Several African countries are amongst today’s fastest growing economies in the world, boosted in many instances by new discoveries of oil, natural gas and strategic mineral reserves. Extreme poverty on the continent is in decline, and progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals has accelerated. A number of very poor African countries, including Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia have made recent and substantial improvements in their levels of income equality.

Yet Africa’s impressive growth is not shared by millions of its people. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to a third of the world’s poorest people, and six of the top 10 most unequal countries in the world. Where income inequality is high, the benefits of economic growth are inaccessible to poor people. Poverty and exclusion are bad for social stability, preventing productive investment and undermining growth itself.

The continent’s potential is also being undermined by illicit capital hemorrhaging out of African countries – often in the form of tax evasion and trade mispricing by multinational oil, gas and mining companies, and in collusion with corrupt elected officials. In 2010, Africa’s oil, gas and mineral exports amounted to $333 billion. But estimates of illicit financial outflows from Africa are up to $200 billion annually, dwarfing the development aid it receives.

Together, income inequalities and illicit capital flows are cheating Africa of its wealth and potential for the investments in education, agriculture and healthcare needed to support productive citizens.

This week in Cape Town [8-10 May], African business and government leaders will meet at the World Economic Forum On Africa. My message to them: For Africa to meet its real potential, you must stand behind the millions being left behind by economic growth. Otherwise, social and economic progress on the continent will be undermined.

The European Union last month agreed a deal on a law that will make oil, gas, mining and logging firms companies declare payments to governments in the countries where they operate. This bolsters similar, recent legislation in the United States under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, and is excellent news. Transparency is a great disinfectant. It will put pressure on governments to account for how they spend money they receive from fees and royalties.

Some African states are making some of the right moves to manage resource wealth responsibly. In Ghana, the Petroleum Revenue Management Act has compelled quarterly disclosures of payments and production figures while in Liberia the voluntary Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has been turned into a binding statutory requirement.

But Africa can’t do it alone. The private sector is the engine of Africa’s economy, and if working responsibly, holds the key to fair and sustainable economic development. Companies’ policies and practices must respect the rights of the people in the countries where they operate. Communities affected by extractive projects must be informed and consulted, and given the opportunity to approve or reject proposed operations.

For their part, Africa’s development partners can deliver aid which will promote good governance, and support civil society to keep their leaders accountable.

We are witnessing a scramble for Africa’s natural resource reminiscent of the period of the industrial revolution in Europe. It is urgent and imperative that policies are in place in each country to protect the rights and interests of African people, most especially those living in poverty. To sustain high growth rates, priority must be placed on forging inclusive policies that ensure that growth is both equitable and sustainable. Much more of the proceeds of the African resource boom need to go directly into education, health and nutrition and improving the productive capacities of the poorest citizens. If not, efforts to boost economic growth in a sustainable way will be undercut.

It is time for a new, fair deal for poor people in Africa, one that gets Africa’s resources working for all its people.

       Winnie Byanyima is at the World Economic Forum on Africa: Listen to her phonecast on Ipadio

On the 14^th March 2013 the 360 member House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – on its third reading – passed the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) 2011 (VAPP) Bill.

The key gains in the new law – subject to approval by the Senate – include a more comprehensive definition of rape, harsher sentences for convicted rapists and other sexual offences, compensation for rape victims, institutional support for protection from further abuse through protection orders and a new Agency and Trust Fund to support the rehabilitation of victims of violence.

Fundamentally, the law aims to eliminate, or reduce to a minimum the cases of gender based violence.

Worldwide 70% of women experience some form of violence in their lifetime, but in Nigeria that rises to one in three for women aged between 15 and 24. In nearly half of all cases the perpetrator is the woman’s partner or husband, and shockingly, nearly half of all cases are unreported.

Impunity and worse still, gender based violence within the police and security forces are part of the problem. Covering a tragic spectrum of violence, including female circumcision, domestic violence, early forced marriage, rape (including marital) and harmful widowhood practices, the Bill aims to recognise the rights of all to safety at the workplace and in the home. The Bill expressly recognises the right to physical and psychological integrity in times of peace and in areas of conflict.

So, who and what made the difference between the rejection of the Bill in 2003 and its approval in 2008, with only minor modifications. The Women’s Rights’ Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) has first hand experience of the consequences of violent crime, providing legal aid and counselling services since 1999. As Secretariat for the Legislative Advocacy Coalition on Violence Against Women (LACVAW) WRAPA has tirelessly built up a head of pressure on parliamentarians to vote in the VAPP Bill, powered by national and pan-African advocacy and policy connections and the critical mass of seventeen  civil society, faith and community groups galvanising support from across Nigeria’s ethnic groups and states.

In 2008, WRAPA’s new partnership with the OGB Raising Her Voice Programme (RHV) added new momentum to the push for poor women’s participation and the domestication of the African Union Women’s Protocol, and breathed new life into WRAPA’s campaigning and advocacy around the VAPP bill.  Working simultaneously at regional, national, state and grassroots level, skilfully drawing on the coalition members’ strengths and connections WRAPA has developed a suite of inter connected actions that inexorably and relentlessly drove the Bill forward.

There have been awareness raising and public information campaigns to increase the demand for rights, mock tribunals staged to showcase abuses of women’s rights, Vox Pop in schools and market places, parliamentarians bombarded by “vote for DV Bill or we won’t vote for you” texts, a former MP hired to navigate and fast track the Bill’s parliamentary passage, songs, slogans and always, simple, harmonised messaging.

Within the RHV framework promoting women’s political participation, more women in decision making positions in community Development Associations means gender based violence is often on the agenda. Increased confidence means more women have been able to collaborate with religious and traditional leaders. Training of journalists around their coverage of violent crimes, and work with law enforcement agents are also contributing to the slow institutional sea change.

Pending the Bill’s approval by the Senate before passing into law, this short snippet of WRAPA and the LACVAW coalition members’ work can leave us in no doubt of their energy to sustain the momentum for promote women’s rights that working towards the VAPP Bill has generated.

       Thanks to Boyowa Roberts, Oxfam Nigeria Gender Focal Lead

 In light of meeting one of its key objectives which is “Putting Women’s Rights at the heart of all what we do” Oxfam has implemented the ‘Raising Her Voice Project’, a portfolio of projects in 17 countries across the world which focuses on improving governance and transparency by recognizing and increasing the significant contribution poor women can make to public life and in promoting their own rights. The project employs four approaches to reach its objectives: networking, lobbying and advocacy with poor women activists; working with public/traditional institutions and decision making forums; empowering and building capacity of CSOs.

In Africa, the RHV project is implemented in 8 countries including Nigeria with the same goal of strengthening national legislation, adequate budgeting and implementation of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women through community popularization and advocacy activities. Oxfam GB has supported Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) to work with the African Union, the Nigerian Government and CSOs in Nigeria to ultimately enable the domestication of the Protocol in Nigeria by 2012.

The Raising Her Voice ( RHV ) Project officially took off in Nigeria on 5^th August 2008 and has just come to an end on April 2013 and time has come to talk about its successes.

The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill (VAPP) to prohibit violence against persons and provide redress for violations & discrimination in private and public spaces was articulated by LACVAW (Legislative Advocacy Coalition on Violence Against Women) a national integral law and the bill  was first presented to the 6^th Assembly in 2010. After several procedures, the RHV project under the auspices of LACVAW also hosted a VAPP website which led to its 2nd reading at the National Assembly, Monday 4,  March 2013.

On the 14^th March 2013 the 360 member of the  House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria – on its third reading – passed the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) 2011 (VAPP) Bill.

Congratulations to Nigeria Team.

Posted By Marie Balde, Oxfam Media and Communications Assistant

By Elise Ford, Oxfam Humanitarian Campaign Manager

First, the good news. As soon as the first warnings were issued, governments began to issue appeals and agencies and donors came together to begin planning an appropriate response.  Some donors provided the first contributions for the crisis already at the end of 2011, allowing assistance to provided to those communities most in need before they even began to feel the effects of the critical food shortages and rocketing prices to come.

On Tuesday Oxfam published Learning the lessons, an analysis of the response to the 2012 Sahel food crisis, which affected some 18m people across 9 countries. It’s a serious piece of work, drawing on interviews with 30 external bodies – donors, governments etc, other published research, focus group discussions with affected communities and perspectives from civil society.

Compared to the ‘too little, too late’ response to previous crises in the region in 2010 and 2005, the report finds some improvements: early warning systems had improved and raised the alarm earlier, and governments in the region reacted in good time – Niger, for example, appealed for support six months earlier than it did during the 2010 crisis.

But there were still problems with governments, donors and the aid system. Governments in the region still lack the financial and technical capacity to really be able to lead. As for donors:

‘There was still disagreement about the likely severity of the crisis. Some donors, such as the European Community’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO), acted earlier than in previous years, but overall, donor funding was no more timely than before. By the beginning of July 2012 and the peak of the crisis, the UN appeal remained just under 50 per cent funded.’

This really matters: 5.6 million people didn’t get the seeds and tools they needed in time to prepare for the 2012 harvest cycle.

Interestingly, the report sees the roadblock as conceptual, and argues that this can be overcome by changing the way we think about such crises to emphasise the concept of ‘resilience’ – very much the current buzzword in a lot of development circles. ‘Learning the Lessons’ reckons a ‘resilience lens’ would allow donors to:

-          Develop a shared understanding of vulnerability to food insecurity so that support is targeted to the poorest and responses can be launched rapidly;

-          Break down barriers between humanitarian and development actors so that long-term and emergency programmes effectively support each other;

-          Invest in strengthening the capacity of national and local actors so that governments can deliver large-scale, sustained support to their citizens.

I must admit I was initially sceptical that the answer to such a profound failure is a new buzzword. But actually, I think the authors may be on to something.

The most useful framework I’ve found for understanding the roots of inertia (aka ‘why change doesn’t happen’) is the ‘3i’ model of ideas, institutions and interests. A combination of these three underlies the kind of paralysis we’ve seen in the Sahel response.

Institutions: there is still a deep division between the ‘humanitarian/emergency’ and ‘long term development’ wings of the aid business. This is reflected in funding structures, which are completely different for the two silos. The polarization makes it hard to take a long-term approach to reducing the vulnerability to the inevitable future crises.

Interests: if you work in an aid agency, there are clear risks to responding early to a crisis – what if the rains come, you are accused of crying wolf etc? In any case, your political pay masters often only start banging the table when the grim TV images start to roll (by which time it is often too late, and certainly much more expensive, to respond). There is also still something of a macho ‘I’m here to save lives, get out of my way’ approach to humanitarian work which can all too easily brush aside national governments and local knowledge that are crucial to understanding the long-term roots of crises, and building institutions to deal with future ones. National governments need to be at the heart of efforts to address food insecurity, but that is likely to threaten the power relations of the status quo,

Ideas: The institutional silos reflect a crippling conceptual dichotomy. Cyclical crises such as those affecting the Sahel really can’t be described as ‘emergencies’, in that they are predictable and regular. But the underlying thinking in the aid business is still ‘is that an emergency, or is it long term development? Do we send in the engineers or the economists?’

One of the things I’ve noticed about climate change is that it is a ‘disruptive idea’. Disruptive ideas can’t be fitted into existing entrenched mental and organizational frameworks, and so often prompt violent rejection, but also the possibility of paradigm shifts. Because climate change doesn’t ‘belong’ to any existing camp, it makes it easier to bring people together (development and environment, for example) to think differently about how we respond to it without prompting accusations of turf wars and interference. Is ‘resilience’ also a disruptive idea, with the potential to bypass the humanitarian/development divide?

I’m sure there is a big literature out there about the characteristics and impact of disruptive ideas. Any links appreciated.

Blog written By Duncan Gleen, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB and author of ‘From Poverty to Power’. More information on Duncan and the book is available on the From poverty to power official website.

Kadidiatou Yara est chargée de programme Education et coordinatrice d’un projet de rétention des filles à l’école pour Oxfam à Bamako depuis 2010. Elle a fait partie de l’équipe d’Oxfam qui a conduit une évaluation en février 2013 dans les régions de Mopti et de Ségou, au centre du Mali.

Kadidiatou Yara, chargée de programme Education et coordinatrice d’un projet de rétention des filles à l’école pour Oxfam à Bamako

« L’objectif de notre mission était entre autres de mesurer l’impact du conflit en cours au Mali sur la population déplacée, les communautés hôtes et les personnes aux revenus faibles.

Notre équipe était composée de sept personnes représentant chacune un domaine de compétence différent comme la logistique, la sécurité alimentaire, l’hygiène et l’assainissement, le suivi-évaluation et la communication. Je m’occupais de l’aspect protection et ne travaillais donc pas de la même façon que les autres membres de mon équipe parce que mes groupes de discussion étaient uniquement réservés aux femmes et jeunes filles et abordaient des sujets qui requièrent beaucoup de discrétion.

Cette précaution m’a permis d’avoir un autre regard sur les quelque 200 femmes avec qui j’ai pu discuter à Sévaré, Konna, Douentza et San* au cours d’un périple d’une dizaine de jours sur plus de 1 500 kilomètres.

Mon impression personnelle, au-delà du travail d’Oxfam, était un sentiment de choc, de pitié et de compassion pour ces femmes qui ont quitté leurs foyers pour s’installer dans un environnement malsain. Elles vivent en insécurité, et dans des conditions précaires, dans des maisons de location ou des maisons inachevées, souvent à la périphérie des zones urbaines.

Kadiatou avec les femmes de Konna

D’une ville à l’autre, les difficultés rencontrées par les femmes ne sont pas identiques. Par exemple à Konna et Douentza,  où l’armée a procédé à des frappes aériennes,  il n’y a pas beaucoup de déplacés et  les besoins exprimés sont principalement l’eau et l’électricité.

Alors qu’à Sévaré, où on trouve de nombreux déplacés, les femmes, bien que recensées par les autorités, déplorent un manque de soutien qui, pour elles, se traduit par leur non accès aux dons distribués par les différentes organisations. Ces femmes vivent  en permanence dans la peur, la tourmente et la psychose. La nuit, certaines n’arrivent pas à trouver le sommeil. D’autres disent avoir perdu du poids.

A Konna, notamment, les femmes rencontrées revivent sans cesse les frappes aériennes de l’armée française aux alentours du 10 janvier 2013.

Pour la plupart, elles se plaignent de la saleté à laquelle elles ne sont pas habituées et d’autres conditions de vie qu’elles trouvent dégradantes. Elles n’apprécient donc pas qu’on les voit ainsi.

Afin de les aider à retrouver leur dignité, ces femmes ont besoin d’un soutien psychologique.  Je vois cet appui comme des causeries qui les pousseront à parler, à raconter leurs difficultés, après on pourra les appuyer avec des activités génératrices de revenus comme elles en ont exprimé le besoin. »

*Sévaré, Konna et Douentza se trouvent dans la région de Mopti et San dans la région de Ségou.

Propos recueilli par Habibatou Gologo

Photos: Habibatou Gologo/Oxfam

Forty-nine year old farmer Emma Ankra has a message for the Ghanaian Government:                           “I believe that women farm better than men; our challenge is that we lack access to farm inputs!” Emma is a smallholder rice farmer and the mother of five children from Ashaimang, a town in Greater Accra Region. Her small farm is helping her family survive, despite not getting any help from the Government. Emma and her fellow women farmers are often denied the opportunity of benefiting from government subsidised fertiliser and pesticides for farming because these resources are mostly controlled by men.

Comfort Bekyere, Cassava and vegetable farmer from BudEmma and her fellow women farmers are often denied the opportunity of benefiting from government subsidised fertiliser and pesticides for farming because these resources are mostly controlled by men.

“My worry is how widows will be food secure if we are considered not trustworthy enough to even rent a land to farm on. The first question a woman is asked of when she goes searching for land to rent for farming is „where is your husband?‟ What has farming got to do with marriage when I have children to take care of” she says angrily. “Comfort Bekyere from Budu is appealing to the Government to fast track implementation of land laws to guarantee women land ownership through co-ownership and joint ownership.
In Suhum, Mary Kemavor worries also about land ownership and inheritance. “A man gives birth to a man and a woman, when the man (referring to her father) dies each family member pays equally for the funeral rights, but his property is reserved only for the men to share. After the death of her father, his elder brother quietly sold most of the family land. “As I stand here today I have one and half acre of cassava sticks to grow but where do I plant them”
“What has farming got to do with marriage?” Comfort Bekyere, Cassava and vegetable farmer from Budu

These smallholder women farmers have been joining the community of GROW across the west Africa sub region to observe 8th March as the International Women‟s Day to draw attention to policy makers to  some development issues against the backdrop of its mandate of ending poverty and injustice against vulnerable people.
The policy dialogue with the media was organized by the GROW campaign in Ghana to commemorate the celebration of International Women‟s Day under the theme, “Mainstreaming gender and women‟s right in agriculture and food policy programs.”
The dialogue was used to raise awareness on what the Government is doing and what it is supposed to do to meet the priorities of the smallholder women farmers. In Ghana the GROW seeks to build an effective advocacy movement around increase investment in small scale agriculture for accelerated improvement in food and livestock productivity to ensure food security and high incomes for small scale women and men farmers.
For Ghana, the failure to adequately recognize women farmers is life threatening, slowing food production and poverty reduction rates in the country since women are key actors in Ghana‟s farming, constituting over half of the agricultural labour force and producing 70 per cent of food. Despite that, there is no budget allocation specifically targeting women farmers. According to the women farmers, poor access to agricultural land, inaccessibility to credit facilities, poor road networks, lack of equipment and irrigation facilities, and lack of storage facilities are some of the major challenges they face.
Food security is dependent on women‟s equal access to land and natural resources – women have a better chance of ensuring food security but they are often denied their right to land. Men more than women are likely to abandon agricultural work and migrate to seek greener pastures.
The right to land and inheritance is an internationally recognized human right and yet women, especially rural women are often denied this right, creating gender inequalities in access to land or often given poorer quality and/or smaller plots.
Adam Sadat of Oxfam Ghana, in a message, said the day was to promote campaigns towards food security in Ghana. “GROW Campaign Team is pleased to bring to the fore, debate on issues of agriculture and the contribution of women to food security in the country, to ensure that women are active players in sustainable food security and agricultural growth,” Adam said.
The GROW team urged the media to focus on the area of food security and agriculture by publicizing the difficulties that are faced by rural women farmers. She emphasized that there is less reportage when it comes to issues regarding food security in Ghana and that it should be their utmost priority since land is the first source of every economic development.
Other critical issues such as issues on domestic violence were not left out of the event. The programme also aimed at protecting and promoting women and girls‟ right to eliminate gender-based violence worldwide.
In Ghana the GROW Campaign Team constitutes WiLDAF, , SEND –GHANA, Action Aid Ghana, Farmers Organizations Network of Ghana, Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL), Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Ghana Trade Coalition with support from OXFAM Ghana.

Pictures from the Media Dialogue

Victoria Adongo, Programs Coordinator, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana addressing the Media on behalf of the GROW campaign Team

A session of journalist at the program

       Posted By Ewurabena Yanyi-Akofur

             Programs Quality and Accountability Officer

                     Oxfam GB Ghana

Responsable de l’ Information Oxfam Niger

Journée Internationale de la Femme: Une journée spéciale pour les femmes… et pour les hommes qui aiment les femmes !! 

Toute l’équipe du bureau est réunie pour célébrer ensemble la journée de la Femme

L’équipe Oxfam au Niger a décidé de célébrer la Journée Internationale de la Femme en grand cette année. En effet, toutes et tous s’étaient réunis pour témoigner leur engagement et/ou leur soutien à l’amélioration du sort des femmes dans le monde en général et au Niger en particulier.

Deux activités phares avaient donc été proposées à l’interne pour susciter la réflexion et le partage dans une ambiance festive :

• Quiz « Réalités sur les femmes agricultrices en Afrique de l’Ouest »
• Exposition – « Histoires de vie des femmes agricultrices d’ici

Quiz « Réalités sur les femmes agricultrices en Afrique de l’Ouest »

La Campagne « Cultivons » étant officiellement lancée au Niger le 15 mars 2013, soit une semaine après la Journée Internationale de la Femme 2013, le bureau Oxfam au Niger avait décidé de mettre les femmes agricultrices au centre des activités internes de cette année pour souligner cet événement de façon spéciale.

Le personnel d’Oxfam et ses partenaires ont donc été invités à participer à une activité ludique et interactive sur les réalités des femmes agricultrices en Afrique de l’Ouest et ce, sous la forme d’un quiz haut en couleurs…

Les équipes se concentrent pour trouver les réponses aux questions… C’est du sérieux !!

Cet exercice a non seulement permis aux participants de tester leurs connaissances mais leur a surtout permis d’avoir un portrait plus détaillé de ce qu’est la vie d’une femme agricultrice d’ici et des opportunités qui s’offrent au niveau du développement pour que leurs conditions de vie et de travail puissent s’améliorer.

Exposition – « Histoires de vie des femmes agricultrices d’ici »

 Cette exposition a permis de faire connaitre les résultats concrets des projets Oxfam auprès des femmes agricultrices à travers des témoignages/photos de ces dernières.

Plus que de simples activités/projets, c’est la vie de ces femmes qui s’est transformée à la suite de nos interventions et de leur implication. Le 8 mars était le moment idéal de le souligner et de le partager avec le personnel Oxfam et les partenaires qui travaillent avec eux!

Souhaitons que ces témoignages puissent servir d’inspiration pour d’autres actions au bénéfice des femmes dans le monde agricole !!

Les bâches sur lesquels ont été imprimés les témoignages/photos des femmes agricultrices ont été accrochés dans des endroits stratégiques du bureau Oxfam. Le personnel et les partenaires auront la chance de les lire jusqu’au jeudi 14 mars, date à laquelle ils seront transférés sur les lieux du lancement officiel de la Campagne « Cultivons ».

Voici, en guise d’exemple, un de ces témoignages de femmes :

Les célébrations se sont terminées autour d’un repas composé de produits locaux nigériens exclusivement. Le personnel d’ Oxfam et les partenaires présents ont pu se régaler avec la Moringa (feuille à laquelle on mélange de la pâte d’arachide et des oignons pour en faire le plat très soutenant que vous voyez sur les photos), le poulet local et les jus de tamarin, de bissap et de gingembre…

Christelle, Conseillère en autonomisation socioprofessionnelle des jeunes, Oxfam

Zakary Hassane de l'ONG Potentiel Terre

Les panélistes de la conférence du 8 MARS à Oxfam America

Ce 8 Mars 2013, Oxfam  au Sénégal a encore tenu à rendre hommage  à la femme. Cette année, la manifestation avait comme thème «  le combat des femmes Sénégalaises pour l’accès aux instances de décision ». Après le mot de bienvenue et une brève présentation d’Oxfam America qui a accueilli la cérémonie, nous  avons  assisté à  une conférence débat  sur l’avancée de la lutte pour les droits des femmes avec un grand focus sur la parité. Comme panélistes, Mme Diarra Bousso Fall Coordonatrice du réseau genre du CONGAD (Conseil des Organisations non gouvernementales d’Appui au Développement), Mme Nafissatou Wade Directrice de Société Immobilière, consultante Experte en Urbanisme Aménagement et développement local et Monsieur Ousseynou Ka Juriste, Chef de la Division des Affaires Juridiques de la Réglementation et de la Formalisation. L’échange a été surtout axé sur l’égalité de représentation des hommes et des femmes dans les instances de décision communément appelé parité et  dans ce sens, les deux représentantes de la gente Féminine ont dressé l’état des lieux de la promotion du droit de la  femme au Sénégal. Des lois en faveur des femmes ont étés votées certes mais le grand problème réside en leur application.

Natahalie, Khady, Awa, Elisabeth, Baye Waly, Abladia Dia, Guorgui & Fatime

Le public a aussi eu droit à un agréable sketch sur la polygamie, produit par Baye Waly Diagne, Responsable Régional des Finances à Oxfam GB. Dans la même logique,  une discussion sur le même thème animée par le juriste Me Ka, suivie d’une série de Questions- réponses ont clôturé la journée.

Ce 8 Mars fût une très belle journée pour toutes les femmes d’Oxfam au Sénégal et merci à nos collègues hommes sans qui rien ne serait possible.

Marie Balde,  Stagiaire Media & Communications Oxfam GB