Life in Ukraine’s frontline regions is difficult to predict, but humanitarian activists are creating small islands of normalcy and warmth. Vitaliia Kushmyruk, shares the stories of three activists and the part they are playing to bring comfort to their communities.
The world is seeing more extreme heat – so why don’t we plan for it like other humanitarian disasters?
Despite the climate crisis driving more bouts of devastating heat, too much of the world remains poorly prepared. Nuzhat Nueary introduces new Oxfam/FCDO research that looks at the links between extreme heat and water scarcity and highlights glaring gaps in humanitarian response.
As global humanitarian funding is slashed, here are six ways to back local leadership
Where can and should governments fill the gap? How can we improve peer support? How can we scale up good practice? Amy Croome on key takeaways from a gathering last month in Nairobi of civil society leaders and Oxfam staff.
Leadership in a global aid meltdown – top tips from 25 people who know
Duncan Green shares some advice from humanitarian leaders in this bleak time for the sector – including talk more often to staff and partners, “watch the fog closely” and “don’t blabber” – and offers a couple of thoughts of his own. This post is taken from his new blog about activism, influencing and change, hosted by the LSE, which we’ll sharing highlights from here.
How the surge in land seizures and violence by Israel in the West Bank adds up to a brutal new level of oppression
The incursion of Israeli tanks into the West Bank this week is just the latest step in an intensifying and systematic crackdown. Bushra Khalidi on five repressive tactics the Israeli government has been using, including new laws that will accelerate annexation. The strategy, she says, is now clear: make Palestinian life unlivable.
The first trillionaire, how carbon inequality costs lives and language bias in NGO recruitment… top reads of 2024
Catch up on our top papers and blogs of last year, as selected by Oxfam’s Policy & Practice team.
‘I put my hands over my children’s eyes’: stories of the displaced in Lebanon
The start of waves of intensified Israeli airstrikes in September 2024 forced over a million people to flee, with many still displaced today despite a shaky ceasefire. Here, May Achour shares three stories from people caught in the chaos and trauma of recent months.
When conflict destroys services, who fills the gaps in care? We need to make sure it’s not always women
In Gaza and Lebanon, thousands of women are now first responders when it comes to feeding, caring and comforting, all while dealing with their own trauma from deaths, injury, starvation and displacement. Yet too often the way humanitarian agencies operate actually adds to their workload, says Hadeel Rizq-Qazzaz.
We don’t want your money: why do NGOs refuse donations?
Logan Cochrane and Alexandra Wilson on a fascinating new analysis that identifies four principles that drive NGOs to reject large donations – and if your organisation has turned away money recently, they want to hear from you…
‘Four years after the Beirut blast, her story still haunts me’
Sometimes all we can offer in an emergency response is a listening ear and a compassionate heart, says Tarek Al Ali of Oxfam in Lebanon, as he reflects on the aftermath of the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion.