Kerry Akers talks about the careful considerations and interdisciplinary collaboration needed to ensure that protection work is not based on harmful assumptions. umanitarian camps are dark at night. The curfew is sunset and the camp is heaving. Spilling out of their crowded tents onto the streets, people sit around dim cooking stoves talking and waving the mosquitoes away. The streets …
From the ground up: How Yemen’s women and girls survive
This blog introduces a study carried out by Oxfam, CARE and GenCap, to better understand how women, men, girls and boys survive in Yemen, a country torn apart by conflict. s Dubai and Saudi Arabia vie with each other to build the world’s tallest tower at an estimated cost of over $1 billion, Yemeni women and girls struggle to survive amidst …
Institutionalising gender in emergencies: Ethiopia gender analysis
Understanding needs and context is vital in an emergency response. A crucial, and often overlooked, factor in this is gender. Here, Steph Avis, introduces the first of a series of reports from the ECHO funded project ‘Institutionalising Gender in Emergencies’. n a humanitarian disaster the experiences of men, women, girls and boys can be very different. Access to basic goods and …
Lake Chad’s unseen crisis
Today Oxfam is launching Lake Chad’s Unseen Crisis, which tells the stories of people displaced by conflict in Niger and Nigeria. Oxfam’s Advocacy and Policy Lead in the Lake Chad Basin, Sultana Begum, shares with us what’s happening on the ground in the region. very year on 19th of August the world takes time out to recognize the work and …
Iraq must not be forgotten: The humanitarian crisis worsens
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: As ISIS continues to have devastating effects on Iraq, the country is facing some of the most profound challenges it has seen in the last decade. Rachel Sider, Humanitarian Policy Advisor, comments on the need for governments to prioritize the area as they meet this week in the United States at a donor pledging conference. Having …
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 …
What next for the pastoralists in Ethiopia’s drought?
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: Pastoral nomads in Ethiopia have been heavily affected by a record-breaking drought. They have lost their flocks and their way of life and make up the majority of the 800,000 people classified as internally displaced (IDPs). What will they do next and how do we best support men, women, boys and girls in this disaster? Eliza …
European governments’ treatment of refugees is doing long term damage to international law
OPINION: The EU’s stance towards migration sets a dangerous precedent argues Maya Mailer, Head of Humanitarian Policy & Campaigns. Today, as Oxfam launches a new campaign calling on world leaders to stand as one with refugees, the right to seek protection in another country is under threat. I visited some of Europe’s refugee camps recently. Oxfam was founded in 1942 …
Three reasons national organisations are vital to humanitarian response in South Sudan
OPINION: National and local actors have a critical role in responding to the humanitarian emergency in South Sudan. When international aid organisations work in partnership with local groups, their joint efforts are more effective and tailored to the people they are trying to help explains Stella Madete, Oxfam South Sudan Information and Communications Lead. National organisations are part of the …
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 …