Charity: Recent submissions
Now showing items 41-47 of 47
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Social Assistance and Successful Advocacy in Georgia: A social protection case studyThis case study provides information about Oxfam's social protection project that began in Georgia in 2005. Oxfam worked with the Association of Young Economists of Georgia (AYEG) to gather information about household poverty levels, and to advocate for change in the government’s social aid system. This system - income support (cash transfers) and free health care – was previously failing to reach some of the country’s poorest people. Through monitoring, research and advocacy, AYEG and Oxfam were able to influence social policy, and as a result, the poorest and most vulnerable people’s access to state benefits. Adjustments were made to the scoring methodology, as a consequence of this work, which resulted in an additional 34,000 families being included in the national social assistance system.
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Women's Collective Action: Findings and recommendationsIn this final briefing, we highlight key findings and recommendations from Phase III of the Researching Women's Collective Action (WCA) project, and share information on stakeholder events in the three focus countries. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was undertaken in one sub-sector per country: honey in Ethiopia, vegetables in Tanzania and shea butter in Mali. The findings provide answers to some important questions: How do women smallholders benefit from collective action? How do groups help women overcome market barriers? Which women participate in collective action and who is excluded? Which strategies are most helpful to ensure benefits to women farmers? The findings will help development practitioners to improve strategies of support to smallholder farmers and to influence others. The WCA project was launched in December 2009 by Oxfam, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The research was conducted in three phases, and gathered much needed evidence on how collective action can improve women smallholders’ incomes, strengthen their assets and increase their empowerment. The project also convened key stakeholders in dialogues to improve strategies and policies to support effective WCA in agricultural markets.
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Managing Water Locally: An essential dimension of community water developmentCommunities are frequently excluded from important aspects of environmental management. But they can play a fundamental role in the management of common pool resources such as water. This is particularly true when state capacity is weak or when communities remain on the periphery of support from any government. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) has been widely promoted over the last two decades as a solution for nations’ resources. Yet, managing water resources at a global or state level can be over-ambitious and unrealistic, particularly when many developing countries have weak regulating institutions and limited technical and financial capacity. There is a need to redefine the mechanism for water resource management – giving greater respect to the needs, priorities and possibilities of different countries and contexts. There is potential to develop creative and realistic options for water resource management, particularly at local geographical scales, involving water users. This report explores how local water resources can be managed successfully by community-based institutions in support of state-level initiatives, where they exist. It follows 12 months of close collaboration between the Institute of Civil Engineers, Oxfam GB and WaterAid, who are jointly promoting Community-Based Water Resource Management. ‘...the potential for monitoring and managing water resources at local or community level should be better acknowledged. In particular, traditional water management practices must be recognised and used as a foundation for the development of future water management strategies.’ Sir Crispin Tickell.
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Climate Change Liability: Transnational law and practiceAs frustration mounts in some quarters at the perceived inadequacy or speed of international action on climate change and as the likelihood of significant impacts grows, the focus is increasingly turning to liability for climate change damage. Actual or potential climate change liability implicates a growing range of actors, including governments, industry, businesses, non-governmental organisations, individuals and legal practitioners. Climate Change Liability provides an objective, rigorous and accessible overview of the existing law and the direction it might take in seventeen developed and developing countries and the European Union. In some jurisdictions, the applicable law is less developed and less the subject of current debate. In others, actions for various kinds of climate change liability have already been brought, including high profile cases such as Massachusetts vs. Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. Each chapter explores the potential for and barriers to climate change liability in private and public law. For more information or to purchase a copy of this book online, go to www.cambridge.org/climateliability/. Cambridge University Press also has a microsite on climate change featuring a number of their titles: http://www.cambridge.org/features/climatechange/
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A Little Gender Handbook for Emergencies or Just Plain Common SenseOxfam believes that equality is most effectively approached by changing the unequal relations of men and women to one another. Emergency response is always conducted with the long-term goal of gender equality in mind. Recognising and responding to gender differences is an important step in improving the quality of emergency aid and 'The The Little Gender Handbook for Emergencies' includes a number of helpful checklists for conducting a gender-aware response.
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Be Outraged: There are alternativesAn international group of economists and social scientists argue in this book that austerity is bad economics, bad arithmetic, and ignores the lessons of history. They are outraged at the narrow range of austerity policies which are bringing so many people around the world to their knees, especially in Europe. ‘Be Outraged’ argues that austerity measures and cutbacks are reducing growth and worsening poverty and that there are alternatives – for Britain, Europe and all countries that currently imagine that government cutbacks are the only way out of debt.
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From Poverty to Power, 2nd Edition: How active citizens and effective states can change the worldSeismic events have convulsed global markets since 2008, when From Poverty to Power was first published. World news has been full of stories reflecting a profound sense of uncertainty about global futures. In response, this new edition of From Poverty to Power has been fully revised and now includes an in-depth analysis of the human impact of the global financial and food crises. From Poverty to Power, 2nd Edition argues that a radical redistribution of power, opportunities, and assets, rather than traditional models of charitable or government aid, is required to break the cycle of poverty and inequality. Active citizens and effective states are driving this transformation. Why active citizens? Because people living in poverty must have a voice in deciding their own destiny and holding the state and the private sector to account. Why effective states? Because history shows that no country has prospered without a state structure that can actively manage the development process. There is now an added urgency: climate change. We need to build a secure, fair, and sustainable world within the limits set by scarce resources and ecological realities. The book is accompanied by a list of blog resources.The From Poverty to Power blog played a key role in shaping the second edition of the book.Selected posts have now been indexed thematically to create an effective list of background material that can be read alongside the book.
