Corporate Social Responsibility is a process whereby a company assumes responsibility, across its entire supply chain, for the social (companies respect and exercise labour rights), ecological (companies avoid creating pollution and excess waste, and over-consumption of energy) and economic (companies avoid hampering the economic development of local communities and developing countries) consequences of the company’s activities, reports on these consequences, and constructively engages with stakeholders.

What is CSR?

Hello Oxfam Friends! I am Sandy from the Development Education Team of Oxfam Hong Kong. I am responsible for organising training for teachers, promoting global citizenship through communications and social networks, promoting the workshops and programmes of the Oxfam Hong Kong Interactive Education Centre (IEC), as well as other education activities.

At work, I often experience two embarrassing scenarios. When I tell people that I do ‘development education’ at Oxfam Hong Kong, they will say, “Oh I see, you build schools on remote mountains!” And when I tell people that I have been working at Oxfam for more than 17 years, the funny look on their face always makes me laugh. Some would even say, “Indeed, that’s a long time!”

Oxfam is my first job. To be honest, I had no idea what this agency was about in the beginning, but I learned from the recruitment advertisement that its mission was to “serve the society”. I also remember that my colleagues always analysed the causes of poverty and tried to find solutions for the problem by looking into “unfair social systems” and “unjust human factors”.

I was stunned when I heard those terms because I knew so little about development work at that time. I thought poverty alleviation is about “giving” and “charity”. Then I gradually realised that “good deeds” are “good behaviour”. However, if we don’t understand the root of poverty and injustice, and if we don’t understand how our behaviours can cause “poverty” and “exploitation”, we won’t be able to address poverty effectively.

After these 17 long years, I am glad that I no longer need to emphasise that Oxfam is a “development organisation” rather than a “charity organisation” as much as before. I think this is because Hong Kong people’s social awareness has become more mature.

Working at Oxfam has not only broadened by worldview, but has also enabled me to meet different people in the world. In 1996, I went to Guangxi Province, China to visit the ethnic minorities living in remote mountainous areas with a group of secondary students. The following year, I went to an island in Cebu in the Philippines with a group of young people from the Oxfam Club 1 to see how local non-governmental organisations protected the marine ecosystem and established a sustainable environment for the local people, the ocean and other creatures living in the coastal area. The year after that, I went to Cambodia with another group of Oxfam Club members to see the destruction of the war caused by the Khmer Rouge.

Each trip has inspired me to ponder more about poverty and injustice. These experiences were both enjoyable and saddening at times, especially when I saw injustice right before my eyes. The ugly side of humanity is the root of poverty. On the other hand, the good side of human nature can help solve poverty. It is always easier to destroy than to establish. That is why I devote myself to the work of global citizenship education 2 , hoping to motivate more people to care about the world, review their relationship with the world and consider the constructive things they can do for the world.

Last but not least, I would like to share my wish with you: I hope that in my lifetime, the world will no longer need Oxfam. This is not a curse to the organisation but a wish for the world.

Do you also share my wish?