If we demand change from others, we must first do it ourselves. Oxfam Novib is an organisation built upon certain values: Empowerment, Inclusiveness, and Accountability. These values are at the core of what Oxfam Novib does and are at the foundation of every action it undertakes. It sounds simple enough in practice, right? I joined Oxfam Novib to work on something…
At the moment, crises are becoming increasingly complex. The average displaced person is displaced for 10 to 26 years (Ferris, 2018). Refugee camps can stand for decades; lives are lived in these settlements. The future will bring more climate (change) related disaster, which can in turn cause more displacement and conflict. These altering needs require…
Being an intern at Oxfam Novib is a welcoming experience. The whole organization and its people are very friendly and casual. But the most important thing is that they are open people. You are always welcome to have a conversation, and they really see you as one of their own instead of just another coffee…
Oxfam is huge. And very complicated. Before starting my internship, I had to submit a report detailing what I would be doing. Question 1: Who are you working with? I thought it would be easy… I had after all grown up in the UK surrounded by Oxfam charity shops and was pretty familiar with the…
How can we facilitate entrepreneurs in these corona times? That was a question that colleagues from the entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs’ team asked themselves. Eventually they came up with the idea to organize a Beat Corona Call to let entrepreneurs get in touch with each other. One of my tasks during my internship is to find…
When I started my internship in February with the introduction week, nobody could have imagined how it would develop. I was excited and curious to gain my first work experience. The first days were full of new information and impressions. I got to know my fellow interns, my colleagues, my workplace and my tasks for…
Oxfam Novib is fighting to defeat poverty and injustice. One approach to achieving this lies with the Impact Measurement and Knowledge (IMK) Team. This team is committed to evaluating the impacts of the work the organization does to achieve change. The IMK Team gives support to different projects by exploring their effects as well as…
Life has changed drastically over the past two months. We now live in a 1.5 metre distance society, in which grocery shopping has become a meticulously choreographed expedition. Working from home means that instead of opening the front door to leave for work, we open our laptops to get ready for the day. My co-workers…
Exciting? Scary (ranging from 0 till ∞)? Mixed feelings? For many students, like myself, their first official internship feels as if you’re getting a taste of what the adult life is really like. The stereotypical view of the ‘adult life’ that is often held by youngsters would be waking up early, working from 9 till…
Much like the 1961 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, working as a quantitative data analyst for the Global Management and Information Strategy Team (OneMIS) – having spent the bulk of my academic and professional career as a qualitative researcher – sometimes feels analogous to the experience of the novel’s…
My internship is with the Money-Trail project: a project which supports and organizes trainings for journalists and civil society organizations (CSOs) to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs). IFFs are flows of money, hence Money-Trail, which move from country to country to avoid and evade taxation, and thus increase the wealth of the individual who possesses…
Transforming Data to Enhance Information Flow at a Confederation Level As an Information & Reporting Intern, I work as part of the Oxfam International’s Global Programs Management and Information Strategy team (OneMIS). OneMIS is responsible for reporting Oxfam’s internal progress and collects key planning and budgeting information as well as assessing risks for all countries Oxfam affiliates…
Though it has only been a month, my internship at Oxfam Novib has given me more than I expected. So many lessons have been learned, so many friends have been made, so many cups of coffee have been consumed to keep me awake and so many firsts have been experienced. First real job. For the…
After the introduction week, I started my internship at the unit Major Accounts. This unit is a part of the Public Engagement department. The first week I mainly read a lot and got to know the team and the organization. I soon felt very comfortable within the team, because there is a lot of chatter (especially about food). I like that…
My adventure at Oxfam Novib started with an induction week that was provided to the new interns and employees of the organization. It exposed us to a lot of information and a lot of new faces, it was really about taking everything in. After the induction week, I clearly remember the feeling: a mix of…
