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2D
Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- Oxfam commits to ensure all humanitarian responses are informed by an ongoing protection analysis, including analysis of GBV, and that all relevant strategies include actions to prevent and respond to all forms of violence and abuse including GBV (for example through facilitating survivor referrals to specialist and emergency services).
- Operational
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
- Oxfam commits to provide policy staff in each crisis to help influence national governments and others, including on protection.
- Advocacy
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
- Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
- Implement a coordinated global approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in crisis contexts, including through the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
- Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Oxfam's Global Humanitarian Team was only a few months old when preparations for the WHS began. But we have witnessed an erosion of respect for IHL leading to greater protection risks, including GBV, in many contexts where we work as a confederation. This failure to protect civilians and bring peace is driving much of the suffering that refugees, displaced people and migrants face around the world. These commitments were made as essential steps to counter the effects caused by the breakdown of IHL, and to call attention of world leaders of the centrality of IHL to humanitarian work.
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Achievements at a glance
Oxfam participates in a number of global forums that work to increase the integration of protection in humanitarian settings, including as core member of the GBV AOR and Co-chair of the INGO Working Group for the Call to Action GBV Steering Committee. In these capacities, it has begun consultations with GBV specialists to seek ways of providing meaningful referrals in situations where there are few or no services for survivors. It has also developed an outline for a methodology and tool for monitoring and measuring the impact of referrals (note that this is broader than GBV but has a strong GBV component). And a draft matrix has been completed and is being tested in Iraq as the basis for our referral work there.
As part of Oxfam’s crisis response policy staff are recruited to influence at local, national and international levels as appropriate including on protection.
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How is your organization assessing progress
Progress will be measured through the development of indicators and the finalization and socializing of the draft matrix, with specific outcomes, and consultations with GBV specialists. We can also measure progress through an analysis of our response strategies as collected through our Real Time Evaluations, in concrete we can assess whether our analysis and response to protection threats, including GBV, are appropriate and effective.
Policy staffing in crisis response is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure influencing is maintained.
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Challenges faced in implementation
Work on prevention and mitigation is underfunded. Furthermore, the complementary capacity of non-specialist humanitarian organizations in enabling an effective survivor-led response (e.g. through facilitating referrals and access to specialist services) is also significantly under-utilized.
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
As well as sustaining the activities conducted in 2016 to ensure strong protection analysis, including GBV, we will be engaging in discussions with GBV specialists about the role of non-specialists in referrals (GBV and other risks), particularly where there are few or no specialist services.
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability', what would it be
Promote better prevention and response to GBV, ensuring that governments and NGOs deliver on their pledges against the 2013 Call to Action on Protection of Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies, make concrete commitments to implement its Road Map, and fully support the implementation of guidance such as IASC Guidelines for Integrating
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Cross cutting issues
☑Gender
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Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations
☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls
2E
Uphold the rules: a global campaign to affirm the norms that safeguard humanity
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- Oxfam commits to campaign for better monitoring and improved compliance with international humanitarian law in all relevant crises
- Advocacy
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
- Oxfam commits to increase its engagement with national human rights organizations as its partners and contribute to specific campaigns to uphold international humanitarian law.
- Partnership
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Speaking out about grave injustices and violations of humanitarian and international human rights law in crises has been central to Oxfam’s work since our founding in 1942. There has been a shocking erosion of respect for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) on the part of governments and other parties, who are responsible for violations. The failure to protect civilians and bring peace is driving so much of the suffering that refugees, internally displaced people and migrants face around the world. In addition, we believe it is critical to support and amplify the work of national human rights organizations where possible.
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Achievements at a glance
Our focus for increased engagement with national human rights organisations and campaigns to uphold and improve compliance of IHL is held through country level work. For example, through our work in response to the Yemen crisis we have highlighted the impact of IHL violations by all sides to the conflict. Our report "Picking up the Pieces" heard the humanitarian impact of this conflict and what it meant for the lives of Yemeni people.
More broadly, Oxfam as an organisation does not itself run a global campaign on respect for IHL although we seek to support and complement efforts of others.
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How is your organization assessing progress
Through a six monthly monitoring and evaluation reporting system Oxfam International has outlined core indicators to track progress and work on these commitments – in particular how many and the quality of partnerships at national level and progress towards better monitoring and improved compliance with IHL in relevant crises.
In addition to this we will conduct specific evaluations of large set pieces of work on these themes at either mid-point or final point in the campaign process.
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Challenges faced in implementation
The intractability and scale of crises involving IHL makes this a challenging piece of work. Creating change in these areas requires long-term engagement and dedication to the issues which Oxfam remains committed to, however, ultimately respect for IHL is squarely centered on the willingness of parties to a conflict.
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
• National team support to continue building partnerships with national human rights organisations;
• Continue speaking out forcefully when violations of IHL have taken place; and calling for accountability;
• Where appropriate support international campaign movements for adherence to IHL.
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Uphold the rules: a global campaign to affirm the norms that safeguard humanity', what would it be
All governments must end security or military support, including the transfer of arms, that is likely to facilitate or condone violations of International Humanitarian Law and declare support for the "Code of Conduct, regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes" (as elaborated by ACT)
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Cross cutting issues
☑Humanitarian principles ☑ IDPs ☑ Refugees
3A
Reduce and address displacement
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- Oxfam commits to substantially increase its investment in campaigning, along with other civil society organizations, to uphold the rights of displaced people, refugees and migrants, and for all countries to take a fair share of global responsibility for supporting and hosting them. This includes to campaign for concrete commitments by governments on access to livelihoods, work and education and for rich countries to welcome significantly more refugees than they have done to date, in the run up to the UN Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in September 2016 and beyond.
- Advocacy
- Leave No One Behind
- Oxfam will advocate for the integration of protracted displacement and durable solutions in national development plans, including in poverty reduction strategies and UN Development Action Frameworks in line with Agenda 2030, as well as in peace negotiations and agreements.
- Advocacy
- Leave No One Behind
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
- Leave No One Behind
- Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
- Leave No One Behind
- Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
- Leave No One Behind
- Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
- Leave No One Behind
- Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
- Leave No One Behind
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
More than 65 million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes because of violence, persecution and war. This is the largest number ever recorded. Oxfam works in almost 90 countries around the world - alongside women, men, and children from conflict zones in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan and Lake Chad Basin amongst others. These people, among the most vulnerable in the world, have the right to protection and safety which the international community is currently failing to deliver.
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Achievements at a glance
Oxfam delivered a campaign from June to September under the Stand as One banner calling for Governments at the UN summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants to take action – providing a welcome to refugees and IDPs, ensuring dignified futures and for rich countries to do more to support refugee hosting countries financially and through the creation of substantially more safe pathways, including resettlement.
Through this just over 250,000 people took our campaign action. We highlighted specific country contexts, for example the unseen crisis in Lake Chad Basin, as well as ensuring voices from those affected were heard through our policy reports.
We took a convening role within civil society during the negotiations for the New York declaration, supporting the development of civil society statements and responses to Member State positions during negotiations. During the UN summits we supported partners from 5 countries attend proceedings and ac -
How is your organization assessing progress
Following the September peak in campaign activity we conducted an evaluation and review of our tactics in order to influence our longer term campaign strategy. We spent the last six months developing a broader campaign on refugee and migrants’ rights, which will have global calls and regional strategies.
We have developed a new baseline in 2017 to measure future work against and will use a framework of indicators outlined in the campaign strategy to measure progress every six months. Following key moments we will conduct after action reviews and peak achievement reviews as required.
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Challenges faced in implementation
Across the world we are witnessing a rising tide of hostility towards people on the move at all three stages of displacement - from time of movement, in transit and in destination. The cause and intensity of hostility may differ but the end result is the cumulative hostility and hardship that people face irrespective of the original cause of displacement. This is fueled and exploited by some political leaders and media, but is fundamentally driven by an assumption and fear that the arrival of refugees and migrants will challenge social services and values, with associated economic costs, strengthened by prejudice
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
Oxfam has developed a 5 year campaign on displacement and from 2017 will look to implement this at national, regional and global levels. This will include context specific work at country and regional levels as well as speaking out loudly and publicly at the global level to call for fairer, more responsible action from states. We will focus on women’s rights and empowerment, mobilization, responsibility sharing, rights-based approaches to refugee, IDP and migrants’ concerns, and climate-based displacement and migration.
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reduce and address displacement', what would it be
Persecution of individuals and groups must end – nations must stop attacking civilians and their communities. Countries neighbouring conflicts and violence need to keep their borders open ensuring refugees and forced migrants can secure protection and security. Wealthy countries must support countries that shelter refugees when they cross borders, and (...)
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Cross cutting issues
☑IDPs ☑ Refugees
3D
Empower and protect women and girls
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- Oxfam commits to seek to ensure that at least 30 percent of its staff in each crisis are women.
- Policy
- Leave No One Behind
- Oxfam will ensure all humanitarian responses are informed by gender and GBV analysis and include targets and indicators to measure improvements in the situation of women and girls, including adequate training on the Oxfam Gender in Emergencies Minimums Standards and the IASC GBV Guidelines.
- Operational
- Leave No One Behind
Oxfam will increase financial support and level of engagement with women's rights organizations to engage in humanitarian preparedness, response and influencing - beginning with an analysis of Oxfam's current support for women's rights organisations to establish specific markers.
- Financial
- Leave No One Behind
- Oxfam will support women and men in ways that contribute to the transformation of gendered power relations in humanitarian settings.
- Operational
- Leave No One Behind
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Empower Women and Girls as change agents and leaders, including by increasing support for local women's groups to participate meaningfully in humanitarian action.
- Leave No One Behind
- Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
- Leave No One Behind
- Ensure that humanitarian programming is gender responsive.
- Leave No One Behind
- Fully comply with humanitarian policies, frameworks and legally binding documents related to gender equality, women's empowerment, and women's rights.
- Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity Leave No One Behind
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Oxfam knows that gender is the attribute that most persistently predicts poverty and powerlessness and that this is exacerbated during and after emergencies. This is why gender equality is central to our global humanitarian action. Interventions must be planned with gender dynamics in mind to meet the needs of all and to seize an opportunity to support positive change. But preliminary data collection on staff knowledge and use of our gender in emergencies standards shows that there is room for progress; both in our internal processes, structures and behaviours and externally in how we work with partners, particularly women's rights organisations (WRO).
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Achievements at a glance
Oxfam is creating baselines to measure improvements made on these commitments as well as impact on the ground and will report on these in the next annual report.
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How is your organization assessing progress
Oxfam is adapting its reporting tools to include more specific monitoring information on country-specific engagement with, and financial support for, WROs in its humanitarian programmes. Similarly, these monitoring tools will assess whether staff development activities specifically include the Oxfam Gender in Emergencies Minimums Standards and the IASC GBV Guidelines, and whether responses are informed by gender and GBV analyses.
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Challenges faced in implementation
• One of Oxfam’s strength lies in its diversity. However, it can also result in delayed mainstreaming of processes and monitoring of progress at the global, regional and country levels.
• Siloed gender-driven initiatives result in multiple poorly resourced and disjointed efforts to integrate gender and to prevent, mitigate and respond to GBV. A more cohesive integrated approach is being sought which is cross-sectoral.
• Lack of external funding for internal change processes, such as capacity building and those that seek to further internalise gender and GBV in Oxfam culture and across Oxfam ways of working. These require sustai (...) -
Next step to advance implementation in 2017
• Develop SMART indicators
• Baselines and collecting of data
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Empower and protect women and girls', what would it be
Ensure that all humanitarian interventions further gender equality by addressing the strategic, as well as the practical, needs of men, women, boys and girls. Donors should systematically use gender markers, such as the IASC Gender Marker or the Gender-Age Marker in assessing proposals, and monitor implementation against it.
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Cross cutting issues
☑Gender
4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- By 2017, Oxfam will adopt, use and monitor the Core Humanitarian Standard to make humanitarian action more appropriate, effective, and responsive to the needs of people and communities affected by crises.
- Policy
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- By May 2018, Oxfam will promote the role of local actors and acknowledge the work they carry out in communications to the international and national media and to the public.
- Advocacy
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Oxfam commits to endorse and sign on to the Principles of Partnership introduced by the Global Humanitarian Platform in 2007.
- Policy
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Oxfam commits to further involve local partners in the design of programmes from the outset and enable them to participate in decisions and monitoring of Oxfam's programmes and partnership policies.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Oxfam commits to increase cash-based programming, using cash as a preferred option in humanitarian programming, unless it is not appropriate in a specific case. Cash-based programming will include hosting the Cash Learning Partnership, cash-transfer programming and investing in the capacities of national governments to develop cash programming and preparedness, such as safety nets and social protection systems.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Oxfam commits to raise the alarm bell on emerging crises and ensure that voices of affected people and local civil society are brought to centres of power and decision makers.
- Advocacy
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Oxfam commits to use cash as a preferred option in humanitarian programming, unless it is not appropriate in a specific case, including ensuring its increase in cash-transfer programming (CTP) contributes to positive outcomes for women and girls and the advancement of women's rights, including through the use of on-going gender assessments to identify the benefits and potential risks of CTP.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Oxfam endorses the Charter for Change through which it will commit to working with others to enable greater local leadership in humanitarian action.
- Partnership
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
- Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Humanitarian work is achieved most effectively by working through local structures and reinforcing their longer term capacity for emergency response. We believe a strong humanitarian movement is made up of distinct, independent actors whose roles in response will differ, based on their core competencies and comparative advantages in a particular situation. Cash underpins Oxfam’s approach because it reinforces dignity by giving space and capacity to choose, while delivery of aid through market structures increases efficiency. Adopting the CHS standard and Charter4Change - and the associated investment in local organizational capacity development – further add force to Oxfam’s humanitarian approach
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Achievements at a glance
Oxfam has incorporated the CHS in the revised Oxfam Humanitarian Handbook, evaluation guidelines and tools, and has developed a training pack for field visits and training events.
A cash team is being created, and a cash strategy developed, to inform Oxfam's future work and position in the changing cash climate. Oxfam hosts the Cash Learning Partnership, and is engaging with other INGOs to produce more joined-up delivery of CTP.
Oxfam has recruited a Change Manager to support implementation of the Charter for Change commitments, and has set up global mechanisms at senior management level across the confederation to oversee Oxfam’s work aimed at enabling local leadership in humanitarian response. Partners have been invited onto internal governance groups to advise, challenge and support us through this internal change process. Oxfam brought partners to UN summits, facilitated speaking slots and advocacy meetings, and shared their views on Oxfam social media platforms.
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How is your organization assessing progress
Oxfam is revising templates for country level reporting to include more information on CTP and changes in our approach to humanitarian partnerships. To assess knowledge and use levels of the CHS, Oxfam conducted a survey with global team staff and in all evaluative processes, questions are asked around the use of CHS. Indicators to assess early advocacy response on emerging crises, success in bringing voices of local civil society to centers of power, and inclusion of local actor information in our communication with the public and power holders, will form part of Oxfam's structural campaign and communications review processes.
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Challenges faced in implementation
High turnover of staff in humanitarian responses generate the need to continuously inform and train the teams to ensure that CHS standards are applied and the verification process is undertaken. Information systems need to be reinforced to ensure clear insight into levels of CTP at country level is available. Decisions on involving partners in the design and implementation of programmes are determined at country-level and are highly dependent on the context and nature of the humanitarian intervention. Similarly, harmonizing communications requires a clear interpretation and agreement to revise current practices across affiliates and countries that make up the Oxfam confederation.
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
With increased organisational awareness of Oxfam's WHS commitments, Oxfam's focus during 2017 is to structurally incorporate support to, and monitoring of, adoption of the commitments and required practices in Oxfam's humanitarian work. Examples include: development of a new cash strategy, embedding of C4C commitments on partnering in programme development, implementation and MEAL work, and establishing mechanisms internal to ensure voices of local civil society are brought to centres of power and decision makers. Oxfam will continue to embed CHS in all strategies, evaluations and operating plans and continue with training and information around CHS to all staff and partners.
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems', what would it be
We are calling for different kind of partnership between international and local actors - where international groups consistently promote and support rather than overshadow responsible local leadership. A partnership in which local leadership is assumed from the outset, unless there is a compelling reason for international actors to temporarily lead.
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Cross cutting issues
☑Cash ☑ People-centred approach
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Specific initiatives
☑Charter for Change
4B
Anticipate, do not wait, for crises
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
- In countries particularly vulnerable to recurrent natural hazards, Oxfam ensures that programmes are developed which are informed by hazard risk, and enable a flexible response.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Oxfam commits to prepare now for the potential La Niña event in late 2016.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Oxfam commits to undertake an internal review of its response to the El Niño-exacerbated drought, looking for blocks and incentives for improved response, including a greater use of drought cycle management.
- Operational
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
- Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
- Commit to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for disaster and climate-related risks by investing in data, analysis and early warning, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in early action.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Disaster risk reduction is an integral part of Oxfam’s work and as such, the commitment was made especially in light of the El Nino and La Nina effects on regions of the world where Oxfam works. Oxfam’s strategy is not only to respond to emergencies but to build resilience of communities to future risks and hazards. There is a dedicated team who commissioned a review of the El Niño response work in order to inform the La Nina response and to inform resilience work in the future. Focus countries were selected using the ECHO INFORM ranking for vulnerability and hazards.
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Achievements at a glance
In 2016, Oxfam responded to El Nino in twenty-two countries across the world, most of which had a prior resilience programme. A review was carried out of Oxfam’s work on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and early action on El Nino. This will act as a baseline going forward. Results show that the vast majority of Oxfam’s DRR programmes follow good practice by taking a multi-hazard approach and seeks to bring about change both at community and national level. There have been good outcome results from DRR programmes such as reduced harvest loss, fewer lives lost or faster recovery. The report concluded that in relation to El Nino “in some countries Oxfam had noticeable achievements as a result of DRR and early action which should enable it to improve its performance in relation to El Nino in the future.” Although several enablers were identified, there were also future programme recommendations.
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How is your organization assessing progress
The 2016 study on El Nino was one of the actions taken to assess progress and highlight current gaps and weaknesses. Having focus countries means that Oxfam can monitor progress in these countries. All humanitarian responses carry out a Real Time evaluation in the first six weeks using standard benchmarks including one around risk management. A yearly synthesis of all reports means that Oxfam can track progress over time. Recommendations from the recent review will also be taken forward and monitored by the team responsible, applying an adapted framework. Capacity building initiatives involving local partners will also monitor progress.
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Challenges faced in implementation
Humanitarian crises are often unpredictable and therefore it can be difficult to ensure disaster risk preparedness especially in conflict-affected and fragile states. As the number of disaster affected is rising globally, funding is becoming more competitive and difficult to get especially for longer term forgotten emergencies. DRR is still perceived mainly as humanitarian and needs to be better connected to development work in order to have greater impact in the long term. Besides the commitments made in Sendai, we often see that states are not systematically including communities and the most vulnerable in setting DRR priorities and strategies.
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
In 2017, Oxfam plans to maximize the potential of its DRR action by continuing to integrate DRR in humanitarian and development programmes, at different levels (community, local, national and international) and in different sectors. We will follow up on the DRR review ensuring comprehensive risk assessment and risk reduction as well as mitigation measures being put in place. We will develop a global DRR strategy that will include local leadership for DRR and humanitarian response as a key objective. We will start improving the measurement of DRR investments, processes and outcomes by promoting the use of systematic monitoring indicators a (...)
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Anticipate, do not wait, for crises', what would it be
Putting funding into disaster risk reduction reduces the effects and is more cost-effective in the longer term. It helps communities cope better and reduces the risk of them simply becoming victims reliant on help when disaster strikes.
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Cross cutting issues
☑Disaster Risk Reduction
5A
Invest in local capacities
Individual Commitment
- Commitment
- Commitment Type
- Core Responsibility
By May 2018 Oxfam commits to address the negative impact of recruiting national NGO staff and develop a fair compensation policy for local organizations for the loss of skilled staff if and when it contracts a local organization's staff.
- Financial
- Invest in Humanity
Oxfam commits to pay local NGOs an adequate amount for their core administrative as well as direct programme costs and publish the percentage of Oxfam's humanitarian funding to local NGOs for capacity building by May 2018.
- Financial
- Invest in Humanity
- Oxfam will pass at least 30 percent of its humanitarian funding directly to local NGOs by May 2018 and introduce its partners to donors so they can directly access funding.
- Financial
- Invest in Humanity
Core Commitment
- Commitment
- Core Responsibility
- Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
- Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
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What led your organization to make the commitment?
Oxfam has a long tradition of investing in, and working with, partners in humanitarian response, and has in 2015/2016 advanced the agenda to supporting local capacity to deliver and lead response. This goes beyond capacity investments to understanding what is blocking local/national capacity to fulfil its potential? How can we promote local actors to take a leading role? What is required from international actors to achieve this?
Signing up to the Charter for Change provided an opportunity to support Oxfam's existing work on local humanitarian leadership by driving internal changes that enable the localisation of humanitarian aid.
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Achievements at a glance
Oxfam's work to support the emergence of local leadership is structured around three elements: (1) strength, i.e. capacity support for local actors; (2) space, local actors influencing decision-making structures and processes; and (3) Oxfam organisational change.
Central to 1 & 2 is a participatory approach to assessing a country's disaster management capacity and defining blockers/enablers towards increasing this capacity. Local humanitarian actors reflect on the system in-country, and resulting in a collective identification of activities to strengthening local/national capacity to manage disasters.
Oxfam is developing valuable programmatic experience in enabling local humanitarian leadership, e.g. through starting up a three-year programme, based on the approach described above, in Uganda and Bangladesh, and the Financial Enablers programme implemented by Oxfam in the Philippines which provides flexible grants for collaborative NGO/CSO partnerships to decide what capacity development to invest in, based on their knowledge of what’s needed on the ground.
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How is your organization assessing progress
Oxfam is developing a change plan with progress indicators for each of the Charter for Change commitments under this transformation. On the increasing funding passed to local and national NGOs for example, Oxfam is collecting data on humanitarian funding flows from the confederation members to local humanitarian actors, in line with the Charter for Change and Grand Bargain agreements on definitions. Oxfam is also seeking to adapt the confederation's programme information and financial reporting systems to systematically enable tracking of funding flows, incl. investments in local actors' core administrative costs, at member affiliate and country level.
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Challenges faced in implementation
Changing the way in which local actors and international actors relate in the humanitarian system goes beyond only increasing funding. Oxfam's local humanitarian leadership programmes are showing that such a shifting of roles not only requires a different mindset from Oxfam staff, but also from the management and staff of local organisations.
Internally, organisation-wide policies on issues such as core administrative support for partners and national recruitment practices need to be developed and adapted.
Similarly, to be able to monitor progress in the implementation of the commitments, Oxfam confederation needs to harmonise tracking of funding flows going to local actors.
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Next step to advance implementation in 2017
Embed the Charter for Change commitments and requirements in the agenda's of relevant internal working groups, with a specific focus on being able to track and increase funding going to local and national actors. Integrate the Charter for Change commitments in ongoing support relationships between head offices and countries, with a view on increasing understanding of the issues and identifying opportunities for confederation-wide responses.
Continued participation in the IASC Task Team on Humanitarian Financing to develop the 'Localisation Marker' and commissioning of Oxfam research investigating funding flows to local actors.
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If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Invest in local capacities', what would it be
Local humanitarians are the first and last in every crisis – and need the right kind of investments,
at the right time, to reach communities in need. National governments in vulnerable countries
must invest in emergency preparedness and response, and ensure that civil society actors have
the space and support (...) -
Specific initiatives
☑Charter for Change