In Tajikistan, water is a key resource in emergencies, and for irrigation and drinking water, yet its management is chaotic, which often leads to breakdowns in water supply systems. Many communities have resorted to taking drinking water directly from irrigation canals and rivers. Oxfam has been working for nearly three years with the government and key water sector players to tackle long-standing problems with rural water supplies. We are helping communities achieve sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation, and to challenge decision makers on water issues.
Francis Kwakye Oppong, Franklin Oduro, Mohammed Awal, and Emmanuel Debrah
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Oxfam commissioned the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) to conduct a study into how civil society organizations (CSOs) can effectively engage with and/or influence political parties during election campaigns. The fundamental question underlying the study was: "What conditions and contexts facilitate the most effective mechanisms to advance long-term success by CSOs in influencing the political commitments and programmes of political parties during election campaigns?? The study aimed to contribute vital knowledge on this subject, about which there was very little pre-existing documentation, particularly concerning West Africa. The study was based on CSOs? experiences from the 2012 elections in Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Mass Media
Tens of millions of people suffer in today's humanitarian crises. In East Africa alone, over 13 million have faced a devastating food crisis. But millions of people also help their neighbours, families and communities. For example, in Pakistan, neighbours, communities and local NGOs were once again first with relief when floods struck in 2011, just as they had been in 2010, when aid agencies struggled to reach the 14 million in need of assistance.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Non-Governmental Organization, United Nations, Natural Disasters, and Reconstruction
What changes do we need to empower women smallholders and achieve food security? This question has been asked repeatedly over the past several decades, but transformative changes in both public policy and practice have been few and far between. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), closing the „gender gap‟ in agriculture –or increasing women‟s contribution to food production and enterprise by providing equal access to resources and opportunities –could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 per cent, or by 100 to 150 million people.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Gender Issues, Food, and Famine
There is a growing sense within Oxfam that traditional approaches to working with civil society are yielding insufficient results in conflict-affected and fragile states. This global study was under taken to help develop innovative approaches to strengthening civil society in such setting sand, in particular, to identify lessons for the development of three planned pilot programmes. It was based on a review of existing literature and interviews with representatives of INGOs, academic institutions, and donors, and was complemented by a scoping exercise undertaken in South Sudan in September 2011. The main findings of the global study are as follows.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Civil Society, and Political Activism
Even before the earthquake struck on January 12, 2010, Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the world. In Port-au-Prince, 86 percent of the city\'s two million residents lived in densely-populated slums with scarce access to clean water and sanitation facilities. The scale of the disaster, combined with the poverty and lack of infrastructure that already existed, made the relief operation one of the most challenging that Oxfam has ever undertaken.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Foreign Aid
The combination in the UK of economic stagnation and public spending cuts is causing substantial hardship to people living in poverty. This amounts to a 'Perfect Storm' of falling incomes, rising prices, public service cuts, benefit cuts, a housing crisis, and weak labour rights. By making different political choices, the government can both protect people in poverty and help to stimulate economic recovery in the short term, and set the UK on the way towards economic, social and environmental sustainability in the long term.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Poverty, Labor Issues, and Financial Crisis
Paraguay's tax system is insufficient to provide the resource base to eradicate poverty in the country, and has done little or nothing to achieve a more equal distribution of income and wealth. Two major taxation reforms over the last decade have done little to alleviate the fiscal injustice that is generated partly by the low tax reciprocity of the soy agribusiness – Paraguay's main export crop. Meanwhile, programmes to support small- scale farming receive a level of public financing accounting for just 5 per cent of public expenditure. With one of the highest levels of unequal land ownership in the world, labour informality at very high levels and poor environmental regulation of soy producers, the livelihoods and ecosystems of Paraguay's small-scale producers are at risk. There are serious loopholes in Paraguay's tax system that must be addressed in order to deliver a fairer, progressive taxation system that will allow the country to meet its social objectives.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, International Trade and Finance, and Poverty
Sheilah Meikle, Tim Chambers, Alex Frediani, and Tom Goodfellow
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
More people in the world now live in urban areas than in rural areas. It is estimated that as many as one billion people, 15 per cent of the world's total of seven billion, currently live in urban slums, and this number will likely double within 20 years. Until recently however, Oxfam, like other development agencies, focused primarily on rural poverty.
Topic:
Demographics, Poverty, and Urbanization
Political Geography:
Bangladesh, Kenya, Russia, Colombia, Haiti, and Guatemala
Massive investment in agriculture is desperately needed to help fix the broken food system. Private sector investment can play a vital role in delivering inclusive economic growth, environmental sustainability and poverty reduction. However, in order to do so, it must be adequately regulated and should adhere to some key principles, such as focusing on local food markets, working with producer organisations and respecting the rights of small-scale producers, workers and communities.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Development, Environment, Poverty, and Food