Danny Sriskandarajah is the CEO of Oxfam GB, one of the 21 affiliates to the non-governmental organisation Oxfam International, which works in 90 countries around the world. Founded in 1942, Oxfam has consistently focused on fighting injustice and ending poverty. In its approach, Oxfam has historically highlighted systemic inequalities and the shortfalls of the current economic system, pointing the finger at policy choices that benefit the richest and most powerful people but fail to improve the lives of the poorest.
In this podcast talk, Danny and Christoph Schmocker exchange views on the increasing global inequality challenge, on which forms of collaboration and engagement of the wealthy groups can lead to change, and the role of contemporary philanthropy.
Philanthropy at its best is about nurturing the social bond that has been strained all around us in the world
“Inequality Kills” is the title of Oxfam’s 2022 policy paper, which underlines how the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began, while the incomes of 99% of humanity are worse off.
For some time now, Oxfam has been advocating that the key to shaping more equal societies lies in addressing structural policy choices that favour the richest.
But the global wealth inequality challenge is much more complicated than that. While structural solutions are mostly in the hands of regulators and public authorities, multi-stakeholder initiatives, networks and projects that facilitate exchange and social mobility have a key role to play, starting with contemporary philanthropy.
Thoughtful, strategic, risk-taking philanthropy is precious
Danny highlights a key divide between 20th and 21st century philanthropies. The essence – he says - lies in a quote credited to Australian indigenous activist and academic Dr Lilla Watson: “If you are here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are here because you recognise that your liberation is bound up with my liberation, let us work together”.
We are all in this together.
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Danny Sriskandarajah joined Oxfam GB as Chief Executive in January 2019.
Prior to that he spent six years as Secretary General of CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance. He has previously been Director General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Interim Director of the Commonwealth Foundation and held various posts at the Institute for Public Policy Research.
From 2018 to 2019 he was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Jack Ma and Melinda Gates, and from 2015 to 2016 a member of the High Level Panel on Humanitarian Finance.
Christoph Schmocker has been the CEO of the Julius Baer Foundation between 2016 and 2022. Before joining the company, he lived for six years in South Africa, where he was Director of Fundraising and Strategic Projects for the University of Cape Town (UCT). Prior to this, he worked for ten years as CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation where he developed the focus of the UBS philanthropy strategy. As a philanthropic advisor, he continues to develop strategies for multiple grant foundations. From 2007 until 2019, he served as Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Roger Federer Foundation. He has been a member of the Zeitz Foundation since 2019.
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