Consultancy - Inequality Campaign Evaluation

1. ## BACKGROUND

The Even It Up campaign (rebranded in 2019 to the Inequality Campaign) is a global campaigning initiative focused on fighting extreme inequality. The strategic plan for 2015-2019 outlines a vision to implement progressive policies grounded in the view that extreme inequality driven by political capture is a barrier to ending poverty.

The campaign is diverse and disperse; bringing together campaigns and advocacy initiatives aimed at multiple targets from across multiple countries and regions, on a range of themes (see below) relating to inequality, while also influencing global-level targets and audiences around the world.

Core Campaign Objectives

The strategy is built around four primary objectives:

1. Shifting the Terms of Debate: Building a global consensus that the gap between the rich and the rest is unacceptable and requires radical reform.
2. Citizen & Civil Society Voice: Increasing the number of citizens and organizations influencing decision-makers to combat inequality.
3. Policy & Practice Change: Winning "game-changing" reforms in areas like progressive taxation, free public services, decent wages, and curbing political capture.
4. Internal Excellence: Modeling the "one programme" approach with 50/50 North-South leadership and strong gender expertise.

Theory of Change

Oxfam identifies "political capture" and the "capture of ideas" (market fundamentalism) as the primary drivers of inequality. To break this cycle, the campaign focuses on empowerment:

- Changing Attitudes: Convincing the public that inequality is a choice, not an inevitability.
- Strengthening Alliances: Building critical mass through partnerships with unions, CSOs, and influential "unlikely suspects".

Key External Trends & Challenges

Oxfam identifies several critical factors influencing the work:

- The "Capture" of Narrative: While inequality is now a mainstream topic, vested interests are attempting to co-opt the narrative without offering real solutions.
- Shrinking Civil Society Space: Governments are increasingly using legislation and regulation to diminish the voice of the political opposition and NGOs.
- Privatization of Public Services: A dangerous trend toward privatizing health and education, which disproportionately harms women and people living in poverty.
- Economic Risks: The high risk of further financial crises necessitates a flexible "day two" response strategy.

Strategic Priorities

The campaign focuses on three areas:

- Challenging Inequality Ideology: Arguing that change is possible through tangible solutions.
- Fighting Privatization: Highlighting public services as the primary solution to economic inequality.
- Corporate Taxation: Demanding radical reform of global tax rules.

With the following cross-cutting themes:

- Gender: Mainstream gender analysis across all economic inequality work.
- Active Citizenship: Supporting citizen-led platforms to hold governments accountable.
- Development Finance: Focusing on the unique value of Official Development Assistance (ODA) as a catalyst for poverty reduction.

Timeframe of Campaign

The timeframe for the Inequality Campaign Strategic Plan was extended through 2024. In this extended period, the campaign added a focus on climate change as a driver of inequality with elites bearing significant responsibility for climate change. Additional intersecting issues of food and land rights were also incorporated at the same time. In October 2024 colleagues convened in Mexico City to draft a new strategic plan for 2025-2030.

## 2. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

A ten-year period for campaigning is sufficient and significant for evaluating efforts to bring about social systemic change to observe outcomes of efforts and whether they have contributed to any systemic changes and social impact.

Focus will be on use of narrative change on inequality as the entry point to contributing to systemic change that leads to systemic changes in conditions that create or sustain inequality, and in turn lead to empirical improvements (decreases) in economic and gender inequality in societies.

Possible themes/issues of focus:

- Economic inequality
- Fiscal and tax justice
- Gender equality
- Public services
- Climate justice

## 3. USE AND USERS OF THE EVALUATION

The primary use for this evaluation is to share the findings on the achievements of using campaigning focused on narrative and mental models change on inequality as the entry point for systems change. The evaluation will be used to indicate changes in narrative and mental models on inequality in Oxfam’s Inequality Campaign and what these narrative changes have led or contributed to in terms of changes in structural and relational conditions required to bring about systemic change. Findings will provide an understanding of what approaches to narrative change and use of inequality framing contributed to achieving and how these changes happened over time.

- Primary Audience: External stakeholders with interest in in addressing inequality. The Campaign Team seeks to share findings with the donor community to include donor governments, key philanthropic foundations, individual donors and supporters. The evaluation will be used to show what change is possible, considering the context, through campaigning targeting narrative change in relation to conditions of inequality.
- Secondary Audiences: Internal stakeholders with decision-making responsibilities on investment in campaigning on inequality both in countries and at the secretariat. The evaluation will provide findings on the achievements made from the investment in campaigning on inequality over 10 years. Findings can assist in investment decisions for the future.

## 4. KEY EVALUATION QUESTIONS

The following questions are indicative. They will be refined by the selected evaluators during the Inception Phase.

- Can coordinated efforts in the form of a campaign use narrative change as an entry point to bringing about systemic change in addressing inequality?
- How has the understanding of inequality evolved in public debate and discourse over the course of the Inequality Campaign?
- (How) Has the Inequality Campaign contributed to changing the narrative on inequality globally and in specific county contexts in ways that have led to increasing political will to address inequalities?
- What has been the most effective efforts at bringing about narrative change? Which actions and when make a difference?
- What has the investment in an annual flagship report delivered? Is it worth the investment?
- What are the conditions within which campaigning targeting narrative change is more likely to be effective?
- Have changes in global narratives on inequality contributed to changes in structural and relational conditions affecting inequality in countries? Is Oxfam (global) machinery making it possible for Oxfam country efforts?
- How has the Campaign adapted, objectives, strategically and tactically over this period, How and Why?
- How does collective action feature in narrative change?
- How has alliance- and coalition-building and increasing (or mobilizing?) civic engagement on inequality featured in narrative change on inequality for the Inequality Campaign?
- How has collaboration and partnership with organizations and intellectual leaders contributed to the evolution on public understanding of inequality?
- How has Oxfam’s inequality campaign contributed to the “inequality mass movement?”

## 5. SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

**Approach to the Evaluation of the Inequality Campaign**

The methods outlined below are indicative. The methodology and approach will need to be finalized with the evaluators as part of the Inception Phase of this evaluation. During the Inception Phase the evaluators will determine with Oxfam how to best design a mix-method approach that will produce a set of findings in narrative form that can easily be shared publicly and