Oxfam GB :: Where we work

What we do: Campaign for change; Emergency response; Development work; Why we do it

Issues we work on: Climate change; Conflict and natural disasters; Health; Education; Debt and aid; Gender equality; The right to be heard; Global Food Crisis; Trade; Private sector

Where we work: Countries we work in

The impact of our work: In words and pictures; On video

Special features: History of Oxfam; Oxfam myths exposed; Take the Oxfam Quiz; Reshaping our world

Pakistan

Young girls walk in the snow between the scattered houses in the village of Kuz Ganrshal. Photo: Dan Chung/Guardian Newspapers

In Pakistan, Oxfam's focus is on education, health, tackling violence against women, and emergency relief.

Helping girls to get an education

In rural areas of Pakistan, boys are three times more likely than girls to complete their primary education.

Female literacy is just 35 per cent. For men it is 61 per cent. Parents who cannot afford to send all their children to school usually send the boys and keep the girls at home.

How Oxfam is helping

We support projects to help girls and women get an education. One approach is focusing on innovative phonetic methods of teaching. This helps young women learn quickly so they can catch up on the education they missed.

Adeeba at school. Photo: Annie Bungeroth

We've been learning how to measure things. When we buy from shopkeepers, they cannot cheat us now.

Adeeba, schoolgirl from Khoj

Other development work

Lobbying for better health care

Learn more

Read more examples of our work in Pakistan:

ECHO (Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission) is a funding partner of Oxfam in Pakistan

Ending violence against women

Hundreds of women die each year in Pakistan in the name of 'honour'. Oxfam believes women have the right to life without fear.

Up to 80 per cent of Pakistani women have suffered some sort of domestic violence
Only 20 per cent of 'honour killings' are ever brought to justice

In many communities, social customs and attitudes tacitly condone and support violence against women. Simply seeking employment out of the house or wishing to choose your own husband can be seen as bringing shame on the family. In extreme cases, it can be punished with death.

How Oxfam is helping

Oxfam's We Can campaign aims to break down attitudes and customs which support violence against women. Some five million specially trained 'Change Makers' from across South East Asia are helping mobilise 50 million people and bring about a sea-change in attitudes towards women.

Participants at a We Can Assembly held in Sri Lanka for women across South Asia. Photo: Annie Bungeroth

I am thankful to We Can for providing people with an opportunity to speak out against 'honour' killings. The campaign has the potential to unleash a big revolution.

Khalida Brohi, Change Maker, Sindh

Learn more

Oxfam's work in Pakistan in depth

South Asia earthquake

On 8 October 2005, a massive earthquake devastated Kashmir, Pakistan and northern India, claiming at least 73,000 lives, and leaving more than three million people homeless.

How Oxfam responded

Oxfam’s work reached nearly one million people. We continue to help improve the rights of affected communities and help people rebuild their livelihoods.

[Thanks to the new electricity power plant built by Oxfam] I won't have to go out, walking for hours to find and cut wood to get some light in my home.

Bibi Hanifa, Tore Naddi Malkal Gali

Find out more about our South Asia earthquake response