Innovation
We’re learning more about poverty and its causes every day, and finding better ways to tackle it with innovative strategies and cutting-edge technology.
Here’s a taste of our creative approaches to addressing poverty this year.
Real reach:
Trillion Dollar Bill campaign
The 10 richest people in the world have over $1 trillion between them. If they were taxed fairly, we could end poverty.
In March 2023, we launched the striking Trillion Dollar Bill campaign — an online receipt filled with absurd items to help people visualise the disparity between the super-rich who spend on luxury and almost 700 million people living on less than $2 a day.
It gained 1.5 million views and 1,400 petition signatures calling for fair taxes, opposing proposed cuts and prioritising public services to reduce poverty.
Real results: Cooking with biogas in Laos
Limited or no electricity in rural Laos means families risk their health by cooking with fire indoors. This year, Oxfam partnered with Champasak University for a six-month pilot of converting pig manure into biogas as an alternate energy supply.
Nine storage balloons were installed, accompanied by a handbook guiding families on raising pigs for livelihood and renewable energy. Families generated 90 to 120 cubic metres of biogas monthly, saving 108 to 144kg of firewood or charcoal, or 41 to 55 litres of fuel, and reducing cooking time by 15 minutes per meal.
The successful pilot is considering scaling-up with fixed-dome digesters for a sustainable solution.