Why are care workers missing from the conversation about the gig economy in the UK?

Veronica DeutschGender, Research, Women's Economic Empowerment

Debates about workers on digital platforms too often focus on male-dominated sectors such as deliveries and ride-hailing. In a blog for the International Day Of Care, Veronica Deutsch explains how care workers, overwhelmingly women, are now central to the precarious UK gig economy – and sets out what campaigners, researchers, employers and policy makers can do to support them.

Governments across the globe are giving up on the fight against inequality: here’s what they should do instead…

Anthony KamandeEconomics, Inequality, Research

New Oxfam analysis shows global Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) has just hit a new low. Anthony Kamande shares insights from Oxfam’s biannual CRI report that ranks 164 countries’ policies – and offers three big policy changes that should be firmly on the agenda at this week’s World Bank/IMF annual meetings.

Guest speakers are not enough: this Black History Month, we need to ask where NGOs go from here on racial justice 

Rhaea Russell-CartwrightPower Shifts, Racial justice, Rights

Oxfam GB racial justice lead Rhaea Russell-Cartwright reflects on how far Oxfam and similar UK-based organisations have come and what they should think about next to deliver on racial justice – including the implications of racist riots in Britain, the need for solidarity across borders and ensuring that celebrations of this month centre the experiences of our Black staff.  It’s …

How my new book unpacks the problem with projects

Caitlin ScottMethodology, Research

The ‘project’ is intrinsic to modern international development – yet this basic form of organising our work is not something neutral or benign, says Caitlin Scott, but has real, often distorting, effects on the way development organisations think and act.

Meet the ‘Circularity Queens’

Rita AbiodunClimate Change, Innovation, Private sector

In Lagos, furniture maker Joy and fashion entrepreneur Yetunde have forged a partnership to take offcuts from Yetunde’s dresses and turn them into upholstery for sustainable furniture. Rita Abiodun on an inspiring collaboration that grew out of an Oxfam Novib programme to support small businesses in Nigeria.

Vetoing humanity: How a few powerful nations hijacked global peace

Marc CohenConflict, Governance, Research

Marc J. Cohen, Amy Croome and Elise Nalbandian introduce a new Oxfam report that sets out how the veto power of a few countries at the UN Security Council has been catastrophic for humanity. Ahead of next week’s landmark Summit of the Future, they demand four changes to reform a UN system that is simply no longer up to the challenge of maintaining international peace and security.

When inclusion is an illusion: sign language interpreters and the pitfalls for ‘inclusive’ development

Julia ModernDisability, Research, Rights

How did a meeting for disabled people in Uganda end up using sign language that local deaf people couldn’t understand? Julia Modern reflects on how that failure is rooted in racialised ideas about who is an expert – and shares six tips for effective deaf inclusion. (And you can also watch a Ugandan Sign Language translation of the blog.)

Book Review: Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World, by Danny Sriskandarajah

Duncan GreenActive citizenship, Innovation, Power Shifts

From ‘liquid democracy’, to the ‘underground fungal network’ of citizenship that supports progressive change, the former Oxfam GB CEO offers lots of useful ideas about how the 21st century can live up to its initial promise as the ‘century of the citizen’, says Duncan Green.