Blog

Facing hardship, but striving for self-reliance

November 2, 2017

Story by Kamilo ‘Ali, Oxfam’s Polynesia Micronesia Livelihoods Programme Manager, 13.10.2017

Seven years ago, Sione Te’i fell from a multi-storied building and completely paralysed both of his legs. He’s confined to a wheelchair 24/7, with his legs covered, which seriously limits income-generating opportunities for him.

As a way of making money, Sione used to help out a friend whose livelihood is making and selling carvings – however, this income was not reliable. Sione would only earn money if the carvings sold.

“Some weeks I would get $30 pa’anga [approximately NZD 20], max, and other weeks I would get nothing. My wages depended on the sales of the carving that my friend made.”

In order to earn a more stable living, Sione started working for the Tonga National Youth Congress (TNYC), who Oxfam has been partnering with since 2011. The partnership started with a focus on sustainable livelihood sources for young people, with an emphasis on sustainable farming to conserve the fragile, land-based resources. TNYC seeks to ensure that their projects are inclusive of people living with disabilities, in order to reduce the barriers they face to accessing secure livelihoods.

Oxfam’s Rural Enterprise and Sustainable Livelihoods in Tonga (RESULT) project, in partnership with TNYC, has the goal of establishing a viable youth-led and community-focused business, selling virgin coconut oil and dried vanilla bean. The establishment of this business aims to generate sustainable cash flow to support TNYC’s non-commercial social activities, as well as providing employment opportunities to unemployed youth, and creating an environment that will allow them to flourish. RESULT staff saw the opportunity to use the coconut shells from the VCO, which were initially simply discarded, to be turned into handicrafts and carving.

That’s where Sione comes in. With the skills he gained from helping his friend make and sell his carvings, he now produces and sells handicrafts from coconut shells as a part of the RESULT project.

Sione is happy that, through this, he can earn an income he can rely on.

“I now earn a more stable income here at TNYC of $100 pa’anga [NZD 65] a week.”

TNYC provides transport for Sione to and from work, and they also take him home when he needs to use the toilet.

“If the toilet facility here at the TNYC was fully enclosed I would not have been needed to be taken home to go to the toilet during working hours.”

Sione’s goal is to get himself his own carving tools so he can work from home, where he is most comfortable.

Two months on: Rohingya refugee crisis

November 2, 2017

Two months into the crisis, more than 603,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed over into southern Bangladesh, while thousands are still trapped in the border. According to the UN, the pace of new arrivals made this crisis the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, and the concentration of refugees in Cox’s Bazar is now amongst the densest in the world.

In the early hours of 25 August 2017, violence broke out in the Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar and has driven more than 603, 000 people across the border into Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban Districts, southern Bangladesh. The people who have fled join the more than 300,000 others already living in cramped and makeshift camps since the 1990s, bringing the total refugee population to 815,200, as of 23 October, according to the United Nations.

Overall situation

The extent and implications of the large influx have resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency. The Rohingya refugees have faced a treacherous journey across the border fleeing the violence in Northern Rakhine.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports of women and girls, as young as five years old, being raped by men in army uniforms as they fled their homes. High numbers of gender-based violence and trauma survivors require appropriate specialized services, including clinical management of rape, surgical intervention and mental health and psychosocial support.

They are in urgent need of lifesaving assistance in food, water, sanitation, shelter, health, and strong support in place to ensure their safety, dignity and respect for individual rights.

The large number of people initially started taking shelter under the open sky in the forest areas, by the roadside, and in surrounding villages. The population movements within Cox’s Bazar remain highly fluid, with an increasing concentration in Ukhia, where the government has recently allocated 3,000 acres for a new camp.

More than half of the refugees are women and 60 percent of these are girls under the age of 18. There are more than 120,000 pregnant women and mothers with new babies who are among those struggling to survive in cramped camps and settlements that are ill-equipped to deal with their needs.

“There is no toilet or bathroom here. The latrines are far away. The women take a shower at night, we are unable to do it in the daytime.”

Sumaya, 44, lives in Thengkhali Camp with her husband and eight children. They live high on a hilltop and use makeshift latrines or holes in the ground. Two months into the crisis, there is still an estimated 300,000 people with no access to basic sanitation facilities.

Refugees carry Oxfam food parcels in Thengkali Camp, southern Bangladesh. Each food parcel contained three kilograms of rice, fortified biscuits, sugar and soaps. A total of 23,458 parcels have been distributed and benefitted over 140,000 individuals. Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

We are there

Oxfam is responding now and has reached more than 185,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by providing clean drinking water, portable toilets and sanitation facilities, plastic sheets, and other essential supplies. We aim to help more than 200,000 people during the first phase our response.

We are also supporting the government and humanitarian partners to ensure that newly established refugee camps will meet the necessary humanitarian standards.

Our collaboration with partner national organizations, such as the NGO Forum for Public Health and Coast Trust, have brought rich insight into the response as they bring in local knowledge and cultural sensitivity in delivering aid to the affected people.

In the recent weeks, we started working in Rubber Garden, a newly established transit site situated at about six kilometers from Ukhia, near Balukhali refugee camp. An estimated 1,200 individuals have transited over the past week, with some families who have journeyed for more than 15 days before finally crossing the border. We immediately provided a water tank with a total capacity of five cubic meters and delivered 10,000 litres of safe drinking water. We have also built 31 emergency latrines with separate units for men and women.

In Unchiprang, where water is scarce, we have finished installing a surface water treatment system with production of an estimated 45,000 litres of clean drinking water per day. This has benefitted more than 15,000 individuals.

Going forward, our programmes will include clean water and sanitation, hygiene materials and promotion, gender integrated into WASH, and safe spaces for women.

Empowering women farmers to end hunger and poverty

October 19, 2017

Elizabeth, a farmer from South Sudan. Photo: Tim Bierley/Oxfam

About 80 percent of the world’s food is produced by small-scale farming.

Women make up on average 43 percent of this agricultural labour in developing countries. They are the majority in some countries. In South Asia, more than two-thirds of employed women work in agriculture. In eastern Africa, over half of farmers are women.

Yet, they produce 20 to 30 percent less than men farmers because they face two compounding layers of exclusion – as smallholder farmers and as women.

Equalizing this gap could boost agricultural output and decrease global hunger by 17 percent.

Mary lives in Goziir, Northern Ghana with her husband and six family members. Mary has benefitted from Oxfam’s projects to help small-scale farmers increase their crop yields, build energy efficient stoves and have access to small loans.

Last year she doubled her maize harvest. Now she wants to share what she learnt at the farmer field school with other women in her community. They already pool their money in a savings group. By working together, they are fighting food shortages during the long hunger season in northern Ghana. (Photo: Adam Patterson/Oxfam)

Gender inequality in farming: the barriers holding women back

Agriculture is more likely than other sectors to provide diverse opportunities for empowering women. However, women farmers are held back by barriers that prevent them from feeding their families and reinvesting in their livelihoods. They face restrictions related to their gender while also experiencing the financial struggles shared by all small-scale farmers.

Women do not receive the same support as male farmers do. They have less access to land, loans and machinery.
Women are heavily involved in domestic activities including caring, cooking and cleaning, which remain hidden economically.
Women are disproportionately affected by climate change and face greater exposure to climate risks due to the same barriers that reduce their productivity.

Nurlina has been fishing since she was 12 years old. She learned how to fish from her uncle and became a fisherwoman to be able to provide for her mother and sibling. But in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, where fishing is usually done by men, she faced sexist comments and was stopped from being officially recognized as a fisherwoman.

But she didn’t give up. Now, with the help of local women’s rights organizations, Nurlina has equal rights with the fishermen – and she continues to fight for all women to have the same rights. “I told [the local government official], I can catch fish and steer a boat as well as the men. If you don’t believe me, you can take a ride with me.” (Photo: YKPM)

Supporting women farmers would help hundreds of millions fight hunger, poverty and climate change

Growth in small-scale agriculture is two to four times more effective at reducing hunger and poverty than any other sector, and women farmers are playing a central role. They produce a huge amount of food for their families and surrounding communities.

Yet, little action has been taken to ensure that they have the resources they need to improve their livelihoods, tackle food insecurity and build their communities’ resilience to climate change.

Governments must break down the barriers that are holding back women farmers and preventing them from accessing critical farming inputs. They must ensure women have secure land rights, and provide women with vital funding and support for farming and adapting to climate change.

Such support would protect their rights and boost their productivity. It would unleash the potential of hundreds of millions of women farmers to effectively reduce poverty and hunger.

Five women on the front lines of the fight against hunger

October 16, 2017

Women bear the brunt of the battle against hunger, but they’re also a powerful force capable of feeding their communities.

World Food Day is dedicated to raising awareness of hunger and working to ensure food security for all. This year, we’re shining a light on the women on the front lines of the battle against hunger in places like South Sudan and Ethiopia, where millions are at risk of starvation.

When hunger strikes, women are more likely to be affected. But women also have the power to overcome hunger and provide food for their families and communities. In fact, in sub-Saharan Africa, women are responsible for 50-75 percent of agricultural labour. They’re growing the food — but they’re often not getting the resources they need to really put an end to hunger.

Meet five women fighting hunger in their communities. Whether they’re growing food so their kids can eat or forming cooperative to bolster food production, they’re not backing down.

LINA, South Sudanese refugee

Lina is one of the one million refugees who have fled conflict and hunger in South Sudan and settled in Uganda. While she has found relative safety there, food has been hard to come by.

Lina lives at the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, which opened in August 2016. Like many of her neighbours, she’s started to cultivate some land to grow food. Something has been pestering her corn patch, so she’s had to get innovative, sprinkling ash from her cooking fire to fight off the bugs. The corn will be an important supplement for her family of six, since food rations at the last distribution were cut in half.

KITABE, Ethiopia

Kitabe is a member of a cooperative organized by Oxfam and partners in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Through the project, she received a loan to improve her onion farm. She was scared and reluctant to join the project at first — because as a poor woman, her status in the community was low.

Now, she says, “The biggest thing I have learned is to be fearless, and I fear nothing now.”

“It’s much easier for men. They get up early, eat, and go to farm. They spend all day working on the farm or supervising. For me, it is double the job. I have to work on the farm and look after my family.”

Kitabe meets with other women in the community regularly to help deal with these issues. “We discuss our challenges, our work. We work together in groups. When I struggle to read all the women come to support me.”

ESTHER, South Sudanese refugee

Esther, a widowed mother of six, isn’t a farmer by profession. But she has to grow her own food to feed her family.

She fled from South Sudan to Uganda to escape conflict. Now in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, she’s planted cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, peas, and herbs. “I planted because of hunger,” she says. “It’s not really enough.”

THERESIE, Rwanda

Theresie sells pineapples from her farm to Tuzamurane pineapple cooperative, which sits in a small village at the top of a hill in Kirehe, Rwanda. Fittingly, the name literally translates to “lift up one another.”

Since joining the cooperative, Theresie makes more money and is able to grow more food. She also feels like she has more of a voice in her own home.

“I would tell other women to come and join the co-operative and become pineapple farmers, that they shouldn’t be cultivating on their own, that they should work together with others in order to increase their production,” she says.

“What makes me proud is collaborating with my husband. In my point of view, happiness means feeling comfortable at home, getting advice from your husband and vice versa, understanding each other, and fairly enjoying your income.”

FLONIRA, Rwanda

Flonira lives in Musanze District, Northern Rwanda, where she is part of a tamarillo (tree tomato) cooperative.

“Women had no voice in this community,” explains Flonira. “They had no right to join other women.”

But that changed when the cooperative formed. “They [men] saw us being self-reliant – bringing home money, bringing sugar for porridge, they have really changed their mindset on women. The coop has changed women’s lives in this community.”

Delighted to have the support of 13-year-old Sophie!

October 5, 2017

Our Humanitarian Specialist, Darren Brunk, went along to Sophie’s school to receive her donation.

We are incredibly grateful to have the support of one of the coolest 13-year-olds out – Sophie Guerin. She sold hot drinks at her school in Wellington and raised a massive $627 which she chose to give to Oxfam. We can’t thank her enough for her support of those people who need it most.

Our Humanitarian Specialist, Darren Brunk, went along to Sophie’s school to receive the donation, and to have a chat with her:

How did you raise so much money?

I started fundraising at school every Wednesday at lunchtime, selling hot drinks. I was selling cordial for $1.50 and hot chocolate for $2. All the money was to go to Oxfam. I got my friends to help me. It was all student involvement.

Why did you choose to donate it to Oxfam?

I wanted a charity that would help lots of places around the world, and also one I could trust. I was looking at charities on the internet, and I found Oxfam and had heard of it before. I knew it was safe and it was what I wanted and so I decided to go with them.

What do you like about Oxfam?

I think it’s good because they focus on everything, they don’t just focus on one thing. They help lots of people in lots of places. They also help people start businesses.

What kind of change would you like your money to make in people’s lives?

I would want it to help people. When people have had troubles, such as becoming sick because they have had bad water, I want them now to have fresh water and food and to have business opportunities so that their lives can be better.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would you change?

I think I’d change… selfishness, so there wouldn’t be any selfishness so that everybody would always be looking out for each other. There wouldn’t be things like poverty and wars because people would care about each other.

We’re still fighting for a Zero Carbon New Zealand

October 4, 2017

This was far from being the ‘boring election’ many thought it was going to be – and almost two weeks after the last vote was cast, its result is still uncertain.

We knew Oxfam’s election story was also going to be far from boring when we led a coalition of 15 aid agencies to campaign for all political parties to commit New Zealand to legally binding pollution reduction targets.

All these agencies have witnessed the number of climate-related humanitarian disasters more than double since 1980. This means that climate change has the potential to wind back development progress made over the last 60 years, creating havoc in developed and developing countries alike. After many years working in long-term development solutions and responding to humanitarian disasters in over 90 countries, all of us agree that this is one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century.

You Backed the Plan

From secular to faith-based agencies, from Dargaville to Dunedin, the agencies – representing hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with a variety of political views, but who are all equally concerned about the many problems our children will face in the near future due to climate change – all knew it wouldn’t be easy to bring climate change to the top of the political agenda. But with your help, we did it.

During the months leading up to the election, more than 5,000 New Zealanders got behind our campaign Back the Plan – Back to Zero and demanded a real climate commitment from all political parties. This led to a huge success as we secured a commitment from Labour, Greens and NZ First on legislation to reduce New Zealand’s pollution. But our work is far from finished.

Whatever the final election result is, we will continue to fight for a fairer, more just New Zealand.

Climate change is happening now and is affecting us all – our Pacific neighbours, our communities, our businesses and people living in poverty. We will continue to work with the newly elected government and hold it to account as we advocate for a cross-party agreement that puts the future of our children first: a Zero Carbon Act.

As the Electoral Commission is still counting the 380,000 special votes remaining, whatever the result, we will continue to call for our MPs to legislate a Zero Carbon Act and make New Zealand carbon-neutral by 2050.

Watch this space.