Oxfam’s response to COVID-19

Huguette Yago manages the supply of water and sanitation equipment, as well as organizing hygiene awareness sessions for displaced people in north-central Burkina Faso. With her team, she's working around the clock to prevent the spread of coronavirus which could be devastating in camps where the lack of water poses huge challenges.

Providing clean water and access to sanitation to millions of vulnerable people in the world is an essential part of our humanitarian work. From Mozambique to Indonesia, and Nepal to South Sudan, find out how we are combining decades of expertise with innovation to get clean, safe water to the people who need it the most.

When conflict and crisis strike displacement, hunger, and poverty follow. But, all too often, it is women’s rights that become the early casualties of war. As they flee conflict, travel, and settle in refugee camps they are highly vulnerable to all forms of violence. Throughout the world, Oxfam works to advocate for change that will transform women’s lives.

In reaction to the coronavirus pandemic reaching 1 million confirmed cases, Oxfam interim Executive Director Chema Vera, said today: "This is a grim milestone that must spur the international community to take immediate action. We must tackle this pandemic with single-minded determination, and as one."

Oxfam today called for a package of nearly $160 billion in immediate debt cancellation and aid to fund a Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response, to help prevent millions of deaths as a result of the Coronavirus. The five-point plan would enable poor countries to take action to prevent the spread of the disease and build the capacity of health systems to care for those affected.

Responding to the commitments made by the G20 today to combat the Coronavirus, Chema Vera, Oxfam International’s Interim Executive Director, said: “On the day that Imperial College London has warned that close to 40 million lives could be lost without urgent action, the world’s richest governments are still only warming up to the scale of the task.