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Aid should today begin to reach the hard hit southern Vanuatu islands of Tanna and Erromango, which both took the full force of the 250kmh Cyclone Pam, after rapid assessments of the islands showed absolute devastation with entire villages destroyed.

Vanuatu could face a second emergency with waterborne disease a real risk if the need for clean water, sanitation and hygiene is not met, Oxfam said today. 

“Oxfam is deeply alarmed by the @theIPCinfo classification of famine in five areas of #Sudan. This is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises that remains tragically overlooked. The international community and conflict parties must act now to end the suffering and prevent further loss of life.”

Oxfam's 10 people team in Vanuatu are reporting damage to major infraestructure like the hospital, the morgue and schools as the picture of complete devastation in Vanuatu now begins to unfold.

Two rapid assessment teams have arrived in the two small southern Vanuatu islands hit hardest by Cyclone Pam to rapidly assess exactly what survivors of the disaster need.

As fighting continues around the border areas of Sudan and the soon-to-be independent Republic of South Sudan, international aid organization Oxfam called upon all parties to cease hostilities and allow humanitarian access to affected civilians.

Stories of complete devastation are beginning to come out of Vanuatu in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Pam.Oxfam staff on the ground in Port Vila have reported complete destruction of homes, three story high trees completely uprooted and small communities with barely any houses left standing. Oxfam's Vanuatu Country Director Colin Collett van Rooyen said people in Vanuatu had told him they had never seen a…

Up to 90 per cent of housing in Vanuatu's capital reported to have been seriously damaged by Cyclone Pam, with still no information from the extremely vulnerable outer islands which are home to 33,000 people. 

South Sudan is facing its most violent year since the end of the civil war in 2005, international agency Oxfam warned today, and it urged the UN Security Council, as it visits the region, to ensure that civilians are better protected.