Development projects too often assume there is a simple structure of local governance. But innovative research based on people in Mozambique, Myanmar, and Pakistan writing diaries reveals how in fact their lives are governed by many competing informal and formal actors. Katrina Barnes of Oxfam and Colin Anderson of the Institute of Development Studies on key dilemmas this complexity raises for practitioners
In East Africa, the pandemic has pushed millions out of work: here’s what governments need to do
My region’s countries collect just a fifth of what they should in tax, says Oxfam’s Anthony Kamande. We need those lost billions to tackle extreme inequality and mend our public finances
In Asia, billionaires profited from the pandemic while millions dropped out of school forever
In our final blog for Davos week, Oxfam India chief executive Amitabh Behar looks at how the pandemic has widened an already vast wealth gap in Asia Pacific
Four ways that inequality kills
Oxfam’s Dana Abed on the four great global injustices behind our Davos report headline that inequality contributes to one death every four seconds
The future is bright for digital accountability
Reflections from Programme Manager, Emily Tomkys Valteri on the Your Word Counts Programme as the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) Responsive Listening through Improved Feedback Mechanisms Project ends. The Your Word Counts programme has sought to strengthen accountability through feedback mechanisms which are safe, confidential and trustworthy. Beginning as a small HIF pilot in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, this grew …
5 Top Tips for Designing Research to change Social Norms on Gender (or anything else)
Anam Parvez Butt is a Gender Justice Research Lead in the research team at Oxfam GB. Gopika Bashi is the Asia Campaigner for the Enough Campaign at Oxfam International.
Understanding community needs: taking a human-centred design approach to reporting misconduct
Programme Manager, Emily Tomkys Valteri builds on the previous blog, Safeguarding: Communities trust in our ability to listen, react and respond is key. Together with Sonder Collective, Oxfam is working on a research initiative dedicated to better understanding misconduct reporting. This research will build capacity to incorporate human-centred design principles into this process. It will seek to map user journeys of community members …
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 …
When failure is an option
Innovative, unfiltered, and impact-driven. Lyndsay Stecher describes what it means for Oxfam to work in partnership with trusts and foundations. Everything we do at Oxfam is possible because of funding. We are not naïve to the fact that this has an impact on programme decisions. Funding provides great opportunities, but when misapplied, it can also drive the wrong priorities. Last …
How to integrate gender in research planning
Anam Parvez Butt and Irene Guijt from Oxfam’s research team introduce our latest research guidelines for development practitioners. High quality research is critical for evidence-informed advocacy and development programming. But research cannot be high quality if it is gender blind. For Oxfam, ‘putting women at the heart of everything we do’ is only a wish unless practical action follows. Our …