The most striking thing about my first visit to Pakistan was the contradiction between an almost total lack of women in public spaces, high rates of violence against women, a government structure increasingly committed to promoting de facto gender equality and my interactions with so many extremely confident, politically astute women.
Oxfam GB and the Aurat Foundation are trying to bridge this gap via a Raising Her Voice... Read more
Somalia has gone through periods of being ignored by the international community and then subjected to intense interference. In the absence of a functioning national government for two decades, Somalis have tried various ways to organise the country. But sadly, so far these efforts have been overshadowed by conflict and power struggles at the national level, in which the interests of most Somalis have been disregarded.
On top of... Read more
As the great and the good prepare to gather at the snow-capped mountains of Davos for the World Economic Forum, a vital question sits on the agenda that holds the potential to transform the lives of the world's poorest people. That question, as Lee Howell, Managing Director for the Centre for Global Events at the World Economic Forum puts it, is how do we ensure growth that is, "Sustainable... equitable and... inspiring for future
... Read more
I was in Haiti at the end of 2009, working with a team on a mid-term evaluation of a country-wide dairy program that Oxfam had funded for several years.
Women and men were provided with a cow by a local organization, and each day's milk was supplied to a local dairy which paid a fair price for a steady supply. This programme, with input from Oxfam and other INGOS, was one of very few grassroots endeavours intended to strengthen... Read more
The latest edition of the Gender & Development journal (G&D), is a special issue focusing on citizenship. It includes articles from all regions of the world, providing development and humanitarian workers with an array of case studies and points of view on gender and citizenship.
One of the lovely things about my job as editor of G&D is the opportunity to learn about a hot topic from encounters with feminist activists... Read more
I've been privileged to be in the Arab region during the uprisings and revolutions in what has been called the Arab Spring. I've mingled with hundreds of thousands protesting for their rights, conquering decades of fear, when for most such expression never went further than the dinner table; witnessed grown men crying in street cafes on the day they saw the downfall of their dictator; women finding themselves shaking their fists in public... Read more
A big change for our education programme in Vietnam started two years ago. We made the decision to move our programme's focus from building teachers' capacity for using child-centred methodologies (CCM) to promoting social accountability in the education sector of Vietnam.
CCM differs from traditional teaching in Vietnam in that it focuses on the needs of the students and encourages children to develop their own voice in an enabling... Read more
There are many silver bullets currently being offered in East Africa to prevent the current crisis from happening again: DRR, irrigated agriculture, reduction in grain prices, better early warning, contingency planning, conflict resolution, cutting green house gas emissions.
Obviously the roots of the Somalia crisis - the inability to establish a government and ensure stability - must not be overshadowed. However of the 13... Read more