How do you build a digital movement? Smart strategy, good stories – and make sure it is rooted in the real world

Marieke Meeske Active citizenship, Influencing, Innovation

Oxfam Novib staff on four lessons for digital activism, drawn from their “E-motive” peer-to-peer learning project that connected campaigners across borders.

As Oxfam turns 80, here are three big ideas that I think will shape its future…

Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah Influencing, Innovation, Power Shifts

Eight decades after Oxfam began with a meeting in an Oxford church, we must respond to challenges our founders could not have dreamed of, from re-imagining what an international NGO should be, to the need for totally new sources of funding, to the world-changing impact of technology, says Oxfam GB CEO Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

Podcast: Coronavirus and Web Data Analysis

Simone Lombardini Methodology, Real Geek

Social media has the potential to profoundly influence the way society works. Social media has been used for understanding crowd sizes from Instagram posts and to analyse hate speech and to understand presidential elections. Or more recently to improve our understanding of the lived realities of women and girls. So, how can we gather data from social media platforms and …

Using technology to enhance youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa

Ahmed Elassal Youth employment, Youth Participation

Challenges in context According to an Oxfam report, half a billion people could be pushed into poverty by COVID-19. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), warned that the crisis is expected to wipe out 6.7%  of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020. The situation has directly hit the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. Export, travel, transportation …

Using elections to amplify people’s voices

Rodrigo Barahona Active citizenship, Influencing, Participation and Leadership

Elections can be an important influencing opportunity for people living in poverty. Rodrigo Barahona and Isabel Crabtree-Condor share what Oxfam has learned from our work in four countries. Elections are a defining feature of democracies. They are a formal moment when the average person on the street can exercise power by voting for the public policies they want to see.  Issues …

Beyond a phone in your pocket: feminist analysis of the digital age

Amy O'Donnell Gender, Gender & Development Journal, ICT4D

Amy O’Donnell, a specialist on digital technologies at Oxfam and Board member of anti-harassment charity Hollaback!, outlines the Gender & Development Journal’s new ICTs issue and two launch events.  Having a phone in your pocket isn’t necessarily as empowering and life-changing as it’s cracked up to be. Development actors are having a passionate moment with ICTs right now, and certainly digital offers …