Press releases

After enduring more than seven years of brutal conflict the people of Yemen have finally had the opportunity to experience what it means to feel hopeful. An unprecedented truce, now in its sixth month, brings with it the possibility for longer-term peace and the chance to rebuild lives and livelihoods. But while the conflict has slowed, humanitarian needs continue to increase, and the humanitarian response remains under and unequally funded. 

As Yemen enters its eighth year of conflict, the country remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than two thirds of the population – over 23 million people – need humanitarian assistance. Millions of Yemenis' lives have been shattered as they face a collapsing economy marked by rounds of currency depreciation and lost livelihoods, a fuel crisis, and destroyed vital infrastructure, dramatic hikes in the prices of essential commodities like food, fuel, and medicine, along with non-existent or irregular payment of public wages.  This is pushing more and more people into extreme levels of hunger. The severe funding shortfall for the humanitarian response has further burdened the Yemeni people – right now, Yemen is the least funded response globally. 
 

With one person estimated to be dying of hunger every four seconds, 238 local and international non-governmental organizations are calling on leaders gathering at the 77th UN General Assembly to take decisive action to end the spiralling global hunger crisis. 

Anna Marriott's, Health Policy Manager at Oxfam and Policy Co-Lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, response to The Lancet COVID-19 Commission’s report on lessons for future pandemics.

Ten of the world’s worst climate hotspots – those with the highest number of UN appeals driven by extreme weather events – have suffered a 123% rise in acute hunger over just the past six years, according to an Oxfam report published today.

As UNGA77 kicks off, Oxfam experts are engaging with a delegation in New York along with remote participation. Oxfam experts will be focused on issues including Hunger and the Global Food System, Climate Justice, the crisis in Yemen, Ukraine, COVID-19 recovery, Inequality, Education, and more. 

Oxfam and Transport & Environment critical of the European Parliament for failing to phase out the use of biofuels which are fuelling the global food crisis.

Today, the European Commission unveiled a package of emergency measures to curb the surge in energy prices which are hitting European consumers hard. The package includes two measures to capture extraordinary profits from energy and fossil fuel companies.

Oxfam’s response to the latest report from the Integrated Food Security Classification System (IPC) released this afternoon on the situation in Somalia. 

Today, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed the introduction of a cap on revenues of companies producing electricity with low costs and a solidarity contribution from fossil fuel companies. The revenues from these unexpected profits will be directed to people and businesses to help them adapt to the recent increase in energy prices as well as to invest in clean home-grown energy sources.

Leading NGOs including Oxfam, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, and T&E highlight the absurdity of burning food for fuels ahead of upcoming EU Parliament vote on the EU’s green fuels law.

Oxfam is mounting a humanitarian response to the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan working with a network of local partner organizations. Relief efforts will focus on two of the hardest-hit provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in the south-west of the country. The response will target 25,000 families and households affected by the floods.

On this World Humanitarian Day, Oxfam and the Global Protection Cluster join the humanitarian community in celebrating frontline humanitarian leaders working to protect the lives and rights of people living through crises. 

Responding to the Yemen truce extension, Abdulwasea Mohammed, Advocacy, Media and Campaigns Manager for Oxfam Yemen, said: “Oxfam welcomes the extension of the truce in Yemen and urges all parties to now prioritise the lives of Yemeni civilians and uphold and fulfil all areas of the agreement.

Ahead of the end of the current UN-led truce agreement on 2 August 2022, Oxfam and 29 humanitarian organisations in Yemen urge all parties to the conflict to adhere to and extend the agreement to protect civilians across the country and allow them to rebuild and recover their lives.

In response to reports that the first shipment of grain left Ukraine today, Eric Munoz, Oxfam America Food and Agriculture expert said:  “Oxfam welcomes this news but warns that lifting the grains blockade alone will not solve the global hunger crisis.”

Ten years since the first tents were pitched in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan’s, almost 82,000 Syrian refugees are still living there, facing increasing precarity as shrinking incomes, rising prices and spiralling debt drive them further into poverty.

Yemen is facing unprecedented rises in the price of food putting millions more people in danger of catastrophic hunger, Oxfam warned today.

In reaction to Ukraine and Russia's recent grain deal, Max Lawson, Oxfam International's Inequality and Policy Lead said:  “This is extremely important decision that puts people before politics. The deal will help calm spiralling food prices which have fuelled poverty and hunger around the world".

“This declaration is yet another shameless blame-shifting exercise from an industry that has chosen to prioritise obscene profits over human life throughout the pandemic”, said Anna Marriott, Oxfam Health Policy Manager & Policy Co-Lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance.