Italy: Oxfam opens campaigns office with Italian NGO Ucodep

Their logo has a 99% public recognition index. Their staff, 4 thousand people in over 108 countries, manage 75% of the humanitarian projects taking place across the whole world. Their slogans – from make fair trade to fight Western dumping policies in poor countries, to make poverty history that has become the most recent G8's soundtracks – have revolutionised campaigning. And if this weren't enough to explain why Oxfam International is the most influential and innovative "brand" (yes, brand – have a problem with associating non profit and business?) in the world's third sector, take a trip through Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr: the well known confederation of 13 non governmental organisations is everywhere. Italy included.

Yes, the humanitarian multi-national will soon be working in Italy – to date the only industrialized country, of 8, that Oxfam has not yet made it to. Taken over, springs to mind, even though Oxfam International and Ucodep's Campaigning office, that will be presented to the public on the 23rd January but that has been active In Arezzo for a few months, swears that they do not intend to take over anything.

Actually, says Ucodep's president Francesco Petrelli, the opposite is true: "Differently to other large non profit names, Oxfam has not chosen to just open their offices in Italy. They have launched a joint partnership with us complete with campaigning agenda and a budget of 130 thousand euros a year to be shared between us". A unique partnership – the 13 other organisations that make up Oxfam's confederation, including Spain's Intermon and France's Agir, are merely affiliates and not partners – and at the same time a surprise. Back in 2007, Oxfam UK's director Barbara Stocking had said that "There is no need for us in such a vibrant and organized society like Italy's". So why have they changed their minds? And why now?

In Oxford, which is where Oxfam was born in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, Oxfam international director Jeremy Hobbs replies: "Because Italy will have the presidency of 2009's G8: If we want the summit to be a success, now Is the right time to be campaigning". The best way to move? A lobbying action like Italy has never seen before.

Farida Chapman, who is responsible for Oxfam International and Ucodep's campaign's offices, is adamant: "To Italian civil society's highly developed political conscience we will add the campaigning strategy that has made Oxfam so famous: a scientific and rigorous approach to the causes of social problems, allowing us to produce reliable facts and figures that political players cannot dispute. We will work with the media, young people and other social actors who traditionally do not have the opportunity to work with development issues".

First of the line is Donato Di Gaetano, from Confindustria's International Affairs and Andrea Cornia, professor of Development Economics at the University in Florence. Both were called in for the presentation of the campaigns office. And the list of outsiders to track down isn't over yet.

The first charity to ever involve celebrities in their awareness and fund raising campaigns, Oxfam already has an Italian Bono Vox in mind: "Fiorello" reveals Chapman, referring to a well known and universally liked Italian T.V and radio presenter, "he would be perfect!". Hard to say what issues will be sung to the Italian government, like Bono, Bob Geldof and Cold Play's Chris Martin successfully managed when Blair was in power.

Oxfam and Ucodep have identified three priorities – funds for development, basic services provision and reaching the Millennium goals – and are working with the Minister, Stefano Sannino, who will be leading the G8 negotiations, on the preparation of a governmental agenda. The objective? "To raise awareness among politicians and get them to commit to real targets" says Hobbs, who can't resist his urge to point out Berlusconi's failures :" He was incredibly good at not keeping the promises he made in international politics. We have a lot of work ahead of us".

The promise: no fundraising
Oxfam and Ucodep have promised to work together with the rest of civil society to increase the percentages that are allocated to development and external aid, fighting poverty and other social priorities. "Oxfam isn't here with competition in mind" states Petrelli. It was Petrelli who, in 2005, tried to do what many Italian non profit organisations thought impossible: go to Oxford and introduce himself to the humanitarian giant, proposing that they work together. "Impossible or not allowed" declares Ucodep's president: "In our country many people snob Oxfam, labelling them as a social multinational. My point of view is that when an organisation is able to really bother and influence both national governments and European institutions, by envying them and askinf Brussels to give special privileges to small NGOs is just one of many attempts of belittling them". According to Petrelli, instead of fearing the partnership between Oxfam and Ucodep Italy's non profit should take advantage of it: "They will offer all Italian organisations scientific studies to work with and will introduce new standards and capacities to the field of campaigning and advocacy".

Likely. But a degree of scepticism is understandable, especially to those civil society players who still consider profit and non profit partnerships a taboo. A brand that 99% of the public recognise threatens to shadow many other logo's and making fundraising an obstacles race. "Unfounded fears" says Jeremy Hobbs, "we are not here to raise money. We opened our a campaigns office, not a fundraising office and to ask for funds we would have to be a registered organisation in your country. We would also have to invest a very different budget to the one we are investing". Even though, if you look closely there is a small detail they forgot to mention: Ucodep's account (n°14301527) supports Oxfam International and Ucodep's campaigns.

More info:

• www.oxfam.org
• www.ucodep.org