Research

Adaptation 101

mborum — 2011-06-08T14:59:13Z

Over the course of hundreds of years, poor people have developed ways of coping with changing weather conditions. When torrential rains drench the flood plains surrounding the Mekong River, rice farmers turn to fishing instead. When rainfall levels fall in the Sahel, farmers cultivate drought-resistant crops like millet and black-eyed peas. And where water is always hard to come by in the dry, mountainous areas of the Middle East, local people use traditional, though labor-intensive, techniques to harvest water from the canyons, valleys, and slopes.

Each season is slightly different than the previous one, but having anticipated the changing conditions, generation after generation learns to adapt.

But what happens when the seasons become less predictable and the conditions more difficult to manage? What happens when human activities, like burning coal, oil, and natural gas, change the climate—not just for a season, but for the long-term? Then, lacking the information or resources necessary to understand, prepare for, and respond to increased hazards, many of the world's poorest communities experience unprecedented stress.

Adapting to Climate Change

rbaker — 2009-05-28T21:53:18Z

Climate change is forcing vulnerable communities in poor countries to adapt to unprecedented climate stress. Rich countries, primarily responsible for creating the problem, must stop harming, by fast cutting their greenhouse-gas emissions, and start helping, by providing finance for adaptation. In developing countries Oxfam estimates that adaptation will cost at least $50 billion each year, and far more if global emissions are not cut rapidly. Urgent work is necessary to gain a more accurate picture of the costs to the poor. According to Oxfam's new Adaptation Financing Index, the USA, European Union, Japan, Canada, and Australia should contribute over 95 percent of the finance needed. This finance must not be counted towards meeting the UN-agreed target of 0.7 percent for aid. Rich countries are planning multibillion dollar adaptation measures at home, but to date they have delivered just $48 million to international funds for least-developed country adaptation, and have counted it as aid: an unacceptable inequity in global responses to climate change.

Afghanistan: Development and Humanitarian Priorities

mborum — 2009-04-30T22:04:44Z

This paper outlines urgent action necessary to address immediate challenges in Afghanistan and to avert humanitarian disaster. It does not seek to address all issues of concern but focuses on essential policy change in development and humanitarian spheres.

While aid has contributed to progress in Afghanistan, especially in social and economic infrastructure—and while more aid is needed—the development process has to date been too centralized, top-heavy and insufficient. It is has been prescriptive and supply-driven, rather than indigenous and responding to Afghan needs. As a result millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, still face severe hardship comparable with sub-Saharan Africa. Conditions of persistent poverty have been a significant factor in the spread of insecurity.

Donors must improve the impact, efficiency, relevance and sustainability of aid. There needs to be stronger coordination and more even distribution of aid, greater alignment with national and local priorities and increased use of Afghan resources. Indicators of aid effectiveness should be established, and a commission to monitor donor performance. Despite progress in some ministries, government capacity is weak and corruption is widespread, which is hindering service delivery and undermining public confidence in state-building as a whole. Further major reforms are required in public administration, anti-corruption and the rule of law.

Urgent action is required to promote comprehensive rural development, where progress has been slow, through building local government to deliver essential services, reforming subnational governance, and channeling more resources directly to communities.

Afghanistan Education Report Card

mborum — 2009-04-30T22:07:41Z

As the new school year begins in Afghanistan, The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC) released Report Card: Progress on Compulsory Education. The new report urges policymakers to work harder to address urgent and long term education needs in the country. Oxfam International is one of the Consortium members.

The report card (for grades 1-9) recognizes that Afghanistan has made progress in enrollment, but finds key gaps in school completion rates, policy management, quality of education and available resources.

Despite the increase in school enrollment, more than half of Afghanistan's children don't attend primary school. Less than 34% of those enrolled are girls.
Drop-out rates are high, particularly among girls. Of those attending primary school, only 9% go on to secondary school.
Female teachers are scarce. In one province there is one female teacher for every 152 male teachers. Increasing the number of female teachers is essential to increase the enrollment of girls.

HRRAC recommends that international donors honor their commitments to provide sufficient and long-term funding for Afghanistan and ensure adequate steps are taken to increase the enrollment of girls and improve the quality of education.

The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium is a group of Afghan and international organizations working in the fields of humanitarian relief, reconstruction, human and women's rights, peace promotion, research, and advocacy. It was established in early 2003 to engage in proactive research and advocacy on human rights issues over a sustained period.

Consortium Members
Afghan organizations
Afghan Development Association
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (advisory organization)
Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy-conservation in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (advisory organization)
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
Cooperation for Peace and Unity

International organizations
Oxfam International
Mercy Corps
Ockenden International
CARE International
Rights and Democracy
Save the Children Federation, Inc.

Africa and the Doha Round

lmcfarlane — 2009-05-27T23:02:08Z

As a result of unfair trade rules and falling commodity prices, Africa has suffered terms-of-trade losses and increasing marginalisation. Ten years after the Uruguay Round, the poorest continent on earth, which captures only one per cent of world trade, risks even further losses, despite promises of a ‘development round’ of trade negotiations. This would be a great injustice. There cannot and should not be any new round without an assurance of substantial gains for Africa.

All Costs, No Benefits

mborum — 2010-08-10T20:42:41Z

Since enactment of the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement in 1995, the US has imposed progressively higher levels of intellectual property protection on developing countries, which undermines access to affordable medicines. The US-Jordan free trade agreement introduced a rigid framework of such rules and medicine prices in Jordan have increased 20 per cent since 2001.

Ammunition: The Fuel of Conflict

mborum — 2009-04-30T22:14:53Z

Hundreds of thousands of people are killed each year through the misuse of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

Small arms ammunition is the fuel that keeps many of the world’s conflicts raging. While small arms do not themselves cause conflict, they make it much deadlier, and a shortage of bullets can reduce or even stop fighting altogether. In the Central African Republic, fighters have been known to throw away weapons because they cannot buy the right bullets for them.

On 26 June, the UN Review Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons begins in New York. At this conference, governments must adopt a new global set of rules and standards for transfers of small arms and ammunition. In October 2006, at the UN General Assembly, governments should agree to negotiate a new international Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) to regulate transfers of all conventional arms, including ammunition.

Arms Without Borders

mborum — 2009-05-28T23:42:03Z

The globalization of the arms industry has opened up major loopholes in all current arms export regulations, allowing sales to human rights abusers and countries under arms embargoes, according to a new report by the Control Arms Campaign.

Between Hope and Fear in Northern Uganda

mborum — 2009-05-28T23:29:52Z

Uganda is at a critical point in its history. After over 20 years of cyclical conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government of Uganda, the Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreement signed on 26 August 2006 and last extended on 16 December 2006 has given new hope to conflict affected communities that peace may finally prevail. While there is no explicit deadline to the agreement, the signatories agree that the “implementation of the agreement shall be reviewed at the end of February 2007."

There is widespread fear in affected communities that this could signal a lapse in the agreement and a return to violence. As negotiations appear to be at an impasse it is vitally important that the parties come together as soon as possible to reaffirm their commitment to the ceasefire. Peace talks must be resumed before it is too late and the apparent deadlock reaches the point of no return.

Blood on the Floor

lmcfarlane — 2009-05-27T22:59:06Z

Four years on, the Doha Round looks increasingly unlikely to deliver on its promises to the world's poor. Rich countries have sidelined development concerns and insisted on, among other conditions, the "blood on the floor" rule, i.e. obtaining economically painful concessions from all countries, including poor ones. In agriculture, trade rules look set to remain stacked against developing countries and poor farmers. Talks on industrial tariffs could jeopardize the industries of poor countries. If the rich countries fail to significantly improve their offer at the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005, developing countries should not be expected to sign on to a bad deal.

Caught in the Conflict

mborum — 2010-02-22T16:32:28Z

This paper makes recommendations on how the security strategy of the international community should be changed in order to minimize the harm caused to Afghan civilians and reduce the disruption to development and humanitarian activities in the current environment in Afghanistan.

Causing Hunger

mborum — 2009-05-29T20:49:54Z

This Oxfam report warns that the average number of food emergencies in Africa has nearly tripled since the mid 1980s. The report argues that food aid-led emergency interventions are often only a partial solution, and that increased long-term support of agriculture, infrastructure, and social safety nets in vulnerable countries is vital.

Climate Alarm

mborum — 2009-06-09T21:28:03Z

Climatic disasters are increasing as temperatures climb and rainfall intensifies. A rise in small- and medium-scale disasters is a particularly worrying trend. Yet even extreme weather need not bring disasters; it is poverty and powerlessness that make people vulnerable. Though more emergency aid is needed, humanitarian response must do more than save lives: it has to link to climate change adaptation and bolster poor people’s livelihoods through social protection and disaster risk reduction approaches.

Climate, Poverty, and Justice

mborum — 2009-05-28T21:44:42Z

Climate change is the number one threat to human development. Yet progress towards limiting global warming to below 2°C has not been sufficient.

The global effort required to reduce emissions and support the poorest and most vulnerable people to adapt to unavoidable changes must be based on objective indicators of countries' historic responsibilities for causing the crisis, and their capabilities to confront it.

The Poznan climate talks must mark a turning point in international negotiations, switching from analysis and discussion to full negotiation mode. For the sake of people and the planet there is no more time to lose.

Climate Wrongs and Human Rights

mborum — 2009-05-28T21:46:01Z

In failing to tackle climate change with urgency, rich countries are effectively violating the human rights of millions of the world's poorest people. Continued excessive greenhouse-gas emissions primarily from industrialized nations are—with scientific certainty—creating floods, droughts, hurricanes, sea-level rise, and seasonal unpredictability. The result is failed harvests, disappearing islands, destroyed homes, water scarcity, and deepening health crises, which are undermining millions of peoples' rights to life, security, food, water, health, shelter, and culture. Such rights violations could never truly be remedied in courts of law. Human-rights principles must be put at the heart of international climate-change policy making now, in order to stop this irreversible damage to humanity's future.