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Humanitarian

At a glance

Providing clean water, food, cash, sanitation, and protection to those most affected by crises, and advocating for change to the underlying systems that cause them

Facing a world with intensifying challenges, we are committed to responding across short term humanitarian relief, longer-term social change, and peacebuilding so that people can enjoy the full spectrum of human rights. These combined approaches are needed to tackle the systemic inequalities that trap people in poverty and expose them to risk.

Working in close relationship with local partners and communities, together we protect lives and help those at risk plan for, withstand, and recover from emergencies. By continually learning from others, adapting our practice, and sharing our experience and innovations we aim to influence policies across the global humanitarian sector and beyond.

Our evidence-led humanitarian approach is based on four pillars.

Feminist principles: Our commitment to feminist leadership and practices is aimed at transforming the ways in which we understand and redistribute power.

Local humanitarian leadership: We aim to enable, support, and facilitate the work of local actors and their networks as they shape disaster management programs, advocate for change, and shift into roles of greater power and responsibility.

Safe programming: We analyse the existing and potential risks people may face throughout our humanitarian responses. This includes being conflict sensitive, preventing or reducing the risks of gender-based violence, prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, as well as upholding humanitarian principles.

Community engagement: Communities in crisis are the central actors in their own survival and need to be in charge of their own recovery. We work to help them address the inequalities that create and increase the risk of conflict and disaster, listening to their concerns, and building on their knowledge and capacities. We proactively seek out feedback from the communities we work with and use their suggestions to adapt our work to meet evolving needs.

Case study

Barriers to Reporting Misconduct: Understanding power, intersectionality and context

18/08/2023

4 documents

31 pages long

Languages: Arabic, English, French

Keywords

Overview

This report concludes Oxfam’s research project on Factors Influencing Misconduct Reporting, which began in 2019–20 by identifying specific barriers in Myanmar, Iraq and Ghana. To test the integration of recommendations from this research, Oxfam then conducted two pilot projects in Iraq and Ghana from May 2021 to September 2022. Oxfam in Iraq focused on survivors’ […]

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Briefing paper

Transforming the Systems that Contribute to Fragility and Humanitarian Crises: Programming across the triple nexus

15/07/2021

4 documents

24 pages long

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

Conflicts and shocks linked to climate change are more frequent and intense, leading to poverty and inequality, exacerbating these phenomena and people’s vulnerability. In this context, humanitarian relief, development programmes and peacebuilding are not serial processes; they are all needed at the same time to tackle the systemic inequalities that trap people in poverty and […]

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Research report

Local Humanitarian Leadership: The View from Local Actors

26/05/2021

1 documents

39 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

The global call for localization and locally led emergency response acknowledges the reality that the humanitarian system is currently organized around international actors. More than the limited access to direct funding, the core issue is the power imbalance between local and international actors. In the Philippines, national and local networks of humanitarian, faith-based, developmental organizations […]

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Research report

The State of Local Humanitarian Leadership: A learning report on a series of LHL online convenings held in Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, the Pacific, and West Africa

26/05/2022

1 documents

38 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

From May 2021 to January 2022, Oxfam, in partnership with Sejajar Indonesia, the Tamdeen Youth Foundation in Yemen, and the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC) in Palestine, convened a total of 10 learning series through online convenings on local humanitarian leadership (LHL). Approximately 450 people participated, of whom 60% were from local and national NGOs […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Oxfam and Protection: A guidance note (2022 update)

22/06/2022

3 documents

12 pages long

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

This guidance note outlines Oxfam’s understanding of protection within humanitarian responses, and the framework it uses for field-based protection work. It goes on to describe the main modes of action Oxfam uses in its work to bring about greater protection for civilians in conflict and disasters, including community-based protection, advocacy and campaigning work.

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Guidelines and toolkits

Resources for Community Engagement in WASH

21/05/2020

2 documents

4 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

The overall aim of Oxfam’s WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) response in emergencies is to minimize public health risks in relation to water, sanitation and hygiene. This means working more directly with a wide range of people affected by the crisis to better understand them, to motivate them to make positive behaviour changes, and to […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

From Participation to Leadership: A resource pack on community-based protection

17/09/2021

7 documents

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

This narrative paper accompanies the Resource Pack on Community-Based Protection. It gives an overview of how the different resources fit into the programme cycle, laying out the main points of each step, and providing links to all of the resources in the pack. The document covers topics such as advocacy, authority engagement, capacity strengthening, community […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Shining a Light: How lighting in or around sanitation facilities affects the risk of gender-based violence in camps

21/12/2018

10 documents

24 pages long

Languages: English, French

Keywords

Overview

Camps are places of refuge for people fleeing conflict and disaster, but they can be dangerous, especially for women and girls. In their first months, many camps rely on communal sanitation facilities – a quick and cost-effective way of meeting immediate needs and minimizing public health risks until a better solution can be developed. In […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Lighting, Gender and Safety in Emergencies

17/11/2020

12 documents

6 pages long

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

Camps and informal settlements are supposed to be places of refuge and safety for people fleeing conflict and disaster, but they can be dangerous, especially for women and girls. A lack of lighting makes people feel unsafe, especially when they first arrive in a new place and neighbours are strangers. Lighting makes people feel safer […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Oxfam Minimum Standards for Gender in Emergencies

29/11/2013

1 documents

6 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

These standards were originally developed for Oxfam staff to ensure a consistent approach to promoting gender equality in Oxfam’s humanitarian programming. They are provided here as a tool for humanitarian programme practitioners and as part of our commitment to transparency, sharing good practice and improving quality across the sector. These standards should be referred to […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Market-Based Programming: What’s it all about?

04/02/2020

4 documents

9 pages long

Languages: Arabic, English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

Before, during and after a crisis hits, communities around the world are buying and selling. Markets are places where these buyers and sellers come together to exchange goods and services. In the aftermath of a disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane, markets often bounce back and can supply goods and services before humanitarian agencies […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Group Cash Transfer (GCT) Fact Sheet

27/01/2023

1 documents

1 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

This factsheet describes how the Group Cash Transfer (GCT) approach seeks to transfer power to crisis-affected populations or community groups by transferring cash directly to selected groups and enabling them to respond to their needs and priorities. It emphasizes on how GCTs facilitate a shift away from sectoral silos and support both cross-cutting agendas and […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Delivering Better together: Standard Operating Procedures for Oxfam’s Approach to Cash and Voucher Assistance

06/07/2022

3 documents

204 pages long

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Cash and voucher assistance

Overview

Cash and voucher assistance (CVA) puts people at the centre of responses and enables Oxfam and other humanitarian actors to think differently and deliver better. CVA is now widely accepted by the humanitarian community as a tool to deliver greater choice, flexibility, and empowerment to those affected by crisis, while strengthening local markets and systems. […]

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Photo captions and credit

Oxfam, together with partners in Turkiye and Syria working to reach nearly 2 million people affected by the quake with aid and support. Tineke D’haese/Oxfam

Humanitarian

At a glance

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Photo captions and credit