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In the world of development, money answers many questions. If we’re interested in finding out how far we have come in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or in what direction we should go for a post-2015 agenda, having the right numbers in place is paramount to moving forward. This is what makes Government Spending Watch (GSW) so exciting.

In the world of development, money answers many questions. If we’re interested in finding out how far we have come in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or in what direction we should go for a post-2015 agenda, having the right numbers in place is paramount to moving forward. This is what makes Government Spending Watch (GSW) so exciting.

This position is open to candidates with the right to work in Zimbabwe

JOB TITLE: COUNTRY FUNDING COORDINATOR   JOB FAMILY Programmes   DIVISION / DEPARTMENT / LOCATION Southern Africa Region, Zimbabwe,   GRADE: C2 SALARY: National Salary Scale   CONTRACT DURATION: One year with possibility of renewal   Interviews to be conducted: Week starting 17 June 2013
  TEAM PURPOSE:   To raise funds for Oxfam's program in Zimbabwe and effectively manage the funds; To develop and maintain good quality and consistent relationships with donors; To lead on contract management: To effectively support program teams to develop and plan concept papers and proposals in accordance with country strategy and donor requirements.   JOB PURPOSE To establish, implement and maintain the Oxfam country funding strategy including resourcing for development, humanitarian and policy/advocacy work in order to increase Oxfam income from institutional donors. This includes spotting funding opportunities, targeted donor relationship building and engaging in joint fundraising initiatives across Oxfam affiliates in Zimbabwe.To support directly the fundraising plans and efforts of Oxfam Novib through joint and individual funding initiatives Post holder reports to: The post holder is directly accountable to the CLT and reports to ;the Oxfam Novib Associate Country Director in Zimbabwe;   Works with: All three Oxfam Affiliates in Zimbabwe     We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization. Women are strongly encouraged to apply

Nuevo informe Oxfam / DFI analiza gasto de 52 países pobres en Objetivos Desarrollo Milenio #ODM http://t.co/3WP12s89zD #govspendwatch

New Oxfam / DFI database tracks #MDG spending in 52 poor countries http://t.co/dM8UCuR01n #govspendwatch

El aumento #deuda y el descenso ayuda obligan países pobres a reducir el gasto en sanidad y agricultura http://t.co/VOS9NTATml #ODM

Who is spending what on the millennium development goals #MDG ? Find it out http://t.co/uMf52MTB9k #govspendwatch

This guest post comes from Exfam colleague and education activist Swati Narayan 

This summer, India missed the historic deadline to implement the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. This landmark law, the fruit of more than a decade of civil society activism, has many path-breaking clauses. For the first time, it bans schoolteachers from offering private tuition on the side – a rampant conflict of interest. It also legally prohibits corporal punishment.

Most powerfully, it insists that every private school must reserve 25 percent of classroom seats for children from poorer or disadvantaged families in the neighbourhood. This quota is by no means a silver bullet. After all, eighty percent of schools in India are government-run and in dire need of teachers, infrastructure and more.

Nevertheless, this masterstroke, which aims to piggyback on the rest of the mushrooming for-profit private schools, single-handedly opens the door for at least 1 million eligible children each year across the country to receive 8 years of free education.

Despite strident opposition from school management and parents’ associations, the Indian Supreme Court last year upheld this visionary clause. Though it may not (yet) be as internationally renowned as the United States’ Brown versus Board of Education ruling, its ripple effect will be no less important in a country as socially stratified as India.

In the last three years, apart from resorting to the courts, private schools have used every trick in the book to deny children their rightful admissions (see video). Despite a ban, some have held separate evening classes to accommodate students from poorer families. Others have sent eligible parents literally in circles over admission paperwork. As a result, last year, Maharashtra state, for example, filled only 32 per cent of reserved seats.

One bone of contention is who will foot the bill? The Act is categorical that the state will reimburse private schools only based on what it spends per pupil in government schools, which is typically much less. For-profit private schools are therefore keen to pass on the burden and increase their already inflated fees for the remainder of the class. Unfortunately, this has pitched wealthy parents against semi-literate ones, further aggravating tensions across the class and caste divides.

On the other hand, many civil society activists are disappointed that the legislation only reserves 25 percent and does not embrace the more inclusive concept of a ‘common schooling system’.

But, even this diluted, watered-down 25 percent reservation clause offers an unprecedented window of opportunity to break the shackles of centuries of social prejudice, which has pigeon-holed and stymied educational, occupational and social opportunities for generations. For the first time, there is a genuine effort to ensure that that children — rich and poor, upper and lower caste — are schooled together at an impressionable age, perhaps laying the basis for India to overcome centuries of divisions.

Even today, children of marginalized castes and tribes are less likely to attend pre-primary and primary school and the quota defines them as primary beneficiaries of the new legislation. The law also supports the entry of children with disabilities. In addition, some states have devised truly progressive rules. Tamilnadu, for instance, has recognized transgender children as eligible. Andhra Pradesh explicitly includes orphans, street and homeless children. Gujarat has clarified that teachers should be professional trained and sensitized for the proper integration of children and warned that schools which discriminate could face closure.

These gems in the rulebook could revolutionize private education in India.

Sister Cyril’s award-winning elite Loreto School in Kolkata, has over the last three decades, already showcased first-hand the transformational potential of integrating street children in mainstream classrooms.

Now, the key to the success of this dream to create inclusive classrooms lies with the burgeoning Indian middle class — to support rather than oppose — this transformative initiative to build the foundation for a more integrated India.

Swati Narayan is a social policy analyst

Tipo  Voluntariado Descripción 

En nuestro comité de Guadalajara necesitamos personas dinámicas y comprometidas que deseen formar parte del equipo.

Referencia  VGCG 0513

Intermón Oxfam somos personas que luchamos, con y para las poblaciones desfavorecidas y como parte de un amplio movimiento global, con el objetivo de erradicar la injusticia y la pobreza, y para lograr que todos los seres humanos puedan ejercer plenamente sus derechos y disfrutar de una vida digna. ¿Quieres formar parte de nuestro equipo?



¿Cuáles serán tus funciones?

- Colaborar como voluntario o voluntaria en una TIENDA DE COMERCIO JUSTO consiste en realizar al menos un turno a la semana (mañana o tarde) y colaborar en la realización de las actividades propias de un establecimiento comercial: pedidos y colocación de mercancía, atención al público, inventarios, gestión del almacén, etc. además de participar en las reuniones de equipo, formaciones y actividades de sensibilización de comercio justo.
- Colaborar como voluntario o voluntaria en los EQUIPOS DE MOVILIZACIÓN SOCIAL consiste en colaborar en la difusión de nuestros mensajes de campañas para lograr que lleguen al mayor número de personas, a través de acciones muy diversas: contribuir al diseño y participar en nuestras actividades de sensibilización, actos de calle, recogidas de firmas y difusión de nuestro trabajo en diversos actos públicos, a través de las redes sociales, etc.

¿Qué estamos buscando?

- Personas con motivación por la solidaridad, la cooperación al desarrollo y la lucha contra la pobreza.
- Voluntad de adquirir un compromiso estable de al menos una mañana o una tarde a la semana (para el equipo de tienda de Comercio Justo)
- Posibilidad de colaborar algunos fines de semana (algunas actividades de Movilización Social)
- Compromiso de participar en las reuniones y sesiones formativas de los equipos.

¿Qué te ofrecemos?

- Unirte a un gran equipo humano de personas voluntarias y contribuir a la misión de Intermon Oxfam integrándote en los equipos de comercio justo y Movilización Social y en la dinámica de nuestra organización.
- Formación en temas globales de Intermón Oxfam, Campañas y comercio justo y formación específica en las actividades en las que contribuirás.
* Si te interesa esta oportunidad, escríbenos a cmadrid2@intermonoxfam.org o inscríbete a través de nuestra web.

¿Te interesa?

Si te interesa esta oportunidad, entra a través de este link. El plazo de presentación de solicitudes finalizará el próximo 04/06/2013.

Tipo  Voluntariado Descripción 

En nuestra Tienda de comercio justo de C/ Goya, necesitamos personas dinámicas y comprometidas que deseen formar parte del equipo de voluntariado.

Referencia  V-TG

Intermón Oxfam somos personas que luchamos, con y para las poblaciones desfavorecidas y como parte de un amplio movimiento global, con el objetivo de erradicar la injusticia y la pobreza, y para lograr que todos los seres humanos puedan ejercer plenamente sus derechos y disfrutar de una vida digna. ¿Quieres formar parte de nuestro equipo?



¿Cuáles serán tus funciones?

- Atención a las y los clientes y ventas, colocación de mercancía, decoración de la tienda, control de stocks e inventario, tesorería.
- Participar en las reuniones del equipo de tiendas.
- Asumir conocimientos específicos de Comercio Justo y funcionamiento de tiendas.
- Sensibilizar y transmitir los criterios básicos y valores del Comercio Justo.

¿Qué estamos buscando?

- Motivación por la solidaridad, la cooperación al desarrollo y la lucha contra la pobreza.
- Formación y/o experiencia en actividades comerciales y de venta al público.
- Capacidad de trabajo en equipo y habilidades para las relaciones interpersonales.
- Voluntad de establecer un compromiso de colaboración estable.
- Disponibilidad de cubrir 1 turno semanal (sábado tarde o lunes, jueves y viernes al mediodía)

¿Qué te ofrecemos?

- Te integrarás en un equipo de trabajo y en la dinámica de nuestra organización.
- Participarás en nuestros espacios de reflexión y de debate interno.
- Te formarás en las actividades en las que contribuirás, así como en temas globales de Intermón Oxfam.
* Si te interesa esta oportunidad, escríbenos a rrhhmadrid@intermonoxfam.org o inscríbete a través de nuestra web.

¿Te interesa?

Si te interesa esta oportunidad, entra a través de este link. El plazo de presentación de solicitudes finalizará el próximo 30/05/2013.

Poste réservé aux Candidats de nationalité malienne uniquement 
LOCATION   : Kayes - Mali  FAMILLE DE POSTE : Finance
SALAIRE :  Suivant grille salariale d'Oxfam GB GRADE : National D2 CONTRAT: durée déterminée  1 an OBJECTIF D'OXFAM Travailler avec les autres pour trouver des solutions durables à la pauvreté et à la souffrance. OBJECTIF DE L'EQUIPE : Fournir un service professionnel de qualité dans la plus grande transparence possible à tous les programmes d'Oxfam au Mali.  OBJECTIF DU POSTE: Responsable des opérations financières quotidiennes du bureau de Kayes, de la vérification de la qualité des pièces comptables, de leur classement, de la clôture mensuelle des comptes, de la supervision de la comptabilité des partenaires, de la préparation des rapports financiers aux donateurs  STRUCTURE HIERACHIQUE:
Le (la) titulaire de ce poste rend compte au: Directeur des Finances de Kayes Personnel dépendant de ce poste: Aucun  RESPONSABILITE BUDGETAIRE: Aucune

Tipo  Voluntariado Descripción 

En nuestro comité de Guadalajara necesitamos personas dinámicas y comprometidas que deseen formar parte del equipo.

Referencia  VGCG 0513

Intermón Oxfam somos personas que luchamos, con y para las poblaciones desfavorecidas y como parte de un amplio movimiento global, con el objetivo de erradicar la injusticia y la pobreza, y para lograr que todos los seres humanos puedan ejercer plenamente sus derechos y disfrutar de una vida digna. ¿Quieres formar parte de nuestro equipo?



¿Cuáles serán tus funciones?

- Colaborar como voluntario o voluntaria en una TIENDA DE COMERCIO JUSTO consiste en realizar al menos un turno a la semana (mañana o tarde) y colaborar en la realización de las actividades propias de un establecimiento comercial: pedidos y colocación de mercancía, atención al público, inventarios, gestión del almacén, etc. además de participar en las reuniones de equipo, formaciones y actividades de sensibilización de comercio justo.
- Colaborar como voluntario o voluntaria en los EQUIPOS DE MOVILIZACIÓN SOCIAL consiste en colaborar en la difusión de nuestros mensajes de campañas para lograr que lleguen al mayor número de personas, a través de acciones muy diversas: contribuir al diseño y participar en nuestras actividades de sensibilización, actos de calle, recogidas de firmas y difusión de nuestro trabajo en diversos actos públicos, a través de las redes sociales, etc.

¿Qué estamos buscando?

- Personas con motivación por la solidaridad, la cooperación al desarrollo y la lucha contra la pobreza.
- Voluntad de adquirir un compromiso estable de al menos una mañana o una tarde a la semana (para el equipo de tienda de Comercio Justo)
- Posibilidad de colaborar algunos fines de semana (algunas actividades de Movilización Social)
- Compromiso de participar en las reuniones y sesiones formativas de los equipos.

¿Qué te ofrecemos?

- Unirte a un gran equipo humano de personas voluntarias y contribuir a la misión de Intermon Oxfam integrándote en los equipos de comercio justo y Movilización Social y en la dinámica de nuestra organización.
- Formación en temas globales de Intermón Oxfam, Campañas y comercio justo y formación específica en las actividades en las que contribuirás.
* Si te interesa esta oportunidad, escríbenos a cmadrid2@intermonoxfam.org o inscríbete a través de nuestra web.

¿Te interesa?

Si te interesa esta oportunidad, entra a través de este link. El plazo de presentación de solicitudes finalizará el próximo 04/06/2013.

Tipo  Voluntariado Descripción 

En nuestra Tienda de comercio justo de C/ Goya, necesitamos personas dinámicas y comprometidas que deseen formar parte del equipo de voluntariado.

Referencia  V-TG

Intermón Oxfam somos personas que luchamos, con y para las poblaciones desfavorecidas y como parte de un amplio movimiento global, con el objetivo de erradicar la injusticia y la pobreza, y para lograr que todos los seres humanos puedan ejercer plenamente sus derechos y disfrutar de una vida digna. ¿Quieres formar parte de nuestro equipo?



¿Cuáles serán tus funciones?

- Atención a las y los clientes y ventas, colocación de mercancía, decoración de la tienda, control de stocks e inventario, tesorería.
- Participar en las reuniones del equipo de tiendas.
- Asumir conocimientos específicos de Comercio Justo y funcionamiento de tiendas.
- Sensibilizar y transmitir los criterios básicos y valores del Comercio Justo.

¿Qué estamos buscando?

- Motivación por la solidaridad, la cooperación al desarrollo y la lucha contra la pobreza.
- Formación y/o experiencia en actividades comerciales y de venta al público.
- Capacidad de trabajo en equipo y habilidades para las relaciones interpersonales.
- Voluntad de establecer un compromiso de colaboración estable.
- Disponibilidad de cubrir 1 turno semanal (sábado tarde o lunes, jueves y viernes al mediodía)

¿Qué te ofrecemos?

- Te integrarás en un equipo de trabajo y en la dinámica de nuestra organización.
- Participarás en nuestros espacios de reflexión y de debate interno.
- Te formarás en las actividades en las que contribuirás, así como en temas globales de Intermón Oxfam.
* Si te interesa esta oportunidad, escríbenos a rrhhmadrid@intermonoxfam.org o inscríbete a través de nuestra web.

¿Te interesa?

Si te interesa esta oportunidad, entra a través de este link. El plazo de presentación de solicitudes finalizará el próximo 30/05/2013.

Ausschreibung für:  Job Beginn:  zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt Typ:  zunächst befristet auf 2 Jahre Arbeitgeber:  Oxfam Deutschland e.V. Ort:  Berlin Ihre Aufgabe: 

• Klassische Pressearbeit: Entwickeln von Botschaften und Texten in verschiedenen Darstellungsformen, Platzieren der Oxfam-Anliegen
• Aufbau und Pflege von Journalist/innen-Kontakten inkl. Datenbanken
• Vorbereitung und Durchführung von Foto-Stunts, Pressekonferenzen, Pressehintergrundgesprächen (oder Exklusiv-Angeboten) etc.
• Beratung und Begleitung von Oxfams Mitarbeiter/innen in ihrer Medienarbeit
• Strategische Planung, Koordinierung, Umsetzung und Auswertung von Kommunikationsstrategien
• Visuelle Pressearbeit: Reportage-, Porträt- und Eventfotografie, Bildredaktion, einfache Bearbeitung
• Weiterentwicklung der Medienarbeit in einer sich wandelnden Presselandschaft
• Enge synergetische Zusammenarbeit mit Oxfams Web- und Social-Media-Team

Ihr Profil: 

• Abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium oder vergleichbare Qualifikation mit Schwerpunkt Journalismus/Pressearbeit/Kommunikation
• Mindestens drei Jahre Berufserfahrung im Journalismus und/oder in der Arbeit in einer Pressestelle, Kenntnisse im NGO-Bereich wünschenswert
• Erfahrungen im Projektmanagement und idealerweise in der medialen Begleitung von Kampagnen-Strategien
• Gute Kenntnisse und Freude an digitaler Fotografie sowie einfacher Bildbearbeitung (Photoshop)
• Sicherer Umgang mit MS-Office, gerne auch Erfahrung in CMS (Drupal o.ä.)
• Freude an digitaler Kommunikation (Website, Facebook, Blog)
• Aufgeschlossen, engagiert, diskussionsfreudig und durchsetzungsstark, gut gelaunt
• Deutschkenntnisse auf muttersprachlichem Niveau und ein stilsicherer, flüssiger und ideenreicher Schreibstil
• Sehr gute Englischkenntnisse, gerne Kenntnisse einer weiteren Sprache
• Identifikation mit Oxfams Zielen und Wertvorstellungen

Wir bieten: 

• Eine Tätigkeit in einem hoch motivierten Team mit flachen Hierarchien innerhalb einer international agierenden Organisation.
• Immer wieder Abwechslung durch neue Themen und Aufgaben.
• Eine angemessene Vergütung. Die Stelle ist nach Oxfam-Gehaltsstruktur in die Gehaltsgruppe 14 eingruppiert. Nähere Informationen dazu unter: www.oxfam.de/governance.
• Eine attraktive betriebliche Altersversorgung.

Ihre Bewerbung Einsendung bis:  3 Juni 2013 Modalitäten: 

Bitte richten Sie Ihre Bewerbung mit Anschreiben, Lebenslauf, relevanten Zeugnissen und bis zu fünf Arbeitsproben per E-Mail an:

Oxfam Deutschland, Herrn Ulrich Bärtels, Leiter Verwaltung, personal@oxfam.de

Die Arbeitsproben sollten Ihre Fähigkeiten in verschiedenen Textformen, Ihr fotografisches Können und Ihre strategische Kompetenz belegen. Die Datenmenge sollte 10 MB nicht überschreiten.

Für Rückfragen steht Ihnen Frau Svenja Koch, Leiterin Presse- und Web-Team, unter Tel.: 030 453069-710 zur Verfügung.

Nur geringe Änderungen:  0 Hohe Priorität:  0 Startseite:  0 Wiedervorlagedatum:  3. Juni 2013

Hours: 24 per week
Contract: Open-ended   Salary: £10,994 per annum   Interviews: TBC   Oxfam GB takes its obligation to protect the rights of children and vulnerable people very seriously, therefore the successful candidate for this post will be subject to extensive background checking, including a Criminal Record Bureau Check (CRB), as this role involves unsupervised access to the above-mentioned groups.

Please ensure that prior to commencing the application process, if successful, you would be happy to complete a CRB check. For more information about CRB please go to: http://www.crb.gov.uk   OXFAM PURPOSE: To work with others to overcome poverty and suffering.   JOB PURPOSE: Operating in an empowered culture, the Shop Manager leads a shop team in order to maximise the shop's financial contribution to overcoming poverty and suffering. By applying entrepreneurial skills and by putting the shop at the heart of the community, the postholder maximises sales by activity that enhances and never detracts from Oxfam's reputation.   REPORTING LINES: Postholder reports to: Area Manager. Reporting to this postholder: Deputy Shop Manager (where applicable) and Volunteers.   BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY: A defined Net Shop Contribution for a specified shop.

Hours: 24 per week
Contract: Open-ended   Salary: £10,994 + £1,020 hotspot allowance per annum   Interviews: TBC   Oxfam GB takes its obligation to protect the rights of children and vulnerable people very seriously, therefore the successful candidate for this post will be subject to extensive background checking, including a Criminal Record Bureau Check (CRB), as this role involves unsupervised access to the above-mentioned groups.

Please ensure that prior to commencing the application process, if successful, you would be happy to complete a CRB check. For more information about CRB please go to: http://www.crb.gov.uk   OXFAM PURPOSE: To work with others to overcome poverty and suffering.   JOB PURPOSE: Operating in an empowered culture, the Shop Manager leads a shop team in order to maximise the shop's financial contribution to overcoming poverty and suffering. By applying entrepreneurial skills and by putting the shop at the heart of the community, the postholder maximises sales by activity that enhances and never detracts from Oxfam's reputation.   REPORTING LINES: Postholder reports to: Area Manager. Reporting to this postholder: Deputy Shop Manager (where applicable) and Volunteers.   BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY: A defined Net Shop Contribution for a specified shop.

Savings for Change (SfC) is one of Oxfam America’s flagship programmes, reaching 680,000 members, mostly women, in 13 countries. Here Sophie Romana, Oxfam America’s Deputy Director of Community Finance, reports on some findings from an innovative qualitative and quantitative survey of the groups in Mali, published today (click through to summary or full report).

How do you save money and borrow when you live in rural sub-Saharan Africa?  Millions of women do just that every week, through their Savings Group.  Formed and monitored by teams of field agents from local organizations, 20 to 25 women gather every week at the same time and place to put a few cents in a wooden “savings box”. Once there is enough money in the box – i.e. the saving fund – members who need a small, short-term loan come in front of the self-managed group to explain the purpose of the loan (food purchases, life’s emergencies or working capital for an income generating activity).  The loans are paid back to the group with interest, which provides them with a return.  In a nutshell, savings groups provide basic financial services to poor rural women underserved or ignored by commercial banks and microfinance institutions.

But does belonging to a group actually improve the lives of members, their families, and their villages? To answer this, Oxfam America and Freedom from Hunger commissioned Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA) at the University of Arizona to conduct a unique piece of joint research on Saving for Change groups in Mali: a randomized controlled trial (RCT) combined with a qualitative longitudinal study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  The RCT included 500 villages: in 210 of them we introduced SFC, the other 290 were “controlled” (intentionally left out of the intervention) to try and measure the difference, hence the impacts. The qualitative survey focused on 19 villages included in the RCT and interviewed members, husbands, women non-members, villagers etc… This mixed-methods approach combines the benefits of ‘quant’ and ‘qual’ to try and get under the skin of the impacts of savings groups.

The findings of the three-year study (see chart) show encouraging results in terms of increased saving (up 31%) and lending (12% more women took a loan from a savings group), increased food security, and an increased investment in livestock (households in SfC villages own on average $120 more in livestock, which buys you four goats, three ewes or one calf).  The findings also demonstrate that savings groups reach the poorest of the poor with 82% of households in study villages living on less than $1.25 a day.

The results from the RCT also show that there was almost no change in income and health and education expenses. We hope that these results will come with longer study, but we are not sure.

Social capital, one of the outcomes most valued by group members, is proving to be a puzzle. The group offers a safe space for women to share family problems and seek advice from each other. Outside the meeting, women have also reported over the years that they tend to greet each other more in the village, and engage with each other more often than before they joined.  But here’s our evidence puzzle: this is what the anthropological findings support, but they were not captured at all by the quantitative-RCT.

Take up rate: how do groups get created in zones where we don’t run the program?

Based on feedback from our partners and staff, Oxfam started to train “volunteer replicators” members who themselves train new groups. They have been responsible for SfC “going viral” In treatment zones the take up rate is 40.5% of women – by comparison in other similar approaches such as microcredit, the take up rate is 15% to 22.5%.

But the replicators have unexpectedly ‘spilled over’ into control villages, far away from a treatment village. This may mess up the control zones by “contaminating” the sample for the RCT, but it’s potentially good news for the women in those villages, and a testament to the attraction of savings schemes like SfC.

Depending on how strict a definition of a Saving for Change group we used (other traditional groups resemble SfC groups), we see a take up rate in control zones varying from 6% to 12% of women.  So how did that happen?  Did a conversation in the market lead to the replicator offering to go and create a new group there?  Did a member get married, move to another village and start a group there? Did a woman decide to help her daughter in another village to set up a group? Traveling to another village to form a group is challenging for many Malian women, yet SfC groups were created with no encouragement or promotion from the project, no visits from paid field agents.

We also found that women who are more socially integrated and already have an income generating activity are more likely to join earlier, but that more marginalized women do indeed join later on. When women want to save money together, they find a way to make it happen.

Are members of SFC more resilient?

Whatever your own personal definition of resilience may be, in the Sahel any sign of resilience is a success. The study took place in the Segou region of Mali, where 40% of the households experienced a ‘shock’ last year (food price increase, drought, or illness) and 40% are food insecure (unable to produce or buy nutritious food). Households in SfC villages experienced an 8% increase in reported food security and were also eating more during the hungry season – spending 39¢ more per adult per week on food during this difficult time of year and eliminating the seasonal dip. In Mali 39¢ buys you a plate of nutritious beans or a few large cassava roots.  We also found that this impact is greatest for one of the most marginalized groups of women, those women married to younger brothers in large households.

From my point of view as a program manager, I see a value in combining an RCT with a qualitative study because I need to know if the program produces the impacts we designed it for and if it does not, what needs to be corrected.  However I do have a lot of questions around the findings, which I regularly debate with my Monitoring, Evaluating and Learning colleagues. That being said, would I run another RCT if a donor asked for (and funded!) one? Why not? Would I look for funding to run another RCT? Not necessarily – there are other less expensive tools to measure program impacts.  But for the time being, I’ll say with the confidence that only statistical evidence can give me: belonging to a savings group does make your life better!

Sophie Romana. with Janina Matuzeski and Clelia Anna Mannino. Today also sees an important Mali donor conference. Oxfam report here.

 

Position: Funding Program Coordinator

Location: Lusaka, Zambia

Contract type: Open ended

Eligibility: Zambian National

Salary Grade: C2

Statutory deductions: Pay As You Earn & NAPSA

Work hours per week: 36.25

Reports to: Deputy Country Director

Staff reporting to role: None

Job Purpose: To lead on the planning, coordination, securing and management of restricted and unrestricted income to enable Oxfam in programme in Zambia to deliver on the country program strategy.

Benefits: 100% medical cover for staff, registered spouse and biological/legally adopted children up to the age of 18 years; 2 leave days per month; and gratuity of 10% of annual gross pensionable salary for each completed year served- payable at time of leaving Oxfam.

Interviews date: mid June 2013, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.