A future without poverty. we can make it.
Overcoming poverty and inequality in a changing Asia
Oxfam GB Regional Centre, Asia Floor 4AB, Q.House Convent Bldg., 38 Convent Rd., Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand T. +66 (0) 2 632 0033 F. +66 (0) 2 632 0038 www.oxfam.org.uk www.oxfamblogs.org/asia
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Regional Strategic Framework Oxfam Great Britain – Asia 2012-2015
Yet more than one billion people live in poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is widening.
Photo credit: Timothy Allen
Asia has changed dramatically, becoming one of the most vibrant and fastest growing economic regions in the world. Though the region’s economic growth has lifted millions of people out of poverty, its benefits have not spread equally. The region is still home to over two-thirds of the world’s poorest population. While cities and urban areas are booming, many rural areas remain poor. Asia is also facing a number of tough challenges that could hinder its positive growth and there’s still much to be done.
Photo credit: EPA/Julian Abram Wainwright
Inequality, Social Exclusion, and Vulnerability Remains As countries are making good progress in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction, inequality, social exclusion and vulnerability remains. Oxfam is committed to addressing these root causes of poverty. Through innovation and influence, we aim to work with others to bring about transformative change for women and men living in poverty in Asia.
Oxfam in Asia Oxfam has a long history working in Asia. Since 1951, we have responded to major humanitarian crises and disasters in the region. Our role and approach has evolved over time in response to the changing context in Asia, from saving lives and supporting the growth of civil society, to now helping build economic opportunities, empowering people to demand for their own rights, and building resilience to disasters. Today,Oxfam Great Britain (Oxfam GB) in Asia works with others in eleven countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Photo credit: Dan Chung
Photo credit: Jim Holmes/Oxfam
Women’s Rights at the Heart of Everything We Do Two-thirds of poor people in Asia are women, whose voices are under-represented in decision making and agenda settings at all levels. Women’s skills, experience, and knowledge are underutilised. Their capacity to withstand crises is greatly undermined and their ability to contribute to solving fundamental problems is ignored.
Women also face discrimination and denial of their basic rights, on top of social exclusion based on ethnicity, caste, religious identity, and cultural stereotyping. Oxfam’s vision is that women will gain power and control over their lives through changes in attitudes and practices. We want to see higher level of women’s engagement and leadership in social, political and economic institutions at all levels.
Photo credit: Annie Bungeroth/Oxfam
Oxfam wants to see transformation of power relations by focusing on women’s rights and working with strategic partners to overcome poverty and inequality across Asia. We will achieve this by focusing on three thematic areas: • Developing political and economic leadership CAPACITY of women in the poorest and most marginalised communities to realise their rights and claim an equitable share of growth. • Building accountable and effective states that enable the poorest, most marginalised and vulnerable women and men in Asia to claim their rights and to access quality services and economic opportunities. • Improving community and government resilience to economic, demographic and environmental change, disasters and conflict. In the immediate aftermath of a large-scale disaster, poor women and men must be able to meet their humanitarian needs and recover quickly.
Women’s Leadership
Oxfam focuses on building women’s political and economic leadership. We want to see women represented at all levels of the decision-making process so that issues specific to women are better supported. Oxfam supports a range of initiatives such as public campaigns to stop violence against women, women economic enterprise schemes and provide support to help more women into legislative and leadership roles. As part of a global project, “Raising Her Voice”, Oxfam has been working with partners in Nepal, Pakistan, and Indonesia to encourage rural women to take part and speak up in the local political arena and contribute to local decision-making structures. In Philippines, Oxfam works with small-scale farmers in Mindanao to secure land tenure, increase access to credit and extension services and help farmers get a fair deal.
Photo credit: Veejay Villafranca
We work with women affected by conflict in Southern Philippines and Thailand to take control of their economic opportunities and earn stable income to support their families. In Pakistan, Oxfam helps millions of rural men and women lift themselves out of poverty by gaining control over arable land and enhance farmers’ access to market. In Southern Sri Lanka, we support women in coconut coir fibre supply chain to turn low income work into profitable enterprises. By forming community-based organisations and federations, their collective action leads to sustainable income and social recognition for women in these communities.
Effective and Accountable States
Nation states play a vital role in addressing poverty, inequality, and vulnerability, and are responsible for upholding the rights of citizens and other residents. While working to empower people to have an active voice, Oxfam also works closely with governments to improve relationships between the state and poor, marginalised communities. In Afghanistan, we work with partners within the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), a development frameworks laid out by the Government of Afghanistan, to ensure that resources and assistance are channeled to the villages that need them most. In Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam, Oxfam works closely with marginalised ethnic minorities helping them voice their interests and concerns through community-based organisations. We work with governments to ensure their rights are respected and upheld. In Cambodia, Oxfam has embarked on an innovative scheme, working with telephone operators to provide mobile phones to female commune councilors. Using open source software that makes mass mobile messaging easy, the women receive market price information on
Photo credit: Caroline Gluck/Oxfam
their mobile phones, which allow them to negotiate better prices and increase income. Oxfam has been an integral part of a coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil societies to push forward important agendas in many countries. In Indonesia, Oxfam is a part of a coalition that has developed an alternative legal draft food bill holding the government accountable for ensuring food security for its people. In Bangladesh, we facilitate the formation of the “Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods�, a coalition of more than 250 local, national and international development and civil society organisations aiming to ensure sustainable development through the reduction of poverty and vulnerability for the rural population. Through our global GROW campaign, Oxfam is calling for a better way to grow food, reform bad policies, preserve scarce resources and share them fairly to ensure that everyone on the planet will have enough to eat, always. We launched the campaign in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and hope to grow the movement across the region.
Resilient Communities
Asia is one of the most disaster prone areas in the world. Droughts, floods, cyclones and earthquakes affect hundreds of millions of people every year. The frequency and intensity of weather related disasters is likely to increase with climate change, decreasing agricultural yield and productivity. Conflict-related crises is also prevalent in parts of the region. Oxfam works both regionally and in-country to address chronic and acute vulnerabilities focusing on increasing the resilience of poor women and men. We work with partner organisations to empower poor communities in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam to be prepared for disasters and work with all levels of government making sure disaster risk reduction plans are in place. To counter the effects of Climate Change, in Thailand and the Philippines, we are also working with rice farmers on climate adaptation initiatives.
Photo credit: Dan Chung
Regionally, we work alongside and advocate with influential institutions such as ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and SARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) to make sure that climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction become national and regional priorities. Globally, Oxfam advocates for the financing of the adaptation funds by leading nations to help developing countries adapt to the harmful effects of climate change. During emergencies, women are affected in far greater numbers than men and they are often marginalised. In our Pakistan flood response, we made sure that information reached women as well as men, and that all our activities were sensitive to cultural norms. We encourage women to take up leadership roles and active participation in our activities. Sometimes this means a woman is appointed to a particular job for the first time.
Oxfam is a global movement for change
– a network that empowers individuals, communities and organisations to build a future free from The injustice of poverty. Oxfam truly believes that a world without poverty is possible; that everyone has a right to a life worth living; and that with the right support, people can take control, solve their own problems, and become self-reliant and independent. Oxfam Great Britain (Oxfam GB) is a member of Oxfam International, a growing confederation of 15 affiliates that began in 1995. The confederation works in more than 80 countries around the world.
The members of the Oxfam international confederation are in a process of realigning strategy and unifying presence in the countries Oxfam works in across the globe. The change we are making will allow us to make an even greater impact on the lives of people living in poverty with the funding we collectively raise and spend together in countries each year. www.oxfam.org
Photo credit:Jane Beesley/Oxfam
Working with Others While we can achieve so much as Oxfam, we can achieve so much more working in partnership with others. Oxfam works with local communities and civil society partners to ensure lasting, locally-owned and relevant initiatives. We engage with those in power, particularly governments at all levels and regional institutions, and ally with other influential organisations. We also continue to explore new forms of partnership in order to facilitate the shift in thinking and practices that will bring about transformative change. Together, we are building a positive future - free from injustice of poverty.
Photo credit: Tori Ray