Deconstructing this year’s Oxfam Davos report – what makes it so good?

January 20, 2022
I know this is the week of Blue Monday, when we are all supposed to feel at our most miserable, but I’m not feeling it – this is the time of year when I am proudest of working for Oxfam, because of its annual Davos report. For several years now, this has focussed on inequality, and I honestly think (though
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Davos, Inequality and Covid: Oxfam on Beating back the Billionaire Variant

January 18, 2022
It’s Davos time again, and here’s Oxfam’s Anthony Kamande introducing its latest blockbuster report. In the informal settlement area of Kawangware in Nairobi, my good friend Joe is quarantining in his small room after contracting COVID-19, for the second time now. He is a nurse in one of the private hospitals in the city. The contact-intensive nature of his job
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Feminist Protests and Politics in a World in Crisis

January 6, 2022
The latest issue of Gender and Development just dropped, and it’s on ‘Feminist Protests and Politics in a World in Crisis’ (Open Access). With academic journals, I must confess, I rarely read beyond the overview/introduction, but there’s some excellent and (to me at least) new insights in this one, by Sohela Nazneen and Awino Okech. Some of the extracts that
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9 Great lectures/panels for you to catch up on over Christmas (or any other time) – see you next year

December 16, 2021
We’ve had a cracking series of lectures and discussions on our Friday afternoon LSE ‘Cutting Edge Issues in Development Thinking and Practice’ series, so I thought I’d post some links to the youtube videos and podcasts for those who are looking for some escape from the family Christmas (or otherwise just need some good brainfood). Grouping a bit by subject
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World Inequality Report 2022: a treasure trove of trends and new data

December 15, 2021
The World Inequality Report 2022 came out recently, and it’s a total gold mine, as you’d expect from a summary of the work of over 100 researchers over 4 years from every corner of the globe (OK, I know globes don’t have corners, but cut me some slack here – I’m clinging on til the Christmas break). Here are some
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Queer existence is resistance: Understanding the rising tide of COVID-related LGBTQIA+ discrimination as gender-based violence

December 8, 2021
Guest post from Oxfam’s Helen Wishart What do LGBTQIA+ rights have to do with gender-based violence? Well, a lot actually. Think about it. Patriarchal culture exists on the basis of an assumed gender binary that reinforces a power dynamic. Man/Woman: Man>Woman. Relationships between men and women are socially defined in relation to each other, reinforcing the binary through compulsory heterosexuality.
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How Getting Organized has helped Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities

December 2, 2021
Ahead of tomorrow’s International Day of People With Disabilities, Jessie Meaney-Davis summarizes new research on the impact of the pandemic. People with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and not only because of the risks associated with underlying health conditions. The Disability Inclusion Helpdesk’s new report explains how the exclusion of Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs)
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When Two Pandemics Collide. How the HIV community has shown resilience, innovation and agency in the time of COVID-19

December 1, 2021
On World AIDS day, Ian Hodgson and Marina Schkot introduce a new study by Frontline AIDS. For the estimated 38 million people living with HIV, COVID-19 has meant one pandemic overlaid on another. The interaction between the two pandemics, and how the HIV community has responded, provide important lessons for the future. Sex workers, people who use drugs, adolescent girls
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Can the COVID victims of child marriage get accountability?

November 30, 2021
With schools closed and families feeling the pinch of inflation and lost income, UNICEF estimates that the pandemic has put an additional 10 million girls at risk of early marriage. Shaheen Anam of the Manusher Jonno Foundation, a Bangladeshi organization that has supported over 200 human rights and civil society groups in the last 20 years, explains why COVID-19 has
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Featured image for “30 years and counting: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in our COVID-19 world”

30 years and counting: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in our COVID-19 world

November 26, 2021
Amina Hersi, Charlotte Becker and Florence Ogola introduce Oxfam’s new paper on the ‘dual crises’ of Covid and GBV. First published on the Oxfam International blog. Women, girls, trans and non-binary people have always faced the horrific and sometimes lethal consequences of gender-based violence in our societies, throughout history, in all countries, and in all walks of life. Even before
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Featured image for “Do you want to get serious about the Care Economy? If so, read this (and if not, why not?)”

Do you want to get serious about the Care Economy? If so, read this (and if not, why not?)

October 27, 2021
Amber Parkes, Anam Parvez Butt, Marion Sharples and Vivian Schwarz-Blum talks us through an important new advocacy tool – the Care Policy Scorecard Everything gets a rating these days: apps, hotels, Uber journeys. And everyone wants that five-star rating. But what about government policies that affect people’s lives? What if we could rate them too, according to how impactful and
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Featured image for “Women, Voice and Power, Oxfam’s new paper on ‘transformative feminist leadership’ + a minor beef on adjectives”

Women, Voice and Power, Oxfam’s new paper on ‘transformative feminist leadership’ + a minor beef on adjectives

October 12, 2021
Women, Voice and Power, Oxfam’s new paper on ‘transformative feminist leadership’ exemplifies why I love working for NGOs, but also why it can get a bit irksome, especially if you’re a wordsmith. Let’s start with the good stuff. The 7 page Exec Sum (the full report weighs in at 45 pages) is stuffed full with great literature summaries, case studies,
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