NEWS: Often the most valuable beneficiary feedback is given informally and face to face. That’s why Oxfam is exploring new ways of helping staff to digitally record comments received as they go about their work as Emily Tomkys, ICT in Programme Officer, reports. A study into complaints related to humanitarian interventions by Baños Smith in 2009 revealed that ‘All participants …
The challenge of climate change adaptation in the Philippines
LEARNING: Successful adaptation to changing weather patterns depends on cooperation and commitment from across government and civil society reflects Daniel Morchain. Conducting a multi- stakeholder vulnerability and risk assessment should help bring about adaptation plans which are inclusive and flexible. After the strongest ever recorded typhoon devastated eastern and central parts of the Philippines and killed more than 6,300 …
Addressing equity through taxation: a view from Kenya
Tax revenue is a vital source of funding for essential services such as infrastructure, health and education. In Kenya tax revenue has increased in recent years but Martin Napisa, from the Kenyan National Taxpayers Association argues that action should be taken to make the tax system more effective and fair. In recent years, the icy state of the world economy …
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 …
How radio helped Kenyan communities engage with oil and gas developments
World Radio Day on 13 February celebrates radio’s role in empowering people as a source of information and dialogue. All too often we assume people around the world have mobile phones or internet access and overlook the most widely available mass communication medium in the world: the humble radio. In Kenya, Oxfam has been using radio to engage with communities …
Result oriented reflection: Notes on the recent Stories of Change workshop for the Inclusion Project
Oxfam Novib’s World Citizens Panel team recently held a workshop to analyze Stories of Change, a qualitative research method which aims to help practitioners understand how a particular change happens. Ruben De Winne, a Qualitative Researcher at Oxfam Novib, talks us through how they organised the workshop and the outcomes the participants walked away with. ast April, the World Citizens Panel …
A new shared approach to resilience in Asia
Development and humanitarian programmes are increasingly being understood holistically as different elements for building resilience. In response to this Oxfam in Asia has produced a new companion with practical advice for anyone working to increase the resilience of people living in poverty, as Janice Ian Manlutac, Asia Resilience Change lead explains. The year 2015 closed with three global development frameworks that …
What we’ve learned about vulnerability assessments and how to do them
How can a development intervention achieve positive change for all, especially the poorest and most marginalised? Conducting a vulnerability risk assessment, using our new guide, would be a good start. Daniel Morchain, Global Adviser on Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Agriculture, explains. We all experience our own reality based on our individuality, our social capital, the context we live in …