This October, we are celebrating the Black British changemakers and humanitarians as a part of our efforts to commemorate Black History Month in the UK. We are listening to and sharing the stories of our colleagues and partners who have made significant contributions to the work we do and whose stories are worth celebrating. Mandy Jones, who is the Head …
Why the path to diversity and inclusion is a personal journey
A space to finally be heard As a British born Indian, the spaces I navigate have always been predominately white centred. I had never been able to articulate that until recently. With the global social activism in 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement has propelled Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) work front and centre. What was seemingly a ‘nice-to-have’ business prerogative turned into a …
Institutional Racism in the Aid Sector and how Oxfam is responding
Institutional racism in the aid sector interconnects with colonialism, and in turn links with the promotion of intersectional feminism. This is due to the role patriarchy plays in defining who is marginalised and discriminated against, by these intersecting systems of oppression. But what about the aid sector? From my 25 years in the sector, there are two parts – the …
Decolonising development narratives
Narratives around “development” On January 6th 2021, white supremacists stormed the US capitol after months of lies and misinformation about election fraud was spread by Donald Trump and his allies. Several reporters and prominent politicians called the violent insurrection “unamerican,” likening the scenes to a “banana republic” and saying “those are the sorts of things that happen in third-world nations.” Reporting live on …
A fairer tax system is essential to ‘building back better’
Tax Justice UK shares Oxfam’s commitment to tackling inequality, eradicating poverty and standing up for those who typically struggle to get their voices heard. The need to address these issues has only become more urgent in light of the covid-19 pandemic, which in the UK as elsewhere has had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in society, including ethnic …
Ready to adapt: resilient women entrepreneurs in the pandemic
UN Women estimates that during the first month of the pandemic, informal workers lost an average of 60 percent of their income: with losses as high as 81% in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In low-income countries pre-pandemic, just one in four businesses were owned by women, and their access to financial products and services was often limited – even though …
Podcast: Breaking borders, refugees imagining a post COVID world
How do we imagine a fairer, kinder post-COVID world for refugees and asylum seekers?It’s Refugee Week! To celebrate, we bring you an episode which cuts across borders and hands the mic to two refugee activists who discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the communities they work with. We hear from Obai Kurdali who works on peacebuilding and is based …