by Marieke Meeske and Saskia van Veen Youth in Africa face a myriad of constraints that affect their access to and success in the labour market. The current COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionally affects young people, puts further pressure on the job market. Youth employment policies and programmes try to tackle these constraints, e.g. by providing training and skills development to youth (supply side) or development of small and …
Ten lessons in promoting inclusive entrepreneurship program
by Ahmed Elassal and Shekhar Anand Most countries in the MENA region continue to marginalize the most vulnerable adolescents and youth, particularly young women, poor, refugees or people with disabilities, impacting their ability to realize their full potential (UNICEF). Young entrepreneurs find it extremely difficult to run their micro enterprises, small businesses, and start-ups in the same manner as they were doing …
COVID19: WIDOWHOOD ‘AGENCY’, EXPOSED BURDENS, CULTURE & GENDER ALLIES
Roseline Orwa and Valentine Linet set out in June 2021 to understand how widows in rural Siaya were coping and managing during Covid-19. With majority being survivors of two pandemics – HIV and Covid-19, we asked them how they wanted to engage. From which we employed deep sensitivity and a story telling approach during one-on-one interviews. In this blog, we …
International solidarity: from HIV/AIDs to Covid19
by Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Anna Marriott and Ruth Mayne Millions of people continue to suffer and die from Covid-19. Yet, while rich countries have vaccinated more than 40% of their population and are rapidly advancing towards herd immunity against Covid-19, 39 developing countries have vaccinated only around 1%. This blog explores how international solidarity can help end this global injustice. Patent …
Putting the Furthest Behind First
By Jeffrey Maganya and Julie Kedroske COVID-19 is a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions with no signs of abating. 130 million more people experienced chronic hunger last year, and approximately 150 million people will be forced into extreme poverty by the end of 2021. The pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities in gender, race, and wealth, which will significantly worsen without …
3 Key Lessons from the Pandemic – Valuing Women’s Work Community Learning
What a difference a year makes. Back in early 2020, reports of an emerging virus were starting to enter the news, but we had little appreciation of the scale of impact from the ensuing global pandemic, and how within Oxfam, Covid-19 would fundamentally change our ways of working. As we reflect on the year, here are some key lessons from …
We are in it together: Feminist activists in MENA united
Many social media followers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) would recognize names such as Israa Ghrayeb from Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), or Al-Anoud Sheryan from Yemen or Tara Fares from Iraq. These are young women in their twenties who were disfigured or killed by a family member or an intimate partner. Their stories shocked people and devastated women rights activist across the region. …
From burden to benefit: Reframing the conversation on care
If I said you could either invest in something that is essential or something that is a burden, which would you choose? I’m guessing most people would choose the former. How we frame things matters. From political slogans to hashtags to social justice campaigns, anyone who has tried to compel others into action knows that the words we choose are …
10 brilliant questions you asked about Oxfam’s inequality report
Oxfam’s new report, ‘The Inequality Virus’, reveals that the wealth of the ten richest men has increased by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began. This is more than enough to pay for a vaccine for all and prevent anyone on Earth from falling into poverty because of the virus. We have received lots of great questions about the report, here’s our …
How can we create Feminist Futures?
This episode hosts a conversation recorded last September 2020 during a virtual encounter around Creating Feminist Futures. María Faciolince, our host and moderator, is joined by three visionary feminists from around the world: Crystal Simeoni (Director at Nawi: Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective), Meera Ghani (Policy coordinator at Ecolise, Co-founder of Moxie Consultancy Collective) and Maria José Moreno (Global Gender Justice Director at Oxfam International). One of the …