded

monthly at www.oxfam.org.hk/one.

To receive a copy in your inbox, please sub-

scribe – it is free.

To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/one/subscribe.html

CO

VER

: Kei

th W

ong

/ O

xfam

Hon

g Ko

ng

17th Floor, 28 Marble Road, Northpoint, Hong Kong

O.N.E is also on-line: www.oxfam.org.hk/one//

Editor: Madeleine Marie Slavick emagazine@oxfam.org.hk

Hong Kong

HONG KONG CLIMATESix action groups call for carbon dioxide emissions to be capped in the Air

Pollution Control Ordinance: right now, the Hong Kong SAR Government does

not regulate CO2 emissions of its two power companies, which account for about

70% of all CO2 emissions. Please add your voice to this campaign (http://write-a-

letter.greenpeace.org/407) – if action is not taken soon, now, Hong Kong winters

may disappear within just 20 years, according to The Hong Kong Observatory.

Oxfam Hong Kong is also calling to stop climate change, to stop the poverty

it is bringing around the world: http://www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/

category?cid=53988&lang=iso-8859-1.

VOICE

How can one’s workplace be fair?

This is a question a new group in Hong

Kong is answering. An easy first step can

be stocking Fair Trade food and drink

for employees, and the new Fair Trade

Workplace Society is inspiring employ-

ers across Hong Kong to practice Fair

Trade in as many ways as possible.

The 11 founding members are ABN/

ARMO, Asia Financial, Asia Insurance,

Hysan Development, Hong Kong and

China Gas, Hong Kong Institute of

Education, Hong Kong Council of Social

Service, NWS Holdings, Oxfam Hong

Kong, Royal Bank Of Scotland and

Twelve Hong Kong textile and appar-

el companies founded the Sustainable

Fashion Business Consortium to pro-

mote best practices throughout the gar-

ment supply chain. The 12 members rep-

resent the whole production process,

from design to dyeing, from spinning

to manufacturing.

The consortium’s initiatives in-

clude:

• instituting better employment

practices and working condi-

tions

• applyingforFairTradelabeling

• establishing carbon account-

ingstandardsfortheindustry,

working toward carbon credit

Every day, Oxfam Hong Kong works

alongside hundreds of groups around

the world, from small NGOs to inter-

national bodies, from government

departments of developing countries

to community groups based in Hong

Kong. Here is 1 new ‘partner organi-

Fair 11, Fair 12, Fair…TBWA\Hong Kong. The group was of-

ficially inaugurated on 10 May, which

was World Fair Trade Day 2008. Marks

& Spencer has since joined as member

number 12.

Each of the 12 members pledges

to practice Fair Trade and to urge col-

leagues in their professional network to

do the same. To join, visit:www.fairtra-

dehk.org.

New PartnerOrganisation

tradingandacarbonfootprint

labelforclothing

• betterpublicreportingonCor-

porate Social Responsibility

andsustainability

• increasing energy efficiency

and reducing waste, such as

recyclingleftoverfabric,which

canbeupto20percentofthe

total

The 12 members are Ace Style Group,

Central Textiles, Clothing Industry

Training Authority, Crystal Group,

Fountain Set, Glorious Sun Group,

Gunzetal, High Fashion International

Management, I Limited, Lever Style, Sun

Hing Industries and TAL Apparel. The

Consortium was officially launched on

Earth Day 2008, the 22nd of April.

Oxfam Hong Kong is in dialogue

with the new consortium and the

Clothing Industry Training Authority,

a government-supported body which

assisted with months of behind-the-

scenes work. Oxfam has also been fa-

cilitating several roundtable sessions

for the past six months on CSR and

ethical sourcing with Esprit, Giordano,

Goldlion and Moiselle, four of Hong

Kong’s leading brand clothing com-

panies. Best practice can reduce pov-

erty, including the poverty caused by

low wages, misguided natural resource

management, and excessive carbon

emissions.

HONG KONG TWELVE

The launch of Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium, Earth Day 2008 / Photo courtesy of Clothing Industry Training Authority (CITA)

sation’ that we are supporting for the

first time, as of May 2008. The location

indicates where the project is being

implemented.

CHINA(MAINLAND)• Youth Elevation Association

Founders and committee members of the new Fair Trade Workplace Society / Photo courtesy of Samuel Foo and Terry Leung