My experience in Yemen shows progress is possible on water, sanitation and livelihoods – but all of this could be undone if violence returns

Fayad Al-Derwish Conflict, Fragile contexts, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Nine years since the conflict in Yemen began, Oxfam Water and Sanitation Lead Fayad Al-Derwish reflects on positive changes he has seen in his two years in the job, calls for urgent action to meet the needs of displaced people returning to devastated homes, and shares his worries for the future if conflict re-ignites.

How ‘cash-for-work’ projects help vulnerable groups in Lebanon – and what they need to do better

Léa Moubayed-Haidar Cash transfers, Humanitarian, Research

Offering temporary jobs on donor-funded and public projects can boost community incomes, as well as women’s economic empowerment and local quality of life. However, our new paper also finds such schemes need to do more to improve long-term economic inclusion and social impact, say Léa Moubayed-Haidar and Christina Elias of the EU-funded Economic Development Policy Unit (EDPU), hosted at Oxfam Lebanon

Taking emergency water, sanitation and hygiene to market

Esther Shaylor Humanitarian, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Esther Shaylor explains how Oxfam is working with other NGOs to share learning about providing emergency water, sanitation and hygiene using local markets. In recent years there has been a change in how we deliver humanitarian aid. The humanitarian sector as a whole is moving away from distributing food and other items, and, through research and practice, is working out …

Reaching refugees and boosting small businesses in Bangladesh

Corrie Sissons Emergency, Food & livelihoods, Humanitarian, Refugees and IDPs

By providing emergency cash or vouchers Oxfam can help people in crisis to get desperately needed food and other items, while boosting local businesses at the same time. Corrie Sissons explains what this looks like in Oxfam’s Rohingya Crisis response. At Oxfam we help those in crisis to meet their emergency needs in a way which does no harm. This …

ICTs in emergency response – what we’ve learnt

Laura Eldon Humanitarian, ICT4D

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 …

New standards for humanitarian programmes and markets

Jonathan Parkinson Cash transfers, General, Humanitarian

The new Minimum Economic Recovery Standards will support quality market-based programming, and effective working between humanitarian and development practitioners explains Jonathan Parkinson, Oxfam’s Senior WASH Programme Development Adviser. During and after emergencies, both in acute and protracted or reoccurring crises, there is a strong argument for helping affected communities by working with existing market supply chains to provide essential goods …

Smarter aid: Why digital cash transfers are the future

Nigel Tricks Cash transfers, Food & livelihoods, General, Humanitarian, ICT4D

With mobile internet now widely available across East Africa the arguments for aid through electronic cash transfers are overwhelming. Nigel Tricks, Oxfam’s Horn East and Central Africa Regional Director reflects on a recent visit to drought affected Somaliland. Two weeks ago, I visited Oxfam’s drought response in eastern Somaliland. We drove across a stark landscape; what should be a pastoralist …

Three ways cash is king for asylum seekers in Greece

Stefania Imperia Aid, Emergency, Refugees and IDPs

Stefania Imperia asks what cash assistance means in practical terms for asylum seekers in Greece.  With tens of thousands of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece for an undefined period, providing cash grants to asylum seekers living in the Epirus region of north-west Greece may represent not only an efficient and dignified means to provide humanitarian assistance – but also an …

Cash transfer programming in Zimbabwe

Khodeza Rume Aid, Food & livelihoods, ICT4D

Khodeza Rume, a Humanitarian Support Personnel in Food Security and Livelihoods, reflects on a recent electronic cash programme with the World Food Programme and Econet.  With the 2008 financial crash, Zimbabwe suffered a cash crisis and economic collapse which resulted in chronic food insecurity. The situation has since been exacerbated by the effects of El Niño with an estimated 4.1 million …