Welcome to the December issue of Policy & Practice News!

This month you'll find features on governance and human rights, the blockade of Gaza, and our expert debate on the future of agriculture. There's also a new resource for programming in fragile and conflict affected states, and a research report on private investment and agriculture produced in partnership with IIED.

As always, if you are interested in more frequent updates on development research and publications from Oxfam don't forget to follow @Oxfamgbpolicy on twitter or subscribe to our RSS feeds.

Tackling poor governance - where to begin?

Today is Human Right's Day, and to mark this Oxfam has launched The Right to Be Heard Framework: A learning companion. This practical guide is designed to help practitioners in choosing how and where to build programmes that address issues of governance.

Read more about the framework >

For examples of how this rights based approach has been put into practice in our programmes see our Local Governance and Community Action Case Studies

The Future of Agriculture: Join the debate!

Today Oxfam is launching an online discussion on the future of agriculture featuring essays by 21 experts from around the world. The debate will look at the use of farmer knowledge; the position of women farmers; use of fossil fuels in farming; and systems for managing risk. Discussions will take place simultaneously in English, Spanish and French; and the results will inform an Oxfam discussion paper to be published in 2013.
 

Join the debate now >

Latest blogs

New publications

Ending Violence Against Women: An Oxfam guide

Michaela Raab

This practical guide invites development practitioners to consider: What is Violence Against Women? Why does it happen? What does it have to do with development? What does Oxfam do to end violence against women? What does it mean to do that work with a transformative approach? The guide contains exercises and questions for group discussion.

Power and Fragility: Governance programing in fragile contexts

Louie Fooks

This programme resource draws out key lessons for programme work from research undertaken in Rwanda, Yemen, Angola and Myanmar by the Institute of Development Studies. It offers practical advice for the design and management of governance programmes in fragile contexts.

Salt in the Wound: The urgent need to prevent forced evictions from camps in Haiti

Herold Toussaint

As the third anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake, which brought so much destruction to Haiti, approaches, this Briefing highlights the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Haitians still living in camps and still without adequate housing.

Beyond Ceasefire: Ending the blockade of Gaza

Martin Hartberg

The ceasefire agreed between the Government of Israel and Hamas on 21 November 2012 provides an unprecedented opportunity to end the cycle of violence that has affected too many innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In this Briefing Oxfam sets out practical recommendations to better protect civilians on both sides.

Tipping the Balance: Policies to shape agricultural investments and markets in favour of small-scale farmers

Bill Vorley, Lorenzo Cotula and Man-Kwun Chan

What role can public policy play in ensuring that commercial investment and agricultural markets benefit smallholder producers, both women and men, while respecting the environment? This Research Report from Oxfam and IIED is supported by case studies from Guatemala, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Philippines.

Better Rules for a Better Future: Regulating private sector agriculture

Maria Dolores Bernabe

Across parts of Southeast Asia, the influx of large-scale private agricultural investments has led to land grabbing, food insecurity and environmental degradation; women are especially affected. In this Briefing Oxfam calls for regional policies that will safeguard the rights, welfare and interests of poor communities.

The Climate 'Fiscal Cliff': An evaluation of Fast Start Finance and lessons for the future

Sunita Bose

After a year of extreme weather, developing countries face a climate ‘fiscal cliff’ at the end of 2012, as Fast Start Finance expires and the Green Climate Fund remains empty. New Oxfam analysis of Fast Start Finance reveals that much of it has been a false start. This policy paper calls for  developed nations to scale up climate finance from 2013.

The Adaptation Challenge: Key issues for crop production and agricultural livelihoods under climate change in the Russian Federation

Sergey Bobylev, Sergey Kiselev, Roman Romashkin, Sofia Solovieva, Daria Ukhova and Yulia Yevtushok

This Research Report, produced in collaboration with the economics department of Lomonosov Moscow State University, uses data on current changes and future scenarios to examine possible impacts of climate change on crop production in the Russian Federation. It considers what measures could be taken to improve future food security.