Blogs

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."

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.

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.

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.

What if, just for one day, guns in wars zones across the world fell silent? That is the goal of Peace Day; every year on 21st September, people come together all round the world to build a culture of peace and demand that all armed parties observe a 24-hour ceasefire. This year there is added urgency, 2020 has been a year like no other and we desperately need an end to conflict so that we can focus on our common enemy of the pandemic.

Since March 2020, schools in Uganda have been closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Bidibidi refugee settlement, one of the largest in the world hosting over 280,000 refugees mainly from the Equatoria region in South Sudan, more than 80,000 children have been affected.

The EU’s response to COVID-19 in the recovery package, and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, are opportunities to help fix the broken global food system.

In a country with an exhausted economy and its healthcare facilities decimated, it’s not only about fighting the virus itself but about withstanding its aftershocks. As a result of the lockdown, many people, who already live hand-to-mouth, have been unable to make a living. A crisis within a crisis.

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic to our Pacific shores once again brought to light the weakness of public health systems in our region. The reality is that our health systems are not ready for this crisis.