Three ways INGOs can shift power in humanitarian response: lessons from Ukraine

Isabelle Tallec Humanitarian, Power Shifts, Refugees and IDPs

In the run-up to World Humanitarian Day this week, Isabelle Tallec looks at Oxfam’s locally led response to the Ukraine crisis, working with dozens of local and community organisations to support the most marginalised groups of refugees and displaced people.

Amid the hostility to Roma refugees, an act of compassion

Padmini Iyer Conflict, Refugees and IDPs, Research

When Nadia went into labour just two weeks after fleeing Ukraine for Poland, local people rushed to her help. But Oxfam’s research shows that such acts of kindness are still too rare in a refugee response often blighted by anti-Roma discrimination, says Padmini Iyer in a blog for World Refugee Day.

How can we manage toilets better in large emergencies? Cox’s Bazar shows us the way

Safwatul Haque Niloy Emergencies, Innovation, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

In a blog for World Toilet Day, Oxfam’s Safwatul Haque Niloy looks at a pioneering project with engineering firm Arup that is pinpointing the best ways to deal with the huge challenge posed by waste from thousands of latrines

How ‘cash-for-work’ projects help vulnerable groups in Lebanon – and what they need to do better

Léa Moubayed-Haidar Cash transfers, Humanitarian, Research

Offering temporary jobs on donor-funded and public projects can boost community incomes, as well as women’s economic empowerment and local quality of life. However, our new paper also finds such schemes need to do more to improve long-term economic inclusion and social impact, say Léa Moubayed-Haidar and Christina Elias of the EU-funded Economic Development Policy Unit (EDPU), hosted at Oxfam Lebanon

From a Rohingya refugee’s perspective, who is local – and why does it matter?

Razia Sultana Gender, Power Shifts, Refugees and IDPs

Interactions between refugee women and aid workers with little connection to Rohingya culture can go terribly wrong, says Razia Sultana of Oxfam partner RW Welfare Society. To win women’s trust, INGOs need to engage with whoever is ‘as local as possible’

Civilians are not a target

Rachel Hastie Humanitarian, Protection

For World Humanitarian Day Rachel Hastie, Oxfam’s Global Protection Adviser, reflects on our common humanity and what it means. Some years back I was walking my children to school before catching a flight to Darfur. I was going to meet people – ordinary civilians – who had fled attacks on their villages and were still facing dangers and a very uncertain …

Three ways cash is king for asylum seekers in Greece

Stefania Imperia Aid, Emergency, Refugees and IDPs

Stefania Imperia asks what cash assistance means in practical terms for asylum seekers in Greece.  With tens of thousands of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece for an undefined period, providing cash grants to asylum seekers living in the Epirus region of north-west Greece may represent not only an efficient and dignified means to provide humanitarian assistance – but also an …