LEARNING: Could micro-hydro power bring sustainable energy to remote villages around the world? Public Health Engineer Anjil Adhikari explains how Oxfam has been involved in bringing electricity to a village in Nepal through a micro-hydro project. Until two months ago Jayathala village in Darchula District Nepal had no electricity. At night they burned Jharro (resin soaked pine wood) for light, …
Container based sanitation could solve the world’s toilet problems
LEARNING: Oxfam recently hosted its first International Toilet Summit, where participants were challenged to think big about one of the world’s biggest sanitation challenges: how to get a toilet into every household which currently lacks one. Container based sanitation could well be the solution as Brian McSorley, WASH Coordinator, explains. Our first ever toilet summit was organised jointly with Sanergy, …
Iraq: preparing for a predictable crisis
LEARNING: The Iraqi army’s planned and ongoing counter-offensive against ISIS is likely to lead to the displacement of between 500,000 and 1.5 million people from the city of Mosul and surrounding areas. They will need urgent humanitarian assistance, including shelter, food, and water. Oxfam with the IRC has conducted a Pre-Crisis Market Analysis (PCMA) to inform preparations, here Corrie Sissons, …
Unlocking innovation: hamster wheels and fly wheels
Are you on a repetitive hamster wheel in your work or are you powering a fly wheel, providing stability and increasing momentum and power to bring about change? James Whitehead, Global Innovation Adviser, reflects on the qualities and circumstances that allow innovation to flourish in development programmes. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can unlock innovation …