Global Cymru: Small nation, big choices

Hade Turkmen, Interim Head of Oxfam Cymru

Wales has never claimed to wield substantial global power. But it has long had something even more precious: a commitment to justice, peace, and solidarity.

At a time when the world is being reshaped by a damaging cocktail of accelerating climate breakdown, deepening inequality, widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, and devastating conflict, that commitment matters more than ever.

Across the globe, unmet humanitarian need is substantial. Respect for human rights and international law continues to erode. Entire communities are being displaced or destroyed. And climate catastrophe, created largely by the world’s richest countries, including the UK, is hitting the poorest first and hardest.

Against this backdrop, we must ask a defining question: what does it really mean for Wales to be a globally responsible nation today?

A proud history of solidarity to build on

Wales’s international legacy is stronger than many realise.

A century ago, the Welsh League of Nations led one of the most ambitious grassroots peace movements anywhere in the world. Women across Wales organised the historic Welsh Women’s Peace Petition that helped lay the foundations of the modern United Nations.

That spirit lives on today in the Well-being of Future Generations Act, which embeds a commitment to long-term thinking, justice and global responsibility into Welsh law.

Meanwhile, programmes such as Wales and Africa and Size of Wales show that even with limited financial resources, a small nation with a strong moral purpose can meaningfully contribute to global challenges.

To build on this track record we must make hard choices about what we fund, what we cut, where we invest, and who we trade with, while actively considering whether our decisions contribute to harm – or help prevent it.

Wales’s global responsibility – at a crossroads

At a time when too many countries, including the UK, are cutting their aid contributions, now is the time for Wales to stand firm.

While the entire international relations budget is around £9.2 million, only around £1 million of this supports international sustainable development. That is just 0.003% of total Welsh Government spending. Or put another way, roughly three thousandths of a penny for every £1 of spending.

Despite this tiny level of investment, the impact is profound.

Take the Mbale tree‑planting project in Uganda, which plants a tree for every child born in Wales. Tropical trees absorb around 20% more carbon and grow up to four times faster than trees in Wales—reducing emissions globally while supporting women’s livelihoods and protecting communities at risk of landslides. The cost per tree? Just 15 pence.

This is global responsibility in action: practical and cost effective and transformative for the communities in project areas.

Wales can lead – if it chooses to

Wales has already shown the world how a small nation can be a trailblazer, inspiring others by putting the wellbeing of future generations and the planet at the centre of policymaking.

Oxfam Cymru is calling on the next Welsh Government, the Senedd, and the Welsh public to re-commit to global responsibility, international law and human rights, and to ensuring Wales is a principled voice for peace.

Here are the four commitments Wales must make:

• Put Human Rights and Global Responsibility at the Heart of All Policy

Ensure every Welsh Government department aligns all decisions with international law and does no harm overseas — across procurement, investment, trade, climate and social policies. Welsh public money must never fuel exploitation, conflict, deforestation or human rights abuses. This includes introducing mandatory human and nature rights due‑diligence checks across all public spending and supply chains.

• Strengthen and Grow Wales’s International Partnerships

Increase funding for community-led global partnerships such as Wales and Africa, Size of Wales and Fair Trade work. All international programmes should be co-produced with Global South partners and guided by a new feminist, decolonial International Development Strategy.

• Stand Firm for Peace, Justice and Accountability

War crimes and human rights violations must be met with action, not words—through adherence to UN rulings, precautionary measures and robust sanctions. Wales must raise its voice, unequivocally, for peace and justice on the global stage.

• Build a Globally Engaged, Well Informed Wales

Strengthen global citizenship education in Wales and deepen Wales’s Fair Trade and ethical business commitments so that public bodies, communities and companies embed global justice in everyday practice.

A small nation with global responsibility

Wales’s wellbeing is inseparable from global wellbeing. Our supply chains, our climate impacts, our consumption patterns, our foreign partnerships—they all tie us to people and places far beyond our borders.

And far from limiting us, our size gives us freedom. Wales can move faster, innovate sooner, build alliances like the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership, and lead with values when larger nations hesitate.

The world does not need Wales to be big. It needs Wales to be bold.

A Global Cymru is possible. A Global Cymru is needed.

And a Global Cymru is within reach – if we commit to it.