Renewable Energy Policy Advisor, Kevin Johnstone, outlines some of the educational benefits of solar study lamp campaigns, and their potential to achieve much more. The cost of night studies Sometimes Bintu’s family couldn’t afford batteries for home lighting, and on those nights, she couldn’t complete her school work. Bintu’s mother explained that if “you don’t have batteries, your children will …
Making change happen
Oxfam GB’s Head of Publishing, Emily Gillingham, explains why and how we developed a free, online course for changemakers, and what the early results show. “I’m hoping this course will help me focus my objectives a bit more and discover what small but important steps I can take towards promoting change, changing minds and minding our community.” This comment from …
Handwashing innovation
Joel Trotter describes how it feels to see Oxfam’s brand-new handwashing kit tested, refined, and ready to go into action. Oxfam’s Promotion and Practice Handwashing Kit is a robust, user-friendly handwashing station that is easily assembled in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. It allows for improved, timely handwashing and reduces people’s health risks in emergency displacement camps. It was …
Reinventing the toilet
Brian McSorley on Oxfam’s contribution to ensuring the poorest people on the planet have access to a loo. Earlier this month, Bill Gates stood up to address an international conference holding a jar full of human faeces. In a sector that has been underfunded and overlooked for decades, The Gates Foundation has been a disruptive and positive force in raising …
What can blockchain do for the humanitarian sector?
Nicole Hahn and Josh Hallwright from Oxfam Australia explain why they are excited about the possibilities which blockchain systems offer to improve the effectiveness of aid to the poorest people. It seems as though everyone is talking about cryptocurrencies and blockchain these days and the humanitarian sector is no different. Plenty of people say the whole thing is over-hyped, only …
Evolving ICTs in humanitarian: The power of networks
Amy O’Donnell unpacks the idea that ICTs save time, money and improve accuracy, whilst exploring the conditions needed for them to add value in humanitarian response. For three years, the Scaling Humanitarian ICTs Network (SHINE) funded by Sida has been exploring the role of Information Communications Technologies in humanitarian response. Last month all five countries in the network: Ethiopia, DRC, …
What makes networks tick? Learning from (a lot of) experience
When are networks the right response to a development challenge (as opposed to a monumental talking shop and more hot air than action)? Andrew Wells-Dang, Stéphanie de Chassy, Benoit Trudel, Jan Bouwman and Jacky Repila set out some ideas. orking with and as a part of networks is an inescapable part of today’s interconnected world – and increasingly of Oxfam’s …
How to Explain Systems Change to a 13-Year-Old
LEARNING: Innovation requires bringing people and ideas together. But sometimes the way we communicate about our work can get in the way of collaboration. Kippy Joseph, Associate Director of The Rockefeller Foundation, reflects on a workshop they held on systems mapping. Eilidh is 13-year-old burgeoning expert in systems change. Just ask her. “A system is anything organized for a purpose-kind of like …
Everyday tech heroes: the search begins
NEWS: Over the past year Oxfam GB’s use of technology in programmes has increased by over 60%, with our staff and partners even more keen to hear about the latest developments in tech for good. That’s why Oxfam is partnering yet again with the UK’s leading social tech funder, the Nominet Trust, on a quest to find the 100 most …
Getting technical in East Africa
LEARNING: How can Oxfam, and the development sector in East Africa, make best use of ICTs? Here Francesca Reinhardt, reflects on an event which brought together Oxfam staff from seven different countries, with international NGOs, local civil society groups, technology providers, donors and others to discuss the future of ICTs in the region. Recently, colleagues from the aid and development …