Marieke Meeske and Saskia van Veen share some of the learning from a recently published book by Oxfam Novib called Beating the Drum: Stories of Influencing Networks. The book explores the practical experiences of nine influencing networks around the world and their efforts to influence decision-makers on a variety of issues. Issues include land rights, the abolition of nuclear weapons, …
Collaborating through crisis
How are Oxfam partnering with the private sector to respond to the coronavirus pandemic? We have been getting creative and resourceful in our partnerships with Unilever, Burberry and ASOS.
When failure is an option
Innovative, unfiltered, and impact-driven. Lyndsay Stecher describes what it means for Oxfam to work in partnership with trusts and foundations. Everything we do at Oxfam is possible because of funding. We are not naïve to the fact that this has an impact on programme decisions. Funding provides great opportunities, but when misapplied, it can also drive the wrong priorities. Last …
Helping our partners to stay safe?
Yoma Winder reflects on our recent report with International Alert on working with partners in conflict contexts. The report was launched at a panel event at LSE on October 31. When Oxfam asked for partners’ feedback via the Keystone Accountability’s Partner Survey we were told many things very firmly. Of particular concern for Oxfam was that we had a lower …
Local partnerships and protecting human rights in conflict
Phil Vernon from International Alert shares his views on working with partners on conflict contexts, as part of our release of a recent joint report on the subject. A healthy and active civil society is both an essential indicator of a resilient society, and an essential vehicle for achieving one, through activism and service delivery. But civil society is under …
Being a better partner in conflict situations
A new report from Oxfam and International Alert looks at how violent conflict impacts local civil society and how international partners respond. Here Harriet Lamb, CEO of International Alert and Mark Goldring, CEO of Oxfam GB, reflect on the key findings and their implications for future and current partnerships in conflict. Violent conflicts cast a shadow every day over millions …
Why partnerships are vital to our work in South Sudan
From borehole drilling to peacebuilding Oxfam partners in South Sudan are responding to people’s needs in ways that only local organisations could. Tim Bierley reflects on the strengths of Oxfam’s South Sudan partnerships. There’s risk of a cholera outbreak on islands deep into the Sudd, South Sudan. People are relying on the often-contaminated swamp for their drinking water. New boreholes …
Building local humanitarian capacity in Yemen
Working with local partners in emergencies enables Oxfam to respond to the needs of more vulnerable people in a timely and sensitive way. Here Bassim Assuqair shares a success story from Yemen where in partnership with Oxfam youth organization GWQ has been able to build humanitarian capacity to respond to the crisis in their local area. Since the escalation of …
The challenges of working with micro-financing institutions
For many, the main barrier for access to clean sanitation is money. Tom Wildman, WASH Advisor, shares the opportunities and challenges of working with micro-finance institutions in the Philippines to obtain loans for the poorest. In the Philippines, it’s not a lack of knowledge or desire that prevents people from owning a toilet, it’s money. Most have little left over for …
Opportunities in challenging times
Bayan Academy, based in the Philippines, shares how it works, its mission, and how its partnership with Oxfam helped it become a big contributor in the WASH sector. In the words of Dr. Eduardo A. Morato, Jr., Chairman and President of Bayan Academy, “who would have thought that there could be so many opportunities in toilets? And not as just …