Oxfam South Asia Blog

Forgotten Voices: Women in the 2011 floods in Pakistan

Islamabad, November 30, 2011 – Three months after widespread flooding that has affected over 5 million people in southern Pakistan, a critical shortage of funding and broad international disinterest has left millions of people at risk of illness, malnutrition and cold as the winter closes in.

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Two exciting job opportunities with Oxfam

We are looking for candidates for:

• Oxfam Country Director for Pakistan Country Programme (deadline 18 December)
• Regional Emergency Food Security and Livelihood Capacity Builder (deadline 26 December)

Please read below for more information and how to apply.

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Job Opportunities at Oxfam GB Asia Regional Centre (4 positions)

Sindh is still submerged: a blog by Sam Phelps

By Sam Phelps, Photographer

Sahib Khatoon, 61, an ethnic Balochi widow purchases food after cashing a cheque which she received under Oxfam’s cash for work project.

I arrived in Badin district, southern Sindh early November 2011 on assignment for Oxfam to cover their response to the recent flooding in the province where millions of people had been displaced and crops, livestock as well as livelihoods had been destroyed due to the floods.

Earlier, I had visited the province in mid-September, immediately after the Pakistan government had made a delayed appeal to the international community for urgent assistance. I was struck by the extent of the flooding and how high the water level had reached, completely submerging and destroying roads, buildings and entire fields of wheat, sugarcane and cotton.

Visiting again in early October and the most recent trip with Oxfam I expected the water level to have dissipated but documented the same regions still underwater. As interest from the media has dissipated the flood waters have not.

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GROWing with Young Debaters in Bangladesh!!!

October 16 , 2011 By A.K.M. Nazrul Islam, PhD, Policy Officer, Oxfam GB Bangladesh

Youths are the hopes of tomorrow! They are today’s visionaries and tomorrow’s leaders. A country’s future depends much on how today’s youths are being shaped for shouldering tomorrow’s responsibilities, with great care and dedication, with a human face in their attitudes and love for the people in their hearts!

Today’s youths are leading in almost all areas of knowledge; their leadership potentialities are unparallel. They are innovators in their way to solve problems! Thus there is a need to ensure their active participation in today’s issues of concerns for society which will also help them thinking about their society and its people from a perspective of not only tomorrow’s leaders, but also today’s creators!

Keeping that very objective in mind and the urgencies and needs to involve the young students to think about the society, its people and ways of life-forms, CSRL/GROW Bangladesh in collaboration with Daffodil International University (DIU), Dhaka has organized a series of programmes including a 10 day long ‘National Debate Competition’ on the broader issues of ‘Agriculture, Food and Climate Change’ from the perspective of Bangladesh. Around 150 debating teams representing 25 schools, 30 colleges and 30 universities of the country have been participating in the competition.

Picture: The Inaugural of the National Debate Competition at Daffodil University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Many renowned institutions from all over the country, including University of Dhaka, BUET, Jahangirnagar University, Jagannath University, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University, North South University, East-West University, Brac University, Stamford University, Notre Dame College, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka City College, Ideal School and College, among others, took part in the competition. This has not only created a celebrating atmosphere at the Daffodil International University campus, but students from all participating institutions have taken the competition as an opportunity to raise their concerns and thoughts on issues of national concerns.

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