NEWS: What’s the most effective way to influence regional organisations in order to advance women’s rights and gender justice? This was the topic of a recent webinar organised by Oxfam’s Regional Gender Justice Programme in the Middle East and North Africa. The regional influencing for gender justice webinar took place on March 3, 2016 and presented on-going work in three …
Social security cuts risk widening UK regional inequalities
OPINION: Graham Whitham, Senior Policy Advisor on UK Poverty, warns that the latest government budget decisions will have a negative impact on already high levels of poverty and inequality in the UK. Sheffield Hallam University recently published research showing how cuts to social security spending announced since the 2015 General Election fall geographically across Great Britain. The research, co-funded by …
Yemen: all we can do is help people survive
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: The conflict which escalated one year ago in Yemen has created one of the world’s biggest humanitarian emergencies and risks pushing millions into famine. Simone Carter, Oxfam emergency responder in Yemen, describes the daily reality of civilian suffering and the challenges of delivering a programme in a conflict zone. As much as I may not like …
What is protection anyway?
LEARNING: If you work for a humanitarian agency then protection, helping people to stay safe in conflicts and disasters, is a core part of your duty of care. Our new materials will help you to understand how everything you do has the potential to reduce or increase the risks people face, as Rachel Hastie, Protection Adviser, explains. The question I …
9 things on Oxfam’s ‘bucket list’ for World Water Day
Meet our bucket. It’s a bucket known throughout humanitarian community as the ‘Oxfam bucket’, it was designed by Oxfam and has spent years saving lives around the world. On World Water Day, here are nine things on Oxfam’s ‘bucket list’ of facts about how this bucket saves lives. The tap stops people dipping (unclean) cups, hands, or other containers into …
850,000 success stories for World Water Day
NEWS: The Oxfam-led SWIFT Consortium has successfully completed the first phase of a programme to bring sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to communities in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. On World Water Day, SWIFT’s global programme manager Francesco Rigamonti considers whether implementing a Payment by Results WASH programme has to mean focusing on numbers rather than people. …
Tackling inequality and unsustainable consumption – together
OPINION: In many countries economic inequality is growing and the wealthiest are also those with the biggest carbon footprints. Dario Kenner, Independent Researcher, suggests that governments should act to reduce inequality and overconsumption in tandem. If governments are serious about meeting their commitments to tackle climate change they must ensure their policies in other areas such as inequality are compatible …
The human dimension: Greece’s escalating humanitarian crisis
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: At every EU migration summit in recent months, border security has trumped the safety and wellbeing of people on the move. This has been causing human misery and suffering for the tens of thousands of women, men and children now stranded in Greece and the Western Balkans. Our Advocacy & Policy Lead in Greece, Renata Rendón, …
Tax havens: Not as far away as you think
OPINION: A new Oxfam report highlighted this week that because the UK heads up the world’s biggest financial secrecy network, spanning its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories and centred on the City of London, it has an unparallelled opportunity to help end the era of tax havens. Luke Gibson, Tax and Inequality Policy Adviser, takes us through how these tax …
Syria five years on: hope in the darkness
OPINION: Five years into the Syria conflict, good news has been a rare commodity for millions of people affected by that catastrophic war. Is there any hope? Shaheen Chughtai weighs up the gravity of the situation against the progress being made through a temporary ceasefire, attempted peace talks and a recent donor conference. Over 250,000 people have been killed, 1.2 …