Care work is real work: how can we make people and policy makers see that?

Daniela OliveiraGender, Inequality, Women's Economic Empowerment

Daniela Oliveira pays tribute to the caring work of her own mother, “the minister for home affairs”, and sets out three ways to shift how the public and governments recognise and value the labour of care.

‘I put my hands over my children’s eyes’: stories of the displaced in Lebanon

May AchourConflict, Humanitarian, Refugees and IDPs

The start of waves of intensified Israeli airstrikes in September 2024 forced over a million people to flee, with many still displaced today despite a shaky ceasefire. Here, May Achour shares three stories from people caught in the chaos and trauma of recent months.

Global South feminists know how our fixation with GDP hurts people and planet: it’s time to listen to them

Halima BegumGender, Power Shifts, Research

The world needs to stop relying on a metric that ignores two thirds of the work done by women and which promotes harmful policies, says Oxfam GB CEO Halima Begum. A new collection of feminist think pieces offers a compelling and inspirational tour of the arguments and pathways for moving Beyond GDP.

As global water runs dry, how can we make sure billions don’t get cut off?

Jo TrevorClimate Change, Inequality, Water

Over two billion people lack access to safe drinking water – and the situation is set to become bleaker still because of climate change, say Jo Trevor and Padmini Iyer. How do we build equitable and collective approaches to global water security that uphold everyone’s basic right to clean water?

Want an economy that works for women? Keep care services public – and fund them properly

Myrah Nerine ButtGender, Private sector, Women's Economic Empowerment

Deep cuts to public spending or abandoning provision to profit-making providers will not deliver the decent services millions of women so urgently need, say Myrah Nerine and Rachel Noble.

Why are we still waiting for justice on loss and damage?

Chiara LiguoriClimate Change, In the news, Influencing

Remember the fanfare two years ago when rich countries promised new money to respond to the destructive impacts of the climate emergency? Well, the paltry climate finance deal at COP29 contained precisely zero concrete commitments on loss and damage. Chiara Liguori on how the hopes of poorer countries and communities were raised – only to be brutally dashed.

The private jets leaving COP29 are the ultimate symbol of climate injustice. Now the UK must go further in taxing them

Julia DaviesClimate Change, Events, Inequality

With COP29 failing to deliver anything close to the climate finance lower-income countries need, the world needs to look again at taxing rich people like us, says Julia Davies of Patriotic Millionaires UK. Expanding on Britain’s recent small increase in duty for private jets would both raise revenue and make a powerful statement on climate fairness.

Why does UN peacekeeping falter? And how can it do better?

Marc CohenConflict, Fragile contexts, Research

The recent attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon highlight once again how their presence is no guarantee of security. Marc Cohen and Elise Nalbandian explore UN peacekeeping failures in DRC, Rwanda, Darfur and Haiti – and one notable success in Timor Leste.

It’s time to put care at the centre of our economics courses

Alex BushEconomics, Education, Influencing

The UK government’s Francis Review of the English school curriculum is an unprecedented chance to shift the national and global conversation on economics education: let’s not miss it, say Alex Bush and Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann. They explain why we need to change an economics curriculum which perpetuates narratives that are bad for people and planet and erase care work.