Oxfam’s purpose is to help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty.
As stated in its Memorandum of Association, the objects for which Oxfam is established for the public benefit are:
● to prevent and relieve poverty and to protect vulnerable people, including through humanitarian intervention;
● to advance sustainable development;
● to promote human rights, equality and diversity, in particular where to do so contributes to the prevention and relief of poverty; in all cases working anywhere in the world.
Highlights 11 million people reached directly in 52 countries, and millions more benefiting from changes in governments’ policy and practice influenced by Oxfam 6.1 million people supported in 24 humanitarian emergencies 600,000 people globally who took online campaign actions 1,337 grants to 81 partner organisations 400,000 people in the UK made a regular donation Being accountable for the impact of our work Oxfam is committed to ensuring that, in all that we do, we are accountable to those with whom we work, from our programme partners, communities and donors to other stakeholder groups such as our staff, volunteers, or those who we campaign through and with. We use several tools to monitor, evaluate, assess and learn from our stakeholders. We:
● report data on the numbers of people and communities reached by our programmes 

● complete review exercises to understand – and speak about – our outcome achievements as well as our challenges, and how we deal with them 

● undertake evaluations to assess our overall strategies, test the core assumptions about how Oxfam contributes to social change, and assess our effectiveness in different contexts ● consult with key stakeholders to gather their insights and assessments about our overall efforts.
Our success in achieving this commitment to accountability is measured annually through our membership of, and compliance with, the International NGO Accountability Charter and International Aid Transparency Initiative. More detail on our accountability objectives and achievements are published on our website.
Accounting conventions The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, under the historical cost convention, as modified by the inclusion of investments at market value, and on an accruals basis except where specified separately below. The Financial Statements are prepared in compliance with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2005 (Revised 2008) (‘the SORP’), the Charities Accounts (Scotland) regulations 2006 and Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom.
Discussion points 

1 Who might be included in the stakeholders to whom Oxfam is accountable?
2 To what extent do the ‘Highlights’ meet the information needs of users of the annual report?
3 What is the role of accounting in achieving Oxfam’s commitment to accountability?