Publishing Institution: Oxfam Publishing

1. Emergent Agency in a Time of COVID-19: Research report

Author:: Flippo Artuso, Katrina Barnes, Duncan Green, and Irene Guijt
Publication Date:: 02-2023
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented event in the modern era. Earlier studies demonstrated how ‘critical junctures’, which comprise major historical events and emergencies, often play an essential role in social change. This paper seeks to explore whether the COVID-19 pandemic would prove to be a similar pivotal moment, and what lessons and insights we could gather for positive social change. The research set out to find key insights on how individuals, communities, and organizations in civil society were responding to the pandemic in low-income populations at the intersection of multiple inequalities. These lessons could inform how donors, governments and NGOs might reshape their efforts to reduce emerging or deepening inequalities, and how civil society organisations and community-based organisations could amplify their positive impacts. Over 18 months, from September 2020 to March 2022, the ‘Emergent Agency’ research convened a global conversation between activists, development practitioners, researchers, and academics to better understand the phenomena that were taking place in response to the pandemic. The research collected more than 200 case studies and held a series of webinars and conversations in thematic clusters to uncover what these responses could teach us. The research project was enabled with funding from The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme (AFSEE) of the London School of Economics.
Topic:: Civil Society, Governance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

2. From Stunt to Substance: An assessment of IMF engagement with civil society

Author:: Nabil Abdo, Nadia Daar, and Alex Ray
Publication Date:: 01-2023
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is doling out billions of dollars, influencing economies around the world through its finance, and through the policies it expects governments to implement in return for the funds. But who has a say in those decisions? This paper presents case study research from Pakistan, Tunisia, Egypt, Ecuador, Argentina, Zambia and Ghana to assess the extent and meaningfulness of IMF engagement with civil society. With findings on power, motivations, impact and the importance of civic space considerations, the paper makes the case for significantly improved engagement, and recommends how to do so systematically, meaningfully and safely.
Topic:: Civil Society, Economics, International Cooperation, and IMF
Political Geography:: Global Focus

3. Access to Housing: A Right Not an Investment

Author:: Nizar Aouad
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Over the past two years, the housing situation in Lebanon has deteriorated so drastically that it has been nearly impossible for many population groups to secure adequate and sustainable housing options, given the sharp increase in rental prices, weak tenure rights, and rising socio-economic inequalities. This policy brief looks into the housing situation in Lebanon and its impact on members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It highlights that the LGBTQIA+ community is among the most affected by Lebanon’s housing crisis due to their historic exclusion by the government and society; the lack of protective policies affecting access to housing rights and alienating LGBTQIA+ individuals and their needs; arbitrary eviction threats, discrimination based on physical appearance, and physical and emotional violence; and no recourse to justice in cases of violations due to state-sponsored violence against queer bodies. The paper makes recommendations on how the Government of Lebanon, donors and the international community, and civil society organizations can help ensure that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are able to live without fear of violence and exercise their right to housing in an equitable way.
Topic:: Governance, Discrimination, Violence, LGBT+, and Housing
Political Geography:: Middle East and Lebanon

4. Dangerous Delay 2: The cost of inaction

Author:: Emily Farr, Leah Finnegan, Joanna Grace, and Mathew Truscott
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 2011, Somalia experienced a devastating famine that killed over a quarter of a million people. Afterwards, leaders in the region made a commitment to end drought emergencies by 2022. The international community sought to ensure that there would be no repeat of the failures that led to famine. Next time, the world would heed the warnings and act early to avoid the crisis. But despite various warnings and alarms over the past two years, the commitment to anticipatory action has proven half-hearted. We are once again responding too late and with too little to avert the crisis. In this follow-up to their 2012 briefing A Dangerous Delay, Oxfam and Save the Children, supported by the Jameel Observatory, examine what has changed and what has not in the humanitarian system since 2011. They explain how it must evolve in order to enable and fully fund anticipatory action. With the climate crisis set to deepen, the current system must change quickly in order to meet the challenges we face in the years ahead.
Topic:: Security, Famine, Governance, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa and Somalia

5. Access to Healthcare: A right not a luxury

Author:: Sasha Hilani
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The past couple of years have been detrimental to Lebanon and to all those who reside there, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community. In 2021, the national suicide prevention hotline received approximately 1,100 calls per month, twice the amount in 2020. The deep crises Lebanon is going through have led to increased cases of mental health issues, especially among marginalized and vulnerable groups, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community. This policy brief examines the challenges that LGBTQIA+ individuals face when accessing mental health services and recommends approaches to ensure more equitable and facilitated access.
Topic:: Health, Health Care Policy, Discrimination, and LGBT+
Political Geography:: Middle East and Lebanon

6. Turning Point: A three year update on US supermarkets’ progress and pitfalls

Author:: Hana Ivanhoe and Art Prapha
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the global landscape of the food retail industry has dramatically shifted. There is now greater awareness of how wealth and gender inequalities have been exacerbated; the power of workers in the United States (US) has been awakened; the vulnerability of global supply chains has been exposed; big retailers are competing in technology adoption; investors are demanding environmental, social and governance (ESG) information; and there has been legislative advancement towards mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) law. Amidst these increasing pressures, major US supermarkets have continued to delay urgent actions needed to end exploitation of workers, women and farmers in their supply chains and retail operations. Key gaps include the lack of commitment to adopt a robust HRDD approach, lack of policies on workers’ rights at home and abroad, and the non-existence of gender policy in their business model. Failure to act now will result in irreversible impacts on workers, farmers and women – impacts that pose major risks to business continuity and supply chain resilience.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Governance, Business, Private Sector, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: North America and United States of America

7. Unfarmed Now, Uninhabited When? Agriculture and climate change in Iraq

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Small-scale farmers in Iraq are among the most affected groups in Iraq by climate change and water scarcity. With the reduction of rainfall and soaring temperature, agricultural production is dropping, and farmers’ ability to cope is hindered. Affected farmers are exhausted and feel that they are left alone in the face of crisis. Many farmers are leaving their lands and looking for better opportunities away from their land and the urban areas. Duty bearers need to mobilize resources and political well to support farmers and the agricultural sector through a national strategy with clear vision on the current needs and comprehensive forecast of the impacts of climate change. While agriculture is at the heart of Iraq’s past and present, its position in the country’s future is at risk.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Food, and Farming
Political Geography:: Iraq and Middle East

8. Inequality Kills: The unparalleled action needed to combat unprecedented inequality in the wake of COVID-19

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began. The incomes of 99% of humanity are worse off because of COVID-19. Widening economic, gender, and racial inequalities—as well as the inequality that exists between countries—are tearing our world apart. This is not by chance, but choice: “economic violence” is perpetrated when structural policy choices are made for the richest and most powerful people. This causes direct harm to us all, and to the poorest people, women and girls, and racialized groups most. Inequality contributes to the death of at least one person every four seconds. But we can radically redesign our economies to be centered on equality. We can claw back extreme wealth through progressive taxation; invest in powerful, proven inequality-busting public measures; and boldly shift power in the economy and society. If we are courageous, and listen to the movements demanding change, we can create an economy in which nobody lives in poverty, nor with unimaginable billionaire wealth—in which inequality no longer kills.
Topic:: Health, Inequality, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

9. Rising to the Challenge: The case for permanent progressive policies to tackle Asia’s coronavirus and inequality crisis

Author:: Emma Seery
Publication Date:: 01-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Asia remains in the grip of a coronavirus crisis that is supercharging already high levels of inequality. While the richest and most privileged can protect their health and increase their wealth further, the pandemic is putting the lives and livelihoods of the region's poorest and most vulnerable people at risk. Women, poor and low-skilled workers, migrants and other marginalized groups are being hit hardest. But it is not too late to turn the tide. Governments must make this the moment to implement permanent progressive policies that put the needs of the many before the profit and extreme wealth of the few.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Governance, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Asia

10. Designing Sustainable Water Supply Systems in Tajikistan: A step-by-step guide to design, construction and ownership

Author:: Orkhan Ali
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Tajikistan is often described as the poorest country in Central Asia, with GDP per capita consistently lower than any of its regional neighbours. Its water and sanitation infrastructure is severely dilapidated, suffering from decades of underinvestment and the failure to address widespread damage suffered during the country’s civil war (1992–1997). Efforts to ensure everyone has improved access to adequate water and sanitation services are characterised by contradictory legislation and blurred responsibilities between state agencies. Reform of the sector and roll-out of improved infrastructure have been slow, requiring strong accountability mechanisms to ensure that the rights of the most vulnerable people are adequately protected. Oxfam’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme s therefore based on a theory of change that aims to improve the health status of Tajikistan’s population through the delivery of long-lasting WASH services, while addressing market systems and strengthening institutions.
Topic:: Development, Water, Infrastructure, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Central Asia, Asia, and Tajikistan

11. Sanitation Marketing in Tajikistan: Business model for sustainable WASH market development

Author:: Orkhan Ali
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) remains a critical problem in Tajikistan, particularly for its rural areas. In terms of sanitation and the market within which it operates locally, there have been no sectoral tools on market-based WASH programming in Tajikistan, and therefore little available guidance around the facilitation of better interactions between the demand and supply of sanitation products. And while specified state departments are responsible for applying and upholding sanitation standards, in practice they continue to rely on guidelines from Soviet times, and rarely carry out household-level inspections – hence the legal frameworks governing sanitation should be revised accordingly. To fill this gap, Oxfam launched its first sanitation marketing programme in 2018 (as part of its wider Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation (TajWSS) Project funded by the Swiss Government) and played a market broker role that transformed the relationship between buyers and sellers of sanitation products. The project approached the process by influencing both supply and demand sides, and by designing affordable and desirable trading processes for rural households to meet their sanitation needs.
Topic:: Development, Infrastructure, Sanitation, Public Health, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Central Asia, Asia, and Tajikistan

12. Decentralised Sanitation Solutions in Tajikistan: Decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) in peri-urban and urban areas in Tajikistan

Author:: Orkhan Ali
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: An important milestone for the sanitation sector was the adoption by the UN of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets 6.2 (safely managed sanitation and hygiene services) and 6.3 (reducing the portion of untreated wastewater), which focus on managing the entire sanitation service chain. Tajikistan has been at the forefront of promoting these at global level. Meanwhile, the fourth initiative of the President of Tajikistan on the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development, 2018–20281 is being implemented at national level. Over the past decade, sanitation has been given low priority within the focus areas of water sector reform. For example, not all aspects of regulations have been duly revised to adopt new technologies. In addition, many regulations for wastewater treatment remain outdated and pose legal constraints for testing new approaches in the country. The Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation (TajWSS) (Phase III) project piloted a decentralised wastewater treatment system (DEWATS) in the peri-urban Rudaki district in Tajikistan with two hospitals with the aim of scaling up to national level. This learning paper showcases the project findings, assessments and lessons learned in application of the DEWATS.
Topic:: Development, Infrastructure, Sanitation, Public Health, and Hygiene
Political Geography:: Central Asia, Asia, and Tajikistan

13. Water Governance and Sustainable Service Delivery in Rural Tajikistan: How regulations and accountability measures improve water supply service deliver

Author:: Orkhan Ali
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Ensuring equitable and sustainable access to safe water continues to be one of the most pressing issues in Tajikistan, despite the country having abundant water resources. The still low coverage of the population with access to drinking water has been attributed to cross-cutting governance problems such as the relationship between the state and other social actors, poor water management and coordination, and systemic challenges such as low capacity. In the past decade, a demand-driven approach has become a widespread policy trend in Tajikistan and community-led management is seen as the main attribute for achieving effective water governance. The transfer of responsibility to local government and users is intended to promote local governance as a means of ensuring equitable access and sustainable use of water through users’ participation in water-related decision making and service delivery. Under a demand-driven model applied by the TajWSS project, users take more responsibility before, during and after WS system installation. The model assumes that water users have the necessary information and capacity to carry out the delegated duties and obligations and this automatically translates into equitable access and sustainable use of safe water. Yet despite improvements in access to safe water in rural Tajikistan, O&M and lack of governmental support are still great challenges.
Topic:: Water, Infrastructure, Governance, and Accountability
Political Geography:: Central Asia, Asia, and Tajikistan

14. The State of Local Humanitarian Leadership: A learning report on a series of LHL online convenings held in Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Pacific, and West Africa

Author:: Janice Ian Manlutac
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: From May 2021 to January 2022, Oxfam, in partnership with Sejajar Indonesia, the Tamdeen Youth Foundation in Yemen, and the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC) in Palestine, convened a total of 10 learning series through online convenings on local humanitarian leadership (LHL). Approximately 450 people participated, of whom 60% were from local and national NGOs representing approximately 30 countries. This document offers a snapshot report on the state of LHL across the four regions based on discussions, insights, and materials shared by the resource persons and audience members who participated in the series.
Topic:: Leadership, Humanitarian Intervention, Decolonization, and Local
Political Geography:: Global Focus

15. The Value-Added Tax (VAT) Improvement Program: Raising the operational efficacy of the VAT administration in Bangladesh

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Bangladesh has a weak and inequitable tax system. Over the past 15 years, the government of Bangladesh (GoB) has relied on the regressive value-added tax (VAT) for more than a third of all revenues, with little progress towards strengthening direct taxation of high net-worth individuals and large corporations. From 2015–2021, the World Bank’s VAT Improvement Program (VIP) assisted the Bangladesh National Board of Revenue in improving VAT administration. VIP helped speed up automation and increase revenues. But the program did not include any objectives to improve VAT equity and fairness, and it also fell short on improving transparency and taxpayer satisfaction. To address VAT’s regressive nature and its impact on low income households, the GoB needs to improve coverage of social protection programmes. Bangladesh and its external partners should focus on strengthening progressive direct taxation. Meanwhile, the government must end gender-blind VAT administration and recognize that VAT negatively affects low income female entrepreneurs and consumers.
Topic:: Inequality, Tax Systems, Social Order, and Gender
Political Geography:: Bangladesh and Asia

16. The Crisis of Extreme Inequality in SADC: Fighting austerity and the pandemic

Author:: Matthew Martin
Publication Date:: 05-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the extreme inequality in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, and pushed millions into poverty. The economic crisis continues due to the obscene global vaccine inequality. As of end March 2022, a dismal 14% of SADC citizens had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with 65.5% in the United States and 73% in the European Union. In 2021, with infections rising in SADC, the critical health, social protection and economic programmes put in place by most governments in 2020 were rolled back and replaced with austerity, in the context of growing debt burdens and lack of external support for country budgets. Such austerity has been built into IMF programmes in the region. Recovering from the pandemic, however, offers SADC governments a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do what their citizens want: increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations, boost public spending (especially on healthcare, education and social protection), and increase workers’ rights as well as tackling joblessness and precarious work. With external support, including through debt relief and aid, they could reduce inequality drastically and eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.
Topic:: Governance, Inequality, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Africa and Southern Africa

17. Uncovering the Potential: The role of informal actors in solid waste management in Jordan

Author:: Farah Abu Safe, Hannah Patchett, and Raya Taher
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Salvaging resources from waste containers and landfills, waste pickers are the main suppliers to the recycling sector in Jordan, yet they often live in poverty and are exposed to multiple risks. The Jordanian government seeks to integrate waste pickers into formal waste management processes, but progress has been slow. Based on interviews with formal and informal actors in the waste sector, this study provides an overview of waste pickers’ socioeconomic conditions and operations and explores pathways for their integration that could support the recycling sector’s potential to create jobs, alleviate poverty and protect the environment.
Topic:: Infrastructure, Governance, Waste, and Resource Management
Political Geography:: Middle East and Jordan

18. Analyzing Voter Turnout in Lebanon: Political Change in Times of Crisis

Author:: Dana Abed, Rihab Sawaya, and Nadim Tabbal
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In May 2022, Lebanon is hosting its first parliamentary elections since the popular uprising of October 2019, when massive protests took place to denounce the current ruling elites. This research looks at voter turnout and behavior on the eve of the elections and examines the will for political change. It argues that in the current Lebanese context, there needs to be further political awareness-raising, and campaigns should be more inclusive of women and the queer community. Independent campaigns should focus on developing strong governing capacities that voters can trust, and create further space for civic and political engagement on the local and national levels.
Topic:: Elections, Democracy, Voting, and Participation
Political Geography:: Middle East and Lebanon

19. The Workers Behind the Citrus Fruits: A focused Human Rights Impact Assessment of Coop Sweden’s Moroccan citrus fruit supply chains

Author:: Mira Alestig and Sabita Banerji
Publication Date:: 04-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This paper reports on a focused human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of Coop Sweden’s Moroccan citrus supply chains. The HRIA aimed to assess the actual and potential human rights impacts at the production stage of the value chain in Morocco, to identify their root causes, and to provide recommendations to relevant stakeholders concerning their mitigation and/or remediation.
Topic:: Agriculture, Human Rights, Labor Issues, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Africa and Morocco

20. Beyond Consultation: Unpacking the most essential components of meaningful participation by refugee leaders

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Research on forced displacement reveals a wide gap between policy processes and the people that such processes seek to assist. This paper proposes actionable recommendations on how to operationalize the concept of ‘meaningful refugee participation’ in decision-making processes that affect the lives of refugees. There is a need to go beyond tokenistic participation and to genuinely empower refugees to have influence over the design, implementation and evaluation of refugee-focused programmes. The contributions of refugees themselves must also be enhanced in ways that can help contribute to a paradigmatic shift in the global infrastructure of refugee governance.
Topic:: Migration, Governance, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:: Global Focus

21. Adoption Rate and Trends in Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Ethiopia

Author:: Zaide Hailu and Kinde Teshome
Publication Date:: 03-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Since 2019 the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture has offered extension advice on conservation agriculture (CA). However, agricultural policy focuses mainly on intensive tillage whereas CA calls for zero or minimum tillage. Policy seems to favour productivity over sustainability, with CA adoption remaining low. Supply-side constraints include lack of access to high-quality inputs, credit, and machinery. Demand-side constraints include risk aversion and competition for crop residues needed for mulching from requirements for fuel and feed. Women farmers like CA because it does not require draft animals. However, some women in male-headed households report a shift of labour responsibilities to women.
Topic:: Agriculture, Labor Issues, Conservation, and Farming
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

22. Caring in a changing climate: Centering care work in climate action

Author:: Seema Arora-Johnson, Maeve Cohen, and Sherilyn MacGregor
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The global care crisis is being exacerbated by the global climate emergency, with interlocking impacts that threaten lives and livelihoods in all parts of the world. These impacts are particularly severe among rural livelihoods in low-income countries. Climate change intensifies the work involved in caring for people, animals, plants, and places. It reduces the availability and quality of public services in marginalized communities and directly compounds the unfair distribution of unpaid care work that sustains gender inequality. Yet the intersections of climate change and care work have been overlooked in the development literature. Strategies for climate mitigation and adaptation have paid relatively little attention to how care work is affected by climate impacts, nor have they considered whether interventions improve or intensify the situation of carers. Instead, when designing “gender-sensitive” climate actions, the focus has been largely on women’s economic empowerment as opposed to alleviating or transforming existing distributions of care work. The aim of this report is to fill a knowledge gap by examining the points of interaction between climate change impacts and the amount, distribution, and conditions of unpaid care work. We focus on care workers rather than those who are cared for, while stressing the relational nature of care and acknowledging that carers too require care.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Migration
Political Geography:: Global Focus

23. Analyzing European Union Institutions’ Flows for Total Official Support for Sustainable Development

Author:: Brian Tomlinson
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report analyses the first round of Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) data from European Union (EU) Institutions. The EU is a key stakeholder in the development of TOSSD, as Co-Chair of the International TOSSD Task Force, and in the promotion of this as an essential metric in the implementation of Agenda 2030. It is our hope that this paper’s detailed examination of the scope of what has been reported by the EU Institutions identifies trends and issues arising from the first reporting round for TOSSD, which can be addressed going forward. It is timely to acknowledge the level of transparency in the proceedings of the TOSSD Task Force, which has been open to comments and suggestions since its inception, and has recently seated CSO representatives as observers. This transparency has put into practical effect the notion that data validation can, to some extent, be entrusted to third parties provided that the relevant information is available to all interested stakeholders on a timely basis. Good norms, such as good reporting instructions, can help steer the development agenda in the right direction for the benefit of the communities of the Global South.
Topic:: Development, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Europe

24. Tackling Gender Inequality in the Cocoa Supply Chain: Are big chocolate companies delivering on their global commitments in Ghana?

Author:: Albert A. Ahrin
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In 2013, leading chocolate companies Mars, Mondelēz, and Nestlé made global commitments to reduce gender inequalities across their cocoa supply chain. This report follows up on these commitments and presents findings on the gender equality programs Mars, Mondelēz, and Nestlé – and their agribusiness suppliers – are implementing in the cocoa supply chain of Ghana, a key sourcing country. Specifically, the report examines the extent to which each of the companies has (1) conducted and published impact assessments on women in their cocoa supply chains in order to understand and show how this population is faring in Ghana; (2) developed a specific action plan to address issues raised by the assessments that could lead to improved conditions for women; (3) signed on to the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles, a set of seven principles for businesses offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace, and community; and (4) engaged with other powerful actors
Topic:: Gender Issues, Inequality, Supply Chains, and Chocolate
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

25. The Inequality Crisis in East Africa: Fighting austerity and the pandemic

Author:: Anthony Kamande and Matthew Martin
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millions into poverty in East Africa, and worsened inequality. The economic crisis continues, due to the obscene global vaccine inequality, which means that only 4% of East African citizens had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, compared with 71% in high-income countries by mid-January2022. Many East African governments were already hamstrung by high debt and budget deficits before the pandemic, preventing them from responding with large recovery programmes. Other governments did increase spending, but five are now forecasting major budget cuts for 2022–26. These cuts will stop them combating the increases in poverty and inequality that have resulted from COVID-19. However, building back during and after the pandemic offers East African governments a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do what their citizens want: make their economic systems fairer by increasing taxes on wealthy and large corporations, boost public spending (especially on healthcare, education and social protection), and improving workers’ rights. With external support, including through comprehensive debt relief and more aid, they can reduce inequality drastically and eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.
Topic:: Inequality, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Labor Rights
Political Geography:: Africa and East Africa

26. Carbon Pricing: A primer for Oxfam

Author:: James Morrissey
Publication Date:: 02-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Carbon pricing is not a new phenomenon. Backed by widespread consensus in the economic literature that it is the single most effective policy for addressing climate change, it has been the staple policy priority of many environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Yet carbon pricing has seen limited uptake. Efforts to price carbon have failed in a multitude of contexts. Where they have passed, in most cases, prices have been set too low or covered too little of the economy to effectively address the challenge posed by climate change. As a result, climate advocates have come to question carbon pricing as a primary policy approach. In this context, this paper is not intended to provide novel insights into carbon pricing, nor is it intended to motivate for or against an immediate campaign priority at Oxfam. Rather, this review of carbon pricing is intended to provide a technical background on the topic, considering the concerns that are of greatest salience to Oxfam. The specific aims of the paper are to support Oxfam staff in their deliberation on whether, when, and how to engage on carbon pricing initiatives, as questions around this policy approach shift over the next 20 years. It is anticipated that such reflection would also be useful to a number of organizations whose concerns are similar to Oxfam’s.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, NGOs, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:: Global Focus

27. TOSSD Data for 2020: An overview of key trends in the data in support of sustainable development

Author:: Brian Tomlinson
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Data on total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD) take a recipient perspective, in contrast to official development assistance (ODA) data, which take a donor perspective. The TOSSD metric captures development resource flows that are not included in donors’ reports to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee, and are intended to link resource flows to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For 2020, 98 donors reported TOSSD data, an increase of six donors from 2019. Reported net disbursements totaled $291 billion, including $62 billion reported only to TOSSD. The top five sectors in TOSSD reporting, accounting for 65% of net disbursements, were energy, donor administrative costs, in-donor refugee costs, health, and government and civil society. For those disbursements linked to one or more of the SDGs, 61% went to the Health, Poverty Eradication, Climate Change, support for Decent Work and Sustainable Economic Growth, Ending Hunger, and Partnerships SDGs. The gender equality SDG was allocated just 4.5% of total net disbursements. TOSSD data provided a foundation of activity level detail to enable further research on allocations to SDGs. The picture that TOSSD data provide could be more complete if additional donors submitted reports to TOSSD, and if all donors reported on links to SDGs.
Topic:: Development, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainability, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

28. The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2022

Author:: Jo Walker, Matthew Martin, Emma Seery, Nabil Abdo, Anthony Kamande, and Max Lawson
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The 2022 Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index is the first detailed analysis published looking at governments’ policies and actions to fight inequality during the first two years of the pandemic. This fourth edition of the CRI Index reviews the spending, tax and labour policies and actions of 161 governments during 2020–2022. COVID-19 has increased inequality worldwide, as the poorest people were hit hardest by both the disease and its profound economic impacts. Yet the CRI 2022 Index shows clearly that most of the world’s governments failed to mitigate this dangerous rise in inequality. Despite the biggest global health emergency in a century, half of low-and lower-middle-income countries saw the share of health spending fall during the pandemic, half of the countries tracked by the CRI Index cut the share of social protection spending, 70% cut the share of education spending, while two-thirds of countries failed to increase their minimum wage in line with gross domestic product (GDP). Ninety-five percent of countries failed to increase taxation of the richest people and corporations. At the same time, a small group of governments from across the world bucked this trend, taking clear actions to combat inequality, putting the rest of the world to shame.
Topic:: GDP, Inequality, Tax Systems, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

29. Lives at Risk: A study of girls dropping out of school in Juba, Rumbek and Pibor Counties, South Sudan

Author:: Lillian Rutandaro, Christine Lundambuyu Minalula, Rogers Otuta, and Manenji Mangundu
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This study was undertaken by Oxfam in three South Sudanese counties as part of the SIDA-funded project 'Building Resilience through Gender and Conflict-Sensitive Approaches to Education, Skills Development, and Sustainable Livelihoods'. Its purpose was to shed light on why so many girls drop out of school. The research revealed that women and girls often lack decision-making power over their lives. Early or forced marriage, the abduction of girls, perceptions that education delays marriage – and that educated girls risk not finding husbands – all contribute to dropout rates. Additional challenges include a lack of adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools, the distances learners need to travel, insecurity caused by communal violence, floods, food insecurity, and a heavy household work burden. The Government of South Sudan has in place laws and policies to address these issues, but they remain largely on paper and enforcement mechanisms are weak. The report analyses each of these factors in turn and presents recommendations for how the SIDA project can begin to address them in its future programming.
Topic:: Development, Education, Food, Conflict, Resilience, and Gender
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

30. Decolonize! What does it mean?

Author:: Sara Duvisac
Publication Date:: 12-2022
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This document introduces the key concepts of decolonial theory that inform many current calls to decolonize. It provides examples from Latin America, Africa, and North America of how activists have envisioned or realized decolonial futures. These movements led by Indigenous Peoples, people of color, women, and queer people articulate and define the possibilities of decolonial futures. Since decolonial theory suggests multiple futures and not one single solution, this document does not address what decolonizing particular systems, such as international development, should look like. Rather, the document aims to introduce the reader to the tools of analysis that decolonial theory offers, give examples of decolonial theory in practice, and discuss some potential shortfalls of the decolonial framework.
Topic:: Political Theory, Colonialism, Decolonization, and Diversity
Political Geography:: Africa, Latin America, and North America

31. Footing the Bill: Fair finance for loss and damage in an era of escalating climate impacts

Author:: Tracy Carty and Lyndsay Walsh
Publication Date:: 06-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The world has entered a new and dangerous era of climate change impacts, causing huge loss and damage and driving up inequality in the world’s poorest countries and communities that have contributed least to the climate crisis. New research by Oxfam estimates that funding requirements for UN humanitarian appeals linked to extreme weather are eight times higher than they were 20 years ago, and over the past five years nearly half of appeal requirements have gone unmet. Funding for emergency humanitarian response is piecemeal and painfully inadequate, as is broader support to address loss and damage such as rebuilding homes and vital infrastructure. Scaled-up financial support from governments, corporations and individuals most responsible for causing the climate crisis, and most able to pay, is an immediate necessity. A new finance facility must be created to help ensure that finance to address loss and damage is accessible and sustained, is additional to adaptation, mitigation and ODA commitments, and is delivered in accordance with the principles of climate justice.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Infrastructure, and Finance
Political Geography:: Global Focus

32. Asia’s Extreme Inequality Crisis: Building back fairer after COVID-19

Author:: Matthew Martin
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: COVID-19 has exacerbated Asia’s crisis of extreme inequality. This is undermining growth and preventing poverty eradication. Asian governments have done almost nothing to combat this rise in inequality and are constrained in their policy choices as debt burdens grow and post-COVID austerity begins. A few Asian governments have done a lot to fight inequality during COVID-19 through equitable public services, progressive taxation and enhanced labour rights, especially for women, but most have not. This paper lays out a comprehensive set of measures that Asian governments, the Asian Development Bank and the international community could use to significantly reduce inequality, eradicate poverty and accelerate growth in Asia.
Topic:: Poverty, Governance, Pandemic, COVID-19, Banking, and Equality
Political Geography:: Asia

33. Climate Finance in West Africa: Assessing the state of climate finance in one of the world’s regions worst hit by the climate crisis

Author:: Norman Martin Casas and Azara Remalia Sanogo
Publication Date:: 09-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In West Africa/Sahel, countries and their communities are experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Elsewhere, Paris Agreement climate finance commitments are set to prioritise the countries that are most impacted by climate change. However, new research by Oxfam shows that, despite West Africa/Sahel being one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions, the international climate finance received falls far short of meeting national climate finance needs and is being significantly over-reported in favour of debt instruments. Adaptation finance is also insufficient. Reported climate finance does not place gender equality at the centre, and only a small part directly reaches local actors. In light of this, developed countries and other donors should scale up grant-based adaptation finance that reaches the local level and responds to the real needs of particularly hard-hit regions such as West Africa/Sahel.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Finance
Political Geography:: Africa, West Africa, and Sahel

34. Unaccountable Accounting: The World Bank’s unreliable climate finance reporting

Author:: Jason Farr, James Morrissey, and Christian Donaldson
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Despite being the largest multilateral provider of climate finance, the World Bank supplies very little evidence to support its claims about the amount of climate finance it provides. Oxfam has attempted to recreate the Bank’s reported climate finance figures using public information for projects in the Bank’s FY2020. Oxfam found that the Bank’s current climate finance reporting processes are such that its claimed levels of climate finance cannot be independently verified and could be off by as much as $7bn, or 40%. Without better disclosure practices, the World Bank is asking us to take much on faith. Climate finance funding is too important for us to do that. The World Bank must be more transparent in its reporting so that it can be held to account.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, World Bank, Climate Finance, and Banking
Political Geography:: Global Focus

35. Seeking Safety: Roma Refugees in Moldova – Challenges and humanitarian needs

Author:: Charlotte Greener and Emly de Andrade Costa
Publication Date:: 10-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The war in Ukraine has displaced millions of people to neighbouring countries – but some groups who already face poverty and discrimination in society, including Roma people, are facing particular challenges accessing the safety they need. This paper outlines the results of Oxfam’s rapid assessment of Roma refugees in Moldova in July 2022, highlighting the challenges that Roma refugees face when trying to access assistance, and some key humanitarian needs of these refugees. It aims to help amplify the voice of Roma refugees and to inform a humanitarian response – from the Moldovan government, United Nations (UN) agencies, and non-government organizations (NGOs) – that is more inclusive of Roma refugees, and more responsive to their particular needs.
Topic:: International Cooperation, United Nations, Refugees, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Europe and Moldova

36. Climate finance in Asia: Assessing the state of climate finance in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions

Author:: Christopher Roy
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate hazards including extreme temperatures, flooding, droughts, cyclones, and sea level rise. The most vulnerable communities need financial support to help adapt to the climate crisis – they cannot do so alone. Developed countries have promised $100 bn in climate finance to developing countries every year until 2025. This promise has not been met. Asian countries have outlined the support they require and delivering on these needs is integral to bringing climate justice to those most vulnerable to – yet least responsible for – the climate crisis. We find that the climate finance provided to Asia is woefully inadequate to support the necessary adaptation actions and vulnerable communities are suffering as a result.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Finance, and Climate Finance
Political Geography:: Asia

37. The Assault of Austerity: How prevailing economic policy choices are a form of gender-based violence

Author:: Dana Abed and Fatimah Kelleher
Publication Date:: 11-2022
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This briefing paper argues that austerity measures are a form of gender-based violence against women, girls and non-binary people, and lays out clear examples of how fiscal consolidation affects them. Its core argument is that ending austerity must be a priority. The policies that deliver austerity’s deadly consequences can no longer be marketed as the ‘logical’ and ‘inevitable’ economic options that they have been for decades, and certainly not by any government that claims a commitment to gender equality or ending gender-based violence. Austerity takes away from those who need it most, while ignoring common-sense ways to improve both revenue and prosperity. The paper goes on to share feminist economic alternatives offer pathways that can protect the Majority World from completely avoidable suffering.
Topic:: Economics, Gender Based Violence, Identity, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

38. Women, Voice and Power: How transformative feminist leadership is challenging inequalities and the root causes of extreme vulnerability

Author:: Emily Brown
Publication Date:: 10-2021
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The evidence can no longer be ignored: when women and feminist activists are able to use their collective power to challenge inequalities, they are having a transformational impact. From women’s rights organizations and movements breaking down harmful social norms, to political leaders advancing highly progressive policies, there is a growing body of evidence from feminist organizing across the world that when decisions are made more equally and inclusively, and are rooted in locally-owned, intersectional feminist movements and political agendas, they have immediate and long-term human development benefits for all.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Women, Leadership, Feminism, and Civil Rights
Political Geography:: Global Focus

39. Centring Gender and Power in Evaluation and Research: Sharing experiences from Oxfam GB’s quantitative impact evaluations

Author:: Sarah Barakat, Alexia Pretari, and Jaynie Vonk
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Bringing a feminist intent to research, monitoring and evaluation practices leads to defining these as tools to contribute to transforming the lives of women, girls and non-binary people, and to bringing about social justice. This has meant putting gender and power at the centre of our practice, which has in turn shaped the technical choices made specifically in quantitative impact evaluations. This paper focuses on describing how these technical choices, as well as ethical considerations, are changed by this feminist intent. The paper also presents the lessons learned and questions raised along the way, which may be useful for MEAL and research practitioners, as well as programme managers. How can we bring intersectionality to the fore? What does it mean to go beyond the gender binary? How can this work be transformative?
Topic:: Women, Feminism, LGBT+, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

40. Funding the ERP: Analysis of funding for the implementation of the Education Response Plan (ERP) for refugees and host communities

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This paper is an analytical review of the financial performance of the Education Response Plan for refugees by the end of June 2020. This analysis gives an in-depth review of the education financing for Government of Uganda supported schools in refugee settlements in Lamwo District Local Government. The total contribution of the Government of Uganda to the actual ERP spend was USD 11.86 million (9.38%). The multilateral donors contributed most to the ERP between year 0 and year 1, with a total contribution of USD 38.69 million (31%). This paper was written by The Centre for Budget and Tax Policy.
Topic:: Education, Refugees, Public Spending, and Schools
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

41. Negotiating Consent: Lessons in defending the right to decide

Author:: Scott A. Sellwood
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Indigenous peoples have long asserted and defended their rights and customary land tenures against the unlawful enclosure of their territories. Yet, despite normative recognition of the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC)—and public commitments by major multinational companies, international financial institutions, and global banks to apply the standard of consent—power imbalances continue to undermine the quality of agreements being reached. Negotiating Consent distills lessons from Oxfam’s work defending community consent in Peru. Drawing on research published by Oxfam partners in Peru—Cooperacción, Organización Nacional de Mujeres Indígenas (ONAMIAP) and Pueblos Indígenas Amazónicas Unidas en Defensa de Sus Territorios (PUINAMUDT), which have published research examining the politics and practices of the implementation of this law—it seeks to contribute to collective thinking around ways to improve the implementation of FPIC processes, processes that are manifestly political. With land inequality worsening, land grabbing continuing unabated, and basic environmental and social protections being rolled back, upholding the standard of consent is more important than ever. It is time companies, investors, and others look beyond paper commitments and take the steps necessary to ensure quality agreements are reached with Indigenous peoples and are maintained across the life of projects.
Topic:: Security, Land Rights, Indigenous, and Land
Political Geography:: Global Focus

42. More Local is Possible: Recommendations for enhancing local humanitarian leadership and refugee participation in the Gambella refugee response

Author:: Freddie Carver, Elizabeth Deng, and Yotam Gidron
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Gambella region of western Ethiopia hosts over 300,000 South Sudanese refugees in seven camps. The refugee response is dominated by UN agencies and international NGOs and staffed mostly by Ethiopians from outside of Gambella, creating a gap between humanitarian actors and the people they seek to assist. In order to realize commitments to localization and refugee participation made in the Charter for Change, the Grand Bargain and the Global Compact for Refugees, it is critical for refugees and local populations to be more involved in shaping and leading the delivery of aid. This could be achieved through increasing the role played by Gambella-based NGOs, engaging with faith-based actors, facilitating diaspora initiatives and supporting the development of refugee-led organizations.
Topic:: Refugees, Leadership, Humanitarian Intervention, and Local
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

43. A People’s Vaccine For Refugees: Ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines for refugees and other displaced people

Author:: Charlotte Greener
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: As we continue to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital that no one is excluded from vaccine coverage. This briefing note addresses some of the challenges faced by displaced people – including refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, stateless people, and others in displacement contexts – in accessing COVID-19 vaccinations. It identifies a range of administrative and logistical barriers, the issue of lack of information and vaccine hesitancy, and gender-specific barriers to access for these populations. The briefing note provides recommendations to governments, UN agencies, and other actors to help address these challenges and ensure vaccine access for all displaced people.
Topic:: Refugees, Displacement, Humanitarian Intervention, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

44. The Ignored Pandemic: The Dual Crises of Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19

Author:: Rowan Harvey
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a global pandemic existing in all social groups across the globe, yet it has largely been ignored in the COVID-19 response and recovery plans. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified GBV, including domestic violence and intimate partner violence amongst other forms of violations, but the investments in GBV prevention and response are dramatically inadequate, with just 0.0002% of the overall COVID-19 response funding opportunities going into it. Barriers to achieving gender justice, such as harmful social norms, continue to exist, but progress made since the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign show that there are solutions, and feminist activism has been a driving force for progress on eliminating gender-based violence.
Topic:: Gender Based Violence, Violence, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

45. Detention as the Default: How Greece, with the support of the EU, is generalizing administrative detention of migrants

Author:: Vasilis Papastergiou
Publication Date:: 11-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Putting migrants and asylum seekers into detention for administrative reasons is a common practice in Greece, despite this policy contravening human rights. Greek authorities are using detention and the new EU-funded closed compounds as a way to discourage people from seeking asylum in Europe. Detention, as outlined in Greek law, should only be used as a final resort and only then in specific instances. Detention carries with it not only a financial cost, but also a considerable moral cost. Detention without just cause violates basic human rights, such as freedom of movement, the right to health and the right to family life. Alternatives to detention exist and must be prioritized.
Topic:: Human Rights, Humanitarian Crisis, Detention, and Migrants
Political Geography:: Europe and Greece

46. Food for Thought: Investing in a sustainable food system

Author:: Marta Piazza
Publication Date:: 09-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The focus on profit maximization at the expense of workers, farmers, and women have helped companies reap huge profit margins in the short-term, but as COVID-19 has revealed, it has come at the cost of rights violations. Such costs are no longer considered an acceptable business risk. As human rights gains prominence in investor-company engagement, this briefing note provides information to investors about the risks of ignoring human rights impacts, evidence about the rights violations that persist in the food sector despite company action and charts a way for investors to build a resilient food system given their outsized influence.
Topic:: Economics, Business, Profit, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

47. Precarity and the Pandemic: A survey of wage issues and Covid-19 impacts amongst migrant seafood workers in Thailand

Author:: Josh Stride
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report presents findings from an extensive survey of migrant workers in the Thai seafood industry conducted by the CSO Coalition. The report focuses on the issue of low wages, the gender pay gap and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these issues and the workers who experience them. It also aims to develop a national discussion around the issues of a living wage and a decent living for the hardworking migrant workers who generate wealth and produce food for wealthy companies and consumers around the world.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Labor Policies, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Asia and Thailand

48. Transforming the Systems that Contribute to Fragility and Humanitarian Crises: Programming across the triple nexus

Author:: Vittorio Infante
Publication Date:: 07-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Conflicts and shocks linked to climate change are more frequent and intense, leading to poverty and inequality, exacerbating these phenomena and people’s vulnerability. In this context, humanitarian relief, development programmes and peacebuilding are not serial processes; they are all needed at the same time to tackle the systemic inequalities that trap people in poverty and expose them to risk. The triple nexus, or programming across humanitarian-development-peace pillars, thus means creating synergies and common goals across short-term emergency response programmes and longer-term social change processes in development, as well as enhancing opportunities for peace so that individuals can enjoy the full spectrum of human rights. This briefing paper aims to identify the tensions and dilemmas that Oxfam faces when programming across the nexus and sets out new policy to address these dilemmas, building upon Oxfam’s 2019 discussion paper on the triple nexus.
Topic:: Development, Inequality, Humanitarian Intervention, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:: Global Focus

49. Not in This Together: How supermarkets became pandemic winners while women workers are losing out

Author:: Anouk Franck and Art Prapha
Publication Date:: 06-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is worsening and exploitation of women is endemic across the global economy. While inequality of power and value was already deeply unfair before the pandemic, it has now reached shocking proportions. COVID-19 has cost global workers $3.7 trillion in lost income, and women and young workers have been hardest hit, as they are often found in the most insecure and lowest-paid jobs. Few places reveal this trend more clearly than supermarket supply chains. In stark contrast to the escalating human misery brought by the pandemic, the supermarket sector has largely been the standout winner of the crisis. Senior executives, the largest institutional investors, and mostly wealthy shareholders of global supermarkets continue to be rewarded with business-as-usual high compensation and dividends. In fact, during the pandemic, publicly listed supermarkets distributed 98% of net profits to their shareholders via dividends and share buybacks. Meanwhile, workers and producers, especially women, across the globe – the people we call ‘essential’ or ‘frontline’ workers – have seen their incomes stagnate or even fall, while their rights continue to be violated.
Topic:: Inequality, Pandemic, COVID-19, Labor Rights, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

50. An African Response to COVID-19: From principled first response to just recovery

Author:: Ray Deepayan Basu
Publication Date:: 04-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In November 2020 Oxfam and SOAS facilitated an online high-level event to bring together African and international policy and public-health professionals to discuss their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and offer insights into strategies and policies they have enacted in their respective contexts. Speakers tackled a wide range of issues, including government strategies and policies implemented, public health messaging and community engagement, varying threads of intersectionality and an honest discussion about gaps and additional support. This ‘outcomes’ paper draws out the key themes, trends and recommendations emerging from the discussions to inform a people-not-profit-centric Covid response.
Topic:: Public Health, Pandemic, Community, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Africa

51. Youth Wellbeing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: An in-depth, multi-level and interdisciplinary study into wellbeing and gender equality among Palestinian youth

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 04-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This study presents an important opportunity to fill a gap in knowledge by offering a critical understanding of the state of youth wellbeing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory through a comprehensive interdisciplinary and multi-level approach. By combining the economic, political and socio-cultural spheres and a macro (policy/institutional), meso (organizational) and micro (individual) level analysis, we can explore the root causes and complex dynamics of the processes of youth exclusion and inclusion from the labour market and civic/political life, while investigating the potentially transformative effect of youth agency. The study analyses wellbeing and gender relations for their importance, particularly in the context of the OPT, where youth are especially vulnerable and where wellbeing is threatened.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Governance, Youth, and Gender
Political Geography:: Middle East and Palestine

52. Still Treading Water: Reviewing six years of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism and the dire water situation in the Gaza Strip

Author:: Laila Barhoum
Publication Date:: 03-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Six years after the establishment of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), people in Gaza continue to live on the brink of disaster as a result of 13 years of the Israeli blockade. The water, sanitation and health (WASH) sector remains significantly damaged, with Gaza facing the complete collapse of its wastewater treatment system. The reconstruction process is ongoing, but it is slow, costly, and hampers the humanitarian response. Six years after the establishment of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM), people in Gaza continue to live on the brink of disaster as a result of a 13 year blockade imposed by Israel. The water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector remains significantly damaged, with Gaza facing a stark deterioration of available WASH services at the community and household level. The reconstruction process is ongoing, but it is slow, costly, and hampers the humanitarian response. The COVID-19 pandemic has severely aggravated existing vulnerabilities, including access to water and sanitation. This strongly impacts the daily lives of over 2 million people living in the coastal enclave, of whom 1.5 million – or 75% – have been identified as being in need of humanitarian assistance. Oxfam has recently reviewed the challenges associated with the GRM and its impact on the WASH sector in Gaza. Its findings reveal that these challenges are an obstacle to the reconstruction of WASH infrastructure (including operation and maintenance), hindering efforts to address the increased needs of people in Gaza. Donors and UN agencies should consider the needs of people in Gaza today. Rather than continuing with the GRM, they should explore how they can improve their engagement to be able to challenge the Israeli access restrictions, work towards economic development, ensure accountability within access mechanisms, and facilitate inclusive Palestinian participation to access mechanisms and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Topic:: Development, Infrastructure, Conflict, COVID-19, and Humanitarian Response
Political Geography:: Middle East, Israel, and Palestine

53. Shining a Spotlight: A critical assessment of food and beverage companies’ delivery of sustainability commitments

Author:: Emma Fawcett and Suzanne Zweben
Publication Date:: 03-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: From 2013 to 2016, Oxfam's Behind the Brands campaign called on the world’s 10 biggest food and beverage companies to adopt stronger social and environmental sourcing policies and spurred significant commitments on women’s empowerment, land rights and climate change. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic worsens inequality and food insecurity around the world, we assess whether the companies have taken meaningful steps to implement the commitments they made in response to the campaign. In this report we find that while companies have taken action at the global level, progress stalls in translating those approaches to countries and through supply chains. There are positive examples and innovations happening in key sourcing countries. But key blockages must be addressed – including by providing the right incentives, disclosing suppliers and supporting suppliers to take up the agenda – to create change at scale.
Topic:: Environment, Food Security, Land Rights, Supply Chains, and Gender
Political Geography:: Global Focus

54. Tipping the Scales: The role of responsibility- and solidarity-sharing in the situation on the Greek islands

Author:: Natalia-Rafaella Kafkoutsou and Spyros-Vlad Oikonomou
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report assesses the impact of EU countries’ refusal to relocate asylum seekers on the Greek islands. It illustrates that they have consistently failed to show solidarity by not delivering on commitments to relocate people, either by refusing to participate in the first place or by not fulfilling their pledges. This has left thousands of people in need of assistance on the Greek islands. EU countries have also consistently tried to avoid their legal obligations by putting barriers in place to keep families apart.
Topic:: Regional Cooperation, European Union, Refugees, Asylum, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Europe

55. In Our Own Words: Perspectives from local actors in the Horn, East, and Central Africa

Author:: Elizabeth Deng
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Oxfam is committed to supporting the participation of local actors in humanitarian and development responses. This includes ensuring their opinions and perspectives about priorities, needs, and appropriate ways of addressing issues are part of public debate. Oxfam advocates for their presence and participation in coordination meetings and other spaces for decision-making. We also provide support to local actors to write and publish their opinions and perspectives. This paper is a compilation of eight opinion pieces written by local actors in the Horn, East, and Central Africa region, with editing and publishing support from Oxfam. The pieces were originally published by Devex, Citizen Digital, Media Congo, IPS News, African Arguments, Nile Post, and WeInformers.
Topic:: Development, Local, Humanitarian Crisis, and Participation
Political Geography:: Africa

56. The Inequality Virus: Bringing together a world torn apart by coronavirus through a fair, just and sustainable economy

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 01-2021
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The coronavirus pandemic has the potential to lead to an increase in inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began. The virus has exposed, fed off and increased existing inequalities of wealth, gender and race. Over two million people have died, and hundreds of millions of people are being forced into poverty while many of the richest – individuals and corporations – are thriving. Billionaire fortunes returned to their pre-pandemic highs in just nine months, while recovery for the world’s poorest people could take over a decade. The crisis has exposed our collective frailty and the inability of our deeply unequal economy to work for all. Yet it has also shown us the vital importance of government action to protect our health and livelihoods. Transformative policies that seemed unthinkable before the crisis have suddenly been shown to be possible. There can be no return to where we were before. Instead, citizens and governments must act on the urgency to create a more equal and sustainable world.
Topic:: Governance, Inequality, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Global Focus

57. Gender-responsive Budgeting in Tanzania

Author:: Bertha O. Koda and Lilian V Mtasingwa
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Constitution and laws of the United Republic of Tanzania require the use of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) to promote gender-balanced and integrated national economic plans. It is at the village level where community budget needs are identified, though women’s needs are often marginalized. Although women are best at articulating their needs, their voices are seldom raised owing to limited representation. Government budgets typically sideline the needs of small-scale female farmers for access to land, markets, credit, and extension services, especially compared with male farmers. Instead, budgets designed to address general farmers’ needs, such as markets and loans for inputs and storage for surplus harvests, are directed primarily to farmers who grow strategic crops, who are mainly men. Tanzania provides for a separate budget facility for women and youth, and although most interviewees from the grassroots and the government consider this as evidence of a gender budget, it reflects a limited knowledge of GRB. Some projects supported by nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations reflect women’s and men’s diverse needs, a feature that government budgeting should emulate. Communities need to be empowered to challenge constraints to their participation in decision making on budgets related to their priority needs. Citizens must be involved in all phases of the budget process and cycle. Government officials and institutions must be provided with adequate GRB knowledge and skills so they can use available democratic systems and structures to empower communities to engage in GRB.
Topic:: Governance, Rule of Law, Diversity, and Gender
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

58. Gender-Responsive Budgeting in Agriculture in Ethiopia

Author:: Nuru Hussen, Ermias Mengistu, and Bedaso Taye
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The gender division of labor in Ethiopia hinders women smallholders’ efforts to improve productivity to close the gap with men’s farms. There is substantial evidence that where women have access to the same inputs and training as men, they can close that gap. The government’s national development plan identifies agriculture as the main driver of rapid and inclusive growth. The plan seeks to increase women’s participation in agriculture to 50 percent of all participants. But this can only happen with proper implementation of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB). Ethiopia has ratified a number of international conventions and agreements on women’s rights that have guided development of national laws and policies. Nonetheless, the national budgetary process is not yet gender responsive, and the country faces other challenges. Low awareness of gender issues, limited technical skill in mainstreaming gender issues and GRB, lack of adequate resources, and poor enforcement mechanisms are major constraints. A majority of women do not participate in decision-making or express their needs during public meetings because of sociocultural barriers that elevate the role of males. Women are usually not invited to meetings and discussions that concern them, under the assumption that men can convey any relevant messages. But information does not consistently get passed to women farmers owing to the erroneous perception that “women do not farm.” Women’s low levels of literacy and limited exposure to information and support by development practitioners also contribute to the problem. As a result, women are often unable to exercise their rights during program design and implementation. If agriculture is to lead inclusive development, gender and rural development policies need updating. In addition, achieving high-quality agricultural public spending will require a conducive policy environment and a budget process that promotes the participation and well-being of women and girls as well as men and boys.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Labor Issues, Farming, and Gender
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

59. The World Bank in Asia: An assessment of COVID-19-related investments through a care lens. Care-responsive investments and development finance

Author:: Bist Joshi and Dharmistha Chauhan
Publication Date:: 12-2021
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: International financial institutions (IFIs) have been playing a vital role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will play an equally important role in the recovery and ‘build back anew’ agenda. This is particularly true of the World Bank Group (WBG), given its high volumes of committed investments across sectors, especially in low-income and vulnerable countries. This report presents, through case studies, how care-responsive the World Bank’s COVID-19-related investments have been in four member countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines. It does so by using the Care Principles and Care-Responsiveness Barometer for IFIs to assess the nature of the WBG’s COVID-19 investments in these select countries, and by building evidence through a gender- and care-responsive budget review. The report demonstrates that the Bank has a foundation for care-inclusion upon which to build, and urges it to adopt a more comprehensive care-responsive approach to its operations in order to move towards rebuilding a more gender-just and equal future.
Topic:: World Bank, Finance, Investment, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:: Asia

60. Tracing US Development Flows: A Study of the Traceability of US aid to Ghana

Author:: Marc J. Cohen, Mecuria Tigist, and Simon Parrish
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: More than 600 development organizations publish to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard. IATI provides up-to-date and reliable aid data to improve accountability, coordination and effectiveness. Aid flow traceability throughout the implementation chain is a key part of this. This research report shows that, using 2013-2015 IATI data, it is only possible to verify that 7% of US aid to Ghana ($28m) arrived in the country. It concludes that this traceability gap stems from limited IATI reporting by the international NGOs and firms that implemented most aid activities. To enhance traceability, the US government should require its implementers to publish to IATI.
Topic:: Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Governance, Accountability, and NGOs
Political Geography:: North America, Global Focus, and United States of America

61. The Future of Central African Republic is Still at Risk

Author:: Amelie Gauthier
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: More than half of Central African Republic’s population is in need of urgent humanitarian aid – amidst chronic underfunding, persisting violence across the country and unsuccessful peace agreements. This briefing calls for a huge and concerted effort by the government, donors and all stakeholders to consolidate progress, to support peace and reconciliation and to ensure that CAR does not revert back into a deeper crisis. It presents a fair share analysis and urges donors to step up their commitments and meet their funding responsibility to stabilize the fragile situation in the country.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Humanitarian Aid, Political stability, Violence, Peace, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa and Central African Republic

62. Unpaid Care – Why and How to Invest: Policy Briefing for National Governments

Author:: Man-Kwun Chan
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Investments which support households to better meet their unpaid care responsibilities – such as childcare, food preparation and laundry – can yield substantial returns in terms of macro-economic growth, job creation and other key government priorities. This briefing looks at selected evidence and examples and argues that governments should: include commitments to support households’ unpaid care work in relevant policies and programmes, and collect data on unpaid care to support policy making; increase households’ access to care-supporting infrastructure and services; encourage men and boys to share care work; and step up efforts to give women a real voice in policy making, and a real opportunity to speak out about unpaid care.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Health Care Policy, and Inequality
Political Geography:: Global Focus

63. Influencing Behaviours and Practices to Tackle Poverty and Injustice

Author:: Melanie Kesmaecker-Wissing, Lucy Knight, Ruth Mayne, and Jola Miziniak
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Effective behaviour change strategies can play a vital role in combating poverty, injustice and environmental degradation. They can help prevent violence against women and girls; enable better health, hygiene and environmental behaviours; motivate and empower people to participate in campaigns or to become change makers; or influence people to make more equitable, ethical or sustainable purchasing and investment decisions. There is growing understanding among civil society organizations, governments and others about how to enable behaviour change, but many interventions still rely too much on information provision and awareness raising. This discussion paper draws on learning from theory and practice to provide practitioners with an understanding of the range of influences that shape different behaviours at individual, group, societal and system levels. It suggests a menu of possible interventions to address them, and highlights the need for resources and skill-building. It will be relevant for practitioners involved in programming, humanitarian, influencing and campaigning work, as well as for government officials and donors.
Topic:: Development, Infrastructure, Inequality, Gender Based Violence, and Behavior
Political Geography:: Global Focus

64. Reward Work, Not Wealth: To end the Inequality Crisis, We Must Build an Economy for Ordinary Working People, not the Rich and Powerful.

Author:: Diego Alejo Vazquez Pimentel, Max Lawson, and Inigo Macias Aymar
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all wealth created in the last year went to the top 1%, and nothing went to the bottom 50%. Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few. Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful.
Topic:: Gender Issues, International Trade and Finance, Food, Health Care Policy, Inequality, Economic Growth, Tax Systems, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Global Focus

65. Development – A Private Affair? The involvement of the Italian private sector in rural development cooperation programmes

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Investment in small-scale agriculture is needed in order to meet the ambitious objective set by the United Nations and signed by the world leaders in 2015: to eradicate hunger, ensure food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030 (SDG 2). However, reaching this ambitious goal with the current level of resources committed will not be possible without concerted action on global challenges such as worsening climate change, fluctuating energy prices, diversification of diets in emerging economies and a growing pressure on natural resources such as land and water for purposes other than food. In the world today, 795 million people – one in nine people – still experience limited access to healthy and nutritious food; essential for children to develop properly and for fostering good health. Most of the people affected live in developing countries – 98 percent –and in Africa, one person in four suffers from hunger.1 Paradoxically, those who suffer from hunger are mainly farmers or people who depend on agriculture as their main source of income. To end the injustice of hunger in the world, there is therefore a need for a shared effort from public and private players, geared to allocate more and better investment for the promotion of sustainable agricultural development. In this paper, Oxfam investigates the flows of official development aid (ODA) committed by Italy in the last ten years to promoting food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development in its partner countries. The analysis aims to identify the main features of Italian ODA in this sector in order to evaluate its level of transparency and accountability. It also aims to verify the coherence, in financial terms, between the real allocation of resources and the political importance that Italy has historically assigned to food security issues. In parallel, this paper examines the involvement of Italian agri-food industries in rural development programmes financed through Italian ODA. In light of the wide- ranging debate which aims to promote a greater involvement of the private sector in development, Oxfam investigated the experience gained to date by Italy in one of the priority sectors of its development cooperation policy. The paper’s analysis focuses on three case studies featuring different modalities and objectives for private sector involvement, with the aim to assessing the impacts of their contribution in terms of the reduction of poverty and food insecurity in local communities. Oxfam’s purpose is to contribute to the ongoing national debate in Italy on the eligibility criteria that would promote private sector support for co- financed cooperation initiatives in partner countries; in line with the objectives and goals of the Italian International Development Cooperation policy.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Poverty, United Nations, Food, Hunger, and Rural
Political Geography:: Europe, Italy, and Global Focus

66. Returning to Fragility: Exploring the Link Between Conflict and Returnees in Afghanistan

Author:: Jorrit Kamminga and Akram Zaki
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Huge numbers of people are returning to Afghanistan – more than two million since 2015 – while the country is still highly fragile, with ongoing fighting and internal displacement in many areas and high levels of poverty. Oxfam’s field research in Herat, Kabul, Kunduz and Nangarhar finds that for as long as these conditions do not improve, a safe and dignified return cannot be guaranteed, and forced returns remain irresponsible. With more people returning on a daily basis, tensions are likely to grow and pressure on scarce resources will increase, exacerbating inequalities in this unstable and fragile country. Sending Afghans back to volatile areas will likely result only in more displacement and fragility.
Topic:: Refugees, Fragile States, Displacement, Humanitarian Intervention, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Middle East

67. Safe but Not Settled: The Impact of Family Separation on Refugees in the UK

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 01-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Refugees in the UK often find themselves separated from their families by their brutal experiences of conflict and persecution, just at the time when they need each other the most. This separation can drag on for years or sometimes indefinitely because of the UK’s restrictive rules on refugee family reunion. This joint report by the Refugee Council and Oxfam is one of the first to look at how family reunion and ongoing forced separation from loved ones affect the ability of refugees to successfully integrate into UK society.
Topic:: Migration, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, Conflict, Borders, Family, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, Europe, and Global Focus

68. Kasai: The Forgotten Province of DRC – Gender Assessment

Author:: Iulia Andreea Toma
Publication Date:: 02-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently gripped by national political deadlock and plagued by localized armed conflicts, both old and new. In the central region of Kasai, the conflict between government forces and the Kamwina Nsapo militia escalated dramatically in the first quarter of 2017 and has caused a serious humanitarian crisis extending over five provinces. The crisis has led to major food insecurity, and exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities of the local population. Women in DRC play a limited role in public life and their access to services and opportunities is constrained. The crisis in Kasai is entrenching existing inequalities in gender norms. In this context, Oxfam conducted a gender analysis in October-November 2017 in order to identify the impacts that the conflict is having on women, girls, boys and men in the province and their coping mechanisms. This report presents the findings of the analysis and recommendations intended to inform Oxfam’s own humanitarian programmes and those of its partners and other organizations, as well as the wider humanitarian response.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, Women, and Norms
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo

69. Hungry for Peace: Exploring the Links Between Conflict and Hunger in South Suda

Author:: Elysia Buchanan
Publication Date:: 02-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In December 2017, South Sudan marked four years of devastating conflict. Only a few months later, it has reached another critical point: more South Sudanese are hungry than ever before. While the February 2018 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) does not declare famine, any classification of IPC 3 upwards means people need aid to survive. This means that 6.3 million people are struggling to get enough to eat, and are dependent on humanitarian aid that is increasingly difficult to access. This report examines the impact of the ongoing conflict on hunger through the prism of livelihoods; women’s empowerment; displacement; water, sanitation and hygiene; and the spread of disease. It provides recommendations for the international community and warring parties on what they can do to stop the violence, increase access to humanitarian aid and allow the people of South Sudan to recover.
Topic:: Hunger, Humanitarian Intervention, Conflict, and Sanitation
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

70. Agricultural Insurance in Burkina Faso: Challenges and Perspectives

Author:: William Dick and Andrea Stoppa
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Burkina Faso has made important progress in finding appropriate solutions for agricultural risk management. In recent years significant experience has been gathered, and the growing interest in agricultural insurance is encouraging the various actors to develop new initiatives. This report argues that key stakeholders should now agree on strategic decisions and pursue a coordinated and comprehensive approach.
Topic:: Agriculture, Environment, Science and Technology, and Rural
Political Geography:: Africa, West Africa, and Burkina Faso

71. A Clean and Decent Life Without WASH? The impacts and risks of reduced WASH funding for Syrian refugees in Bekaa, Lebanon

Author:: John Adams
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Lebanon hosts approximately 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the war in their country since 2011. Funding for assistance for refugees and refugee-affected populations in Lebanon is declining sharply across all sectors. As of January 2018, only 9% of the year’s WASH sector appeal had been secured. Unless more funding is secured there will be substantial reductions in WASH services for refugee communities. This report is an analysis of impacts and risks of reduced and limited WASH funding on Syrian refugees in informal tented settlements in Bekaa, Lebanon.
Topic:: Refugees, Sanitation, Humanitarian Crisis, and Hygiene
Political Geography:: Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria

72. Exploring the Need for Gender-Equitable Fiscal Policies for a Human Economy: Evidence from Uganda and Zimbabwe

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Fiscal policy can be a powerful tool for governments to help achieve a ‘human economy’, if these policies are designed to address gender inequalities and the gender biases in current macroeconomic thinking. This report uses the case of one element of fiscal policy – public spending – to demonstrate how such policy design could help achieve gender equality and improve human development outcomes in developing countries. The report identifies unpaid care and domestic work as a key area where fiscal policy has a significant impact on gender equality. Using data from Oxfam’s 2017 Household Care Survey in Uganda and Zimbabwe, the report explores the impact on adults’ and children’s/adolescents’ time use of access to improved water sources, electricity, healthcare and childcare. It also considers secondary impacts on measures of well-being and women’s empowerment, including women’s health and decision making.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Fiscal Policy, and Domestic Policy
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, and Zimbabwe

73. Managing to Adapt: Analysing Adaptive Management for Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

Author:: Harash Desai, Gabriele Maneo, Erica Pellfork, and Annika Schlingheider
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Adaptive management is at the heart of ‘Doing Development Differently’. It emerges from stakeholders’ calls for development programmes to be more flexible and responsive to their contexts. Whether it becomes a mainstreamed practice depends on how much it is embraced by donors and implementers alike, especially in funding, design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning cycles. This report was developed by a group of students from the London School of Economics as part of their Master’s degree programme, in partnership with Oxfam Great Britain. It presents a collection of case studies from Oxfam and other agencies to illustrate concrete examples of how programmes can incorporate adaptive practices at different stages of the planning cycle. It also offers practical suggestions to development actors to support adaptive practices. It argues that PMEL for adaptive management entails flexible funding mechanisms; iterative design processes; developing locally owned approaches; and creating an enabling environment for learning.
Topic:: Civil Society, NGOs, Management, and Strategic Planning
Political Geography:: Global Focus

74. Money Talks: A Synthesis Report Assessing Humanitarian Funding Flows to Local Actors in Bangladesh and Uganda

Author:: Anita Kattakuzhy and Chloe Parrish
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: International humanitarian agencies and donors have made a series of global commitments to local actors as part of the localization agenda, including to increase their access to greater direct funding by 2020. This briefing paper reviews 2015 national financial data for Bangladesh and Uganda to better understand how to target international investments in localization. It presents key findings from Oxfam-commissioned research on which factors affect local actors’ ability to access international humanitarian funding. It concludes that in order for global commitments to translate into practice, investments should look at changing the terms of the funding relationship, as well as be based on a context-specific, national analysis of the financial environment.
Topic:: Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, Refugee Crisis, and Displacement
Political Geography:: Uganda, Bangladesh, Africa, and Asia

75. Making Aid Work in Lebanon: Promoting aid effectiveness and respect for Rights in Middle-Income Countries Affected by Mass Displacement

Author:: Bachir Ayoub and Dima Mahdi
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Lebanon currently hosts the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. Donors have recognized the scale of the challenge and have offered support both in the form of humanitarian assistance and in multi-year development financing. This briefing paper is based on extensive research conducted in partnership with the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS). It urges donors and policy makers to ensure that new financing to Lebanon is rights-based, accountable to local populations, reflects local priorities, benefits the most vulnerable and does not exacerbate pre-existing structural issues.
Topic:: Foreign Aid, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Middle East and Lebanon

76. Biometrics in the Humanitarian Sector

Author:: Carly Nyst, Zara Rahman, and Paola Verhaert
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Biometrics is the measurement of human characteristics through technology such as iris scanning, facial recognition and fingerprint scanning. In the aid sector, supporters of the technology praise its potential to combat fraud and streamline service delivery in low-resource settings, while others point to the significant risks to privacy resulting from collecting and storing this personal information. This report was commissioned by Oxfam to help it consider the possibility of introducing secure, ethical and cost-effective use of biometric technology in its programmes in the future. The report looks at the external context around use of biometric technology in the humanitarian sector, considers the benefits and potential harm, and goes on to outline cases where the use of biometrics could be helpful.
Topic:: Science and Technology, Refugee Crisis, Humanitarian Intervention, and Emerging Technology
Political Geography:: Global Focus

77. Fair Value: Case Studies of Business Structures for a More Equitable Distribution of Value in Food Supply Chains

Author:: Steve Jennings, Alex Maitland, and Erinch Sahan
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At a time when the global food system faces multiple and interlocking challenges, examining the business arrangements and structures that can lead to a more equitable distribution of value in food supply chains has never been more important. Through 12 case studies, this paper demonstrates the range of business arrangements and the diversity of ownership and governance structures that can drive more equitable outcomes. Business structures that seek to balance the interests of different stakeholder groups offer an alternative to shareholder-based models. These alternative models can significantly improve the livelihoods of the most marginalized women and men in the global food system.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Rural, Private Sector, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Global Focus

78. Facing Risk: Options and Challenges in Ensuring that Climate/Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Deliver for Poor People

Author:: Debbie Hillier
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Reducing the impacts of disasters on poor people is absolutely vital. Climate/disaster risk financing could play a useful role if it is part of an approach that includes risk reduction, if it strengthens social protection, and if it has real participation from civil society. Insurance, as one component of risk financing, could play a supportive role if carefully designed – keeping in mind the limitations, including the risk of worsening income and gender inequality. The InsuResilience Global Partnership should build more evidence of what works for poor people, invest in pro-poor business models, and ensure the insurance schemes developed are part of a broader approach to reduce risks and the inequalities that make people vulnerable to disasters.
Topic:: Civil Society, Climate Change, Disaster Relief, and Inequality
Political Geography:: Global Focus

79. Closing the Divide in Malawi: How to Reduce Inequality and Increase Prosperity for all

Author:: Clare Coffey, Jessica Hamer, and Chiara Mariotti
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality between the richest and the rest in Malawi continues to rise, with poverty remaining extreme and endemic. Climate change is compounding the challenges, with recent droughts and floods likely to have worsened poverty, resulting in one in three Malawians relying on humanitarian assistance in 2016. Economic inequality threatens to undermine the hard-fought and important progress on some aspects of human development in Malawi. This report presents a vision, roadmap and policy recommendations for a more inclusive, equitable and prosperous Malawi. It shows that inequality is not inevitable but the result of policy choices made by those with power. Breaking out of slow and unequal growth requires government, development partners and institutions to work for all, especially for those living at the margins, rather than serving powerful vested interests.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Gender Issues, Inequality, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:: Africa and Malawi

80. Infrastructure and Equipment for Unpaid Care Work: Household Survey Findings from the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe

Author:: Sandrine A. Koissy-Kpein and Lucia Rost
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Care work is essential for personal wellbeing, a healthy society and a functioning economy. But across the world, it is overwhelmingly done by women, which restricts their opportunities. Policy makers rarely recognize the public responsibility for facilitating unpaid care and domestic work through investments in infrastructure and care services. In 2017, Oxfam’s Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care (WE-Care) initiative conducted a Household Care Survey (HCS), collecting data in the Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe, to inform the design of public policies and local development programmes. The study tests which infrastructure, equipment and other factors influence care-work patterns. It finds that access to improved water sources is associated with reduced hours of care work, and household equipment facilitates men’s participation in care. It also finds that heavy workloads related to long hours of unpaid care can impact women’s health and well-being. Perceptions of care work, community expectations and fear of sanctions for deviating from social norms play an essential part in maintaining the gendered division of care work. The report presents recommendations for government and private sector decision-makers, development practitioners and researchers in the area of women’s economic empowerment on how they can contribute to facilitate the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Gender Based Violence, Local, Norms, and Empowerment
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, Philippines, Zimbabwe, and Asia-Pacific

81. Supporting Sustainable Water Service Delivery in a Protracted Crisis: Professionalizing Community-led Systems in South Sudan

Author:: Mariana Matoso
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report shares Oxfam’s experience with a water treatment plant community-led operator in Juba, South Sudan. It contributes to the debate on the role that communities can play in the process of managing water supply systems amid protracted crises. The report gives guidance on how to support professionalization of community services by providing business, governance and institutional support, and calls on donors and implementing agencies to develop WASH programmes which consider medium-term institutional support that ensures sustainability and pro-poor accessibility.
Topic:: Water, Infrastructure, Governance, Conflict, Humanitarian Crisis, and Hygiene
Political Geography:: Africa and South Sudan

82. Transformative Leadership for Women’s Rights (TLWR): Lessons and Recommendations from Oxfam’s Experiences

Author:: Ines Smyth
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The aim of promoting gender equality and women’s rights as integral parts of development efforts is enshrined in the key strategies and plans of many organizations. This is the case for the individual affiliates that comprise Oxfam International (OI), and the Oxfam confederation as a whole. This report sets out to assist Oxfam to better understand and learn from the Confederation’s work in this area to date. The purpose of the report is to provide an initial mapping of work on transformative leadership for women's rights (TLWR) in order to offer suggestions, impetus and a programmatic framework for the development of an ambitious global program on TLWR. It is intended to complement and drive Oxfam’s efforts to bring about the transformation of the pervasive gender inequality that limits women’s wellbeing, confidence and potential, reproduces negative masculinity traits, and contributes to the inequity dominant in contemporary societies.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, Leadership, and Feminism
Political Geography:: Global Focus

83. Women’s empowerment in Tunisia: Impact Evaluation of the Project ‘AMAL: Supporting Women’s Transformative Leadership’ in Tunisia

Author:: Simone Lombardini
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This evaluation is presented as part of the Effectiveness Review Series 2016/17, selected for review under the women’s empowerment thematic area. The evaluation took place in November 2016 in Tunisia, and intended to evaluate the success of the ‘AMAL: Supporting Women’s Transformative Leadership’ project in increasing women’s empowerment. The project ‘AMAL: Supporting Women’s Transformative Leadership’ is a multi-country programme operating in Morocco, Tunisia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Yemen, with regional coordination from Lebanon. The results coming from this Effectiveness Review are not meant to be indicative of the overall impact of AMAL, but more a focused assessment for the Tunisia component. The AMAL project operating in Tunisia started in 2012, following the revolution of 2011, with the objective to increase women’s awareness of their political and socio-economic rights, and support women to play a more active role in the political and socio-economic life of their community and country.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, Gender Based Violence, and Feminism
Political Geography:: Africa and Tunisia

84. Climate Finance Shadow Report 2018: Assessing Progress Towards the $100 billion Commitment

Author:: Tracy Carty and Armelle Le Comte
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Climate finance efforts by developed countries are at a critical juncture. There are only two years before the deadline by which developed countries have committed to jointly mobilize $100bn per year to support climate action in developing countries. This $100bn commitment has a pivotal role to play in supporting developing countries to reduce their emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This year will also see governments at the 24th Conference of Parties (COP24) in Katowice agree new rules to govern how climate finance is accounted under the Paris Agreement – rules that will shape the quality and transparency of climate finance provision for many years to come. This briefing paper offers an assessment of progress towards the $100bn goal. The second in a series, it looks at the latest donor figures for 2015-16, with a strong focus on public finance. It considers how close we are to the $100bn goal; where the money is coming from; where it is going; what it is being spent on; and how donors are counting the money they report.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, International Cooperation, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:: Global Focus

85. Tax Incentives in the Global South

Author:: Megan Baddeley, Matti Kohonen, Ewan Livingston, and Radhika Sarin
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This joint briefing from Oxfam, Christian Aid, ActionAid and the CBI reflects a growing convergence between businesses and tax advocacy groups on the use of tax incentives in the Global South. It argues that tax incentives can be a useful tool in promoting decent jobs and growth. But it also contends that too often tax incentives are used in inefficient and ineffective ways, and in the worst cases are entirely redundant. We hope that its message will be heard by policy makers around the world, and that it will contribute to better policy making that encourages responsible investment. Promoting domestic resource mobilization should mean that governments have more money to invest in essential public services to tackle poverty.
Topic:: Economics, Tax Systems, Fiscal Policy, and Private Sector
Political Geography:: Global South

86. Resilience in Burkina Faso: Impact evaluation of the ‘Resilience, Food security and Nutrition’ project

Author:: Robert Fuller and Alexia Pretari
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Resilience, Food Security and Nutrition Project (Projet de Resilience, Securite Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle, PRSAN) was carried out in the North and Centre-North regions of Burkina Faso between 2013 and 2017 by Oxfam and Christian Aid, together with two implementing partners, the Alliance Technique d’Assistance au Developpement (ATAD) and the Office de Developpement des Eglises Evangeliques (ODE). The project was aimed at enabling particularly vulnerable households to increase their resilience and improve their food security and nutritional situation. Project activities included supporting households in crop production, market gardening, processing and household businesses, providing awareness-raising on good nutritional practices, carrying out community-level disaster assessments and establishing early-warning committees, and distributing livestock and cash transfers. The Effectiveness Review was aimed at evaluating the success of this project in enabling participants to build their resilience to shocks, stresses and uncertainty. This report is part of Oxfam’s Effectiveness Review Series.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Gender Issues, and Farming
Political Geography:: Africa and Burkina Faso

87. How Decent is Decent Work? Using SenseMaker to Understand Workers’ Experiences

Author:: Irene Guitj, Franziska Mager, and Becca Smith
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Decent work for all is a shared global concern. It is enshrined in Sustainable Development Goal 8, ‘to achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030’. Countless initiatives by companies, governments, CSOs and global aid agencies are dedicated to making this happen. These efforts are labelled as ‘decent work’, ‘inclusive businesses’, ‘responsible sourcing’ or ‘economic empowerment’. They share a concern for raising the standards of working conditions – globally, nationally, and across sectors. SenseMaker is a research method that analyses the experiences of large numbers of people to help understand their perspectives on a specific issue or question. This paper shows what is possible when using SenseMaker to capture and understand workers’ perspectives. It aims to inspire anyone working in the private sector, within civil society organizations and government agencies responsible for strengthening decent work, inclusive business and responsible sourcing.
Topic:: Development, Labor Issues, Sustainable Development Goals, Private Sector, and Sustainability
Political Geography:: Global Focus

88. Resilience in Zambia: Impact evaluation of the ‘Citizen Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change’ project

Author:: Robert Fuller and Jonathan Lain
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The ‘Citizen Participation in Adaptation to Climate Change’ (CPACC) project aimed to build the resilience of farming households to climate shocks, through promoting conservation farming techniques and livelihood diversification, and through supporting disaster-planning activities and early-warning systems at the community level. This Effectiveness Review used a quasi-experimental approach to assess the impact of the project among households whose members directly participated in the project activities, in one of the three districts where the project was carried out. The results provide evidence that the project had a positive effect on the resilience of participant households, particularly through the community-level disaster preparedness activities. There is also evidence that the project had a positive impact on the adoption of conservation farming techniques, on the area of land cultivated, and on yields. However, the project does not appear to have had the positive effects it sought on engagement in non-agricultural income-generating activities, nor on participation in savings groups. There is no indication that the project had had a positive impact on households’ overall material welfare by the time of the survey.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa and Zambia

89. Displaced and Dispossessed: Conflict-Affected Communities and Their Land of Origin in Kachin State, Myanmar

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 05-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: People displaced by conflict (IDPs) in Myanmar’s Kachin State want to return to their land, yet it is being appropriated unfairly. Legal or administrative procedures are undermining IDP rights, ignoring the exceptional circumstances of displacement. Restrictions on movement are making the situation worse. Action is required to resolve the lack of clarity over IDP land rights and to ensure equitable remedy is available where land has been unfairly acquired. This report is produced by The Durable Peace Programme (DPP), an EU-funded consortium of seven international and local organizations supporting peace, reconciliation, rehabilitation and development in Kachin State since 2015.
Topic:: Displacement, Conflict, Peace, Humanitarian Crisis, and Internal Displacement
Political Geography:: Asia and Myanmar

90. The Cost of Justice: Exploratory Assessment on Women’s Access to Justice in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen

Author:: Sarah Barakat
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Women in the Middle East and North Africa region face challenges in their attempts to seek and get justice. Despite some promising legal awareness initiatives, mostly led by civil society, women’s knowledge of their rights and family law is limited. They lack social capital and the financial means to claim their rights, and the systems in place to provide financial support are insufficient and often ineffective. Women’s pursuit of justice is further limited by entrenched patriarchal values at community and court levels. Though some laws in the countries covered by this research have been positively amended recently, women still face discrimination in the judicial system based on their sex, their religion, and their financial status.
Topic:: Civil Society, Gender Issues, Women, and Justice
Political Geography:: Africa, Middle East, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan

91. Measuring Unpaid Care Work in Household Surveys

Author:: Martin Walsh
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Caring for people and domestic work, such as cooking, cleaning and fetching water, is essential for personal wellbeing and survival. But across the world, care work is overwhelmingly done by women, which restricts their opportunities for education, employment, political engagement and leisure.
Topic:: Labor Issues, Homeownership, Labor Market, and Care
Political Geography:: Global Focus

92. Oxfam Cymru and South Riverside Community Development Centre Skills for Life Project: Final Evaluation Report

Author:: Leon Quinn
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The Skills for Life project was a one-year project focused on supporting predominantly Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women in Cardiff to “build long-term, lasting outcomes [beyond] moving into entry-level work and beyond ‘first jobs’ (whilst recognising their value as stepping stones)”. Skills for Life is a sister project of Future Skills, and run as part of Oxfam’s UK Programme Women United. It was delivered by Oxfam Cymru in partnership with South Riverside Community Development Centre (SRCDC).
Topic:: Poverty, Labor Issues, Sustainability, Skilled Labor, and Empowerment
Political Geography:: United Kingdom, England, and Wales

93. Understanding Norms around the Gendered Division of Labour: Results from Focus Group Discussions in Zimbabwe

Author:: Emma Samman
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Social norms refer to the shared expectations held by a given community. They are often held in place by social approval or rewards for conformity, and by disapproval or sanctions for transgressions. Understanding how and why social norms hold sway can provide a powerful means for understanding the gendered division of work that prevails in many communities and inform strategies aimed at promoting change. This report summarizes the main findings from the qualitative research conducted in August 2017 to support on the identification of the main social norms related to unpaid care and domestic work in rural communities in four districts in Zimbabwe. The research served to identify who the leaders are that communities look up to in order to validate social norms change. It helped to identify nascent opportunities for changes in the gendered division of labour, and what the implications are of the findings for planning and practice in addressing inequalities on unpaid care and domestic work.
Topic:: Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Norms, Empowerment, and Care
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

94. Nowhere But Out: The failure of France and Italy to Help Refugees and Other Migrants Stranded at the Border in Ventimiglia

Author:: Guilia Capitani
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: In Ventimiglia, near the border between Italy and France, refugees and other migrants are living rough, without access to the most basic services. Women, men and children are ‘pushed’ out of the Italian asylum system, which often fails to meet their most basic needs for safety, information and education. Across the border, the French police meet children with abuse, and send them back to Italy in violation of French and EU law. Stranded, hundreds of people are unable to seek even basic support.
Topic:: Regional Cooperation, European Union, Refugees, Borders, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:: Europe, France, and Italy

95. Marriage Decision-Making: A family affair – Insight into marriage decision-making processes and social norms around child marriage in Larkana and Shikarpur in Sindh and Lodhran and Muzaffargarh in Punjab, Pakistan

Author:: Wasim Durani, Ronald Van Moorten, and Saskia van Veen
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Research Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: This report presents the findings of research conducted to support the work of the Marriage, No Child's Play programme. The programme aims to change social norms that perpetuate the practices of early and forced marriage. It currently operates in four districts of Pakistan: Larkana and Shikarpur in Sindh, and Lodhran and Muzaffargarh in South Punjab. To increase understanding of the role that social norms currently play in these communities, Oxfam and partners conducted exploratory qualitative research in each of the four districts. Drawing on in-depth interviews with respondents, the report puts forward social norms the researchers believe are central to the marriage decision-making process in the four districts. It highlights potential opportunities to open up conversations and outlines ways for the programme to respond. A key aim of the Marriage, No Child’s Play programme is to change social norms that perpetuate early and forced marriage practices. To increase understanding of the role that social norms currently play in the communities where the Marriage, No Child’s Play programme operates, Oxfam and partners conducted exploratory qualitative research, which will provide a basis for programme implementation and follow-up research. The research consisted of in-depth interviews with 40 respondents: young and married men (n=10) and women (n=10), and mothers (n=10) and fathers (n=10). They were sampled from communities in the four districts of the Marriage No Child’s Play’s programme in Pakistan: Larkana and Shikarpur in Sindh, and Lodhran and Muzaffargarh in South Punjab. Partner staff supported the field research team in selecting respondents. The interview design combined the use of questions with a vignette – a hypothetical story related to early marriage. Oxfam and partners analysed and interpreted the results in a workshop.
Topic:: Children, Family, Norms, and Marriage
Political Geography:: Pakistan and Middle East

96. Land But No Freedom: Debt, poverty and Human Suffering in the Philippine Banana Trade

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This case study reveals how many banana farmers in the Philippines are being pushed deeper into poverty by the companies who buy their bananas for export. While many have gained ownership of their land through the government’s land reform programme, they are now locked into contracts with banana buyers that, in Oxfam’s opinion, are grossly unjust. Without action, these one-sided deals will keep banana farmers and their families in debt for generations – while company profits continue to rise.
Topic:: Agriculture, Poverty, Food, and Farming
Political Geography:: Philippines and Indo-Pacific

97. Supermarket Responsibilities for Supply Chain Workers’ Rights: Continuing challenges in seafood supply chains and the case for stronger supermarket action

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: International food supply chains provide employment for tens of millions of women and men around the world, demonstrating the potential for private sector actors to fight poverty and inequality. Yet far too many work in appalling conditions. The ongoing challenges in seafood supply chains are illustrative of the problems that can arise and the need for stakeholders to tackle their root causes. This is one of a series of in-depth studies to supplement Oxfam’s global campaign report, Ripe for Change: Ending human suffering in supermarket supply chains. This report assesses recent progress in realizing workers’ rights in seafood supply chains originating in Southeast Asia; provides new evidence of ongoing workers’ rights challenges in US and European supermarket shrimp supply chains beginning in Indonesia and Thailand; and explores the need, in particular, to address the buyer power of supermarkets and other lead firms to squeeze value from their suppliers.
Topic:: Agriculture, Food, Private Sector, Farming, Labor Rights, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe, Indonesia, Asia, North America, Thailand, United States of America, and Indo-Pacific

98. Human Suffering in Italy’s Agricultural Value Chain

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This case study reveals endemic economic exploitation of farm workers in Italy who supply fruit and vegetables to supermarkets across Europe. It highlights the particular vulnerability of women and migrant workers, many of whom are recruited by gangmasters and forced to live and work in inhumane conditions. Wages are deducted in return for transport, food and accommodation. Workers express fear of sexual harassment, violence and exploitation.
Topic:: Agriculture, Labor Issues, Food, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe

99. German Supermarket Supply Chains: Ending the Human Suffering Behind our Food

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Inequality is rampant across the global economy, and the agro-food sector is no exception. At the top, big supermarkets and other corporate food giants dominate global food markets, allowing them to squeeze value from vast supply chains that span the globe, while at the bottom the bargaining power of small-scale farmers and workers has been steadily eroded in many of the countries from which German supermarkets and others from around the world source. The result is widespread human suffering among the women and men producing our food.
Topic:: Agriculture, Labor Issues, Food, Private Sector, Farming, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:: Europe and Germany

100. The Plight of Pineapple and Banana Workers in Retail Supply Chains: Continuing Evidence of Rights Violations in Costa Rica and Ecuador

Author:: Oxfam Publishing
Publication Date:: 06-2018
Content Type:: Case Study
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Poverty is widespread among the small-scale farmers and workers who produce and process our food, in an industry worth billions of dollars. Oxfam’s new campaign highlights the systemic inequality and human suffering in food supply chains – and shows how action by supermarkets, governments, small-scale farmers and workers could lead to a decent and dignified standard of living for millions of people. This paper is based on the Sweet Fruit, Bitter Truth report published by Oxfam Germany in May 2016, which revealed violations of human and labour rights on banana and pineapple plantations in Costa Rica and Ecuador that supply or have supplied fruit to major supermarket chains Aldi and Lidl. This summarized and updated version of the report has been launched to coincide with Oxfam’s new campaign. It is one of a series of case studies to supplement the global campaign report, Ripe for Change, drawing attention to the plight of specific groups of small-scale producers and/or promoting successful alternative approaches.
Topic:: Poverty, Labor Issues, Food, and Human Rights Violations
Political Geography:: Central America, North America, Costa Rica, and Ecuador

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS