Policy Papers

This research project aimed to improve Oxfam’s understanding of the protection and livelihood challenges faced by refugees from Syria as well as the protection concerns arising from the coping strategies used to try to meet those challenges.

Despite progress, much work remains to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to support the millions of people already hit by climate change. This paper presents new data commissioned from the research consultancy CE Delft on the greenhouse gas emissions footprints and water scarcity footprints of major food commodities. 

With their response to migration, the European Union and its member states risk further undermining  their credibility and authority in the defence of human rights, more than 120 NGOs have warned.

This paper from Oxfam Italia examines the hotspot approach in Italy through the experiences of humanitarian agencies and civil society organizations on the ground, and through the voices of migrants themselves.

Oxfam and ActionAid have listened to hundreds of refugee and migrant women and men in Greece to understand why they fled their countries, what their immediate needs are, and what they plan to do next. Their situation is desperate, but also avoidable.

Malawi has a proud history of delivering free healthcare for its citizens, but this is now seriously under threat. Malawi cannot be the first country in a generation to introduce these dangerous fees while the world watches. 

Oxfam, together with a coalition of development NGOs, calls on European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to make Europe become a leader on the global agenda for development and the fight against poverty.

This paper takes a snapshot of women’s rights and political representation in Myanmar today and examines the potential of a quota system for a country at a true turning point in its history. 

Rising economic inequality across Asia is threatening poverty reduction and slowing down the fight against gender inequality. We believe that women’s economic empowerment is a critical factor in achieving gender equality and in supporting wider development goals

The Netherlands is a top EU tax haven for corporations, an Oxfam analysis of European Commission data shows.

Climate change is a brutal reality confronting the world’s most vulnerable people. Their need for financial support to adapt to climate extremes is urgent and rising.

This report reveals the widespread use of tax havens and low tax jurisdictions in the corporate structures of companies holding petroleum rights in Kenya.

Africa is losing billions to corruption, poorly negotiated deals and tax dodging. Leaders must listen to their people. They must crack down on tax dodging and maximize progressive revenues to create a more human economy for Africa.

This study seeks to understand the strengths and challenges of working with national and local nongovernmental organisations in South Sudan’s conflict-driven emergency, and reviews how the broader humanitarian system facilitates or prevents their involvement.

This briefing sets out Oxfam’s challenge to world leaders who fail to resolve conflicts, permit warring parties to ignore International Humanitarian Law, and do everything possible to keep the world’s refugees and displaced people from their doors.

As recovery in Nepal begins after the earthquake that struck in April 2015, there is an opportunity to ensure that reconstruction and resettlement policies and programmes are inclusive of women and those who are landless.

In February 2013, Oxfam launched the Behind the Brands campaign to challenge the ‘Big 10’ food and beverage companies. The companies have made significant new commitments, but they must now ensure that their suppliers actually change their practices in line with the commitments made.

The EU must urgently re-think its collective treatment of people arriving at Europe’s borders and ensure that every human being, no matter their status, enjoys the basic respect of their rights and fundamental dignity. 

Extractive industries present potentially large opportunities for developing countries. Oxfam has produced a detailed study of the political economy of decision making, with research conducted in Peru, Ghana, Senegal and Tanzania.

About 60 million people across the world face worsening hunger and poverty due to droughts and crop failures that have been exacerbated by the El Niño weather system in 2015/6. This short report gives a voice to some of the people that Oxfam is working with in Ethiopia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, El Salvador and Papua New Guinea.