Search

In OPTI, WWS has been working in Gaza to strengthen civil society organizations (CSOs) to engage with power-holders to claim their rights, and has conducted a process of ‘action research’ in Gaza, West Bank, and Israel. Between April 2010 and September 2012, WWS co-funded (with the EU’s Non-State Actors funding stream) the ‘Fostering Community Change’ project in the West Bank.The aim of this project was to build the capacity of marginalized Palestinian communities living under Israeli occupation to work together and to advocate around the issues which affect them.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., In Mali, My Rights, My Voice experience shows how empowering young people and giving them the space and opportunity to engage directly with duty-bearers can achieve successful national-level advocacy. This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., In Nepal, experience from My Rights, My Voice shows how setting up groups for young people – particularly young women – and empowering them to know and claim their rights can enable them to advocate in a range of innovative and effective ways and make real changes to their local contexts. This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., In Tanzania, working within the formal school system enabled My Rights, My Voice to transform school governance and bring about real improvements in students’ confidence and voice, and the quality of their education.This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., The approach which seems to set My Rights, My Voice apart from many other youth programmes is the way in which it has enabled young people to engage with duty-bearers to advocate for their rights – even in some of the fragile and conservative contexts in which it works. This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., A guiding principal of My Rights, My Voice has been the aspiration to work not simply on youth issues or even for youth (as beneficiaries and recipients of adult interventions), but to support projects which are driven by youth, and to work with youth as co-creators, collaborators and partners. This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

My Rights, My Voice is an innovative four year global programme which aims to engage marginalized children and youth in their rights to health and education services in eight countries – Afghanistan, Georgia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Tanzania and Vietnam., Children and young people have huge potential to transform their lives and communities. With the right skills, support and opportunities they can be a driving force to break the cycle of poverty so many are born into. To help them achieve their potential, their rights to health and education must be fulfilled., A key feature of the My Rights, My Voice approach to youth engagement has been to develop safe spaces in which young people have been able to learn about their rights to health and education, develop the confidence and skills to speak out, and engage with allies and duty-bearers to advocate around their rights. This case study explores the key learning from this approach.

Within and Without the State (WWS) is piloting innovative approaches to working with civil society to promote more accountable governance in conflict-affected and fragile contexts., This six-page leaflet provides an overview of WWS’s work from 2011-13 in its four focus countries: Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan and OPTI. It explores the different approaches taken to governance work in these contexts, examines the initial impact of project activities, and demonstrates that change is possible in fragile contexts.

The Within and Without the State (WWS) programme is using a variety of approaches to strengthen civil society and promote more accountable governance in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. The programme is working in Afghanistan, Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, South Sudan and Yemen., This case study is focused on the work in South Sudan. Here WWS is bringing citizens and those in power together – enabling them to engage in dialogue and work together for development. This approach promotes the idea of a ‘social contract’ between citizens and those at different level of governance. Each has their own rights and responsibilities to fulfil; by doing so, and engaging constructively with each other, they are able to promote accountability, transparency and mutual trust, and build a more effective state.

The Within and Without the State (WWS) programme is using a variety of approaches to strengthen civil society and promote more accountable governance in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. The programme is working in Afghanistan, Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, South Sudan and Yemen., This case study features the work in the West Bank. Here WWS provided co-financing to the EU-funded project, Fostering Community Change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which ran from April 2010 until November 2012., The project strengthened the capacity of Palestinian civil society to identify its needs and priorities, and engage with power holders around these issues., This brochure outlines the main activities of the project, describes its impact, and offers key insights and lessons.

Social enterprise is increasingly promoted by government and local authorities as a means of generating income and providing employment, particularly for women, in areas where there are few jobs. However, while social enterprise can have a role to play in helping women in disadvantaged neighbourhoods into work - and so out of poverty - it cannot be assumed to be the best or only option.

The Within and Without the State (WWS) Learning Exchange 2013 took place in Juba, South Sudan. The emphasis of the workshop was on sharing experience, discussion, and reflection on governance programming in fragile contexts, which enabled participants to bring together their learning from the WWS programme and explore areas for future development., The communique outlines the areas explored during the Learning Exchange; and key messages, including what WWS learning and experience allows the programme to say with confidence regarding governance programming in fragile states.

This paper reflects Oxfam’s experience of commissioning and managing action research in OPTI. Action research is a process of enquiry conducted by citizens and members of affected communities, rather than by trained researchers. Civil society in OPTI has limited space for operation. Oxfam therefore identified action research as a potentially effective model of community empowerment and an innovative way to identify opportunities for change in the ‘locked in’ context of OPTI.

Oxfam has been working in fragile contexts for many years, responding to humanitarian need and delivering services in places where the government is unable or unwilling to do so. Oxfam has recognised we must also address the issue of governance. Failures of governance are usually failures of power-holders in the state to enable citizens to participate in decision-making and governance. To ensure sustainable, long-term change that is owned by citizens and the state, this must be embedded in, and develop from, local and national political systems and reconciliation processes. As a result, many programmes are supporting citizens to engage with governance structures at various levels.

In Afghanistan, Within and Without the State has been working to build the capacity of civil society and to promote the participation of women, youth and other marginalized groups in the peace process. Essential to this approach has been the facilitation of opportunities for women, youth and other civil society actors to engage with power-holders – to share their views of what peace means to them and to influence change at community, provincial and national levels.

In South Sudan, WWS is working to strengthen civil society and to facilitate its engagement with those in positions of authority at all levels of governance, using the model of the social contract. The social contract model promotes constructive engagement between citizens and state; encourages both parties to respect each other’s rights and fulfil their responsibilities; and promotes mutual accountability. The social contract model is particularly appropriate in a fragile context, where government may be nervous about the role of civil society and where there is little tradition of political engagement or experience of effective governance.

This 'Communique', from the Within and Without the State Workshop, captures the key messages from the workshop, identifies areas for development and suggests key ways to take these forward. It was developed by the participants themselves throughout the course of the workshop.

For the past 30 years, the political consensus has held that work is the best route out of poverty. Yet more than four million of the 13.5 million people who live in poverty in the UK are working. There is clearly a contradiction between the consensus and the reality. This paper is a discussion of some of the issues that Oxfam's work in this area has revealed. Oxfam will seek with others to identify what solutions could help us all achieve our ambition of decent work for everyone. Our ambition for a world without poverty is one with decent work; work that serves the needs of people, communities, and the economy. Decent work means that everyone has an adequate and stable income; everyone is protected from exploitation; and everyone has security and power over their own lives through fair labour rights.