Influencing for food security in the South Caucasus

What strategies can be used to raise the voices of smallholder farmers so that food security policies reflect their needs? Shekhar Anand and Jacky Repila share learning from Oxfam’s national influencing work in the South Caucasus. Small holder farmers are some of the people most vulnerable to food insecurity in the South Casucasus. In Georgia 63 per cent of all …

Jealousy is NO excuse for violence

In the run up to 16 Days of Activism Muthoni Muriithi, the Africa Enough Campaigner at Oxfam International, explains their new campaign which tackles jealousy as a cause of domestic violence. Follow #JealousyIsNoExcuse on social media to keep up with the campaign. Who are you talking to? Where were you, why did you come home late? Why did he look at you? Why …

Novel partnerships in an era of global environmental change

The sustainability research community needs to develop new alliances if they want to have real impact argues Georgina Cundill Kemp, Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Centre in Canada. “He who becomes the slave of habit, who follows the same routes every day, who never changes pace, who does not risk and change the color of his clothes, who does not speak …

What we’ve learnt about sharing real-time data

At Oxfam we are continually developing our use of digital technology for surveys. Here Simone Lombardini and Emily Tomkys Valteri reflect on lessons learnt from the process of using and sharing real-time data during fieldwork to conduct Oxfam’s Effectiveness Reviews. In 2015 Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation Advisers started using digital devices to conduct household surveys for Oxfam’s Effectiveness Reviews (ex-post, quasi-experimental …

Why tax dodging is a human rights issue

Last week in the wake of the Paradise Papers scandal Mark Goldring explained how tax dodging deprives already deprived people of basic services like access to water, education and healthcare. But, how does tax affect human rights?  Here, Alex May argues that tax dodging can also be seen as a human rights violation. What is tax dodging? Corporations and wealthy people …

To use or not to use biometrics? Help us answer the question

Biometric technologies such as iris scanning, fingerprint or facial recognition, have opened up exciting new possibilities for humanitarian aid delivery, but the potential risks are high. That’s why Oxfam is looking for a consultant to conduct research into the safe use of biometrics in humanitarian response: is this an area you are working in? Imagine if you had lost everything …