Oxfam is working with conflict affected communities and internally displaced people in Iraq. Franc Cortada, Oxfam’s Program Director, recently visited the country and was impressed by people’s determination to get on with their lives in the midst of large scale devastation. On my recent visit to Iraq I had the chance to meet Oxfam’s teams on the ground and see …
Who needs religious literacy? In a disaster, maybe we all do
Tara Gingerich reflects on her recent work researching religious literacy; what she realised about her own point of view and why we need to engage with religion. I remember when I first started to talk with Oxfam colleagues about the new research project I would be leading, together with the Harvard Divinity School. It was on how Oxfam and other …
Revisiting Yemen in the midst of conflict
The people of Yemen are experiencing one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises. The conflict between a Saudi-led coalition of Gulf countries and the Government of Yemen against the Ansar-Allah movement (also known as the Houthis), escalated in March 2015. Two years on, Jonathon Puddifoot reflects on a recent visit to the country he knows so well. Its 30 years …
Women and transformative leadership
Verónica Rodríguez Jorge introduces us to Serapaz peace school in Chiapas, Mexico, and explains why women’s participation in conflict transformation is so vital. Las Cruces in Nayarit, Xochicuautla, Coyotepec San Felipe Magú in Mexico State, and Comcac in Sonora are just a few among the many communities in Mexico that are seeking to defend their land and rights through a …
The day after ISIS in Iraq
Maya Mailer, Head of Humanitarian Policy & Campaigns, argues that the challenges facing Iraq go beyond Isis’ presence and that we must plan beyond short-term militarism to create a new, peaceful environment. “Isis is like a mushroom. It was able to grow here, in Iraq, because there is a fertile environment. It didn’t just come from nowhere.” That is what …
The ladies’ room
Kerry Akers talks about the careful considerations and interdisciplinary collaboration needed to ensure that protection work is not based on harmful assumptions. umanitarian camps are dark at night. The curfew is sunset and the camp is heaving. Spilling out of their crowded tents onto the streets, people sit around dim cooking stoves talking and waving the mosquitoes away. The streets …
From the ground up: How Yemen’s women and girls survive
This blog introduces a study carried out by Oxfam, CARE and GenCap, to better understand how women, men, girls and boys survive in Yemen, a country torn apart by conflict. s Dubai and Saudi Arabia vie with each other to build the world’s tallest tower at an estimated cost of over $1 billion, Yemeni women and girls struggle to survive amidst …
Lake Chad’s unseen crisis
Today Oxfam is launching Lake Chad’s Unseen Crisis, which tells the stories of people displaced by conflict in Niger and Nigeria. Oxfam’s Advocacy and Policy Lead in the Lake Chad Basin, Sultana Begum, shares with us what’s happening on the ground in the region. very year on 19th of August the world takes time out to recognize the work and …
Iraq must not be forgotten: The humanitarian crisis worsens
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: As ISIS continues to have devastating effects on Iraq, the country is facing some of the most profound challenges it has seen in the last decade. Rachel Sider, Humanitarian Policy Advisor, comments on the need for governments to prioritize the area as they meet this week in the United States at a donor pledging conference. Having …
A letter from Yemen
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: Mark Goldring, Oxfam GB’s Chief Executive, recently visited Yemen where chronic poverty is being aggravated by war. Ten million people have insufficient food and two million have been forced to flee their homes. In this post, originally a letter to Oxfam staff, Mark reflects on the suffering he witnessed and Oxfam’s humanitarian response. Many things surprised me …