Who can’t afford to get ill? The missing target in the World Bank’s drive for Universal Health Coverage

Anna MarriottEvents, Health

With the bank poised to replenish funds to back expansion of healthcare among the world’s poorest people, it needs to measure what matters – and what matters is that billions are being forced into poverty and hardship by the costs of care. Anna Marriott, Rosemary Mburu, Harjyot Khosa and Waiswa Nkwanga on a critical omission from the Bank’s ‘IDA21’ policy package.

When will the ‘grand bargain’ deliver a better deal for women’s organisations in Pakistan?

Sarah ZafarHumanitarian, Participation and Leadership, Power Shifts

How can local Women’s Rights Organisations benefit from the global pledge to channel 25% of global humanitarian funding to groups like theirs when they haven’t even heard of it? Sarah Zafar and Shahnawaz Ali on insights from conversations with Pakistani WROs into what they need to flourish.

‘I would expect more trust’: five things holding back LGBTQIA+ led organisations in the Ukraine response

Charlotte GreenerHumanitarian, Research, Rights

LGBTQIA+ organisations responding to the crisis in Ukraine need  better support from international donors, including more flexible funding and support to boost the visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community. Charlotte Greener shares insights from conversations with two LGBTQIA+ groups working in Ukraine and neighbouring Poland.

Across Asia, local LGBTQIA+ activists are finding their Voice

Kayla LapizInfluencing, Power Shifts, Rights

Over the past eight years, the Voice programme has been supporting the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights. In a blog for Pride month, Kayla Lapiz and Ishita Dutta look back on some inspiring examples of local action as the programme comes to an end.

‘Be more Norway’: a model policy report on the UK’s international future

Duncan GreenGovernance, Influencing, Research

It’s time for the country to accept it is now an ‘offshore mid-sized power’, say the experienced ‘insider’ authors of radical proposals to reset the UK’s approach to international affairs. Duncan Green on key insights from The World in 2040: Renewing the UK’s Approach to International Affairs.

Six things INGOs must do to fund local partners fairly

Dominic VickersInnovation, Participation and Leadership, Power Shifts

Why are local organisations still missing out on funds for overheads that don’t just keep the lights on but are vital to their survival? Dominic Vickers reports back on a webinar that brought SIDA, UNHCR, Oxfam and Development Initiatives together to tackle the thorny problem of ICR, or Indirect Cost Recovery.

Will the new loss and damage fund replicate the same old exclusion of local voices and organisations?

Lyndsay WalshClimate Change, Events, Power Shifts

How can a community-based organisation with three staff compete with the World Bank or an INGO for resources to address climate damage? Lyndsay Walsh on why this week’s crucial pre-COP meeting on recommendations to establish the loss and damage fund must create more space, money and support for local organisations.

Compliance for INGO partners is riddled with colonial attitudes: here’s how that can change…

Dominic VickersGovernance, Innovation, Power Shifts

As international NGOs, we need to stop assuming partners are risky, respect local standards, accept we should prove ourselves as much as partners do, and slash the form-filling, says Oxfam compliance advisor Dominic Vickers. In fact, how about encouraging partners to apply for funds by video?

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

Dhananjayan SriskandarajahInfluencing, 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