Oxfam in the Philippines is transitioning into Oxfam Pilipinas Inc. (OPH) in the near term, and we will become a national affiliate of Oxfam International (OI). It is a milestone event in the history of Oxfam, which has been contributing to poverty eradication, disaster response, and women empowerment in the country for more than three decades. As an independent affiliate, we in OPH will be able to set up our own policies and procedures that are aligned with Oxfam International principles.

As part of our transition, we developed a Country Strategy (CS) for the next five years, 2022 to 2027, which draws upon rich inputs from diverse stakeholders whom we consulted within a three-year period beginning in 2019 by way of several surveys, “playshops” and workshops. The CS also incorporates insights from various learning exercises and research on the country operating model, humanitarian ways of working, inequality, gendered impacts of COVID-19, the resourcing landscape and Oxfam’s audiences. We finalized this five-year Oxfam Pilipinas Country Strategy, which aligns with Oxfam International’s Global Strategic Framework for 2020-2030, on 15 October 2021.

Following years of collaboration with our partners, they have come to recognize our strengths as an organization.

We are perceived to be an organization that is highly committed to and passionate about social justice and development and whose work methods nurture collaboration, trust, respect, and compassion.

Our partners see the Oxfam brand as being an advocate, innovative and having a strong gender lens and commitment to feminist principles. 

We received good feedback in terms of our partnership processes, with partners saying that we made sure that they were well-informed about engagement parameters, timelines, and deliverables. Our partners noted our practice of delivering on our commitments. In addition, our partners cited our participatory approaches and strong emphasis on deepening collective understanding. 

After three decades in the Philippines, initially as a branch of Oxfam Great Britain then a country office of Oxfam International in 2016, in the next five years we will make the transition into an affiliate member of Oxfam International. As Oxfam Pilipinas, we will be more autonomous in designing programs that will maximize our unique strengths borne out of our decades or experience in the country.