Congo is the ultimate test of whether we leave no one behind

Matthew Spencer Humanitarian

Oxfam’s Director of Campaigns, Policy & Influencing, Matthew Spencer, reflects back on his recent visit to Democratic Republic of Congo. hen I was nineteen I spent three months in India and it changed my world view. Faced with the sprawling mass of urban life there was little room left for teenage egotism. No longer a (spotty) planet around which life …

Why must climate change be de-naturalised and re-politicised?

Daniel Morchain Climate Change

Food insecurity, conflict and climate change are among many stresses often originated in or made worse by bad, unrepresentative governance. Daniel Morchain, Global Adviser on Climate Change Adaptation, examines the biased nature in which climate change is often approached and calls for a more complex framing in order to avoid missing its manifold dimensions. he reason why taking photographs has …

The right to defend human rights in an unequal world: The case of Mexico

Veronica Rodriguez Jorge Climate Change, Gender

Defenders of human rights often put themselves at personal risk to carry out their work. This blog examines the vulnerabilities human rights and land rights activists face, especially female activists and defenders of land and women’s rights. t the beginning of October we read about a company lawyer in El financiero (ES), a national Mexican newspaper, who was referring to …

Make education safe for all: Let girls learn!

Anthony Malunga Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls

Oxfam’s Gender Justice Programme Coordinator in Malawi, Anthony Malunga, reflects on Malawi’s education system and on what can be done to protect girls in the classroom and support their aspirations. lobally, education remains the key investment area needed by all countries to ensure they have current and future capacity for development. In Malawi, girls’ education is affected by multiple, socio-cultural …

31 women activists murdered in 2015: You can help stop the violence

Bethan Cansfield Gender, Violence Against Women and Girls

International Women Human Rights Defenders Day was November 29th, you can support women on the front line defending rights. erta Cáceres was murdered in March 2016. Berta was peacefully opposing a dam project being built in her community. For this she paid with her life. Around the world, women human rights defenders*, like Berta, are threatened, attacked and murdered for …

The ladies’ room

Kerry Akers Conflict, Gender, Humanitarian, Protection

Kerry Akers talks about the careful considerations and interdisciplinary collaboration needed to ensure that protection work is not based on harmful assumptions. umanitarian camps are dark at night. The curfew is sunset and the camp is heaving. Spilling out of their crowded tents onto the streets, people sit around dim cooking stoves talking and waving the mosquitoes away. The streets …

Renewed violence around Las Bambas mining project: Will we learn from past mistakes?

Miguel Levano Governance, Land rights

Copper mining in Las Bambas, Peru has sparked new violence as the communities surrounding the mine are bypassed again by the Peruvian government and mining company, MMG, on decisions that greatly affect their lives. n October 14, 42 year old Quintino Cereceda was killed during a police operation near the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. This tragic event follows …

Making invisible voices visible in online EVAW campaigns

Amy O'Donnell Gender & Development Journal, Violence Against Women and Girls

Online spaces are not free from violence against women and girls (VAWG) but, in this blog, Amy O’Donnell and Miranda Dobson discuss how specific online platforms, including Hollaback! are supporting EVAW (ending violence against women) work by providing spaces to report experiences of street harassment and promote solidarity.  Hollaback! recently launched in Oxfam’s city of origin in Oxford – making …