Local to global campaigns challenging power and patriarchy

Charikleia PouchaGender, Influencing, Violence Against Women and Girls

Chariklea Poucha and Gopika Bashi describe how co-creation, innovation & taking a feminist approach to campaigning has enabled the Enough campaign to start shifting social norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls. Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed the extraordinary power of people coming together to demand a fairer world. The Occupy movement highlighted the ever-increasing wealth divide. #MeToo …

Feminist leadership in action

Damaris RuizAgriculture, Gender, Inequality, Influencing, Participation and Leadership, Violence Against Women and Girls

Tamsin Smith interviews Damaris Ruiz, Yohanka Valdes, and Maritza Gallardo Lopez, from Oxfam’s Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) Regional Women’s Rights and Gender Justice group. They share five ways they are bringing feminist learning into the centre of our organization. Formed five years ago, the LAC Regional Women’s Rights and Gender Justice group comprises Oxfam staff and members of feminist …

Can Twitter help drive policy change?

Rodrigo BarahonaActive citizenship, Gender, Influencing, Violence Against Women and Girls

Oxfam Intermón has supported allies using digital actions to put issues on the political agenda. Rodrigo Barahona, Virginia Vaquera and Patricia Corcuera share seven critical success factors. In recent years Spain has seen the devastating impact of economic crisis, austerity measures, and a rolling back of human rights – including the controversial Citizens Security Law, which has curbed freedom of …

How small and regular design tweaks can make a big difference to latrine use

Tanya Glanville-WallisEmergencies, Humanitarian, Refugees and IDPs, Violence Against Women and Girls, WASH Impact Series, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

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 …

We must do more to make emergency sanitation safer

Rachel HastieEmergencies, Emergency, Refugees and IDPs, Violence Against Women and Girls, WASH Impact Series, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Why do so few women and girls use emergency latrines? Rachel Hastie shares key findings that could help make sanitation safer in camps. We looked at the latrine with dismay, as Sarah told us how her relatives had been killed in South Sudan. She had walked to the Ugandan border with her three children and nine nephews and nieces. Their …

Standing up for women’s rights and local leadership in Uganda

Elizabeth StevensGender, Governance, Humanitarian, Participation and Leadership, Refugees and IDPs, Violence Against Women and Girls

Elizabeth Stevens describes how a small, local NGO has had an outsized impact on Uganda’s refugee response. Heart, guts, big ideas, and an investor. If you are launching a tiny women’s organization into the rough-and-tumble world of humanitarian response, you had better have all four. That’s what I concluded from my time with African Women and Youth Action for Development …

Young feminists driving change

Imogen DaviesActive citizenship, Gender & Development Journal, Participation and Leadership, Rights, Violence Against Women and Girls, Youth

Imogen Davies, Oxfam GB’s Global Adviser on Youth, Gender & Active Citizenship, and co-editor of the latest issue of Gender & Development, describes the political approaches young feminist movements are taking to reshape the international development landscape. There are more young people alive today than there ever have been before. Almost one person in four is aged 10-24, with 90 per …

The power of purple: changing attitudes in Malawi

Nikki van der GaagGeneral, Violence Against Women and Girls

Nikki van der Gaag, Oxfam GB’s Director of Women’s Rights, reports from rural Malawi, where Oxfam is working with the First Lady to end gender-based violence and promote gender equality. The excitement is palpable. The sun is already hot, but people are gathering in groups to sing and dance. All are in bright colours, but the two that dominate are …