ANTI-RACISM activist, one-time civil servant, and leader in the UK’s social and political scene, Halima Begum is now a prominent figure in the UK charitable sector. She is arguably now one of the most important players in the field of well-known UK high street charities. Later year she will formally take up her new role as chief executive of Oxfam GB, re placing Danny Sriskandarajah. With over two decades of experience in public service, non-profits, and academia, she has steadfastly advocated for marginalised communities, particularly focusing on race, disability, and gender equality. Begum’s expertise and advocacy have earned her widespread recognition, leading her to advise influential organisations, including the British Academy, the Nuffield Foundation, ITV, and various governmental bodies.
Begum’s career includes leadership roles at organisations such as the Department for International Development (DFID), and the British Council, where she advocated for minority and disabled communities globally, notably in countries like Rwanda and Nepal. In December 2023, Oxfam Great Britain, a global movement working to end poverty, named Begum as its new chief executive, highlighting her dedication to combating poverty, inequality, and injustice globally. She was previously at ActionAid, another prominent anti-poverty charity. “As I transition to my new role at Oxfam, I carry with me the invaluable experiences and lessons learned during my tenure at Action Aid UK, from our humanitarian work in Gaza, our ongoing work on anti-racism and decolonisation, and our unwavering commitment to the rights of women and girls around the world,” she said. Raised in a working-class family in East London after being born in rural Bangladesh, Begum’s early life instilled in her a strong commitment to social justice.
Despite facing adversity, including a rare medical condition requiring surgery to re move her left eye, Begum remained commit ted to justice from her youth. She is partially blind. In January of this year she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queen Mary, Universi ty of London. It was given in recognition of her work on humanitarianism, civil rights and equality. In a video she posted to X, she noted that the youngest member of her family – who is just three – was “desperate to be part of the ceremony”. Begum, the third of six children, grew up in Brick Lane in London, within a vibrant Bangladeshi community. Her father, Mohammed Abdul Kadir, a former East End textile worker and Bangladeshi resistance fighter during the Liberation War, instilled in her a sense of re silience and activism. From her teenage years, Begum has tirelessly advocated for equality across minority communities. She co-founded Women Unite Against Racism in the early 1990s to combat the rise of the farright National Front (NF). Reflecting on her childhood experiences, Begum recalls enduring racial and physical abuse from the NF, which maintained a bookstand outside her parents’ home.
In a BBC interview, she recounted how her family’s struggle for access to healthcare as British citizens exposed systemic barriers often faced by immigrant communities. Between 2020 and 2023, Begum served as director at Runnymede Trust, a leading UK civil rights and race equality think tank. She led initiatives challenging systemic inequality and secured a significant legal victory in a judicial review against the government over non-competitive senior public appointments. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Begum campaigned for the expansion of public health measures to support ethnic minority and working-class communities, given the disproportionate number of Covid deaths among these groups. Her recommendations included increased Covid testing, vaccination priority, and targeted vaccine rollouts for minority ethnic groups.
Her research during the pandemic focused on the impact of Covid on Muslim patients fasting during Ramadan and emphasised the importance of considering ethnicity as an independent Covid risk factor in shaping public health policies. In February 2021, chief medical officer Chris Witty announced that ethnicity would be considered a Covid-19 risk factor in the UK, alongside social deprivation and body mass index. This decision led to two million more British citizens being encouraged to shield and a further 800,000 being fast tracked for vaccination. Begum’s journey from grassroots activism to international leadership positions under scores her dedication to fostering a more just and inclusive society.