About Oxfam:
With a vision to create a just world by ending poverty, Oxfam started a global movement to engage people to act for the change they seek. It contributes to a better world where individuals can participate in decisions that shape their lives, enjoy the fundamental rights and fulfil the responsibilities of a good citizen of a community where all humans are equal and provided equal opportunities to excel in their lives and work towards a better future for themselves and their communities. As part of the global movement, Oxfam commenced its work in Pakistan in the year 1973 and since then have initiated numerous projects to support people from all walks of life in identifying their rights, creating demand and advocating and campaigning with and for vulnerable groups of society. It focuses on shifting and distributing power equally among the citizens, providing them proper channels to make their voices heard and to hold the duty-bearers accountable. The transformation process introduced by Oxfam in Pakistan connects people from the fields to the parliament, because we believe that the change required can only be achieved through working from all dimensions.
To achieve our goal, we at Oxfam, work with different partner organizations, media, government officials, government institutions, private sectors, academia, community groups, influencers and other changemakers to expand the productivity of our work. The work is divided into three pillars, namely; Humanitarian, Governance and Gender Justice that encapsulate manoeuvres of strong strategy for the holistic development to provide a healthy livelihood, economic opportunities, equal rights, access to justice, access to fundamentals and promotes gender justice among people.
Project Background and Context:
The project, Creating Spaces To Take Action on Violence Against Women and Girls aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) by actively engaging and supporting community actors to promote positive gender norms and by supporting women and girls who have experienced violence as part of its three project pillars. The project ties in with Oxfam in Pakistan’s country strategy, which has gender justice as one of its goals, seeking to ensure that women are better able to exercise agency, collective action, and leadership in economic, social, legal and political spheres. The project is supported by Global Affairs Canada and is being implemented in 09 districts altogether of Punjab and Sindh; namely Gujrat, Jhelum, Kasur, Sialkot, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Shahdadkot, Shaheed Benazirabad and Umerkot.
The Project has three strategic pillars that work together to contribute to the positive changes the project aims to achieve during its implementation: