Search

The next 12 months will be critical for the future of Sudan. As the country marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a devastating civil war, southern Sudan has seen a major upsurge in violence. In 2009, some 2,500 people were killed and 350,000 fled their homes. With landmark elections and a referendum on the horizon, the peace deal is fragile and the violence likely to escalate even further unless there is urgent international engagement. Southern Sudan is one of the least-developed regions in the world. Its poverty, combined with limited government and aid agency capacity to respond to emergencies and deliver development, exacerbates the potential for renewed conflict. The people of southern Sudan have shown extraordinary resilience to emerge from decades of war. If they are to have hope for the future, they urgently need development and protection from violence. Sudan faces many interlocking challenges, but if the international community acts now, they are surmountable.

Decades of faltering public commitment to investing in agriculture has hindered farmers’ ability to cope with price volatility, climatic and economic shocks, or to pull themselves out of poverty. Yet donors and governments must see investing in agriculture as part of the long-term solution to the food, financial, and climate crises. Global agricultural growth and rural livelihoods cannot be improved nor poverty reduced without renewed public commitment to invest more, and more wisely in agriculture. Investments must include the forgotten poor people who live in marginalized areas, be context specific, demand-driven, participatory, and promote sustainable rural livelihoods through environmentally sustainable and empowering practices that treat men’s and women’s needs equitably.

Armed violence is the greatest threat facing Iraqis, but the population is also experiencing another kind of crisis of an alarming scale and severity. Eight million people are in urgent need of emergency aid; that figure includes over two million who are displaced within the country, and more than two million refugees. Many more are living in poverty, without basic services, and increasingly threatened by disease and malnutrition. Despite the constraints imposed by violence, the government of Iraq, the United Nations, and international donors can do more to deliver humanitarian assistance to reduce unnecessary suffering. If people’s basic needs are left unattended, this will only serve to further destabilise the country.

The quiet advance of trade and investment agreements between rich and poor countries threatens to deny developing countries a favourable foothold in the global economy. Driven by the USA and the European Union, these agreements impose far-reaching rules that place severe restrictions on the very policies developing countries need in order to fight poverty.

The World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016 will take place in a world in which warring parties kill civilians without consequence, and in which El Nino highlights yet again the rising tide of disasters affected by climate change. The Summit also takes place in the shadow of Syria's conflict and the greatest displacement crisis of our age., This briefing sets out Oxfam's challenge to world leaders who fail to resolve conflicts, permit warring parties to ignore International Humanitarian Law, and do everything possible to keep the world's refugees and displaced people from their doors. Oxfam, other NGOs and UN agencies must change too in the face of escalating humanitarian demands - including by giving a greater role and more funding directly to local actors. This briefing sets out Oxfam's own commitments to change.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is organizing a ‘Highlevel meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees’, which will be opened by the United Nations Secretary-General in Geneva on 30 March 2016. Oxfam is calling for the states attending the Geneva conference to collectively commit to offer a safe haven through resettlement or other forms of humanitarian admission to at least 10 percent of the refugee population – the equivalent of 481,220 people – by the end of 2016.

The number of people in need as a result of the conflict in Syria continues to rise, but the international aid response has failed to keep up. The donor conference in London on 4 February 2016 is another opportunity to reverse that trend and put Syrian civilians first. Oxfam is calling for rich states to commit to fully funding this year’s Syria crisis response appeal and to resettle 10 percent of all registered Syrian refugees by the end of 2016., Oxfam has developed indicators to determine the fair level of commitment that each wealthy country should make to the appeals in 2016 to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the Syria crisis.

The arrival of tens of thousands of Syrians to Europe’s borders and the shocking deaths of women, children and men on their perilous journey has been a sharp reminder to the international community of the tragedy engulfing the people of Syria. Syrians put themselves and their families at so much risk only out of sheer desperation., The international community has failed so far to address the spiralling catastrophe in Syria. This briefing calls for urgent and immediate action by the international community to deal with this deepening crisis: to fully fund the aid response; to offer refuge to those who have fled Syria, including through resettlement of a fair share of the refugee population; to halt the transfer of arms and ammunition and to revive concerted efforts towards a resolution of the crisis.

In 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 to uphold women’s rights in conflict and their roles in peace and security. Despite signs of progress, the impact on women’s lives and roles worldwide has been sporadic. This briefing argues that 15 years on, the UN and Member States should use a formal review of the Women, Peace and Security agenda as a crucial opportunity to address key gaps. New commitments should focus on women’s participation, preventing conflict and gender-based violence, monitoring and implementation, and financing.

Oxfam has calculated that nearly half of the world’s top donors didn’t give their fair share of aid to the Syria crisis in 2014, based on the size of their economies., The numbers of people in need as a result of the conflict in Syria continues to rise, but the international humanitarian response has not kept pace. Now, in 2015 aid actors estimate that $8.7bn is needed to support 18 million people in Syria and neighbouring countries. Based on the size of rich countries’ economies, Oxfam has determined what an equitable share of the required funds would look like for each donor state. So far, for 2015, only the UK has pledged its ‘fair share’ ahead of the Kuwait donor conference on 31 March 2015, and overall appeals are only 9.8% funded. The donor conference is an opportunity to reverse this shortfall. Failure to do so will have a devastating effect on millions of civilians in Syria and its neighbouring countries., Oxfam has developed indicators to help guide the fair level of commitment that each wealthy country should make in 2015 to alleviate the suffering of those affected by the Syria crisis: The level of funding each country makes available for the humanitarian response, relative to the size of their economy (based on gross national income); The number of Syrian refugees each country has helped to find safety through offers of resettlement or other forms of humanitarian protection, again based on the size of the economy.

Every year, the Somali diaspora sends home approximately $1.3bn. Remittances account for 25–45 percent of Somalia’s economy and exceed the amount it receives in humanitarian aid, development aid and foreign direct investment combined. As Somali money transfer operators lose their bank accounts, Somali families are losing their only formal or transparent channel through which to send money. Somalia needs long-term support to build sustainable financial institutions, and urgent help to maintain its current remittance flows. This briefing reviews international efforts to facilitate remittances to Somalia and focuses on the US and the UK, where the threat to the Somali remittance system is most acute. It also looks at the uncertain future viability of the Somali remittance industry in Australia.

The Queen 'Mamohato Memorial Hospital in Lesotho was built under a public–private partnership (PPP), which is the first of its kind in a low-income country and has been described as opening a new era for private sector involvement in healthcare in Africa. Instead, the Ministry of Health in one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world is locked into an 18-year contract that already consumes more than half of its health budget. This is a dangerous diversion of scarce public funds from primary healthcare services in rural areas, where three-quarters of the population live., The PPP was developed under the advice of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and is seen as their flagship model to be replicated across Africa. Lesotho’s experience supports international evidence that health PPPs of this kind are high risk and costly, and fail to advance the goal of universal and equitable health coverage. Oxfam argues in this report that the IFC should be held to account for the poor quality of its advice to the Government of Lesotho and for marketing this health PPP as a success internationally, despite its unsustainable costs.

The human cost of Syria’s conflict has risen beyond all expectations. There are already more than 1.3 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. Inside Syria itself, 6.8 million people struggle in urgent need of assistance., This briefing describes how, as the numbers grow, the money to help some of those refugees and displaced people is running out. UN appeals have received only half of the funding they sought – to help far fewer people than they now need to assist. And Oxfam’s humanitarian programme is struggling with insufficient funds to help as much as it needs to, despite the generosity of its supporters and the public., The world has failed to find common purpose to end Syria’s brutal conflict. Shamefully, it has also failed to provide enough aid to help the conflict’s most vulnerable victims. Without a massive increase in aid now, and secured funding for long-term aid, millions of Syrians will miss out on the food, water, shelter and medical care that they desperately need., Donor governments – in the region and the OECD – must urgently give more aid now, and be ready to give more in the longer term as, tragically, the needs increase.

The arms trade is out of control. The irresponsible trade in arms devastates lives and livelihoods and the world can no longer continue turning a blind eye. In July 2012, governments have a historic opportunity to create a strong Arms Trade Treaty that builds a more secure future for all the world’s citizens. The Arms Trade Treaty must have clear, unambiguous language that covers all conventional arms, ammunition, parts and components. It must include robust and legally binding criteria that prevent arms being transferred where there is a substantial risk that they will be used in violation of international human rights or humanitarian law, or will undermine development. The Arms Trade Treaty must have strong measures for transparency and accountability, and an effective implementation and enforcement mechanism. Strong treaties gain new members and set international standards; treaties that start out weak rarely get stronger. Governments must not compromise during the final countdown for the sake of securing universal agreement. Under no circumstances should countries agree to a watered down Treaty that fails to control the arms trade and fails to reduce human suffering. Decades from now, those looking back at July 2012 should be able to judge the Arms Trade Treaty as a defining moment for global peace, development and security.

The poorly regulated global trade in arms and ammunition weakens the ability and willingness of governments to sustain progress in development. It fuels and exacerbates conflicts and armed violence, diverting resources away from poverty reduction activities. Development gains are lost as communities are paralysed: schools are closed, health systems are strained to breaking point, investment is discouraged, and security is undermined. Through a strong focus on development, the Arms Trade Treaty can help prevent serious impediments to development, consolidate regional initiatives to safeguard development, and strengthen national capacity to become ‘treaty-compliant’. With just weeks to go before diplomats meet at the United Nations, ‘Armed Robbery’ makes the case that a specific criteria on development as part of the Arms Trade Treaty, alongside other criteria on human rights and international humanitarian law, is one of the best ways to ensure that arms sales do not have a negative impact on socio-economic development.

Guns are useless without bullets. An Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that does not control ammunition will not achieve its purposes. Ammunition is bigger business than weapons, with twelve billion bullets produced each year – nearly two bullets for every person in the world. The global trade in ammunition for small arms and light weapons is worth more than the trade in firearms and light weapons themselves: an estimated $4.3bn a year. An ATT that does not cover ammunition will fail to achieve what it has set out to do – that is, to help prevent human suffering, armed conflict, and serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. Several countries are arguing that ammunition should be excluded from the ATT. Some of these countries say the sheer volume of trade makes it too difficult to monitor. This would be a colossal mistake. There are already several ways to track ammunition transfers. Inclusion in the ATT would significantly strengthen these mechanisms and the resolve to implement them. Failure would undermine what best practice already exists.

According to new figures, more than $2.2bn worth of arms and ammunition have been imported since 2000 to countries operating under arms embargoes. This figure shows the extent to which states have been flagrantly flouting the 26 UN, regional or multilateral arms embargoes in force during this period. Oxfam is calling on the international community to put an end to decades of irresponsible arms deals which devastate people’s lives by agreeing a set of legally binding laws when diplomats meet to draw up a new Arms Trade Treaty in July 2012. Oxfam wants to see the new treaty place strict, unambiguous and legal obligations on states to control the global trade in arms. To be effective, the new Arms Trade Treaty must include legally binding criteria that prevent arms transfers where there is a substantial risk that they will be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian law or undermine development. The new Arms Trade Treaty must be robust enough to have a genuine impact on the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians suffering from armed violence every single day. This is the chance of a generation to truly make a difference.

In June 2009 the blockade on the Gaza Strip enters its third year. The intense closure policy, coupled with the government of Israel’s recent military operation ‘Cast Lead’, has had a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of one and a half million Gazans, pushing them further into poverty and aid dependency.

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 engagement, community identification, community protection structures, empowerment, information sharing, monitoring and coaching, roles and responsibilities, self-protection outside community protection structures and sensitization., The Resource Pack on Community-Based Protection contains contributions from protection teams at Oxfam and partner organizations African Women and Youth Action for Development (AWYAD), Azul Positivo, Candlelight, Centre de Développement Intégral de l’Enfant Rural (CEDIER), Fundación Mujer y Futuro (FMF), Groupe d’Associations de Défense des Droits de l’Homme et de la Paix (GADHOP), KAALO Aid and Development (KAALO), Qoras, Solidarité pour la Promotion Sociale et la Paix (SOPROP), and Utopia., The objectives of this resource pack are: To provide tools for different steps in the community-based protection (CBP) programming cycle. To provide guidance on the implementation of CBP. To share experiences directly from protection volunteers and members of community protection structures (CPSs), as well as staff from Oxfam and its partner organizations of the different ways CBP is done around the world., This resource pack is intended to be used by staff from humanitarian organizations – local, national and international – working with or planning to work with communities on protection., The pack includes different types of resources: 15 templates: templates and suggested processes for different tasks within CBP that can be adapted to different contexts. 10 examples: tools used in practice by CPSs and staff from organizations contributing to this resource pack. 32 case studies: experiences shared by humanitarian staff, often on a specific aspect of CBP. 8 recommendations: suggestions from humanitarian staff based on their experience and expertise. Narrative: 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.

When the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euro-Med) was announced in Barcelona with a great fanfare in 1995, it was hoped that it would herald a new age in relations between the European Union (EU) and its ten southern Mediterranean partner countries, bringing unprecedented opportunities in the social, economic, and political fields.