Blogs

After the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023, Israel’s escalation in Gaza is the most brutal onslaught of violence carried out against Palestinians during the 57-year-long Israeli occupation. Before the latest escalation of violence, over 80% of the population in Gaza relied on some form of humanitarian aid for survival, and life in the Gaza Strip was characterised by the almost total restriction on travel and trade, and the absence of social safety nets and livelihood opportunities. However, life for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside Gaza has turned into an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.  

On 18 - 19 March, the EU, UN, EU countries, INGOs and partners will meet in Brussels to discuss and shape the humanitarian agenda. At this third edition of the European Humanitarian Forum, the implications of the current, most pressing humanitarian crises will be explored, focusing specifically on the humanitarian funding gap and on neglected crises worldwide. The Forum comes at a critical moment with staggering humanitarian needs and right before the June European Parliament elections.  

It is the time of the year again, where festive decorations are filling the streets of the Netherlands. The joy of end of year celebrations can also be felt in Dutch supermarkets. Coming into December, all snacks, candies and chocolates are wrapped and shaped in colorful festive packaging. Since I moved to the Netherlands, I always followed the Dutch Sinterklaas culture of buying chocolate shaped letters to celebrate. But this year, I feel differently about the chocolates in front of me. This now reminds me of my trip to Ghana, back in September. Chocolate has a bitter aftertaste, somethings which leaves me very uncomfortable.

Due to the occupation and illegal blockade by the Israeli government, Palestinians have been living under insecurity and oppression for years. In recent days, violence has increased, resulting in many Palestinian as well as Israeli civilian casualties.

On June 6th, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, located about 70 km east of Kherson, Ukraine, was severely damaged by explosions, leading to widespread flooding and triggering a massive humanitarian and environmental crisis. One month on, Oxfam’s priority is still to ensure the safety of the affected communities. We are working in close collaboration with our local partners, who are at the forefront of the response efforts.

In past years, Oxfam was able to provide Dignity Kits to women refugees. These include soap and other hygiene items, as well as underwear and menstrual pads. Row notes that refugees are missing this support, discontinued due to budget cuts. “We have no money to buy this in the market,” Row says. “And, as we are women, we need Dignity Kits."

The European Union has adopted a new approach to foreign policy dubbed the “Global Gateway,” supported by a new European Financial Architecture for Development (EFAD). These policies are a direct response to the state of permacrises that the world finds itself in. It seeks to inject 180-300 billion euros over a period of six years into the EU’s partner countries in the form of infrastructure projects, a green transition and digitalisation. 

Women are at the heart of the food production systems. Yet, women food producers are held back by barriers that prevent them from feeding their families and reinvesting in their livelihoods. Oxfam together with indigenous women, farmers and women food producers convened and create a space to exchange knowledge, wisdom and a vision for a better, just and feminist food system. We demand a fair #feministfoodsystem that empower women food producers, indigenous people and small-scale farmers! #FeministPower  

The shock of the earthquake piled on top of 12 years of brutal war marked by crumbling infrastructure, financial collapse, Coronavirus, soaring food prices, and a recent cholera outbreak, forcing more and more people deeper into the bridge of poverty.

Roma refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine face even more challenges getting the help they need than other displaced people, due to discrimination, language barriers and cultural differences. We spoke to some Roma refugees in Moldova to hear their concerns.

In the months after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Oxfam warned that huge and dangerous increases in inequality across the MENA region were likely. Almost two years on, the wealth of elites has only climbed, lining their pockets at the expense of everybody else. Inequality will continue to kill until we switch the game.

Why is it taken for granted that a person is “successful” because they are a self-made millionaire? Who decides what is a success, and what is a failure? These questions help us understand what dominant narratives are, how they are shaped, and how they affect our lives. It’s time for them to be contested. With the right tools, change movements can start to tell a new story.

Frank Lopeyok Mosky is a young Karimojong climate change activist in north-eastern Uganda. For 3 years, he has witnessed droughts hitting his community, leading to the loss of livestock and affecting small-scale food production. This has escalated poverty in the region and driven youth, women, and children to resort to desperate means to survive.

Covid-19 has supercharged inequalities: while billionaire´s wealth rises dramatically, austerity is imposed on health, education, and social protection systems across the world. The Festival to Fight Inequality, a space for the growing inequality movement to reconnect and recharge around these struggles and solutions, has never been more crucial.

While Europe’s biofuels policies have figured prominently as a means to secure a more sustainable energy supply for the continent, they have created perverse incentives in developing countries such as Peru. The Chira Valley is a clear example of how this quest for greener alternatives to fossil fuels has prompted the development of large-scale bioethanol projects in the Global South, which have high social and environmental costs for local communities.

Malnutrition is the leading cause of death and ill health worldwide, and the Covid-19 crisis has made food and nutrition insecurity even worse. In this article you will read how family farmers from China, Nepal, Uganda, Zambia and Guatemala have increased their self-sufficiency by using edible plants growing in their surroundings.

143 displacement camps have sprung up in recent years around Marib city, in Yemen. Each time there is an escalation in fighting, a new wave of people flee towards the city and its surrounds, which now hosts over one million displaced people. We urgently need funding to provide them with lifesaving assistance.

A year on since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, the virus has had far ranging impact on marginalized Rohingya refugees. The over-riding lesson has been how Rohingya refugees braved the new challenges of the pandemic with incredible determination and resilience. Here are four things to know about how residents of the world’s largest refugee camp have braved Covid-19.

People around the world have been adapting to change since time immemorial, but there is a cost attached to it. While people living in poverty deploy the resources, traditional knowledge and skills that they have, much more is needed. Adaptation finance is needed to support vulnerable countries and poor communities to adapt to the climate crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic saw people in Europe band together, regardless of where they were born, to pull through this difficult time. From the healthcare professionals saving lives in hospitals, to agricultural workers putting food on our tables, and researchers finding a vaccine so we can go back to our normal lives.