Will growth be enough to end poverty by 2030? It really doesn’t look like it…

Arief Anshory Yusuf Economics, Inequality, Research

Our sobering analysis shows the world looks set to miss the UN’s flagship development goals for 2030 by a wide margin. That means millions of lives blighted unnecessarily by sickness, poverty, and death unless we see radical policy changes, say Arief Anshory Yusuf, Zuzy Anna, Ahmad Komarulzaman and Andy Sumner.

What can’t be counted doesn’t count: tracking financing for sustainable development

Julie Seghers Economics, Inequality

This week a group of development experts are meeting to discuss ‘Total Official Support for Sustainable Development’, or TOSSD. This is a new statistical metric that’s been in the making for almost ten years and is meant to capture global efforts in support of sustainable development. ActionAid, AidWatch Canada and Oxfam International are releasing a discussion paper to shed light …

Does channelling aid into private sector partnerships always lead to the best development outcomes?

Marc Cohen Aid, Economics, Private sector

Aid donors increasingly assume that private sector partnerships are crucial for global development. Marc Cohen, Senior Researcher at Oxfam America, outlines why we need to proceed with caution.   Back in 2014, the UN estimated that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require an additional $2.5 trillion per year over planned investments between 2015 and 2030. Just to get a sense of what a trillion dollars looks like, it …

Solar study lamps in Sierra Leone

Kevin Johnstone Education, Gender, Innovation, Natural Resources, Private sector, Youth

Renewable Energy Policy Advisor, Kevin Johnstone, outlines some of the educational benefits of solar study lamp campaigns, and their potential to achieve much more. The cost of night studies Sometimes Bintu’s family couldn’t afford batteries for home lighting, and on those nights, she couldn’t complete her school work. Bintu’s mother explained that if “you don’t have batteries, your children will …

New series launch on urban development

Hashim Zaidi Governance, New Urbanism

Hashim Zaidi, Global Urban Work Lead, introduces a new blog series on urban development and why it is important to Oxfam. Cities today are home to 3.9 billion people accounting for 54% of the total world’s population. UN-Habitat estimates that an additional 2.5 billion people will live in cities by 2050 with almost 90% of this increase happening in Asia and Africa. …

Oxfam’s engagement at the Commission on the Status of Women

Francesca Rhodes Gender

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the global policy making body concerning women’s rights and gender equality issues. Francesca Rhodes and Vincent Trousseau explore how and why it represents a unique opportunity to influence governments to take bold action. The Commission and what it means to Oxfam Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is an integral part of Oxfam’s …

The SDGS, an opportunity for business to do better

Ruth Mhlanga Active citizenship, Aid

Over a year in, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) show no sign of losing momentum. Ruth Mhlanga reflects on how businesses can support the SDGs to create a world free from poverty without breaking the planet. he SDGs are ambitious, but in a world where 8 men have the same wealth as the poorest half of the world, nothing less would …

Political decision on aid needs to take a more functional approach

Daniela Rosche Aid

While politicians grapple with setting course to achieve the SDGs, they need to look at the core function of development aid and the role it can and should play in leaving no one behind. ver the past few years, I have seen few policy instruments lose as much traction and commitment as aid, also known as Official Development Assistance (ODA), …

Women’s economic empowerment and cash transfer programming

Rose Smith Aid, Gender, Her Series, Women's Economic Empowerment

Cash Transfer Programmes (CTP) are increasingly becoming more popular in relief response, but how can they help women’s economic empowerment? Rose Smith from The Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) gives us her input. oth women’s rights and Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) have been subject to increased debate and interest over recent years. Women’s rights and gender equality have progressed to become …