Coronavirus has brought up new challenges locally and globally, how do these challenges affect refugees and internally displaced people living on resettlement camps? How has the Coronavirus made a difficult and precarious living situation more complicated for internally displaced people and refugees? What is it like to live through this pandemic in a camp setting? And what are community members, …
Extra-ordinary faecal sludge management in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
For the first time in the history of refugee camps there has been a concerted effort across multiple agencies to ensure proper treatment and disposal of faecal waste. Prior to 2017, there has been single unit, single technology attempts to deal with the human waste in refugee camps. This was seen in the Philippines during the cyclone Haiyan Response, and in Myanmar, Iraq and for the Syrian refugees …
Podcast: Highlights of Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation of Cash for Work activities in the Za’atari camp in Jordan
[buzzsprout episode=’2664862′ player=’true’] For people living in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan there are few legally accessible work opportunities in and outside the camp. The Cash for Work activities currently being carried out in Za’atari provides income, increases household wealth, teaches skills and improves well-being. But how effective is the intervention? As part of our Real Geek Series, Franziska …
Cash on the move: Supporting Venezuelan migrants in Colombia
An unfolding crisis in Colombia As you walk across the Simon Bolivar bridge from Venezuela to Colombia’s Norte De Santander region it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer mass of humanity jostling to enter. They are all fleeing the spiralling socio-economic crisis in Venezuela which until now has caused over 4 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants worldwide. Around …
Three things we’ve learned about measuring quality in humanitarian WASH responses
Six months ago, we started a process for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practitioners and coordination platforms to measure the quality of our responses across different contexts. James Brown reflects on what we have learned so far. Back in January, we introduced the Quality Assurance and Accountability Project (QAAP) – a Global WASH Cluster initiative led by Oxfam, in partnership with Solidarités International, Tufts University, and UNICEF. The project supports humanitarian WASH coordinators to go beyond simple headline indicators to …
Why refugees must be equally represented in decision-making
Susan Grace Duku, is a refugee and head of our partner agency, Refugee Women and Youth Aid in Uganda. This World Refugee Day, she focuses on why refugees must be equally represented in decision-making. My name is Susan Grace Duku. I am 33 years old and I have spent 21 of those years as refugee. This week, we learned that …
How small and regular design tweaks can make a big difference to latrine use
Communications Advisor, Tanya Glanville-Wallis, talks us through the process of developing Sani Tweaks—a series of communications tools for technical staff, promoting best practices in sanitation. Visiting the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, I reflected on just how few women use emergency latrines. Having worked in the humanitarian sector for years, using camp latrines is nothing new to me. Yet …