All Publications

Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States

aperera — 2011-07-28T21:47:17Z

The "Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States" is the product of a unique for-profit/NGO joint venture of the Bon Appétit Management Company Foundation and United Farm Workers (UFW), with support from Oxfam America. By compiling and analyzing data from multiple federal, state, and private sources, it renders the most comprehensive picture yet of the reality faced by America’s least-valued yet critically important workforce.

Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction

aperera — 2011-12-08T19:56:38Z

This study is the output of a multi-year collaboration among The Coca-Cola Company, Oxfam America, and SABMiIIer to apply Oxfam’s Poverty Footprint Methodology to the Coca-Cola/SABMiIIer value chain in Zambia and El Salvador. This methodology, which was originally developed and applied to Unilever’s operations in Indonesia, is designed to help companies understand and improve their poverty impacts, and provides a platform for dialogue, innovation, and accountability.

Mechanical advantage

csoares — 2011-06-08T14:33:43Z

When Sorn Ken weeds her rice fields, she likes to have company. Her sister So Van helps her in her field, and Sorn will help So in hers. “We chitchat, and when we get tired we take a rest and keep chitchatting,” she says at the edge of her sister’s field. “It’s kind of fun to weed the field with others.” Sorn says she spends less time weeding her fields than she used to since she started using a mechanical weeding device she helped create with assistance from Oxfam’s partner in Cambodia, RACHANA, an organization based in the southern Takeo province. When farmers use this new tool, they can accomplish in a few hours what used to take them many days.

Oxfam supported RACHANA in designing and testing the mechanical weeders that help farmers grow more rice. Switching to innovative rice-growing systems and using a mechanical weeder can create more than 100 percent gains in production—a huge improvement for small-scale rice growers like Sorn and her sister.

Una vida diferente | A different life

csoares — 2011-03-21T17:53:50Z

Widespread cultural change is slow work: At the highest levels, laws must be in place to safeguard peoples’ rights. On the ground, women and men must re-examine how they think and act. In El Salvador, the next chapter in a battle against gender violence is a broad-based education initiative.

Under pressure: Reducing disaster risk and enhancing US emergency response capacity in an era of climate change

nhailu — 2011-06-08T14:34:38Z

The US government is the leading global player in this system. The US approach seeks to encompass a broad range of activities and allow humanitarian agencies flexibility in their missions and response. However, as a result, the myriad interconnected US agencies involved—civilian and sometimes military—are without clear leadership and mission, beholden to various legislative constraints, and focused more on disaster response than on proactive disaster risk reduction (DRR).

Climate change poses a considerable challenge to US and international capacity to meet future humanitarian needs. This challenge presents itself in a context in which the international humanitarian response system is failing to meet existing needs. To meet the increased humanitarian need resulting from climate change, the international humanitarian aid system will need to increase its response capacity.

Given the likely effects of climate change, it behooves the US government to consider (1) how humanitarian emergencies might be prevented and (2) how its emergency response capacity might be enhanced. DRR offers a promising way forward. According to the United Nations, DRR is “the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyze and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced exposure to hazards, lessening vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events.” It is intricately linked with climate change adaptation. The return on DRR investment is quite high. Beyond mainstreaming DRR in its assistance programs, the US government needs to address budgetary, organizational, and legislative issues that currently impede the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. In addition, the US government needs to sort out how best to draw on the unique capabilities and appropriate role of the US military in humanitarian emergencies while avoiding excessive and unnecessary use of military forces. Finally, the US can play a leadership role in furthering reform of the global humanitarian system, given its pivotal role within that system."

Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) quarterly report: October 2010–December 2010

aperera — 2011-07-25T18:55:05Z

In its two years of delivery in five villages in Ethiopia, HARITA has shown promising results for replication. More than 1,300 households currently participate in HARITA, up from 200 in its first year. In large part, the success in uptake is due to a critical design element that allows the poorest farmers to pay for their insurance premiums through their labor. In 2011, HARITA will scale up to serve 15,000 households, achieving the critical mass necessary for commercial viability. This success led, at the end of 2010, to Oxfam America and the World Food Programme (WFP) reaching an agreement to launch a joint five-year rural resilience program modeled on HARITA in additional regions of Ethiopia and three other countries. The partnership is called the Rural Resilience Initiative, or R4 (referring to risk reduction, prudent risk taking, risk transfer, and risk reserve). Announced at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference by Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, and Sheila Sisulu, WFP deputy executive director for hunger solutions, R4 promises to leverage the respective strengths of Oxfam and the WFP: Oxfam’s capacity to build innovative partnerships and the WFP’s long history of supporting state run safety nets for poor farmers. This partnership will enable poor, smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change through an affordable, comprehensive risk management program: improved resource management (risk reduction), microinsurance (risk transfer), microcredit (prudent risk
taking), and savings (risk reserves).

High Stakes

mhart — 2011-02-23T16:29:59Z

Progress in girls’ education, one of the rare Afghan success stories of the last nine years and vital to the long-term development and stability of the country is under threat. While millions of girls enrolled in school after the fall of the Taliban, donor and government efforts to improve education have slowed down and growing insecurity is rapidly eroding access to schooling for many girls. A new approach from both the Afghan government and donors is urgently required to hold onto the gains that have been made.

High Stakes, a report by Oxfam and 15 other aid organizations, finds that gains in girls’ education are slipping away as a result of poverty, growing insecurity, a lack of trained teachers, neglect of post-primary education, and poorly equipped schools. The findings are based on a survey of more than 1,600 girls, parents, and teachers in 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Whose Aid is it Anyway? Politicizing aid in conflicts and crises

kfield — 2011-03-04T21:51:28Z

The effectiveness of international aid, both in meeting urgent needs and in tackling entrenched poverty, is being undermined in some of the world’s poorest places. While effective aid has helped save lives, protect rights and build livelihoods, some donors’ military and security interests have skewed global aid spending; and amidst conflict, disasters and political instability have too often led to uncoordinated, unsustainable, expensive and even dangerous aid projects. Skewed aid policies and practices threaten to undermine a decade of government donors’ international commitments to effective, needs-focused international aid. This paper sets out how these commitments are being disregarded, and how this trend can be reversed.

OXFAMExchange Winter 2011

csoares — 2011-06-08T14:44:49Z

On January 12th one year ago, the lives of millions of Haitians were changed forever. As the tragedy unfolded, Americans were quick to lend support. An estimated one of every two US families gave something to Haitian recovery—tens of thousands of them to Oxfam. We were fortunate to have had the resources on the ground to allow us to use that support to respond quickly.

In the days following the earthquake, I witnessed the best in my colleagues. Our staff in Haiti carried a dying coworker miles on foot in search of medical care. In the States, staff drew together immediately, working swiftly to implement our humanitarian response and to rally public support.

In spite of demands in Haiti, Oxfam's work elsewhere continued. We helped people fighting tragedy on an epic scale last year. We responded to crises from Pakistan to Darfur, from flooding in West Africa to tropical storms in Central America. Meanwhile, our ongoing development and advocacy work flourished. By late 2010, Saving for Change, our microfinance program, had reached nearly 320,000 people in Mali. With Oxfam's support, use of the System of Rice Intensification accelerated in East Asia, helping more farmers use fewer seeds and less water to achieve higher yields. Oxfam's work contributed to the Salvadoran legislature passing a new law in 2010 criminalizing violence against women. Our efforts in Peru influenced the Congress there to enact a citizen consultation law that supports indigenous rights. And we achieved a major win in the US with the passage of oil, gas, and mining transparency legislation.

Reflecting on all we accomplished, I am humbled. As the new year begins, I want to congratulate you on your achievements in 2010. For Oxfam's successes are yours: the progress we make is a testament not only to the dedication of Oxfam's staff and partners, but also to the potential of a movement that is fueled by your commitment. Imagine what we can achieve together in 2011.

Open publication

Sowing seeds of self-reliance in Ethiopia

csoares — 2011-07-18T18:23:34Z

With an initial investment from Oxfam, community-owned grain banks allow Ethiopians to feed the World Food Programme.

Saving lives through country ownership

kfield — 2011-02-24T21:48:29Z

The Global Health Initiative (GHI) is an opportunity to leverage global health dollars as effectively as possible in a budget where every penny matters. For US investments to be truly sustainable, they need to be driven by what communities need most. In a nutshell, the best way to put ourselves out of the aid business is to help countries build their own hospitals and clinics, hire nurses and doctors, so that they will be ready to take over for good.

In December 2010, Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser published an article in the winter edition of the Harvard Global Health Review focused on the GHI, and how US efforts should help citizens in country tackle their own health challenges, instead of donors tackling challenges fro them.

Beyond Recovery: Moving the Gulf Coast Toward a Sustainable Future

jlee — 2011-02-11T21:12:09Z

This report details the Gulf Coast’s environmental, economic and social challenges and recommends a regional ecosystem restoration plan to help coastal communities and the ecology recover their past strength and build a foundation for a new economic future – establishing the Gulf Coast as an international leader in coastal restoration and resiliency – by promoting participation from coastal communities and businesses, and prioritizing innovation and opportunity.

Six months into the floods

mhart — 2011-01-25T14:43:32Z

The monsoon floods that began in Pakistan in July 2010 caused a colossal disaster. Thanks to the collective efforts of the Pakistani Government, UN agencies, international NGOs, and local relief organisations, the response has achieved major successes and seen millions of Pakistanis receive vital emergency relief. However, the disaster is not over and many people still need humanitarian assistance. Ongoing emergency relief is just the first step in rebuilding devastated communities. A nationally-led, pro-poor reconstruction programme is needed now to create a path of sustainable development leading to a fairer and more disaster-resilient Pakistan.

Haiti Progress Report 2010: Summary

cmccabe — 2011-01-13T22:10:17Z

January 2010's earthquake in Haiti killed more than 220,000 people, injured over 300,000, and left more than one million homeless--many of whom are still living in tents or beneath tarps. The relief operation has been one of the largest and most complex Oxfam has ever undertaken. Yet ,as we mark the first anniversary of the tragedy, there is no getting away from the huge challenge that lies ahead for the Haitian people, their government, and aid agencies. Oxfam, and others, are committed to the long-term effort to support Haitians in rebuilding their country.

Beyond Sudan's big day

llucas — 2011-06-29T14:24:11Z

Southern Sudan will face enormous challenges and will need long-term support from the rest of the world regardless of the outcome of this week’s referendum. The vote could create the world’s newest country, which would also be one of the least developed and home to some of the world’s poorest people.