COVID-19

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON WOMEN-OWNED ENTERPRISES AND RURAL WOMEN SUPPLIERS: “CASE STUDY OF MUHANGA FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY, AGASARO, COVAFGA & AKANOVERA”

Oxfam in Rwanda has been implementing projects in the following four Programme pillars: Gender Justice, Sustainable Livelihoods, Humanitarian Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Strengthening. Participatory Governance is currently mainstreamed in other program pillars. From its research for...

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in Africa: A long road ahead

History must not repeat itself — unless everyone has access to these vaccines, no one will be safe By Lydia Zigomo and Martin Namasaka Africa and Africans have reason to worry. Since the outbreak, there are over 3.7 million recorded cases and over 99,000 deaths as of 17th February 2021 according to...

Horticulture Value Chain & Business Continuity in Rwanda

The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic in March 2020, given its impact on the entire world population and the economy. This novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has continued to spread across the world from Wuhan, China where it has been first...

Resilience of small-scale farmers and businesses tested during COVID-19

Uncertainty and a great test of resilience I have worked with Oxfam for the last eight years managing the economic empowerment and resilient livelihood program. During these years, never have I experienced firsthand what it truly means for your resilience to be tested, until recently during the...

Is citizen apathy societal degradation?

Lelei is employed and living a decent life in Ruaka, Kiambu County in Kenya, which is only a spitting distance from Nairobi. He woke up with a cough and a high fever. It was clear to him that these were symptoms for COVID-19. He gathered his strength and went to a health facility. He was confident...

Women collecting water from a tap stand in Kalunga in DRC. Photo by Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi/Oxfam.

Women and COVID-19: A snapshot of government policies in the HECA region

Every country in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) region has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and every country’s experience of the pandemic remains unique. Consequently, policy responses vary across the board. The overall trends in COVID-19 in the HECA region mirror those around the...

Catherine Nabulon Abulon, Oxfam’s beneficiary from Turkana, Kenya. Photo by Joy Obuya/Oxfam

Debt servicing or COVID-19 response? an impossible choice for developing countries

15th April 2020 was to be a special day for most African countries. On this day, the World Bank’s Development Committee and the G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the Debt Service Suspension Initiative granting debt-service suspension in response to the pandemic. The day should have heralded a lifeline...

Representatives from different sectors (government authorities, merchants, pastoralists, and displaced people) at the vulnerability and risk analysis workshop discussing the challenges they face and how to collaborate and coordinate during crises. Photo by Pablo Tosco/Oxfam.

Somalia’s humanitarian localisation agenda: opportunities and barriers

By Abdiaziz Adani and Martin Namasaka The overall progress of localisation commitments within the Grand Bargain that commits donors and aid organisations to provide 25% of global humanitarian funding to local and national responders by 2020 has often been uneven and difficult to assess...

The Pandemic and Beyond

The fact that COVID-19 is impacting all 10 countries in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) region presents enormous challenges that require us—Oxfam country offices, the regional platform and partners —to work together better. This vision statement is part of regional platform’s efforts to...

IDP Camp, Bunia General Hospital, Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by John Wessels/Oxfam

Thirty-nine organisations call on governments to ensure access to asylum seekers during COVID-19 pandemic

People seeking safety are trapped at borders across Eastern Africa due to COVID-19 measures A coalition of international, national, and refugee-led organizations in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) have today called on governments in the region to reopen borders for asylum seekers. The...

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