People around the world are faced with the challenge of adapting to changing climatic conditions, but what happens when small changes are not enough or are not even possible? Nick Brooks, Director of Garama 3C Ltd makes the case for transformational adaptation. Most of today’s adaptation interventions involve incremental approaches intended to protect and sustain existing systems and practices, rather …
A holistic approach to women’s economic empowerment
What does economic empowerment look like and how can it be achieved? Vincent Trousseau looks at examples from Oxfam’s programmes in Zambia and Morocco and introduces our new conceptual framework. What is women’s economic empowerment? Oxfam believes that effective economic empowerment for women (WEE) occurs when women enjoy their rights to control and benefit from resources, assets, income and their …
Health, wealth and the great escape out of poverty
Could the history of the last 250 years provide the clues to ending poverty and inequality? Angus Deaton’s book The Great Escape makes a compelling case for improving global well-being by addressing health and wealth. Franziska Mager, Research Assistant, reviews the book as part of our new Book Banter series. Book Banter Are you looking for some inspiring reading? Short …
Does knowledge matter in setting the development agenda?
Are marginalised people being overlooked in decision making processes around development and adaptation? Daniel Morchain reflects on the relationship between knowledge and power to influence outcomes. The more I think about development challenges, and the more I see and hear people talking about them, the more I think they come down to a struggle between knowledge and power. Knowledge in the …
Listening to refugees I’ve realised I know nothing
What is life like for Syrian refugees in Lebanon? Oxfam conducted research to find out how safe refugees feel and to understand the challenges they face. For researcher Nour Shawaf it was a humbling process. I thought I knew it all, I thought I had seen it, I thought I had read about it, I thought I had heard all …
Dear Family: Refugees in Greece write to their loved ones
Forced migration separates families. It wrenches children from their parents and grandparents, separates siblings, forces partners to live apart, and destroys extended family networks. During the past months Oxfam has interviewed people that have been stranded in Greece and asked them to share their experiences during their perilous journeys to Europe and the separation from their families. The right to …
ICTs in emergency response – what we’ve learnt
How can and should information and communication technologies (ICTs) be employed in humanitarian contexts to improve the quality and efficiency of aid delivery? Laura Eldon reflects on the findings of the Scaling Humanitarian ICTs Network (SHINE). Over the last three years Oxfam has sought to show how ICTs can best be used in emergency programmes through the Scaling Humanitarian ICTs …
Matching by Coarsened Exact Matching?
Marcella Vigneri introduces a new technique for matching data as part of the programme impact evaluation process. REAL GEEK This blog series is aimed at anyone with an interest in research, evaluation and adaptive learning. Global Impact Evaluation Advisers routinely face the challenge of how to re-create samples of units (be it individuals, families, farmers, or group members) with the …
Life after ISIS: Reflections from Iraq
Oxfam is working with conflict affected communities and internally displaced people in Iraq. Franc Cortada, Oxfam’s Program Director, recently visited the country and was impressed by people’s determination to get on with their lives in the midst of large scale devastation. On my recent visit to Iraq I had the chance to meet Oxfam’s teams on the ground and see …
What can resilience do for us?
How can we use resilience to do development and humanitarian work differently and in ways that truly make societies work for and with people living in poverty? Helen Jeans, Oxfam’s Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Adviser, explains why Oxfam is hosting a symposium on resilience and invites you to join the event in Oxford from 27-28 June 2017. There is …