LEARNING: Could micro-hydro power bring sustainable energy to remote villages around the world? Public Health Engineer Anjil Adhikari explains how Oxfam has been involved in bringing electricity to a village in Nepal through a micro-hydro project. Until two months ago Jayathala village in Darchula District Nepal had no electricity. At night they burned Jharro (resin soaked pine wood) for light, …
Webinar – on the cusp: proposals to advance the cash reform
NEWS: Background While cash has benefited from an unprecedented attention from high level policy-makers in the build-up to the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), the Summit itself did not fully deliver on its promises. The call from the UN Secretary-General for cash-based assistance to become the default method of support for people in emergencies wherever possible was diluted into promises for …
Building bridges between communities and local government in the DRC
LEARNING: Annabel Morrissey recently returned from a visit to Equateur in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where she visited Oxfam’s Within and Without the State programme which aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of civil society programming in fragile states. This is no small feat in a country where there has been ongoing instability and conflict for the …
Three reasons national organisations are vital to humanitarian response in South Sudan
OPINION: National and local actors have a critical role in responding to the humanitarian emergency in South Sudan. When international aid organisations work in partnership with local groups, their joint efforts are more effective and tailored to the people they are trying to help explains Stella Madete, Oxfam South Sudan Information and Communications Lead. National organisations are part of the …
Latest climate change evidence confirms what farmers told Oxfam
OPINION: New research has confirmed Oxfam’s findings of many years, climate change is making life harder for farmers around the world. John Magrath, Programme Researcher, reflects on what we know and reaffirms the need for climate action. A huge study published recently in the journal Nature Climate Change confirms findings from Oxfam research that asked farmers in a …
Orchestrating the movement – a personal reflection on the World Humanitarian Summit
OPINION: Last week governments, NGOs, UN agencies and civil society representatives met in Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit. With 125 million people currently affected by conflicts and disasters the need for unified humanitarian action is clear. Here Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, reflects on what the summit achieved. Just a few of the 7000 attendees at the …
Working with partners: what’s it all about?
LEARNING: What does working in partnership mean for Oxfam and the vulnerable people we seek to help? Audrey Lejeune, Programme Learning Adviser and Yo Winder, Global Partnerships and Accountability Adviser, introduce a series of learning papers on working with partners. You probably know that Oxfam works with others to fight poverty and inequality around the world. But who are these …
Container based sanitation could solve the world’s toilet problems
LEARNING: Oxfam recently hosted its first International Toilet Summit, where participants were challenged to think big about one of the world’s biggest sanitation challenges: how to get a toilet into every household which currently lacks one. Container based sanitation could well be the solution as Brian McSorley, WASH Coordinator, explains. Our first ever toilet summit was organised jointly with Sanergy, …
Resilience is someone – I met her in South Sudan
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: Definitions of resilience should come from the people we are here to support, rather than our own assumptions. Elizabeth White, Policy Adviser in South Sudan, reminds leaders and humanitarians at the World Humanitarian Summit of the faces behind the words and numbers, and just how much we can, and must, learn from them. ‘Resilience’ has been …
European countries need to return to humanitarian principles
ON THE GROUND REFLECTION: As world leaders and humanitarian actors meet in Istanbul for the first ever World Humanitarian Summit European countries need to look at themselves and step up to uphold human rights in the migration crisis argues Claire Seaward, Humanitarian Campaign Manager. From an interview with Catherine Meredith. What needs are you seeing on the ground in Europe? …