How can business build gender equality into supply chains? Oxfam’s Ulrike Joras and Gaël Lescornec of the World Cocoa Foundation, share lessons from the cocoa industry and introduce a new shared initiative. From South Africa to Somalia, we have both spent over a decade working on issues related to poverty and inequality. While this work has often generated more questions …
Care work matters – public services and infrastructure can make a difference
Thalia Kidder and Claudia Canepa explain why unpaid care work matters in tackling poverty and gender inequality, and discuss what can be done to recognise, reduce and redistribute the work load. Sustainable Development Goal 5.4 mandates that governments ‘recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion …
No hope of earning an income for Syrian women in Jordan
As decision makers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation of Syrian refugees, Aisha Shtiwi shares the story of Ghozlan, one of millions of women refugees who can’t access work. “Our suffering started when we arrived. I went to every single place to find work in the camp, but no one hired me”, said Ghozlan, a young Syrian woman we …
How improving access to water can help reduce care work
Changes to infrastructure and equipment can make a real difference to time spent on care work . Lucia Rost and the WE-Care team share research from the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Everyone needs care, but in many countries, it is mostly women who are responsible for providing it. Heavy care work responsibilities can restrict women’s opportunities for education, employment, political …
Four ways to make trade work for gender equality
How can trade work for, not against, gender equality? Marion Sharples shares the key messages from a recent webinar hosted by Oxfam and the Gender and Development Network. Women’s economic empowerment is flavour of the month in policy circles, and international trade is seen as a key lever to getting there. However, the conversation often centres on including women in …
Findings from a meta-analysis of women’s empowerment projects
What overall impact are Oxfam’s women’s empowerment projects having? Simone Lombardini and Kristen McCollum attempted to answer this question by conducting a meta-analysis of our effectiveness review evaluations. Here Simone shares the key findings. After over six years conducting impact evaluations of women’s empowerment projects, I am very pleased to share our lessons from a recent meta analysis. ‘Using internal …
Critical junctures and the redistribution of care work
Women’s heavy and unequal contributions to care work are a challenge to their participation in social, economic and political life and overall wellbeing. How can project interventions change this? Senior researcher Martin Walsh reflects on the findings of two in-depth studies in Uganda and Ethiopia. One of the aims of Oxfam’s WE-Care (Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care) initiative is the …
Women’s work? Challenging gender roles in the Philippines
‘We forget our tiredness when the kiss is there.’ Nikki van der Gaag reports from the Philippines on a partnership that is changing ideas about men’s and women’s roles in the home. There is a bright red advertisement on the road from Tacloban airport to the town. It has a photograph of a woman with pale skin and red lipstick …
How businesses can tackle the social norms that limit women
Across the world, women make a significant contribution to global supply chains, in spite of complex hurdles that limit their inclusion and their leadership. How can businesses make it easier for women to fulfil their potential? Claudia Canepa shares some ideas from Oxfam’s private sector partnerships. The UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment (HLP) recently identified seven key …
A no ‘tick-box’ approach to gender and resilience
A key question for Oxfam and the development sector is how to address the different challenges faced by people living in poverty in a holistic fashion. However, our partners are often already successfully addressing multiple issues at once as Caroline Ashley saw in Bangladesh. I’ve seen gender treated as a ‘tick-box’ exercise – yes women participated. The same goes for …