As East Africa faces drought and famine, Jessica Fullwood-Thomas talks to Oxfam in Somalia’s Muktar Hassen about a crucial lesson from the 2017 food crisis: that the region needs a “triple nexus” approach across humanitarian response, development and peace work to deliver sustained change
I’m proud to be a Yemeni tackling our water crisis – but we need the world to do much more, especially for women
Over seven years of conflict, Yemen’s water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed. Oxfam’s Fayad Al-Derwish sets out the impact on women and girls – and what he and his team are doing to help rebuild
Strengthening women’s agency after drought in Ethiopia
People in Ethiopia’s Somali region have had their lives turned upside down by three years of drought. Oxfam’s research has found that there are several ways in which aid agencies can better meet the needs of women and girls and promote gender equality. Over the past three years the rains have been sparse in the Ethiopian Somali region. This year’s …
Smarter aid: Why digital cash transfers are the future
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 …
A harvest of dysfunction: Causes and impacts of drought in South Africa
John Magrath introduces the report, A Harvest of Dysfunction: rethinking the approach to drought, its causes and impacts in South Africa. “Interventions to assist poor people affected by drought must start with how drought itself is defined and understood” – so says Sipho Mthathi, Executive Director of Oxfam South Africa in her introduction to a new report that challenges the …