The recent attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon highlight once again how their presence is no guarantee of security. Marc Cohen and Elise Nalbandian explore UN peacekeeping failures in DRC, Rwanda, Darfur and Haiti – and one notable success in Timor Leste.
‘Four years after the Beirut blast, her story still haunts me’
Sometimes all we can offer in an emergency response is a listening ear and a compassionate heart, says Tarek Al Ali of Oxfam in Lebanon, as he reflects on the aftermath of the devastating 2020 Beirut port explosion.
Between a feminist and operational approach to Afghan women in the police
Political uncertainty has reigned in Afghanistan following the US-Taliban deal signed in February 2020 and the dispute around who the legitimate president was following the elections in September last year. On 9 March two presidents were sworn in on the same day. The dispute was solved in May but political divisions continue to hamper the functioning of the Afghan government. …
Yemen: civilians are not a target
This World Humanitarian Day, following a recent airstrike on a school bus, Alexandros Yiannopoulos explains why Oxfam is calling for a ceasefire to protect civilians in Yemen. In Northern Yemen last week, as I was preparing to write this blog, 41 children on a school trip were killed by a Saudi Coalition airstrike. All loss of life is a tragedy, …
Climate insurance: closing the protection or the resilience gap?
Does climate insurance work as a catalyst for climate risk management and sustainable development? Or is insurance deflecting attention from other disaster risk management solutions? Swenja Surminski, Senior Research Fellow at the London School for Economics, argues there is no simple answer. Risks are rising and there is low usage of insurance The devastating impacts of natural disasters are seen …
Looking back on community based protection in the DRC: Oxfam’s legacy
Five years after Oxfam’s funding and support for community protection work in one part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had stopped, we wanted to find out if the work was still having an impact, and if so, how. Helen Lindley-Jones (former Oxfam National Protection Coordinator in the DRC) summarises Oxfam’s learning published in the evaluation report If we …
Putting responsible data into practice
Rachel Hastie and Amy O’Donnell introduce Oxfam’s new responsible data training resources and their launch event. 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years. Possibly the greatest challenge of the information age is how to manage data properly. As data is increasingly used for needs assessments, feedback, accountability and monitoring; management of …
Reviewing humanitarian evidence
The Humanitarian Evidence Programme is delighted to announce the launch of its series of eight systematic reviews. Over the last few years we’ve been working with teams of researchers, practitioners and consultants from academic institutions and NGOs to map out the existing evidence critically appraise it and synthesise the results in response to key questions in eight practice areas. Each …
The value of vouchers: Innovation and empowerment in Iraq
Corrie Sissons introduces a new e-voucher technology helping to meet the unique needs of households living through the Iraq crisis. The changing nature of humanitarian crises in a modern world means that agencies like Oxfam need to adapt to ensure we meet needs in an effective way. Oxfam in Iraq has been piloting a new approach that does just that; …