Rima Majed on six priorities for campaigners fighting for economic justice for women in the Middle East and North Africa
What can’t be counted doesn’t count: tracking financing for sustainable development
This week a group of development experts are meeting to discuss ‘Total Official Support for Sustainable Development’, or TOSSD. This is a new statistical metric that’s been in the making for almost ten years and is meant to capture global efforts in support of sustainable development. ActionAid, AidWatch Canada and Oxfam International are releasing a discussion paper to shed light …
Assessing the positive impact of business schools
Creating a positive impact for society has not been considered core to business schools, but demand has steadily increased in the past decade. The Positive Impact Rating responds to these demands. Whilst business schools are usually rated on factors such as alumni salary, employment rate and return on investment of graduates, The Positive Impact Rating (PIR) is a new rating conducted by students, for student. The rating looks beyond contribution …
Does channelling aid into private sector partnerships always lead to the best development outcomes?
Aid donors increasingly assume that private sector partnerships are crucial for global development. Marc Cohen, Senior Researcher at Oxfam America, outlines why we need to proceed with caution. Back in 2014, the UN estimated that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require an additional $2.5 trillion per year over planned investments between 2015 and 2030. Just to get a sense of what a trillion dollars looks like, it …
The UK must do more to reduce inequality between and within countries
This year, economic inequality is back on the centre stage of the global development discussion. Chiara Mariotti, Oxfam GB’s Inequality Policy Manager, reviews the UK’s progress towards achieving SDG 10.
New voices tearing up outdated economic norms and practices
Young women in Ghana are calling out the double standards that put them at an economic disadvantage. Kwesi W Obeng draws parallels with Oxfam’s work on tax and gender. Some of Ghana’s brightest and most educated young women are openly criticising deeply entrenched cultural, social and religious norms that restrict women, dim aspirations and undermine their contribution to society. Under …
Taxing wealth is key to fighting inequality
Conventional wisdom about taxing wealth is shifting, writes Didier Jacobs, Oxfam America’s Senior Policy Advisor. Long dismissed as unfeasible, and frowned upon as politically incorrect, radical ideas are now gaining ground. The new star on the left of the US Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, suggests increasing the top income tax rate to 70%. That sounds more radical than Bernie Sanders’ …
Feminist solutions to man-made economic inequality
Francesca Rhodes, Gender Policy Advisor, Man-Kwun Chan, Influencing Advisor, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care, and Anam Parvez Butt, Gender Justice Research Lead at Oxfam GB outline some of the key ways public spending and taxation could reduce gender inequality. In the words of feminist activist, Paula Varela: ‘Women… have the majority of the precarious jobs, and we perform the overwhelming …