The Changing Role of Charity

Running an international charity in today's changing world is the task taken on by our two guests, who talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how their organisations are adjusting to the changing demands of those in need.

Winnie Byanyima is Executive Director of Oxfam International, which works to alleviate global poverty. Born in Uganda, Winnie has been a trailblazer and an activist from the beginning - as a student protester she was forced to flee the country at the age of 17. Later, she became a parliamentarian under Yoweri Museveni, and went on to hold high-level roles at the African Union and the UN. She joined Oxfam in 2013 and she's currently overseeing the ambitious relocation of its international headquarters from the UK to Kenya.

Brita Fernandez Schmidt is Executive Director of Women for Women International UK, a charity which supports women in eight countries affected by war and conflict. They offer a year-long course to marginalised women, with the aim of giving them access to life-changing support and skills. Brita herself was born in Germany but grew up in Venezuela, where she witnessed poverty at first hand, and remembers being particularly struck by how poverty disproportionately affected women. She says she always had a burning sense of justice - and that when she sees something that's not right, she can't leave it be.

Image: (l)Winnie Byanyima and (r) Brita Fernandez Schmidt
Credit: (l) Oxfam and (r) Monia Antonioli