Oxfam’s policy team present their vision for the UK’s aid programme to tackle both poverty and inequality. The Shadow Secretary of State for International Development used her first major speech to announce that any future Labour government would instate a dual poverty/inequality mandate for the Department for International Development (DFID). Oxfam has long warned of the risks of growing extreme …
Podcast: Key requirements for INGOs to make true on the ‘Localisation of Aid’ agenda
[buzzsprout episode=’2559247′ player=’true’] Many INGOs have made commitments to support reform in the Humanitarian System, specifically to ensure that local and national humanitarian actors can take a more prominent role in coordinating and implementing emergency responses. What are the challenges INGOs like Oxfam face in realising this ‘Localisation of Aid’ agenda? We spoke to the Oxfam in Iraq team for …
Theresa May at the UNGA: standing up for internationalism?
Ed Cairns, Senior Policy Advisor at Oxfam GB, gives his reaction to the British Prime Minister’s speech at the recent United Nations General Assembly meeting. It’s been an interesting couple of days at the UN. While Donald Trump wrapped himself in the language of sovereignty, aggressively appropriating national interest for his ends, the next day Theresa May wrapped herself in …
Podcast: Are cash transfers the answer to humanitarian aid?
[buzzsprout episode=’2559259′ player=’true’] In this podcast we speak with Alex Jacobs, Director of the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP), on the challenges and opportunities around cash transfers in humanitarian response. Alex answers questions such as: How do they work? What are the benefits? When are they not appropriate to use? And how do NGOs need to adapt?
Can official development assistance be reformed to help the poorest countries?
The rules defining official development assistance, a key poverty reduction tool, are currently being revised by the OECD. But if governments and citizens from the South are not consulted more, this reform is likely to be in their detriment. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is currently revising the rules defining what can be counted as official development …
Brexit and trade: An opportunity to do better
Pooja Mall explores how Brexit can have a positive impact on trade policy and why it’s important to development. Over a decade ago, Oxfam’s ‘Make Trade Fair’ campaign made the argument that many people in developing countries have been made worse off because the rules are rigged against them. It centred on eliminating the practice of dumping highly subsidised developed-country …
Three ways cash is king for asylum seekers in Greece
Stefania Imperia asks what cash assistance means in practical terms for asylum seekers in Greece. With tens of thousands of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece for an undefined period, providing cash grants to asylum seekers living in the Epirus region of north-west Greece may represent not only an efficient and dignified means to provide humanitarian assistance – but also an …
Cash transfer programming in Zimbabwe
Khodeza Rume, a Humanitarian Support Personnel in Food Security and Livelihoods, reflects on a recent electronic cash programme with the World Food Programme and Econet. With the 2008 financial crash, Zimbabwe suffered a cash crisis and economic collapse which resulted in chronic food insecurity. The situation has since been exacerbated by the effects of El Niño with an estimated 4.1 million …
The SDGS, an opportunity for business to do better
Over a year in, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) show no sign of losing momentum. Ruth Mhlanga reflects on how businesses can support the SDGs to create a world free from poverty without breaking the planet. he SDGs are ambitious, but in a world where 8 men have the same wealth as the poorest half of the world, nothing less would …
Editors’ choice: A look back at 2016
2016 has been a challenging year for both long-term development and humanitarian work, and yet another busy year for Oxfam. The Policy & Practice blog has covered some of the most diverse and varied content yet. Here are some of the teams’ favourite posts, covering topics from inequality to women’s rights. January: Our stats struck a nerve, now let’s hit back …