Oxfam West Africa Blog

Analysing our Performance – The Ghana Monitoring Review

By Justin Morgan, Country Director Oxfam Ghana

The Ghana programme met in Accra today (10^th March 2010) to review the performance of its work since April 2009.  The review, as part of the normal 6 monthly review cycle helped the team be more accountable: by monitoring together the achievements and challenges, to develop evidence – by routinely doing monitoring reviews, we gathered information that will help us evaluate our programmes at its completion, and to helps us learn and change – by bringing the right minds together to look at our programme, we looked to evaluate and learn why things work and why things did not, and subsequently plan to make the necessary changes to deliver a programme.

 The review of actions completed against agreed indicators showed that the Ghana programme is making progress against building a sustainable advocacy skills within civil society through the training, advice and accompaniment completed.  Shea pickers and producers are also being better informed on what national and global policies and practices are in place or being discussed that have the potential to impact on their livelihood.  Within the health sector, it was demonstrated that progressively and consistently Civil Society organisations are engaging with influential policy makers and those who have access to resources.  An area that minimal activities, and as such progress has been made, is in working towards increasing agriculture investment.  There was also a common view, that the monitoring framework needs adjustment to better reflect the project focuses and current context.

The dynamics in the room culminated to getting opinions shared and learning captured.  The group was made up of all the Ghana staff, 2 members of the regional team, the Country Director from Liberia plus partners and beneficiaries.  The opinions of government and donors were also capture prior to the meeting, so that the monitoring is balanced.  Leonard Shang-Quartey, Policy Assistant from ISODEC stated “The workshop has been useful, because at a glance I have been able to see what Oxfam has done, but also how it has been done.  The group brought together is fairly represented, bring together health and agriculture partners, which has increased the cross learning” He went on to say “Soon you will see the Essential Services Platform out there in a big way, and we will have picked a lot of the ideas from Oxfam’s work in Ghana.”

 Pang Kofi Thomas from NOGCAF, “The meeting has brought together different personalities from the different sectors that Oxfam is working with, along with Oxfam country and regional staff.  It is impressive the work that has been completed in the health sector and the approaches that were used I can take to the shea sector…  There is a continued need for such meetings to share experiences and build learning.”

 The 22 people who participated in the monitoring review, built the knowledge of the actions taken, by plotting the activities undertaken by Oxfam or funded by Oxfam.  In addition to this, a partner critique of Oxfam’s work was done, along with getting donor views on Oxfam’s work.  In the critique completed by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR), Oxfam was seen to have linked up NGO’s at a national level by supporting the National Health Insurance Group as well as to the pan-Africa level through the FAIR PLAY campaign.  Technical support in campaigning and lobbying also added value, particularly around moments such as the Health Forum.  While “Oxfam’s presence has been felt immensely by partner CSO’s in the past year (and) the advocacy work of these partners have been greatly enhanced,” Oxfam needs to maintain the flexibility to pick up the priorities of partners as they change.  Feedback from the DfID Deputy Country Director seen “Oxfam play a key role in keeping up pressure on Government of Ghana and Donors to ensure a meaningful commitment to free healthcare made at UN General Assembly.” More still is required to support partners to advocate for solutions that demonstrate an understanding of the broader context.

 In completing the day, the group looked at the areas of greatest learning.  It was seen that Oxfam in Ghana’s contribution to building civil society advocacy skills with minimal resources is already starting to reap benefits.  As stated by Charles Bambara, “I am amazed that the Ghana team has done so much with the resources available and within such a short space of time.”  The approach of keeping ownership of advocacy issues with the partners was appreciated, and needs to continue even as the resources within Oxfam increase due to improved fund-raising.

We also need to routinely review our country work plans, to make sure we are dedicating resources (especially our time) to the project areas that require the most attention.  There is a need to recognise the different contexts that are facing advocacy work in health and agriculture, particularly shea, and make management decisions accordingly.  When we have agreed on the project of work, we need to clearly communicate this internally and externally to allow for consistent deliver.

 With the new staff, new funding, and the continued commitment from partners, the Ghana programme is starting 2010/11 in a position to increase its delivery of quality advocacy support to national partners to result in policy and practice changes in the areas of health and agriculture.

Stopping needless deaths in Liberia

By Muyatwa Sitali, Advocacy and Communication Manager
WASH Consortium / Oxfam GB
Liberia

Sitali is working on the Queue in Liberia – an amazing five day attempt in different slums across the country. Read on to find out why the issue of sanitation is so pressing in Liberia…

Access to safe water and sanitation facilities remains extremely low in both urban and rural areas of Liberia. Only 1 in 7 have access to safe sanitation facilities and only 1 in 4 people have access to safe water. As a result, Liberians are highly vulnerable to preventable waterborne and vector-borne diseases. Together, lack of safe water for drinking and household use, poor sanitation and bad hygiene practices cause about 18 percent of all deaths in Liberia (WHO, 2008). These are needless deaths, which can be prevented if investments for the sector were improved, if hygiene messages were targeted and if leadership and policies were enhanced.

The Worlds Longest Toilet Queue is therefore a necessary undertaking to raise attention to the sanitation and water crisis. In Liberia, the three million people (out of a population of 3.5 million) who lack access to safe and improved sanitation facilities are forced to use the bush, or the beach and some rely on very risky latrines perched on top of rivers. This exposes thousands of people, especially children and women, to security risks in addition to the health hazards that face the whole population.

 Continued neglect of the sector will weigh down other sectors such as education and agriculture as these rely on a healthy nation. The health sector will continue to spend millions of dollars on curing diseases that can be easily prevented. As the old adage says, ‘prevention is better than cure’ – investment in the water and sanitation sector is an effective way of reducing costs and increasing benefits. The World’s Longest Toilet Queue therefore should continue to raise attention to the water and sanitation crisis and seek decisive action in Liberia and other parts of the world that suffer with the needless deaths caused by poor sanitation, dirty water and bad hygiene.

Nairobi Media Summit – Fine Tuning Common Strategy

Charles Bambara’s Blog on Media Officers’ workshop: final day

The media meeting in Nairobi gathering a dozen of media officers across the continent has ended at Oxfam GB guesthouse.

 Rendez-vous to Dakar for the next meeting

Some actions have been agreed: A follow up of this meeting should focus on digital media, with Dakar as a potential venue for this meeting.

A panafrican diary will be set up by regional media officers who have also agreed to lead on regional guidelines on payment to journalist covering Oxfam events. A regional list of well known freelance photographers and video producers companies will be set up. This was a great opportunity to meet and know each other to foster communication across Africa, between media officers.  

 Importance of social media

The final two days were rich in contents…The panafrican  director Irungu Houghton highlighted his commitments and engagement with the African Union and with different departments and institutions like the peace keeping  commission and the African parliament. Key panafrican events were discussing to see how media officers could contribute to.

The digital media presentation done by a specialist from Ushahidi.com was very useful and appreciated. The post election violence in Kenya, offered an opportunity to the founder to launch this website where violence where reported as it was happening. This unique website has documented violence and tried to establish a traceability of violence sources. This website is probably one of the most popular Kenyan website across the world.

A discussion on social media followed. Media officers were encouraged to use them when necessary. But it has emerged that these social media: Blogs – Twitter – Facebook – Ipadio – Flicker – exist but are not as popular as in Europe or USA. And it appears during the discussion that Oxfam website is not always the best place to post a blog. Other media tools were discussed: Op-ed – Letters to the Editors – celebrities’ open letters. These social media should not be ignored, because we should be creative and innovate.

 Diary highlight for common actions

A brainstorming session was organised on panafrican events that should be an interest to media officers across the continent:

• The 50^th Anniversary of African Independence. West Africa Region is planning an international conference in Dakar. And other media officers will receive the TOR and see how they can contribute.
• World Cup 2010 in South Africa… More information is needed to see what has been done already, and how we can connect.
• The launch by African Union of African Women decade…Oxfam Panafrican division initiative. 
• The World Economic forum in Tanzania.

 Media officers have also draw a long list of potential global ambassadors who should be approached to see if there are keen to be involved with Oxfam work in Africa.

Last but not least, Rebecca Wynn humanitarian media officer at Oxford led the discussion around: How to be a good press officer. It has emerged during the debate that: Tenacity – diplomacy and the intuition to know what’s makes news were key to be a successful media officer…These skills should be developed or enhanced by every participant.

 A dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant in Nairobi has definitively reinforced, consolidated, and strengthened relations between all twelve participants at this workshop which should not be the last according to decisions taken, and plans ahead.

Senegal: The PANALE Shops – Strengthening Women’s Business Initiative

Today was the launch of the PANALE shops in Dakar. PANALE is part of Oxfam’s Private Sector programme in West Africa and aims at supporting women entrepreneurs to realise their vision in producing local high quality value added products.
The project also provides solutions to production and packaging as well as management so that all the products can compete with the same range of foreign imports and be sold to thousands of consumers across Dakar through these shops. This private sector initiative puts women at the centre and revolves around empowering them to become strong entrepreneurs. It will increase their ability to generate sustainable incomes, which in turn will be the basis for the family to escape the vicious cycle of poverty.

The project is implemented by women’s cooperative that Oxfam has helped to set up. The cooperative represents 30 groups of women leaders who are part of the processing networks with 2,500 direct beneficiaries and over 90,000 members.

The PANALE project has brought a solution to the series of barriers that prevented these women from accessing rewarding and secure local markets at fair and equitable conditions. Such barriers include:
- Poor marketing techniques
- Low level of enterprise and finance management
- Little or no access to finances and
- Lack of market presence

“The PANALE project has enabled us to be better organized in doing business and building a strong distribution network so that the products can reach a wider market. We’ll also be able to create more jobs and be strong enough to face competition in the market. Our desire to be women entrepreneurs and setup successful businesses, is more than real” says Fatoumata Diop, President of PANALE cooperative

Aid alone will not solve the problem of poverty. Oxfam is determined to work with others, particularly with the private sector. Job creation is a way to reduce poverty level in West Africa. Many people in Africa have great ideas that do not flourish simply because they do not have access to funds. Enabling these people turn their ideas into concrete development initiatives is what Oxfam’s private sector programme is all about.

Funding received from the Al-Waleed Bin Talal Foundation covered the set up costs of the shops, including construction, packaging and equipment. Oxfam GB has acquired further funding for the set up phase from the OFID Foundation and further funding is being sought to cover the expansion of these Private Sector activities.

See some pictures of the event

Better Policies and Practices for People in Poverty

By Kathleen Spencer Chapman
Head of UK Government Relations

“How can we get the government to do a better job for people in poverty?” This was the question (a familiar one for NGOs) of a group of Oxfam partner organisations in Niger, West Africa. I was there last week to help local organisations develop advocacy and campaigning skills – to influence crucial policies and practices which affect the communities they work with – and see for myself some of the vital work that Oxfam supports.

Niger is the third poorest country in the world, ranking 174th out of 177 according to UN statistics. It’s a huge, dry country, much of it desert, and is on track to fail the Millennium Development Goals. Before my visit I knew about some of the problems the country faces – such as chronic food insecurity (crisis levels of malnutrition are the norm) and low levels of access to education – but I didn’t know what to expect from local NGOs. Would they really be interested in learning how to do advocacy when there were so many problems to tackle on the ground?

The crammed room and enthusiasm of the participants more than answered my question. There was a real thirst to understand advocacy better, a vital tool in bringing about change. One organisation can provide education in 3 remote villages – but if it can persuade government to invest in education in all of Niger’s isolated communities the impact will be much greater.

The training sessions threw up a whole load of issues where people wanted to improve their campaigning. Getting the government to invest more in teacher training (the decreasing quality of education is a problem); putting the country’s anti-slavery law into practice; or ensuring that farmers are able to trade animals freely across borders with neighbouring countries. Access to veterinary care was another issue of great importance for the large number of families who depend on livestock for their survival.

Many of the challenges facing the organisations here are the same as elsewhere: how to get the government (and other decision-makers) to listen? How to use the media to communicate your message? Others are more specific: lower levels of democratic accountability and transparency can make advocacy more difficult and being too outspoken can be risky, though that doesn’t seem to have muted the determination of civil society here.

I also had the chance to visit a village where Oxfam is working with a Nigerien NGO to provide access to education. As well as financing a new school building – this will soon be handed over to the government to run – the involvement of the community itself is key. A local woman, Balkissa Tahirou, has the role of encouraging families to send their children to school, especially girls. “I use every opportunity to show parents why an education is important” she told me. “Now all the parents are engaged and want to send their children to school”. Local parents take turns to cook the school dinner, paid for as part of the project, so that children have enough energy to learn.

The international backdrop to my visit was the first week of the Copenhagen climate change talks. While besuited negotiators were wrangling over how much money rich countries can spare for developing countries to adapt to climate change, some village women were showing me a bowl of yellow, sandy water – the only water now available for drinking, cooking and washing. Even for that people have to walk many miles each day; I felt grateful I had a bottle of clean water in my bag. It brought home to me just how vulnerable such communities are to even very small changes in climate – and how much those adaptation dollars, euros and pounds are needed right now.

Innovation in cotton sector as development tool

The Oxfam cotton Programme in Mali supports producers do Improve their Livelihoods.

See video of the programme

Le Moment est arrivé

Les changements climatiques constituent aujourd’hui la principale incertitude la planification et la mise en œuvre des activités agricoles en Afrique. De nombreux dirigeants des pays développés ignorent l’importance de ce risque dont la gestion est une des préoccupations majeures des petits producteurs africains. Ces derniers ont confirmé cela lors des évènements organisés par le Programme Coton de Oxfam et ses partenaires du 11 au 15 octobre 2009 : deux jours de voyage media et une journée de témoignage populaire.

Une dizaine de journalistes nationaux et internationaux ont eu l’opportunité de visiter des parcelles de coton affectées par de fortes perturbations climatiques au cours de cette campagne, d’échanger avec les membres des familles victimes afin de s’imprégner des contraintes qu’ils rencontrent. Rokia Doumbia, journaliste de la presse officielle affirme à l’issue des deux jours de voyage Media « Nous sommes aujourd’hui mieux informés et pourrons mieux informer tous les dirigeants où qu’ils soient. Je demande à tous les dirigeants du Nord de se faire justice de nous faire justice et de payer pour que les pauvres femmes que nous avons rencontrées, premières victimes de ce phénomène, puissent poursuivre leur lutte pour le développement».
La journée de témoignage, le 15 octobre 2009, a permis aux journalistes d’écouter les 15 petits producteurs venus de l’ensemble des zones agro climatiques du Mali.

« Nous avons adopté la culture bio équitable qui nous permet d’accroître nos revenus mais que faire lorsque la fin des temps annoncés par les anciens correspond à notre époque ? Cette année, d’abord, l’hivernage s’est installé un mois plus tard que d’habitude, ensuite de fortes pluies entraînant des inondations de maisons et de parcelles sont tombées et enfin une vingtaine de jours sans une goutte d’eau en plein milieu de l’hivernage ».
Les quinze témoins ont axé leurs interventions sur les conséquences en terme de migration, baisse de revenu, de stress dans les familles et de productivité agricole.

Au Mali, les gens face à la situation des changements climatiques, traduisent leurs sentiments très souvent par « Le moment est arrivé » ; Ce moment correspondant à la fin des temps annoncée dans la bible et le coran. Ceci traduit le sentiment de désarroi qui sévit au sein des familles qui se trouvent au fond du gouffre.
Nul besoin de démontrer davantage les effets des changements climatiques mais de démarrer d’urgence les actions d’adaptation. C’est ce qui justifie les actions en cours actuellement au sein du programme coton à travers le projet pilote changement Climatique qui testent trois options prioritaires du Programme d’Action National d’Adaptation (PANA) du Mali : accès aux semences améliorées, assurance climatique et accroissement de la compréhension des populations pour leur permettre de ne plus lier les changements climatiques à la fatalité afin de mieux l’intégrer dans leurs objectifs de développement.

The Time has Come – Climate Change in Mali

Climate change represents the greatest uncertainty for the planning and implementation of agricultural activity in Africa. Many leaders of developed countries are unaware of the significance of this risk; its management constitutes one of the main preoccupations of small African farmers. They confirmed this during the events organised by the Cotton Programme run by Oxfam and its partners, from 11 to 15 October 2009: two days of a media visit and one day of accounts given by the public.
Around ten national and international journalists had the opportunity to visit cotton plantations affected by the strong climatic disturbances during this campaign, to exchange with the members of affected families in order to become familiar with the restrictions they face. Rokia Doumbia, official press journalist confirms at the end of two days of journalistic travelling, « We are now better informed and we will be able to better inform all of the leaders, wherever they may be. I’m asking all the leaders of the North to do justice and to pay out so that the poor women we have met, the initial victims of this phenomenon, can pursue their struggle for development ».
The day of accounts, 15 October 2009, allowed the journalists to listen to the 15 small farmers coming from each of the agro-climatic zones of Mali.
« We have adopted bio equitable culture which allows us to increase our income but what can be done when the end of the weather announced by our ancestors corresponds to our times? Firstly, this year, the rainy season came one month later than usual, then strong rain fell, resulting in flooding to the houses and plantations, and finally there was around twenty days without a single drop of rain right in the middle of rain. »
The fifteen spokespersons based their interventions on the consequences in terms of migration, lower income, stress in the families and agricultural productivity.
In Mali, people who are facing the situation of climate change, often translate their feelings by the phrase « The time has come »; this time, corresponding to the end of the weather announced in the Bible and the Koran. This is represented by the feeling of distress which prevails within families who find themselves in this bottomless pit.
There is no need to demonstrate further the effects of climate change; however it is necessary to take urgent action for adaptation. This is the justification for the action currently underway within the cotton programme via the Climate Change pilot project, which test three priority options of the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) in Mali: access to improved seeds, climactic assurance and the raised awareness of the population to allow them to no longer associate climate change with misfortune, in order to promote an improved integration of their development objectives.

Appel sur le Changement Climatique au Mali

Une video de Doussou Bagayoko lançant un appel au leaders et la communauté internationale a dans le cadre de la campagne sur le changement climatique.
Video realisée avec l’appui d’Oxfam et du DFID

Climate Change Media Trip in Mali

Charles Bambara, Regional Media Officer his travelling with journalists to help them appreciate the impact of climate change on cotton producers.

The first day of our Media trip went very well…
1 – In term of participation: twelve journalists attended this first day. TV – Radio and Written Press journalists were represented, and there was a good mix of international and African journalists…

2 – Venue: We went to Koula at 100 km south of Bamako in Koulikoro region. We’ve met with many cotton producers to see at first hand climate change impact on producers’ activities, their environment and social well being. There was some very touching account from cotton producers, members of a network called MOBIOM, Mouvement Biologique malien at the forefront of climate change fight in Mali.

3 – Journalists were impressed by what they heard from farmers, and cotton producers…Mali National Television sent two teams one in French and the other one in Bambara language, the BBC sent a French & English team, there were reporters from Radio Kledu a leading Private radio station from Mali, and all Mali major newspapers were represented at this trip…

4 – Today Wednesday 14th , we are heading to Dabakala 170 km south of Bamako to see and talk about other climate change aspects. More journalists will be joining us: a team of two Reuters journalists: TV and agency, l’Essor, the national Newspaper of Mali reporter, and RFI and AFP reporter is also coming for this last leg of our Media trip…and also reporter from a popular Malian website called Mali.net or – le journal du Mali-

5 – On October 15th the Public hearing day – we have a nice programme with a mix of witnesses’ account of climate change consequences – Partners and government speeches and one of the most talented young Malian musician will be entertaining the crowd… More to come…..