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Impact Evaluation of Zimbabwe Cyclone Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP) Chipinge 2024
No full textThis evaluation assessed the impact of Oxfam’s response to the devastating impacts of Cyclone Idai on human lives after its destruction of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in Zimbabwe’s Chipinge District (Manicaland Province). Oxfam’s response involved developing solar–powered piped water schemes; rehabilitating boreholes; protecting springs; constructing institutional and household latrines, and; promoting improved hygiene practices and community disaster risk management. Issues such as reduced risks of gender-based violence, reduced risks of child labour, increased school attendance and reduced incidences of WASH related infections are discussed in this report
A Vision for a Just Scotland: How the Scottish Parliament can fight injustice and inequality while protecting people and planet
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This report outlines Oxfam Scotland's priorities for the Scottish Parliament in the run-up to and following the Scottish election in May 2026. It sets out 40 ambitious but achievable policy goals, using devolved powers, across four pillars of justice: Economic, Social, Climate and Global. Each pillar is vital to building a fairer Scotland in a fairer world, and progress in one depends on action in all. Together, they form both a call to action now and a blueprint for the next Scottish Parliament.
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Seeds of change: cultivating feminist leadership in the co-operatives of the MENA region
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This paper examines women’s leadership in local group governance in Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon, highlighting rural co-operatives as key spaces for socioeconomic participation and agency. Based on interviews and focus groups with a total of 917 participants (688 women and 170 men co-operative members, and 59 officials), the study identifies major barriers to women’s leadership, including financial limitations, lack of training, gender stereotypes, and exclusion from policy processes. Despite these obstacles, women-led co-operatives foster economic independence, collective agency, and more-inclusive governance. However, their impact is constrained by normative and policy environments where gender-sensitive governance remains weak. Using Morocco as a case study, the research evaluates targeted interventions – capacity strengthening, theatre forum, and governance workshops – that have enhanced women’s leadership and shifted local perceptions. The study calls for multi-level reforms to expand access to resources and training, challenge restrictive norms, and strengthen co-operation between co-operatives, authorities, and international actors. Empowering women’s grassroots leadership can catalyse broader sociopolitical transformation and advance gender equality across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
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Feminist transformative leadership for health equity in the Asia Pacific region
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Gender equality is central to achieving health and well-being for all. Despite global commitments, no country is on track to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, including goals on good health and gender equality. Polycrises and escalating anti-gender and anti-rights movements are further intensifying pressures on health systems, which are struggling to cope with resource constraints, rising health demands, and widening inequities. Addressing these complex challenges within and beyond health systems requires a fundamental shift in leadership principles, values, and practices, moving beyond gender identity. Transformative feminist leadership embodies a dynamic and inclusive approach that seeks to challenge and dismantle unequal power structures and entrenched gender inequalities within individuals and organisational cultures to promote health equity. As such, there is a renewed urgency to critically examine and identify best practices of successful feminist leadership and document transferable lessons that can be adapted to other contexts. This paper illustrates what transformative feminist leadership means and why it matters in different contexts in the Asia Pacific region, drawing on five interviews with feminist leaders from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Their insights offer valuable perspectives on transformative feminist leadership, challenging existing paradigms and advocating for systemic change to advance health equity in the region. The paper concludes by outlining steps to move towards institutionalising leadership based on transformative and feminist values to ensure sustainability and social change.
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Green, Fair and Caring: A feminist roadmap for Wales
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This report contributes to a global vision for a green new deal by grounding it in the Welsh context. It recognises that the economic and climate crises are deeply interconnected as interlocking consequences of unjust systems—patriarchy, neoliberalism, and extractive economics—that exploit people while degrading the environment. Within this, the undervaluing of care—both paid and unpaid—illustrates how these systems rely on exploitation while failing to sustain the very foundations of our societies. A just transition must therefore be feminist: tackling inequality at its roots, revaluing care as essential social infrastructure, and ensuring no one is left behind.
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Women Engagement Strategy: A case study of Female Food Heroes (FFH) Ethiopia’s Program
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This evaluation of Oxfam’s Female Food Heroes (FFH) Initiative in Ethiopia highlights the critical yet underrecognized role of rural women farmers, who contribute up to 70% of household food production but remain marginalized in policies, services, and decision-making. Since 2012, the FFH Award has celebrated outstanding women farmers, providing them with visibility, leadership training, and platforms for policy advocacy. The program has significantly boosted women’s self-confidence, diversified their livelihoods, and strengthened their capacity to demand more inclusive agricultural policies. Alumni have become role models and advocates, influencing community attitudes and securing some commitments from policymakers.
Despite these achievements, the study reveals persistent challenges. Weak regional platforms, limited resources, over-reliance on government implementers, and entrenched cultural norms have constrained collective action and long-term policy impact. The absence of robust monitoring systems and sustainable funding also limits the program’s effectiveness. Addressing these gaps is essential to ensure that recognition translates into structural change for smallholder women farmers.
The report calls for stronger partnerships with government, civil society, and the private sector; greater investment in capacity building, alumni networks, and gender-transformative approaches; and more systematic use of research and media to influence policy. Expanding the number of awardees, diversifying funding, and institutionalizing alumni platforms will be crucial to sustain the momentum. Ultimately, the FFH Initiative demonstrates that empowering women in agriculture is not only a matter of equity but also a pathway to food security, economic growth, and gender justice in Ethiopia.
This report is one of two evaluation studies conducted on the Female Food Heroes (FFH) Programme, designed to assess its strategies, achievements, challenges, and opportunities. Together, these evaluations provide evidence and lessons to inform the sustainability and future development of the initiative across the wider programme. You can find the study on Nigeria here and a synthesis report of the two case studies here. 
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From the fringes to the forefront: Refugee leadership within Uganda’s humanitarian coordination mechanisms
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This briefing note examines refugee leadership in humanitarian coordination in Uganda, a country widely recognised for its progressive refugee policies and its leadership in promoting refugee participation. Uganda’s legal framework provides a strong foundation for inclusion, although gaps remain in practice due to barriers such as limited funding, information gaps, and language challenges. This can hinder meaningful engagement – especially for women, young people and people with disabilities. However, a number of well-established and steadily strengthening practices are evident, including the creation of RLO networks and platforms such as the Refugee Engagement Forum.
To achieve a more effective and locally led response, this paper calls for inclusive coordination structures, direct funding and policy reforms that recognize and empower refugee leadership as a core part of humanitarian action.
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Ethical Content Guidelines: Upholding the rights of the people in the pictures in content gathering, management and use
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These guidelines cover the gathering of content, the management of content, and the use of content by Oxfam for its public engagement work. The main purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that content is gathered, managed and used ethically, in ways that uphold contributors’ rights to participate and be heard, to experience respect and dignity, to make free and informed decisions, and to be protected from risk and harm. The guidelines also cover Oxfam’s commitments to audiences and to the staff and others involved in story gathering.
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Innovative Pathways: When and how to use alternative approaches to Human Rights Impact Assessments
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Human rights violations are widespread across global supply chains, with companies increasingly exposed to risks like forced labor and environmental degradation. While audits and certifications have proven insufficient in preventing such abuses, a more robust approach is necessary. A Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) is an essential tool that helps businesses identify and assess human rights risks by engaging directly with affected rightsholders. This process is becoming more critical, especially with new regulations like the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which mandates comprehensive human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) for large companies starting in 2027.
To make the HRIA process more efficient, some companies are exploring alternatives like joint HRIAs, sector-wide impact assessments, and rapid assessments. Joint HRIAs allow companies to share resources and expertise, especially when they source from the same suppliers or regions, while sector-wide assessments provide a broader view of industry-wide impacts. Rapid assessments are a faster alternative, focused on urgent or well-documented issues.
Regardless of the approach, companies must adhere to key criteria to ensure effectiveness: selecting appropriate targets, engaging rightsholders meaningfully, addressing root causes, ensuring transparency, and committing to action. These principles ensure that the assessment process is thorough and leads to real, lasting improvements in human rights practices. Cutting corners in the due diligence process is not an option.
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The Community Resilience Fund: a transformative tool for grassroots women-led community resilience
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This article discusses a field-tested financial mechanism developed by the Huairou Commission, the CRF resources grassroots women’s organisations across the Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions to build their collective leadership, analyse climate and disaster risks, prioritise actions, publicly demonstrate resilience practices, and collaborate with the government to institutionalise or scale up effective solutions.
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