Supporting Change in Southern Africa

Supporting change in Southern Africa Oxfam GB 2010/11 strategy

Key challenges facing the region Poverty, inequality and injustice remain­ huge development challenges in Southern­Africa. Seventy per cent of the population­of SADC countries live below US$2 per day, and most countries have more than 25 per cent malnutrition rates for children under five. With 57 per cent of the population living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture, chronic food insecurity­prevents millions of people from realising­their rights. Average­life expectancy­, while moderate­at 56 years, varies significantly­. Maternal­mortality­ stands at 486 deaths per 100,000, comparing badly with North America (43), Europe­(12) and even ASEAN (273).

Poor health is also reflected in the burden of communicable diseases, with Southern Africa­being the epicentre of HIV infection­ and having­significant­incidence of tuberculosis, malaria­, and cholera. The region also faces­challenges of unemployment­, labour casualisation, migration­and brain drain, which impact on economic­ development and governance. The lack of basic­services is manifested in poor access­to water and sanitation, with about 200 million people not having access­to safe water — this is especially the case in growing­urban­slums. Access to education remains­low and the SADC region posted the lowest­literacy rates on the continent (even though there are pockets of extremely­high literacy)­.

As countries in the region­progress, especially­South Africa­, inequality­is also beginning to manifest itself increasingly­. A colonial legacy has left the black African population largely excluded from the benefits of economic growth.

Huts damaged by seasonal flooding of the Zambezi River (above) in Zambia’s Western Province. A young girl (left) takes care of her sibling in Malawi.

Picking tea in Gurue, Mozambique (opposite). Photographs: James Oatway­, Nicole Johnston and Neo Ntsoma­/Oxfam

Underlying causes

This picture is the result of a number of underlying causes. Southern Africa­is driven by a lethal cocktail of poor policy, governance and natural disasters­.

Chronic food and livelihoods insecurity­ continue to plague the region (though there are signs of hope as evidenced in Malawi) and this has been exacerbated­ by the rise in global­food and fuel prices.

The impacts of climate change are already manifesting themselves, even though Southern Africa is afflicted by energy­poverty. The global recession too has buffeted a region populated with vulnerable­and poor countries.

The extraction of natural resources continues­to be marred by a lack of

transparency­and characterised by huge expatriation of profits and tax evasion – stifling local development and denying­poor people the benefits of these resources.

The vulnerability of poor people is made worse by frequent and cyclical natural disasters – floods and drought – requiring­ governments to invest better in early warning systems, disaster risk reduction strategies, social protection and response­ capability. These recurrent shocks undermine poor people’s attempts to overcome poverty, often stretching coping mechanisms and driving­migration as economic and ecological­systems fail poor people.

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The numbers of people affected­by such disasters has risen dramatically in the last 10 years.

Access to services remains a key concern. Large numbers of people­lack access to basic health and education services; and water and sanitation is a major challenge for poor people.

While there has been significant progress on access to medicines, HIV infection­rates remain high, and the burden of infection and the impacts fall disproportionately on women and girls.

There are many challenges to the development and realisation of the rights of women in the region. While there has been progress on charters and laws (such as the African Women’s Protocol), implementation and negative attitudes, beliefs, practices and behaviours­drive a culture that acts as a barrier to women realising­and enjoying­their rights and economic potential­. Gender-based violence­remains high, exposing­women­to HIV infection.

Women’s vulnerability­is heightened by their economic dependence­on men, lack of access to education and health services, coercion, sexual exploitation, rape, and poverty.

While Southern Africa has experienced relative political stability — with the exception­of Zimbabwe — inclusion, participation, transparency and accountability­of governments remains

a critical barrier to sustainable development that involves and includes citizens.

Weak civil society-government engagement and a disproportionate reliance on donor budget support (with the notable exception of Angola) has undermined the downward accountability by states to their citizens.

At regional level, while SADC has made significant strides in enhancing­ citizen representation and passing a number of progressive protocols, implementation­remains a challenge, with critical issues around governance and regional collaboration caught in intractable bureaucracy­and stalled by powerful political interests.

Across the region, power continues to rest with an economic minority, which itself is ethno-racial in nature — leaving­ significant numbers of black Africans­poor and excluded from the benefits of economic development. Large numbers of rural populations remain locked in poverty — denied sustainable livelihoods, without access to basic services and social­ protection, vulnerable to the impacts of shocks (both man-made and natural), and denied voice and accountability­in democratic processes­.

As Southern Africa becomes increasingly­ urbanised, and more people compete for scarce resources and services­, poverty and inequality are expressing themselves in new ways — for example, xenophobia­­.

Women and girls bear the brunt of these impacts.

People­living with HIV, excluded by stigma and discrimination and unable to lead productive­livelihoods and lacking access­to treatment, are also powerless to realise­their rights.

Unequal power between states also means that certain countries have more sway within the region — notably South Africa. This has impacted on the ability of poor citizens to use the instruments of SADC to realise their rights and demand justice. The institutions of SADC are state-centric.

SEEDS OF HOPE

In the midst of all of this chaos, there are many seeds of hope. All the economies in the region — with the notable exception of Zimbabwe — have continued to post positive growth figures, with Angola­and South Africa leading­the pack. Malawi has shown that it can climb out of food dependency through robust policy on production­and marketing­. This

Large numbers of rural­ populations­remain locked in poverty - denied sustainable­ livelihoods, without access to basic services or social protection.

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offers­significant opportunity to address inequality­and promote economic justice.

Investment in health workers is enabling significant access to treatment for millions­ previously­excluded from the health system, especially in terms of access to HIV treatment and care. Government commitment in Zambia has put significant numbers of children back in school. In Mozambique, government preparedness for cyclical disasters has grown significantly­.

Across the region — with the notable exception­of Zimbabwe — democracy is deepening. In a number of countries and at the SADC level, there is progress in developing policy that seeks to stamp out violence against women and increase their control over productive resources­and decision-making.

Regionally­, the Pan African Parliament and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism offer spaces for engagement.

Civil society is also becoming more vibrant. In many of the countries, citizens have resisted hegemony. Social movements — demanding access to services, an end to violence against women, greater government transparency and accountability — are on the rise in South Africa, in Zimbabwe, and even in Angola.

Our work will focus on these challenges­, building on the opportunities and placing­ rights holders at the centre of our approach­.

Our approach to overcoming poverty and injustice Oxfam GB has been working with a range of stakeholders and partners in Southern­ Africa for many years. With programmes in Angola, Malawi­, Mozambique­, South Africa, Zambia­and Zimbabwe, as well as engagement­at regional level, our work supports communities­to overcome poverty, suffering­, and injustice­.

Oxfam GB believes that poverty and injustice is man-made and morally indefensible. Unequal power relations are at the root of poverty, inequality and injustice­. We also know that poverty makes people more vulnerable to conflict and natural disasters and we believe we have an obligation to act. Our approach is anchored on the belief that, with support, poor people can solve their own problems. In our work, we will be driven by our core values of empowerment, inclusion, and accountability­.

Our work uses a rights-based approach­, focusing on inequalities of power, recognising­that poverty has both local­and global dimensions. We adopt a holistic and balanced­approach­ that integrates needs, strengthening­ capacity,­and advocating and campaigning­for changes to policies and practices based on our context. We believe that active citizenship demanding effective states is the critical ingredient for delivering real and sustained poverty eradication.

We will work in participatory ways and in partnerships­and alliances with rights holders­. We will support through advocacy­(research, policy analysis, campaigns­and media), capacity strengthening and accompaniment of partner organisations and less formal social movements. We will also meet the needs of vulnerable communities in emergencies (where local capacity is exceeded) and in contexts where this catalyses­action by rights holders that assists them in realising­their rights. We will work simultaneously at local, national, regional and global level – enabling rights holders to analyse and connect the drivers­of poverty at all levels­.

We will work with partners and allies to achieve change, and collaborate with other Oxfam affiliates. We will leverage the pivotal potential of South Africa

Our vision for Southern Africa Our vision for Southern Africa­ is of a region with a citizenry that is mobilised­, engaged and participating­in processes that reduce­poverty by demanding the realisation of their rights, and meeting­their obligations to that process. Our vision is for effective­ states delivering services to all their citizens, creating an enabling­ environment where citizens can realise­their rights and where other non-state actors­act responsibly.

It is a vision­of a region that is mobilised­and collaborates effectively to resolve­national, regional and global issues­in favour of all its citizens, especially women and people living with HIV.

to not only bring about change within its borders,­but also to influence change within the region, continent, and globally.

Oxfam’s value addition comes through our facilitatory and catalytic role, bringing­ research, policy analysis, mobilisation and capacity to these processes. We will use our significant global access­ to create­spaces for rights holders to engage­duty bearers – using our significant­reach to enable­voices to influence global processes­and build local accountability­and action.

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Our strategic choices Realising economic justice Neglect for agricultural investment over the last 20 years, weak governance, limited regional level action, the impacts of climate change, and HIV and AIDS have combined to increase hunger and food insecurity in Southern Africa.

Oxfam believes­that work on these issues­is critical­to overcoming poverty in the region. We will focus on three key areas:

and enable citizens to recover from shocks sustainably. c) Strengthening responses to climate­ change. Our work will support countries and communities to adapt to the impacts of a changing climate and move to propoor, low-carbon development pathways by maximising benefits from public and private climate mitigation financing­.

We will support pilot projects on climate­change adaptation that integrate interventions­to diversify people’s livelihoods, disaster risk reduction and natural resource management, with particular emphasis on the use and management of water and forest resources.

At the same time, we will support alliances­of civil society­at SADC and Pan Africa level, and national­governments to influence global discourse on climate change adaptation and mitigation, ensuring­African voices are heard.

We will support alliances that push this voice and interest at regional bodies such as SADC and COMESA, and at the level of the AU, and globally. In South Africa, we will explore the issues of energy poverty and promoting alternative low-carbon growth models.

Enabling access to essential services

Clockwise, from top left: Home-based carer Beatrice Camboa counsels outreach patients­ like Daniel Cacumae in Kuito, Angola; Aggie Ncube, S’pathisiwe Ncube and Regina Maphosa­pick spinach from the Dabane Trust’s Bhekimpilo food garden in the Matobo district­of Matabeleland; Rose Thamae, founder of ‘Let Us Grow’ in Orange Farm, South Africa­, gives former Welsh international rugby player Gwyn Jones a tour of the HIV care centre. Richard Liywalli (9) holds a small tiger fish — last April tiger fish were the main food source in Liyoyela village in Zambia’s Western Province after crops were damaged by floods.­Photographs: Andy Hall, Nicole Johnston and James Oatway/Oxfam

a) Building resilient livelihoods through greater and better investment in agriculture­that responds to the needs of smallholder farmers, especially women and people living with HIV and AIDS. Our focus will be on improved access to land and tenure security­, poor people’s­ access to and power in markets, and influencing­government and privatesector­actors for increased and better quality investment in agriculture.

Our work will support agricultural recovery­in Zimbabwe; strengthen

production­, marketing­and access in Malawi­; and influence policy at regional level through engagement with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and support for regional farmers networks. b) Promoting social protection measures­for vulnerable groups facing livelihoods crises. Connecting our work on disaster risk reduction and response support in humanitarian contexts, we will promote social protection measures that reduce vulnerability, promote markets,

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In spite of some progress, Africa continues to lose more than eight million people­annually­ to preventable, curable­ and manageable diseases, owing to weak and unsustainable health systems. The largest numbers of deaths are attributed­to infant and child mortality­, maternal mortality, TB, fistula, malaria and HIV and AIDS. Half of all maternal deaths (265,000) occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of access­to safe drinking­water exposes­300 million people to unsanitary conditions, compounding disease. In addition­, millions of children, especially girls, do not have access to quality education.

Our work on essential services focuses on access to education, health, HIVand AIDS-related services, and water and sanitation services. Our work aims to ensure that equitable access­to quality essential services are realised in Southern Africa – especially for women and girls – by strengthening government’s capacity to deliver and people’s­ability to hold their governments to account.

We will achieve this through our work in: a) Mobilising rights holders around access to essential services and the achievement of the MDG goals. 2010 is a critical year to mobilise communities across the continent around the

MDG targets. With a greater focus on the role of regional and Pan African structures, such as the AU, in holding national governments accountable­, and the MDG Summit and World Cup in Africa­for the first time, the platform is set for building on the past successes of campaigning­ in Africa, to strengthen Southern campaigning, and to see Africa galvanise and lead campaigning on essential­ services.

Oxfam will support­ the Fair Play for Africa campaign at national, regional, Pan African and global levels. b) Supporting access to health and HIV services. In Malawi the “Medicines for All” campaign will continue to link to the Pan Africa “Stop Stock Outs” campaign­. Zambia will work on a health campaign leading up to the 2011 elections. In South Africa, Oxfam will continue to support campaigning­on health through the Joint Oxfam Support for Campaigning on Health (JOSCH­) initiative­. In Angola, the “Know your Status­” campaign will link up with the World Cup campaign, with a key focus on the Africa Cup of Nations. In Mozambique­, we will continue to support­ the strengthening of health and HIV services­, especially reproductive health, building on what has already worked to bring scale and impact.

At regional level we will use the opportunity­of the World Cup to build a strong campaign and popular mobilisation around the health-related MDGs. c) Supporting national education coalitions to engage on education policy.

In Zambia, we will continue to build the capacity of civil society organisations­, to advocate for improvements in the quality of basic education­and improved governance­, with budget tracking as a key strategy­. In Mozambique, our programme will continue to support partners to advocate for improved­access to education for children, with an emphasis­ on girls, and build the capacity of school councils to engage in budget tracking.

The programme­contributes to raising funds for school construction. It also supports the campaign against sexual abuse in schools.

At a regional level, issues from countries will feed into the Global Campaign for Education. d) Strengthening engagement on water­and sanitation. This is a newer area of our work, focusing on strengthening engagement around policy on water and sanitation, and a focus on water governance­.

In Zambia, work will continue using a rights-based approach to community

A woman washes dishes outside her tent at a camp for people displaced by earthquakes that rocked Karonga, Malawi, in December­2009. Photograph: Nicole Johnston/Oxfam

development and promoting engagement with governance structures. In Angola, part of the focus will be on the capacity of government to implement its water strategy. In Zimbabwe, our existing work on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) will be linked to education and health programming.

Regionally, we will connect with networks on water and support the development of their capacity to engage in policy dialogue, strengthen our research and knowledge, and build a programme of advocacy.

Building resilience to humanitarian­disasters and championing rights in crises In the context of cyclical humanitarian disasters and the mass movement of people in response to economic and governance­crises, our work will focus on the responsibility­to protect citizens and their right to assistance in crises. We will focus on two key strategies: a) Developing greater disaster preparedness capability. In the six countries where we work, we will invest in building greater preparedness capacity­through: strengthening national and local­early

Our focus must move from being gap fillers and providers­of services to facilitators and enablers 5

warning systems; engagement with vulnerability assessment­and monitoring capacity­; building­programmes that focus on disaster risk reduction; and strengthening the capacity of governments and community partners, our own capacity and that of our partners to provide assistance where local capacity is exceeded.

We will focus our preparedness activities­in the countries and at regional­level­. We will look for opportunities to work with and support our partners and allies to use advocacy approaches­in humanitarian contexts.

We will support the development of practical­contingency plans at local­, national and regional levels­. We will strengthen capacity and work with partners­(government and civil society) to provide direct response and to advocate on issues. We will also invest in contingency stocks in strategic locations­ and mobilise additional resources­from Oxfam’s global pool when necessary. b) Providing humanitarian assistance in disasters. Where local capacity is exceeded, Oxfam believes it has a duty to provide timely, appropriate, inclusive and accountable humanitarian­ assistance­, and to advocate, with others­, for the protection of the rights of citizens. We will develop and maintain capacity to provide assistance through limited local capacity in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Angola and a Regional Emergency Response­

Dorothy Shilling (above left) holds sweet potatoes grown in her backyard food garden­in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Afternoon football practise (above) in Ile, Mozambique­. Ten-month-old Mulima Mulambwa and her mom Sandra (below left) were displaced after seasonal flooding in Zambia’s Western Province. Photographs: Nicole Johnston, Neo Ntsoma and James Oatway­/Oxfam

Team (ERT), which has competencies in WASH, emergency food security and livelihoods (EFSL), programme­ management, logistics support, human­ resources as well as gender, HIV, advocacy­and media.

Supporting women’s rights Gender inequality is pervasive throughout Southern Africa and is embedded within structures, institutions, and attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate patriarchal traditions. This is manifested in deepening violence against women and girls, an unequal burden of the impacts of HIV and AIDS, unequal representation in decisionmaking structures, and a lack of access to and control of resources, especially

land and markets. We work with other stakeholders to respond to these challenges and promote empowered women ­who can assert and claim their rights.

Our approach will involve the integration­of a gendered analysis and action into our work across the board as well as the development­and implementation of various initiatives focused on addressing­women’s rights. We will focus on two key areas: a) Eliminating gender-based violence­. Our work will focus on a range of actions­covering issues of attitudes and beliefs­, laws and policies and access­to services­at local, national and regional level.

In Malawi, our work is focusing on the Gender­Based Violence Act. In Mozambique­, we are working­with government­around the protocol­on reporting­abuse, and in South Africa we are working with organisations­ promoting­ access­ to justice.

In all the countries, we are working on issues of trafficking­, supporting­ coalitions­for action through the Red Light 2010 campaign. b) Strengthening women’s leadership.

In all the countries, we are working to strengthen women’s organisation and leadership. In Mozambique and South Africa, through the Raising Her Voice initiative­, we are supporting women to demand and secure the implementation of the AU Gender protocol. The Malawi programme is supporting women to play

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a leadership role in politics through our 50:50 campaign.

organising ourselves to achieve our ambition We recognise that we need to be organised differently to achieve this ambitious plan. Our focus must move from being gap fillers and providers of services to facilitators and enablers, using­our research­, knowledge, networks and capacity­to support rights holders to take action and centre stage.

To achieve this, we will invest to: i) Increase campaigning and advocacy­ within our work. We recognise that change will be achieved when policies­and practices change and are implemented­in favour of poor people. To achieve this, we need to re-balance our investments, focusing increasingly on supporting and capacitating our partners and allies to advocate and campaign for change. We will support our staff and partners to develop better capability to deliver this aspect of our work. ii) Leverage media and digital technologies. We recognise the power of media in bringing about change. We will deepen our investment in this across the region and invest, in a contextually relevant way, in digital technologies, focusing­on the opportunities within mobile­telephony and radio for mass reach as well as the new opportunities with growing internet access.

A boy sits outside a school in Gurue­, Mozambique­. Our programme will continue to support partners in Mozambique to advocate for improved access to education for children. Photograph: Neo Ntsoma/Oxfam

Oxfam works with others to overcome­poverty and suffering in Southern Africa For more information: www.oxfam.org.uk enquiries@oxfam.org.uk Oxfam GB Southern Africa 195 Allcock Street Colbyn, Pretoria South Africa PO Box 0083 Tel: 00 27 (0) 12 423 9900 Fax: 00 27 (0) 12 342 3484 Oxfam is a registered charity in England and Wales (no.

202918) and Scotland (SCO 039042) and a company­limited by guarantee and registered in England­No. 612171 at Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley­, Oxford, OX4 2JY. Oxfam GB is a member­of Oxfam International­.

iii) Cross-cutting issues, new issues­ and innovation. We will ensure­that issues of HIV and AIDS, women’s rights and a focus on building voice are cross-cutting in all our work. We will develop­our understanding and competence in engaging­with and supporting interventions­focused on sustainable action in relation to urban poverty. We will invest in resources to encourage innovation­and new ideas in our work, and promote a healthy risk-taking approach­to new areas. iv) Demonstrate results and impact.

In the context of dwindling global finances and growing scepticism around the role of INGOs and Aid in development, we aim to better demonstrate the results and impact of our work. Using participatory reflection and learning, our MEL and RTE processes will increasingly­focus on impact and learning­. We will also invest in innovative approaches­to measuring the impact of our advocacy work. v) Demonstrate financial accountability and manage risk better. In keeping with our values of 360-degree accountability and also in response to the impacts of the global economic crisis on our work, we will place a premium on cost-effectiveness­, manage

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risk effectively through our risk register, and publish our financial dealings in an open manner. We will also take specific­ steps to reduce our organisational carbon­footprint — reducing­emissions by 15% by 2011. vi) Increase restricted fundraising.

In the context of the global economic crisis and its impacts on our traditional sources of income, we will increase a focus on raising restricted funding. We will achieve this by developing new and innovative programme ideas. We will manage our existing restricted income better and diversify our donor base to include a new set of donors interested in the work we want to pursue. vii) Maintain a motivated and diverse workforce. People are our key asset.

We will increase our investment in staff capacity­, especially in critical areas.

Within the constraints of our resources, we will seek to motivate and reward staff for positive performance. We will maintain a diverse workforce that reflects­the global­and regional nature of our work and reflects­our commitment to gender­equality and equal opportunity. We will maintain and implement workplace initiatives­that promote gender equality, and equality for those affected by HIV and AIDS.