Oxfam International has reached an agreement with Kenya's government, which will allow the charity to move its international headquarters to the country’s capital city of Nairobi.
The announcement was made in a tweet yesterday by Winnie Byanyima, executive director at Oxfam International, who said “as of today, Oxfam HQs can be moved to Nairobi. We have finalised the host country agreement with the government of Kenya”.
As of today, @Oxfam HQs can be moved 2 Nairobi. We have finalised the host country agreement w/ Govt of Kenya. https://t.co/kCDSMck4Hp
— Winnie Byanyima (@Winnie_Byanyima) June 27, 2017
Ben Phillips, former campaigns director of Oxfam GB, also tweeted: “My last report for Oxfam in 2014 said they should move the HQ to the South, to Nairobi. Wonderful to celebrate with them, today, in Nairobi.”
My last report for Oxfam in 2014 said they should move the HQ to the South, to Nairobi. Wonderful to celebrate with them, today, in Nairobi pic.twitter.com/eBYH0R2AGG
— Ben Phillips (@benphillips76) June 27, 2017
Oxfam have been contacted for a comment.
Oxfam move to ‘devolve power from northern to southern hemisphere’
Oxfam first made the decision to move its international secretariat from its headquarters in Oxford to “either Bangkok or Nairobi” in April 2014 as a way of effectively devolving “power from the northern to the southern hemisphere.
Byanyima wrote in a blog post in July 2016 that the international secretariat would begin its move in 2017 and said she expected the move to take two years to complete.
In the blog at the time, Byanyima wrote: “The British public is not losing its famous Oxfam! Oxfam GB will remain as strong and as vibrant as ever. Instead, the British public (and publics in other countries) will continue supporting an Oxfam that is part of a movement led from an African location – not a European one.
“This move is far deeper than a symbolic one (although I believe that the symbolism is important too). The fact is the world is changing and I believe it is necessary for NGOs like Oxfam to change.”
Oxfam has always said the move is not “a cost-cutting exercise” and Oxfam GB headquarters and staff will not be affected.
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