Long-term development

  • We work with communities to tackle the causes of poverty through a combination of hands-on expertise, financial investment and education. In addition, we give people a voice to speak out against the laws, actions and policies that keep them in poverty.

The Oxfam training putting women on the right track

Posted by: Ben Clancy

Knowledge is power – just ask these women from Nairobi. They are all members of the Oxfam project, Wezesha Jamii – Swahili for ‘empowering communities’ – which, among others, provides training, supports job opportunities and promotes equality.

The majority of these vulnerable women, who live in informal settlements across the Kenyan capital, are either domestic workers or small-scale traders. Before getting involved in the project, many of them knew nothing about their rights or entitlements – and were often exploited by their employers.

Left: Sheillah Achieng and her baby in their apartment in Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: Katie G. Nelson/Oxfam Right: Doreen styles a woman's hair in her salon in Mukuru. Photo: Katie G. Nelson/Oxfam

Sheillah Achieng (28), who left school with few qualifications, says domestic work is the only job she can do. She describes how a former employer once threatened her with a knife when she asked for her wages. But since becoming a member of Wezesha Jamii, she understands that she can go somewhere for help.

“Now I am enlightened and if something similar happened,” says the mother of three. “I would go to the police station. I know there are some offices we can go to.”

The project also taught Sheillah about her rights around maternity leave. Before her youngest child was born, she asked her employer if she could have some time off. “They told me I could have three months… I understood that if you are pregnant you are due some leave. I didn’t know that before."

“I am very happy that I learned my rights about maternity leave. I didn’t know before that three months is my right. Normally you would get two weeks and then find someone in your job.”

The advice she’s received through Wezesha Jamii (WJ) has made Sheillah realise that she wants better treatment at work: “What I want is for more employers to treat us as human beings. I feel very bad to see employers not treating us well. “I feel more confident and I have more energy. I feel encouraged that I know my rights.”

Elsewhere, Doreen Muththoni has tried to make a go of various business ideas down through the years. But from selling bread, to cooking and selling goat meat, she has struggled to earn enough money. After becoming a member of Wezesha Jamii, she was trained in how to develop a good business idea, how to budget and how to manage her money.

Now running a thriving beauty and hair salon, Doreen says: “The project helped me choose the business I could do and one that could bring me more income than the meat business. What I do now is sell hair products and also do women’s hair.

“Through the training they showed me how to save, I didn’t save before… I can save more than 10,000 KSh through my business.”

These days Doreen has no problem paying school fees for her three children – not only that, she has opened savings accounts for them too.

“We enjoy many things now we don’t have so many problems,” she says. “We feel free and happy now. I am filled with joy. The things we are doing, WJ has been able to help me so much and now I know more than what I used to know.”

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International Women's Day

Posted by: Ben Clancy

Now more than a century old, International Women’s Day is as important as ever before. After all, it’s not just the one day of the year that we celebrate the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women; it’s also a time to reflect on their ongoing struggle for gender equality.

On this International Women’s Day, we would like to introduce you to some of the awe-inspiring women we are proud to stand with and support through our work:

Top-Left: Jennifer with her mentor Tsungai Shonhai. Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam. Top-Right: Women’s group leader Kausar Rajput. Photo: Irina Werning/Oxfam. Bottom: Ghozlan is a Syrian refugee living in Za’atari Camp. Photo: Alixandra Buck/Oxfam

In Zimbabwe, Tsungai Shonhai works with young people living with and affected by HIV. The 64-year-old mentor works with the Oxfam Ireland-supported Bethany Project, which promotes the wellbeing of these vulnerable young people through support groups, HIV testing and counselling. Tsungai’s job isn’t easy, but her efforts are greatly appreciated by Jennifer.

The 15 year old, who was born HIV-positive, used to isolate herself from her community in case anyone found out about her condition. But her life has been transformed by the project and the work of women like Tsungai. “The support groups gave me courage, confidence and hope to manage my condition,” she says. “I am now confident, my self-esteem boosted, I now participate in the school netball team.”

Kausar Rajput is a women's group leader in Sindh province, Pakistan. Kausar (50), who also chairs the local health committee, helps women access small loans to start businesses in their homes. She does all of this as part of an Oxfam project called Raising Her Voice, which aims to help women in Pakistan overcome the barriers that keep them in poverty.

“I was a councillor before coming to this project and I was a housewife,” said Kausar. “My husband died, that was years ago and I have brought up my children by myself. By the grace of God I don't face problems now – I go out and solve other problems for other people.”


Ghozlan is one of around 45 Syrian women involved in Oxfam’s Greenhouse project in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. Many refugees in Jordan can’t find work and rely on limited aid. Finding work is even more challenging for these women who are encouraged to work in the home. When they do go out to work, they face harassment, rumours and discrimination. 

In response, Oxfam opened four greenhouses in Za’atari camp last year, and encouraged women to get involved. Ghozlan was one of those who joined the project, and quickly learned new horticultural skills. She is even making a little money from the produce she sells in local communities. For Ghozlan, however, it is the support from her new friends that is invaluable. “I met some women here,” she said. “When we talk together about our concerns we feel some relief.”

 

Rehema Mayuya is a change maker. Photo: BMF Production

Rehema Mayuya, from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, lived with a violent husband until she became involved with the We Can campaign, which is part-funded by Oxfam Ireland. 

The campaign’s aim is to end violence against women, challenging the attitudes and behaviours that facilitate it. Rehema is now a change maker, someone who speaks out against domestic violence to make her community safer.
 
“I’m a totally different person now,” says Rehema. As a woman, I need to stand strong, fight for my rights and protect the rights of women who are subjected to violence.”
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The protection project bringing hope to the DRC

Posted by: Ben Clancy

Without peace, there can be no prosperity. In parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), conflict puts the safety of workers at risk. With insecurity stifling industry and the ability of communities to thrive, one Oxfam project is aimed at those whose lives and livelihoods are under threat.

Left: Henriette Namasale M’Makala, President of the Kashusha Women’s Forum. Photo: Ramon Sanchez Orense/Oxfam. Right: Children play with an old wheel in South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Oxfam is working with co-operatives and protection committees to ensure people can safely earn a living in conflict areas. Photo: Ramon Sanchez Orense/Oxfam

Kabare and Kalehe are two areas of South Kivu where the project – which combines livelihoods with the protection of residents – has been implemented. Furaha M’Maroyi, a widowed mother of four, has already seen the benefits. She does not own a farm, but she is a grower and member of the Kashusha Farming Co-operative, which is involved in the project.

Furaha explained that in the past, when the harvest was destroyed by gangs, she never asked the authorities for help. “Ever since I have lived alone with my children, we have lived in fear of the authorities,” she said. “We have been afraid of soldiers and their leader.”

However, the project recently got the growers and the authorities in the same room. “I sat down before a commanding officer; a person I thought was untouchable,” said 43-year-old Furaha. “We greeted each other and spoke together with familiarity. That day, I felt that a relationship had been forged. We put our conflicts to one side and shook hands, like friends.”

Furaha has gained confidence from that meeting. She has saved some money, which paid for a goat. “If my family became ill tomorrow, I could sell it and pay for the health care services without having to borrow money from my neighbours,” she said. “Since this project came into existence, I have discovered new courage.”

Elsewhere, Henriette Namasale M’Makala , who is president of project partner, the Kashusha Women’s Forum, would like to see violence against women become a thing of the past in the DRC.

“There is so much violence oppressing us, including the fact that we don't have access to a space for discussion, where we can speak out loudly and strongly in the presence of men,” she said. “The society we live in sometimes tends to hold us down in a lowly position, even though it is us, the women, who look after the children and do all the housework.”

Henriette (47) said she is proud of being part of a project which gives women the space to talk openly and honestly about the problems they face. She added that the members can discuss issues such as rape and know they will be heard. Even more importantly, they will not be judged.

Being president of the forum has changed Henriette too. "If I have a problem, I am prepared to go and defend myself before and with men,” she said. “We live near a military camp and that no longer affects me, because my family and I sleep at night.”

 

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“I can starve, but my children can’t” – The true cost of inequality

Posted by: Ben Clancy

The figures are staggering. Eighty-two percent of the wealth generated in 2017 went to just one percent of the world’s population. In contrast, the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world didn’t make a penny more. 

Not only that, billionaire wealth grew by $762 billion – that’s enough money to stamp out extreme poverty seven times over. Last year also saw the biggest-ever increase in billionaires, with one person becoming a member of the super-rich club every two days. Moreover, nine out of 10 of these new billionaires were men. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, women provided $10 trillion in unpaid care to support the global economy.

But these are just numbers. The true cost of inequality is revealed through the testimonies of women like Lan. Her story shows the reality of a truly unjust global village, where a small minority controls the majority of the wealth.

Lan is 32 and a mother of two. Her husband can’t work due to illness so she is the family’s sole breadwinner. Her job in the garment industry in Dong Nai province, near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is both exhausting and insecure.  She works at least nine hours a day, six days a week, earning just $1 an hour, to make shoes for global fashion brands. Despite working on 1,200 pairs of shoes a day, she can’t afford to buy even one pair for her 12-year-old son.

Worse still, she is separated from her son and her 15-month-old daughter who live 1,500km away in her home province of Thanh Hoa, where her parents look after them. Lan moved away to work so that her children could have a better future – but her low wages and the high cost of living means that she can’t afford for them to live with her full time. Organising regular visits home is almost impossible too because travel is expensive and Lan is rarely able to take annual leave.

Lan soothes her 15-month-old daughter Ha* in the small room she rents in Dong Nai province near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ha*, who has been struggling in her mother’s absence, had to take a 34-hour bus ride with her grandmother to visit Lan. Photo: Sam Tarling/Oxfam

Lan and her 12-year-old son Sang* play with a kitten at her parents’ house in Thanh Hoa province. It’s the first time she has seen her family in nine months. Photo: Sam Tarling/Oxfam

"It’s hard because my children cannot live with me,” says Lan. “I feel very sorry for my children. They always ask to come here, but I don't allow it. I cannot afford to raise them here. My son really wants to come live with me and study here. 

“They have to be left with relatives because I don’t have enough money to feed them and pick them up from school. I miss them as I’m far away. I want to be close to my children. 

“It’s hard to say goodbye to kids because they want me to stay. When I’m back at home, I think about my children and I do not want to leave them and go back here to work.”

 She adds:  “I can’t let my children starve or feel that they are not as good as other kids. Well, my kids are not equal to other children because we don’t have money. I can starve, but my children can’t.

 "In my future, I want to work close to home with a steady salary so I can be close to home, close to my children so I can care for them and they can be like their friends. I want to work the hours which have better pay, so I can have my children with me and I can raise them well with good educations. I want my children to be close to their parents so they can have a better life.”

Inequality is keeping people trapped in poverty, but together we can fight it. 

Please join our campaign to Even it Up. 

Thank you. 

*Names have been changed 

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First EU tax haven blacklist names 17 countries

Posted by: Ben Clancy
Oxfam calls on Irish Government to tackle tax avoidance at home and globally
 
5th December 2017
 
EU finance ministers including Minister Paschal Donohoe have today adopted the first EU blacklist of tax havens. The list includes 17 mostly small countries. The EU has also published an additional grey list of countries that currently qualify as tax havens but have promised reforms.
 
The blacklisting process considered non-EU member states only. 
 
Reacting to the news, Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken said: “We welcome the EU’s commitment to addressing the damage done by tax havens and this first concrete step towards tackling tax avoidance. However, it is worrying to see that some of the most notorious tax havens got away on the grey list. 
 
“Placing countries on a grey list shouldn't just be a way of letting them off the hook, as has happened with other blacklisting efforts in the past. The EU has to make sure governments on the grey list follow up on their commitments, or else they must be blacklisted.
 
“It’s a sad irony that if the EU were to apply the criteria to its own member states, Ireland, along with three EU countries; Malta, the Netherlands and Luxembourg would be blacklisted too. While we welcome Minister Donohoe’s support for the blacklisting process, we continue to call for him and the Irish government to tackle tax avoidance at home as well as globally. 
 
Specifically, we need the government to be proactively engaged in tackling existing tax avoidance mechanisms which Ireland is inadvertently facilitating. 
 
The EU’s list was established following a screening and a dialogue conducted during 2017 with a large number of third country jurisdictions. Those that appear on the list failed to take meaningful action to address deficiencies identified and did not engage in a meaningful dialogue on the basis of the EU’s criteria. Work on the list started in July 2016 within the Council's working group responsible for implementing an EU code of conduct on business taxation, in coordination with its high-level working party for taxation.
 
Last week, Oxfam published the report ‘Blacklist or whitewash?’, showing what a robust blacklist of tax havens would look like if the EU were to objectively apply its own criteria and not bow to political pressures. Oxfam concluded that at least 35 non-EU countries should be included in the EU tax haven blacklist. In addition, four EU member states fail the EU’s own criteria: Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Malta. 
 
ENDS
 
Daniel English
Oxfam Ireland
086 3544954
 
Photos and TV-quality video footage of today illustrating a tax haven in Brussels are available and can be used by the media for free.
 
An interactive map shows the 39 countries listed in the report and explains why they should have been blacklisted by the EU.
 
The EU committed to a blacklist process in the wake of scandals like the Panama Papers and Lux Leaks that showed how tax havens let the companies and the super-rich get away with billions in unpaid taxes. The EU blacklist is based on three criteria: transparency, fair taxation, and participation in international fora on tax.
 
The EU’s blacklisting negotiations have taken place behind closed doors, and countries participating in the talks have refused to answer questions. The process has been in the hands of one of Brussels’ most secretive working bodies, the so-called Code of Conduct Group, which insists on its work being confidential.
·         86% of European are in favour of “tougher rules on tax avoidance and tax havens”, while 8% are “against the idea” according to the Standard Eurobarometer, published in July 2017.
·         Tax dodging costs developing countries $170 billion a year: $70 billion through tax dodging by super-rich individuals and $100 billion through corporate tax dodging. $100 billion could provide an education for 124 million children and pay for healthcare services that could prevent the deaths of at least six million children annually.  There are 124 million children out of school. The annual domestic financing gap to achieve universal education in low and low middle-income countries is $39 billion per year. $32 billion would fund the key healthcare to prevent the deaths of 6 million children each year.
 
Following the Paradise Papers scandal, Oxfam released a 5-point plan outlining steps governments should take to prevent further scandals on a global scale. This includes establishing a global blacklist of tax havens that naming countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands that have been key players in the Paradise Papers scandal.

 

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