Organisational change resulted in a change in stakeholder engagement modalities

In the last Accountability Report they described early efforts to consider an Oxfam-wide comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement Policy. The development of this Policy was put on hold in mid- 2015 given the direction of the Oxfam 2020 organisational change programme. Oxfam 2020 will significantly reshape the nature of all stakeholder relationships within the confederation. The extent of the changes to all stakeholder relationships  caused them to pause the development of a Stakeholder Engagement Policy until the precise modalities of the new arrangements have been worked out in full.

Oxfam Strategic Plan included an extensive consultation process

Development of the Oxfam Strategic Plan involved an extensive consultation process over an 18 month period. The views of a wide range of internal staff and external actors and allies from the fields of development academia, institutions, fellow civil society organisations, humanitarian actors and the media from the global South and North were collected and analysed. A Consultative Forum of key partners and allies were used to shape the key priorities for their work. Affiliates were asked to suggest potential candidates for consultation, semi-structured interviews were designed to guide those consultations. The summarised feedback was presented for the Board of Supervisors to consider before the Strategic Plan’s main themes were agreed.

Oxfam engages with stakeholders at the country level

An Oxfam Country Strategy (OCS) is produced in every country in which Oxfam operates. OCSs align factors relevant to each country context with the Oxfam Strategic Plan (OSP) and provide a set of change objectives and possible approaches to be pursued by Oxfam in that country. Nearly all countries formulated an OCS in 2015 and 2016, with 9 still in development. Guidelines for developing OCSs require Country Teams to involve all relevant stakeholders, including partners, in its’ preparation. The goal in Oxfam 2020 is to create Country Governance Groups, a group of stakeholders established to shape and steer Oxfam’s programming and strategic direction in a country.

Also, a set of Oxfam Program Standards provide clear guidance for Country Offices on how to secure good quality stakeholder engagement in the design and delivery of all Oxfam programs.