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Fit for the Future? Development trends and the role of international NGOs

June 9, 2015

How is our understanding of development changing? What are the implications of these changes, whether practical or conceptual, for the future role of international non-government organizations (NGOs)?This short paper summarizes the main global trends in international development and then examines some pressing questions for international NGOs. It highlights the folly of simple, linear interventions and the merits of alternative approaches, such as bringing together stakeholders to find joint solutions (convening and brokering), or rapid iteration based on fast feedback and adaptation.For Oxfam, this new thinking would mean relinquishing a command-and-control approach across all aspects of its work in favour of embracing a systems approach.

What Can Governments Do To Empower Poor People?

November 18, 2013

Whether guaranteeing access to justice, promoting norms of equality and respect, ensuring access to quality essential services, or supporting citizens' organization and voice, governments can play an important role in the empowerment of poor and excluded groups and individuals. Reviewing dozens of case studies, along with the latest conceptual work on empowerment, this paper shows that states can draw on a vast repertoire of tools, research and practical experience, in pursuit of such goals.

How Can a Post-2015 Agreement Drive Real Change? Revised Edition: The political economy of global commitments

October 26, 2012

What are the lessons of the Millennium Development Goals process to date? What has been their impact on aid and national government decision making? This paper seeks to inform the post-2015 debate by examining these questions. It argues that leverage over national governments and civil society involvement will increasingly eclipse leverage on aid as the determining factor of post-2015 success and discusses how alternative international instruments can achieve such traction. The paper has been revised after online discussion of a draft version. This is a discussion paper, intended to provoke reflection and debate, and does not represent Oxfam policy positions. The authors welcome further comments - email research@oxfam.org.uk

What Happened at the G20? Initial analysis of the London summit

November 8, 2010

G20 leaders met for the second time in London on 2 April, as the global economic crisis began to crash across the borders of poor countries with ever-greater severity. Oxfam's research shows rising human impacts in the shape of job losses, falling remittances to the families of migrant workers and a particularly severe impact on women workers in global supply chains. Based on the latest forecasts, published on the eve of the summit, Oxfam estimates that the crisis could push 100 million people into poverty in 2009 alone.

Kicking Down the Door: How upcoming WTO talks threaten farmers in poor countries

November 3, 2010

Millions of poor farmers in developing countries cannot earn a living because of cheap, often dumped, food imports. The world's most important basic food, rice, shows the seriousness of the problem. Rich countries have long used the IMF and World Bank, and aggressive bilateral trade deals, to push open the door of poor countries' markets to a flood of cheap rice, including heavily subsidised rice from the US. Now rich countries plan to use the binding rules of the WTO to kick that door down altogether. But trade rules must promote development, not undermine it. Any new WTO deal must ensure that poor countries can regulate trade to promote food security and rural livelihoods.

A Just and Global Green New Deal

October 29, 2010

Our global responses to the recession and climate change are inextricably linked. Political and policy decisions in the next ten months on the recession and on climate change will define whether our planet and its people are heading for a brighter future of prosperity and climate security, or a future of inequality, poverty, conflict, and destructive climate change. If governments round the world respond appropriately, the twin economic and climate crises could prove a profound and catalysing turning point in moving to a more just, equal and sustainable world. A just and global green new deal could be both an economic and a political turning point that will mark the start of a new era.

Blood on the Floor: How the rich countries have squeezed development out of the WTO Doha negotiations

October 29, 2010

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 jeopardise 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.

A Copper-Bottomed Crisis? The impact of the global economic meltdown on Zambia

September 28, 2010

The global economic crisis is having a serious impact on Zambia. In international trade, Zambia is a one-product economy. Copper accounts for some 70% of its exports, and prices have collapsed. If they stay at their current level, exports will halve in 2009. The most immediate social impact has been the loss of some 5,000 out of a total of some 30,000 mining jobs. Based the author's interviews with a number of international donors, government officials, economists, and civil society organizations in Lusaka this paper documents impacts on Zambia's trade and financial sectors as a result of the global economic crisis. It reflects on the how the Zambian government has limited options to deal with the crisis and considers what the implications of this are to other institutions, both Zambian and international.

Gleneagles: What Really Happened at the G8 Summit?

July 29, 2005

The G8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland, from 7-8 July 2005, was a time of high drama, hope, and disappointment. A series of reports published prior to the summit, including the reports of the Commission for Africa and the UN Millennium Project, underlined the fact that without immediate and sustained action by the richest countries, poverty would continue to claim millions of lives and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015 would not be met.

Socially Responsible Investment and International Development: A Guide For Trustees and Fund Managers

May 1, 2001

This toolkit aims to help UK pension scheme trustees understand more about SRI and how they might integrate SRI into their scheme's long term investment strategy. The toolkit provides trustees with: best practice first steps for different types of pension scheme; potential next steps; and 'how to do it' guides on SRI, ranging from developing high level policy to fund manager selection and assessment. Additional on line resources are included.