Following the news of an Ebola outbreak in the DRC, here’s a summary of lessons learned from Oxfam’s community engagement during the 2014–15 Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Ebola response in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea demonstrated that community engagement is critical in responding to epidemics. This was not always a guiding principle in an outbreak, which …
Cocoa and the global goals: accelerating women’s empowerment
How can business build gender equality into supply chains? Oxfam’s Ulrike Joras and Gaël Lescornec of the World Cocoa Foundation, share lessons from the cocoa industry and introduce a new shared initiative. From South Africa to Somalia, we have both spent over a decade working on issues related to poverty and inequality. While this work has often generated more questions …
Can Commonwealth countries agree on climate change, refugees and inequality?
In the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting Claire Spoors dares to hope that common ground can be found on the issues that matter for people living in poverty. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) takes place next week in London and Windsor, bringing together the leaders of the Commonwealth member states, a seemingly disparate group …
How improving access to water can help reduce care work
Changes to infrastructure and equipment can make a real difference to time spent on care work . Lucia Rost and the WE-Care team share research from the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Everyone needs care, but in many countries, it is mostly women who are responsible for providing it. Heavy care work responsibilities can restrict women’s opportunities for education, employment, political …
Gender, development, and the challenge of intersectionality
On International Women’s Day Marion Sharples from the Gender and Development Network reflects on the importance of understanding intersecting oppressions. In the field of gender and development, intersectionality has emerged as a new framework for understanding oppression and building inclusion—but it has proven a difficult concept to put into practice. The Gender & Development Network (GADN), a London-based network with …
Tackling gender based violence in the digital age
[buzzsprout episode=’2559238′ player=’true’] In this podcast, Gender Justice Officer Jessica Hopf speaks from Oxfam’s recent event ‘Safe to Speak Out’, where experts discussed how we can tackle gender based violence in a digital age.
Influencing behaviours and practices to tackle poverty and injustice
Ruth Mayne, a senior researcher on influencing, introduces the key themes of a new discussion paper on behaviour and practice change. Behaviour change strategies can play a vital role in combating poverty, injustice and environmental problems, whether by helping end gender based violence, improving health and hygiene behaviours, or reducing resource-intensive consumption patterns. But do we really understand how to …