Foyeke Tolani, Public Health Promotion Adviser and Project Coordinator, describes how a collaboration with a UK school sparked the process of developing Oxfam’s innovative new handwashing kit. For over a decade, we had been exploring handwashing kit options to replace the Tippy Tap. The Tippy Tap requires lots of promotion for sustained use, and as a device it is not …
If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it: Quality in WASH responses
As we launch our WASH Impact Series, Oxfam’s Quality Assurance Project Manager, James Brown introduces a new global initiative to help organisations focus on achieving quality in humanitarian WASH responses. What would a quality assurance system for humanitarian WASH programming look like? That’s the question being explored by the Quality Assurance and Accountability Project, a Global WASH Cluster initiative led …
Handwashing innovation
Joel Trotter describes how it feels to see Oxfam’s brand-new handwashing kit tested, refined, and ready to go into action. Oxfam’s Promotion and Practice Handwashing Kit is a robust, user-friendly handwashing station that is easily assembled in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It allows for improved, timely handwashing and reduces people’s health risks in emergency displacement camps. It was …
Reinventing the toilet
Brian McSorley on Oxfam’s contribution to ensuring the poorest people on the planet have access to a loo. Earlier this month, Bill Gates stood up to address an international conference holding a jar full of human faeces. In a sector that has been underfunded and overlooked for decades, The Gates Foundation has been a disruptive and positive force in raising …
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 …
Orchestrating the movement – a personal reflection on the World Humanitarian Summit
OPINION: Last week governments, NGOs, UN agencies and civil society representatives met in Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit. With 125 million people currently affected by conflicts and disasters the need for unified humanitarian action is clear. Here Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, reflects on what the summit achieved. Just a few of the 7000 attendees at the …
European countries need to return to humanitarian principles
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: As world leaders and humanitarian actors meet in Istanbul for the first ever World Humanitarian Summit European countries need to look at themselves and step up to uphold human rights in the migration crisis argues Claire Seaward, Humanitarian Campaign Manager. From an interview with Catherine Meredith. What needs are you seeing on the ground in Europe? …
Safety in Europe? People deserve better treatment
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: As Europe’s migration crisis continues Oxfam and other NGOs face the challenge of delivering a humanitarian response in changing and unfamiliar circumstances. Emma Fanning reflects on a recent visit to Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian border evaluating the situation and Oxfam’s response so far.    Safety in Europe? by Oxfam Policy & Practice …
Iraq: preparing for a predictable crisis
LEARNING: The Iraqi army’s planned and ongoing counter-offensive against ISIS is likely to lead to the displacement of between 500,000 and 1.5 million people from the city of Mosul and surrounding areas. They will need urgent humanitarian assistance, including shelter, food, and water. Oxfam with the IRC has conducted a Pre-Crisis Market Analysis (PCMA) to inform preparations, here Corrie Sissons, …
Yemen: all we can do is help people survive
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: The conflict which escalated one year ago in Yemen has created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian emergencies and risks pushing millions into famine. Simone Carter, Oxfam emergency responder in Yemen, describes the daily reality of civilian suffering and the challenges of delivering a programme in a conflict zone. As much as I may not like …