Introducing Innovation

Introducing innovation

At Oxfam, everything we do is guided by one goal: ending the injustice of poverty. It’s a work in progress – but that progress is very real. The number of people living in extreme poverty has been halved in just 15 years. An end to poverty is within the reach of our generation.

To achieve that goal, a powerful and practical response is needed. That’s why we constantly question what we do. We ask ourselves how we could be better. We explore what we could do differently. We examine who we could work with to have the biggest possible impact.

We don’t chase innovation for the sake of it. But we do recognise that the world is changing at an unprecedented rate – so we change with it. Failure to do that would mean failure to be as effective as we can be. It would mean we were failing to make the biggest difference to people’s lives.

So we collaborate, sometimes with unexpected organisations. We work with local partners but rely on our global expertise too. We encourage staff to think freely. We learn from what we see and do. And we adapt to a changing world and to technologies that are always changing.

The causes of poverty don’t stay the same, so we don’t stay the same either. Instead, we move forward, guided by one thing that will never change: our determination to end the injustice of poverty.

mNutrition work women

mNutrition puts power in millions of people’s hands, by delivering valuable information on farming, food and healthcare direct to mobile phones. It’s a serious group effort: bringing together Oxfam, mobile network operators and dozens of organisations that specialise in agriculture, nutrition and health. And, because working collaboratively means we can reach far more people, we’re expecting the project to have a serious impact. By 2017, three million people across Africa and Asia will be able to make more informed choices and decisions about everything from crop storage and planting seasons to maternal and child health – simply by looking at their mobiles.

Behind the Brandswork women water

Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign proves that even the world’s biggest food companies are no match for people power. Every year, we publish a scorecard rating the ten largest companies on their actions in developing countries, looking at issues from the treatment of women and farmers to land and water use. Many of the companies could be working far harder to prevent and tackle poverty. So when weaknesses are found, Behind the Brand campaigners respond – and so do the companies. Coca-Cola and Nestle pledged zero tolerance for land grabs. Kellogg’s and General Mills committed to tackling climate change. In just two years, 700,000 actions have been taken with Behind the Brands, each one moving the world’s food giants closer to a future without poverty.

People’s Survival Fund work saving lives

The government-run People’s Survival Fund helps families in the Philippines adapt to climate change – and shows that working with governments works. Rising temperatures and increased rainfall in the Philippines are making it harder for farmers to grow enough to eat and sell. But now the Philippine government’s People’s Survival Fund gives local authorities £15m to spend every year, on things like helping fishing communities respond to changing weather, paying for risk insurance and putting storm warning systems in place. It came about because we pressed the Philippine government to act. Together with local partners, we worked flexibly, we helped ministers understand the climate challenge and we built support in affected communities. Starting in 2015, the annual People’s Survival Fund payments mean more people will be prepared for the future – and this national government initiative will hopefully inspire local governments, community organisations and businesses to commit to further funding in response to this crucial challenge.

Flood insurance in Bangladeshwork saving lives

By being part of a revolutionary insurance project, thousands of families in Bangladesh can now avoid extreme measures when floodwaters rise. Insurance payouts are triggered automatically when waters reach a certain height. So people don’t need to make a claim or resort to dangerous measures like taking out high-interest loans or selling their livestock to cover flood damage. Money reaches people more quickly too, via mobile money transfers. We’re part of a consortium that runs the project, along with financial giant Swiss Re, local insurance company Pragati and the Bangladesh Institute of Water Modelling. And our plan is to expand the scheme across the country, by supporting the Bangladesh government to integrate flood insurance into its national programme to reduce the damage caused by disasters. It’s a project that can help families to recover and rebuild fast after an emergency – and shows the huge potential value of building constructive relationships with communities, businesses and governments.

Chukua Hatua women

Chukua Hatua is helping people to discover the power within themselves to influence decisions that affect their lives. It can be hard to believe that your voice counts. But, in Tanzania, Chukua Hatua is changing that. Meaning ‘take action’ in Kiswahili, it’s the name of an Oxfam project that’s supporting people – especially women – to understand their rights, hold their leaders to account and, crucially, believe that they can make change happen. As more and more people get involved, progress is happening nationwide. Maasai farmers have marched to Nairobi to demand land rights. Communities near Lake Victoria have successfully campaigned for funding for a replacement mobile phone tower. And village leaders have been ousted after failing to open up about their work and spending. Across Tanzania, the Chakua Hatua message of taking action is beginning to take hold.

practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/effectiveness-review-chukua-hatua-tanzania-303755

mLink Somaliawater saving lives

mLink Somalia makes it possible to reach communities we couldn’t otherwise reach – using the mobile phones already in people’s hands. How do you support communities when ongoing conflict creates security issues and makes face-to-face work problematic? In the case of one health campaign in Somalia, you rely on text messaging and a piece of software called mLink. Initially, the project involved sending messages about cholera to people in remote communities. The disease spreads fast in dirty water, but understanding of how to prevent and control it grew rapidly following those first messages. More recently, we’ve worked with local shopkeepers, setting up a system for people to pay for basic goods using electronic vouchers – again sent by text message – with vendors then receiving mobile payment from Oxfam. And we’re now working with UNICEF to expand the project, reaching one million people with information about polio. As mLink shows, using the right technology can play a vital role when working in some of the toughest places on earth.

Sanitation in Nairobi water

In urban Nairobi, an innovative toilet scheme isn’t only helping people to stay healthy – it’s generating income too. When clean, safe toilet facilities don’t exist, disease always does. So in Nairobi’s slums, we’re investing in a project that helps schools and communities to build toilets that stop sickness – and start raising money. Our focus has been on schools, which are provided with a Sanergy loo. This ingenious toilet is built, delivered and installed, and the new owners are trained in maintaining it, and in business and marketing. They then charge a small fee for people to use the loo (it’s free for school pupils), and every few hours it’s emptied, with the waste taken to Sanergy’s plant and turned into fertiliser. So it’s safe and sustainable – and it’s causing attendance to rise at the schools where toilets are built.

Electronic food vouchers in Gazawork saving lives

The food e-vouchers we’ve been giving to 60,000 people in Gaza help families to buy the essentials – and boost the economy in the place with the highest unemployment on earth. The vouchers are automatically topped up onto debit cards, and can be used at dozens of stores across Gaza. At least 48% of the food in those stores is produced locally, so the scheme helps to create jobs and increase production – as well as enabling people to choose what they want to eat and when they want to buy it. And because we’re supporting and training local food producers – especially women – to grow their businesses and sell their produce through the stores, the scheme’s impact just keeps growing. More people can buy food. More food is produced locally. More people earn a decent living. And more communities are able to cope following the devastation of the recent conflict, the root causes of which must be addressed to achieve a lasting peace and to enable the community and economy in Gaza to flourish.

Lanka Social Ventureswork

Lanka Social Ventures is supporting entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka to learn from other businesses, reach more people, attract vital investment – and help the country rebuild. Social enterprises – from mushroom farming cooperatives to spice traders – can play a vital role in Sri Lanka’s development after years of conflict, helping people learn new skills and creating opportunities for women and other marginalised groups. So the Oxfam-funded Lanka Social Ventures project connects small business owners with mentors who can provide business advice and technical training. It helps business owners develop their products to sell to new markets. And it supports businesses to attract financing. The project – which is itself a social enterprise – launched in December 2014, and our 12 years in the country mean we have useful experience and contacts. But we’re not planning on hanging around: within three years, the plan is for Lanka Social Ventures to attract additional funding and become sustainable, enabling the project to develop and grow independently.

Ebola Active Case Trackingsaving lives

Training volunteers to sensitively identify people with potential signs of Ebola played a vital part in our work to control the disease. How do you plan your response in an unprecedented situation? By always being ready to listen and learn. When Ebola struck in West Africa, it became clear that identifying potential cases as early as possible was a crucial way to slow infection. So we trained hundreds of volunteers in affected areas, and they moved from house to house, asking questions that were continually adapted based on people’s responses. Talking about health isn’t easy, so if people became angry or unhappy, it was vital to listen. In total we reached 46,000 households, identifying 1,179 people who were unwell and 239 suspected cases of Ebola. Being innovative doesn’t always involve being hi-tech – but it does involve being highly effective.

3D printing in emergencieswater saving lives

We’re working with a range of expert organisations to investigate if and how 3D printing could transform our work in emergencies. Speed matters in a disaster zone, because rapidly putting the right response in place can stop lives being lost. But getting vital equipment – like pipes, taps and toilets – to remote or devastated areas often takes time. So, with support from a university, a logistics firm, an innovation fund and other disaster response experts, we’re looking at how 3D printing could help us design, test and build essential engineering equipment close to emergencies. Our hope is that it will reduce the time it takes to deliver exactly the right product. The project is in its early stages, but our ambition is to develop a database of 3D products that can be manufactured in various locations – meaning we can get to work faster and focus on helping communities to rebuild.

Urban safety nets in Kenyawork saving lives

After food prices in Kenya skyrocketed in 2009, we worked with partners to find and support vulnerable people – and the Kenyan government got involved. As the food crisis worsened, the government was focused on helping rural communities, so we worked with local and international partners to support people who were struggling to afford food in cities. We began by arranging cash transfers so people could buy food straightaway. We also trained people in business skills that would help them earn a living long-term. And we encouraged the government to put ongoing support in place for the families most at risk of hunger. In 2011, the government did just that: setting up its own cash transfer project. Now, when food prices rise to a certain level, thousands of urban families receive extra cash – a vital safety net. Businesses are growing fast where we worked, too. The local economy is growing. And more children have the time and freedom to go to school.

I Care About Her women work

To ensure the message about stopping violence against women in Zambia gets to the right people, the ‘I Care About Her’ campaign is based on insight from a local market research company. Violence against women is widespread in Zambia, but ‘I Care About Her’ encourages men to reject violence, rape and abuse – and to encourage other men to do the same. So we asked local market research experts to recommend who was best placed to spread that message. As a result, we’ve trained 50 police officers, who have trained 3,000 more. We’ve worked with a brewery to get the campaign seen in bars. We’ve supported TV phone-ins. We’ve worked with teachers and district chiefs. And early anecdotal evidence suggests that attitudes are changing and violence against women is falling in some communities. Almost 3,000 men and boys are now involved in the campaign – and the government has asked for a proposal to support I Care About Her right across Zambia.

My Rights My Voicewomen

My Rights My Voice gives young people the skills and opportunities to push for better healthcare and education – and to break the cycle of poverty. Children and young people have the potential to transform their communities – but far too often this is overlooked. So the My Rights, My Voice programme supports young people to understand their rights, develop the confidence to speak up and push for the healthcare and education they are entitled to. In Mali, young people wrote a health and education manifesto that was signed by three election candidates – including the victorious prime minister. In Nepal, 1,800 young people have joined local decision-making bodies. And in Pakistan, young people developed the idea for a soap opera about young people’s sexual health, which was sold and broadcast on national TV. My Rights My Voice is a project with its sights set firmly on the future – but helps young people recognise their power today.

Reducing women’s working hours women

After discovering that women in parts of Honduras were working an average of 94 hours each week, we supported one community to tackle inequality – and to create a more sustainable future. It’s easy for work to go unnoticed: especially housework and care. So in one project in Honduras, we supported men and women to take part in an analysis of who was doing what. When the group recognised that 94-hour weeks were common for women, they began pushing for government investment that would help to save time and effort. Their determination got results. The National Congress and National Electrical Company funded a US$100,000 electricity project, enabling the local co-operative to invest in an electric mill, food processors and a fridge. These labour-saving tools are now making working weeks much shorter, and raising money for the community too – as 11 women now have part-time jobs processing food. Male leaders have spoken out about unequal workloads and started to do more themselves, too. Often being innovative simply means supporting people to transform their own situation.

Tanzanian female food heroeswomen work

To help more people in Tanzania understand the reality of life for female farmers, we turned to an unlikely solution – reality TV. In partnership with a Tanzanian media agency, we developed the idea for ‘Female Food Hero of the Year’ – a televised contest to highlight the huge, unsung contribution made by female farmers in Tanzania, and to show the challenges they face. Eleven thousand women have so far applied to take part in the series, which has run for three years. The finalists reach a national audience, sharing their experiences and learning new business and food production skills – and thousands of people vote for the farmer they find most inspiring. The show has been discussed in parliament, and the Tanzanian Government has been watching too: distributing Female Food Hero application forms and joining planning meetings for the show. After discovering that reality TV really can reflect – and even change – reality, we’re now investigating how to replicate the idea elsewhere.

Electronic payments with VISA saving lives

By partnering with VISA, we’re pioneering a more efficient, secure and transparent way to transfer cash in emergencies – and our ambition doesn’t stop there. VISA’s global mission is to provide financial access to everyone, everywhere, and we’re working with the company to discover new ways to support and empower communities in developing countries. One early pilot project in the Philippines involved distributing 2,700 pre-paid VISA cards, which can be used to withdraw cash or to buy goods in local shops. By distributing cards in disaster-prone areas, money can be transferred as soon as an emergency happens and people can buy exactly what they need, whenever and wherever suits them. Not only that, but the data VISA receives on what’s bought and what’s being paid can help inform our response, in real-time. We want innovative solutions like this to become the norm worldwide – and VISA’s global presence can turn that goal into a reality.