Oxfam's work in Nicaragua in depth

“We had to organise the ice-cream vendors to keep the vaccines in a cold place for us,” Reggie Norton recalls, Oxfam GB Central America Co-ordinator in 1963. This was our first intervention in Nicaragua. Since then we have been working to improve the lives of thousands of families in rural areas, with special focus on supporting women’s and indigenous groups.

Learn more about the history of Oxfam in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Latin America, with more than 79 per cent of its population living on less than two dollars a day. This percentage increases in rural areas. However, it is in the Atlantic Coast where our programmes are concentrated, the area with the highest poverty indexes; 2004 statistics show that 12 out of 19 municipalities in this region have the highest rates of marginalisation and extreme poverty in the country.

Oxfam's work

Oxfam's work in Nicaragua focuses on three programmes:

Economic Justice and Gender Equity
Humanitarian Help and Risk Reduction
Governability and Democracy

Economic Justice and Gender Equity

Economic and social inequity of women, youth and indigenous groups are the axis of this programme concentrated in the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN) [Autonomous Region in the North Atlantic]. That is why we work with other public and private organisations, to revert this situation.

Oxfam in action: Harvesting the profits

Our work focuses, among others, on these points:

Promoting productive and development projects that help to face the economic vulnerability and inequity.
Supporting the efforts of organisations which promote productive territorial identity in excluded areas, and their capacity to influence.
Increasing access by small rural producers to markets through managerial training.
Promoting a gender vision, adequate management of the environment and strategies of sustainable economic development among the organisations we work with.
Socialising the consequences of international commerce rules on small producers and their possible alternatives.

Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction

Humanitarian response has been one of the axes of our work in Nicaragua. The 1972 earthquake, Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and Hurricane Felix in 2007 are only three examples. However, a great deal of our work is focused on reducing disaster risk, especially in the most vulnerable areas in the Caribbean and Occident, so the communities can face them, mitigate the effects, and be able to recuperate. In order to accomplish this, work is being done at territorial and local scales along with public authorities, social organisations, and the population itself so the humanitarian response is more effective and contributes to reduce the risks.

Case study: A tool for climate change... and hurricanes

Governance, Democracy and Citizen Participation

In order to change the vulnerability and poverty situation of millions of people, it is necessary to promote changes in the policies and practices that can ensure the changes through laws, public programmes and alliances.

This programme aims to articulate with the rest of our work so that public policies (municipal, regional and national) contribute to ensure that all citizens, especially women, youth and indigenous groups from the Atlantic Coast, enjoy sustainable livelihoods, a secure life to face disaster risks, the right to be listened to, and to live without violence.

In order to accomplish this, Oxfam in Nicaragua works:

Along with local organisations, so the development plans have a gender, generational and intercultural perspective.
Promoting citizen participation and forming leaders that allow for construction of dialogue spaces among different sectors.
Sharing experiences with the organisations we work with in other countries.

Last updated: January 2009