|
|
This paper is the result of extensive discussions led by adaptation professionals coming from different backgrounds and facilitated by the Ecosystem and Livelihoods Adaptation Network (ELAN)
. ELAN is an innovative alliance between two conservation organisations (International Union for the Conservation of Nature [IUCN] and WWF) and two development organisations (CARE International and the International Institute for Environment and Development [IIED]).<>The objective of ELAN is to establish a global network to develop, evaluate, synthesize and share successful strategies for adapting to climate change, build capacity for such strategies to be assessed and implemented at national and sub-national levels, and advance policies and knowledge sharing platforms that will facilitate the scaling up of effective strategies. Two emerging approaches to adaptation have gained currency over the past few years, namely Community-based Adaptation (CBA) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EBA). Each has its specific emphasis, the first on empowering local communities to reduce their vulnerabilities, and the latter on harnessing the management of ecosystems as a means to provide goods and services in the face of climate change.<> In this paper, ELAN argues for a more truly “integrated approach” to adaptation that addresses and seeks to reconcile differences between CBA and EBA. ELAN has developed a conceptual framework for an approach to adaptation, which empowers local communities to manage ecosystems under resilient governance arrangements that can provide the ecosystem services on which they depend.
Read More
|
|
|
The report informs policies and actions from a human development perspective, putting people at the centre of development debates
. Climate change is a threat on a planetary scale. People everywhere - especially the poor - are increasingly exposed to the consequences of global warming regardless of where the causes originate. If climate change is not managed in a coordinated effort, it will unravel human progress up till now and continue bringing increased difficulties well into the future.
Read More
|
|
|
This paper highlights the ICIMOD's recently initiated few projects which tries to address these research question on impact of climate change on water resources and livelihood by finding the contribution of snow and glacier melt, groundwater to base flow of the some river basins in the region
. It also foster to better estimate of flow availability of water in the rivers of the HKH region and helps for better decision makin
Read More
|
|
|
The economic crisis continues to affect many women and men living in poverty
. But how these effects are felt depends, to a large extent, on their relationships with the people and institutions with whom they interact. These relationships are profoundly different for women and men.
Unemployment hits poor families hard, regardless of whether it is a man or woman who is laid off. But the chances of a family recovering from this setback is shaped by the different levels of bargaining power that women and men have in the labour market, and their different responsibilities at home. The gender inequalities and power imbalances that predate the current crisis have resulted in its additional afflictions falling disproportionately on those who are already structurally disempowered and marginalised.
Although often labelled 'coping strategies', the means women find to respond to crises are frequently unsustainable, and are more appropriately conceived of as 'desperation measures'. Pre-existing inequalities, which include under-representation of women at all levels of economic decision making and their over-representation in informal, vulnerable, and casual employment, are often more significant than gender inequalities arising specifically from the crisis.
This paper summarises the issues raised during a workshop of development and gender practitioners and academics, convened in September 2009, by the international journal Gender & Development, published by Oxfam
Read More
|
|
|
Over the past decade, Viet Nam has made significant progress in terms of its development and poverty reduction
. However, the current global economic crisis is negatively affecting the Vietnamese economy and potentially threatens to undermine Viet Nam's impressive poverty reduction record.
To assess and monitor the ongoing impacts of the crisis on poor people, over the course of 2009, Oxfam and ActionAid Vietnam, in close collaboration with the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), and with significant support from AusAID, have undertaken a series of rapid assessments of the effects of the economic crisis on migrant workers and their families in both formal and informal sectors. Findings have been used to inform government agencies and representative bodies at different levels.
This paper discusses the results of these assessments including the diverse regional structures of the migrant population. It highlights the major changes in urban labour markets, and how they relate to changes in rural welfare and in rural-urban migration.
The first assessment brought up the importance of "linkages" to the rural areas and clearly showed the interconnectedness of labour markets in urban/peri-urban areas and rural welfare. The second assessment showed the importance of rural areas in providing a strong foundation for the country in coping with the economic crisis
Read More
|
|
|
In January 2007, Viet Nam was admitted as the 150th member country of the WTO
. It was widely recognised that this would bring many new opportunities to Viet Nam, but would also pose many challenges, especially in ensuring that the full benefits of WTO membership are shared by the whole of Viet Nam's population, including poor and vulnerable people.
In this context, ActionAid Viet Nam (AAV), Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) and Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) started the 'Post WTO' poverty monitoring initiative in early 2007. However, the time frame of this initiative also happened to coincide with the onset of the global economic crisis and so the studies provide further valuable insights into the effects of the crisis on poor and vulnerable people in Viet Nam.
The initiative is intended as a longitudinal study of poverty outcomes, linked with changes in livelihoods and market access of vulnerable groups, in selected communities and cities throughout Viet Nam. The intention is to provide analysis and recommendations for policy discussion as well as for the work of Oxfam, AAV and partners
Read More
|
|
|
People living in poverty in the UK make a vital contribution to the economy and society through unpaid caring and community work
. But public attitudes prevail that people on low incomes – and particularly those on benefits – are ‘scroungers’ who are to blame for their own poverty. These attitudes are exacerbated by a widespread assumption that opportunities to earn a reasonable income are readily available.
This paper highlights the positive contribution made by people on low incomes, and explores the barriers that prevent many people from moving out of benefits and into employment. In doing so, Oxfam hopes to encourage positive attitudes towards people in poverty and to contribute to the creation of a climate that supports the bold policy measures needed to end UK poverty.
Politicians and journalists play a key role in promoting positive attitudes, or reinforcing negative ones, of people living in poverty. Oxfam is therefore calling on politicians, commentators, and decision makers to recognise the unpaid contributions made by people on low incomes and the barriers to work and opportunity which make it difficult for some people to take up paid work, and to reflect this in their language, political activity and policy-making.
We hope that a sea change in attitudes to people living in poverty will enable the creation of policies to tackle poverty, such as those outlined below. Overall, Oxfam wants to see a society and a welfare system that gives people dignity and a decent standard of living; and which gives people security – whether they are out of work, in work, or if they find themselves moving between the two.
Key recommendations
Oxfam is calling on the new government to implement the following recommendations:
- Revise the benefit system to enable unpaid work to be valued on its own merits.
- Implement a broader systemic change in the benefit and tax systems with regard to work incentives, to ensure that work always pays and that it never comes at the cost of the security of an individual’s or a household’s livelihoods.
Read More
|
|
|
This research report is one of five case studies commissioned by Oxfam GB on the impact of the global economic crisis on women in East Asian countries
. In Cambodia, the economic downturn has severely affected the garment industry, in which women are vast majority of the work force, due to reduced demand for garments in the US and EU. Other affected sectors are tourism and construction.
As well as its impact on employment and income, the global economic crisis has extended its effects to the welfare of individuals at the household level through reduced remittances from urban jobs, decreased income resulting from fewer economic activities, limited spending, and the drop in prices of some agricultural commodities such as rice, rubber, cassava and maize. The impact of the economic downturn has translated into job insecurity and deteriorating working conditions, leading to lower incomes or in some cases, legally unprotected employment.
Women, particularly in women-headed households, have found it hard to deal with their family livelihood responsibilities and face limited job opportunities. Coping strategies can put their health, security and social position within communities at risk.
Despite such negative impacts on women in Cambodia, the evidence of intervention through external assistance to the households at the community level fell between 2008 and 2009, and women-headed households were not taken into account sufficiently in the distribution of aid.
Key recommendations
To improve the livelihoods and wellbeing particularly of women and children who are victims of the economic downturn, the government of Cambodia should consider implementing the following measures:
- Scaling-up existing sectoral interventions that have demonstrated success in addressing food insecurity, malnutrition, school dropout, child labour etc. and other human consequences of a crisis situation;
- Developing new programmes to prevent and address the effects of the crisis on nutrition, health, school attendance etc., particularly on vulnerable and poor groups, through social protection-related interventions; and
- Reinforcing the provision of basic social services (increasing coverage, utilization, quality, and equity), including care services.
Read More
|
|
|
This research report on Vietnam is one of five country case studies that were commissioned by Oxfam GB to assess the impact of the global economic crisis on women in South East Asia
. It concludes that women in the export-manufacturing sector, including the garment and textile industries, have been hardest hit by the crisis both economically and socially.
Women migrant workers have experienced a double hit with a reduction in remittances and have become more vulnerable to problems such as trafficking and sexual harassment. Many women in Vietnam have moved from the formal sector to the informal sector, and rely on strategies such as job-sharing, informal credit, social networking and community-based assistance for survival.
Some of the government's short-term measures ignore gender-specific concerns and miss important targets, particularly poor and newly poor women. This report recommends a shift in emphasis from macro-level policy solutions to micro-level ones, with an increased focus on vulnerable women.
Key recommendations
- The government of Vietnam should provide better social safety nets to help mitigate the effect of the crisis on household incomes and to prevent inter-generational transmission of poverty, both from women to girls and from women to older women.
- The government should integrate gender into their budget processes, and ensure that existing labour laws are applied fairly to women workers, particularly in the garment sector.
Read More
|
|
|
This report is one of five country case studies commissioned by Oxfam GB on the effects of the global economic crisis in South East Asia
. It shows that Thai women are highly vulnerable to the effects of the financial crisis because they are over-represented in the sectors most affected, such as export manufacturing, the garment industry, electronics, and services.
They tend to be employed in precarious jobs where they are more likely to be fired first or to experience harsh working conditions. Women in Thailand tend to be responsible for family welfare, so are be adversely affected by cuts in public spending on safety nets and by reductions in remittances.
Key recommendations
- The government, regional institutions, and donors should work together to share information on the situation of women in the crisis. They should gather and provide up-to-date, reliable data that is disaggregated by gender, age, and location.
- Thai women workers interviewed called on the government to support women workers by setting up good quality day-care centres in industrial areas; by allowing women to be adequately represented in tripartite committees, and by monitoring companies' (including foreign companies') treatment of workers, particularly women.
Read More
|
email alert
or subscribe to the 
RSS feed.
