As part of our Influencing Series we will soon be sharing a number of blogs on the power of narratives and stories. Here we share a first hand experience from Laila Barhoum (Oxfam’s Policy Officer in Gaza), who asks ‘who’s telling our story?’ Laila Barhoum’s job is to advocate on humanitarian issues with and on behalf of the women, men …
Law as a tool to empower and achieve change
Noélie Coudurier, Sreetama Gupta Bhaya and Laura Gyte share a wealth of examples demonstrating how law can help drive positive change. As campaigners, we can feel ambivalent about law. As a product of society, it’s often structured to protect the privileged. Even the most progressive constitutions in the world, forged in times of political transformation and hope, are not yet …
Standing up for women’s rights and local leadership in Uganda
Elizabeth Stevens describes how a small, local NGO has had an outsized impact on Uganda’s refugee response. Heart, guts, big ideas, and an investor. If you are launching a tiny women’s organization into the rough-and-tumble world of humanitarian response, you had better have all four. That’s what I concluded from my time with African Women and Youth Action for Development …
Trust and democratic change – reflections from Myanmar
What lessons can be learnt from a governance programme in Ayeyarwady, Myanmar? Araddhya Mehta reflects on the complexity of building trust in a changing political context. Building trust – vertically between citizens, civil society organizations (CSOs) and local government institutions, and horizontally between citizens and within and across social groups – is at the heart of democratic change, including effective …
Working together to protect, expand and reshape civic space
Civic space is vital to defeating poverty. Inga Ferber introduces a new briefing on the importance of protecting and expanding spaces where people can raise their voices and be heard without fear. Poverty reduction – an increasingly dangerous endeavour Defeating poverty has never been easy. Nobody knows that better than our local partners and allies around the world who dedicate their …
What’s the role of Oxfam in supporting social movements for change?
Social movements are important actors for change around the world, yet often they don’t neatly fit into our strategies and theories of change. Thomas Dunmore Rodriguez reflects on how INGOs like Oxfam should engage with social movements. Social movements are important actors for change around the world. Whether it´s a struggle against violence and impunity, for a more democratic regime, …
Findings from a meta-review of influencing initiatives
Ruth Mayne shares learning from a recent meta-review of Oxfam and partners’ policy influencing, citizen’s voice and governance initiatives around the world. NB. This blog post deals with the findings of the influencing meta-review. In the next couple of weeks we will publish a separate post from the authors of the review explaining their methodology. Sign up for our Real …
Joining forces for better water services in Jordan
Alixandra Buck reports on an Oxfam project in Jordan where the local community is working with local authorities to improve water supplies. In Jordan, it is not common for government and citizens to talk face to face on issues of common concern. There is also scepticism on the role of civil society. We’re working to change that dynamic. Oxfam and …
Government budgets that work for women and girls
What could putting females, and other genders, at the heart of government budgets look like? Clare Coffey and Nguyen Thu Huong introduce a new tool to help. We all know that money matters and how governments collect and spend their budgets is a case in point. We need governments budgets because they fund schools and teachers, hospitals and staff. But …
Local partnerships and protecting human rights in conflict
Phil Vernon from International Alert shares his views on working with partners on conflict contexts, as part of our release of a recent joint report on the subject. A healthy and active civil society is both an essential indicator of a resilient society, and an essential vehicle for achieving one, through activism and service delivery. But civil society is under …