Biography
Martin Butcher is a leading authority on international security, arms control and humanitarian policy, with more than four decades at the junction of advocacy, research and political engagement. As Oxfam’s Policy Adviser on conflict, international humanitarian law and arms since 2010, he has served as the organisation’s global lead on the arms trade, civilian protection and the conduct of hostilities, shaping policy on the Arms Trade Treaty, explosive weapons in populated areas, and the gendered impacts of conflict.
Before Oxfam, he held senior leadership roles at Physicians for Social Responsibility, the British American Security Information Council and as founding director of the Centre for European Security and Disarmament, advising legislators, briefing parliaments and monitoring NATO, EU and OSCE security policy at close quarters. He has organised landmark disarmament initiatives, contributed evidence to parliamentary inquiries, written extensively for policy and public audiences, and represented organisations regularly in the media.