access to water

Only one in five health facilities have access to enough clean water, in Ituri, one of the epicenteres of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to new Oxfam field data. The findings raise urgent concerns about the spread of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus —access to clean water remains the first line of defense against transmission— raising fears that the true scale of the outbreak is underestimated.

Rich countries have broken their climate finance promises to a key grouping of eight highly vulnerable African countries. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda – collectively called the IGAD region – have together received, on average, $1.7 billion annually, between 2013 to 2022, in “grant equivalents”, being the true value of climate support after interest and debt repayments.

The resumption of aid into Gaza, including fuel to operate undamaged water and sanitation systems along with water trucking, has improved the amount of water available to people in some parts of Gaza. But the picture remains extremely bleak and dangerously critical, especially in the North Gaza and Rafah governorates, warned Oxfam today. 

A new Oxfam report reveals how Israel has been systematically weaponizing water against Palestinians in Gaza, showing disregard for human life and international law.  

Oxfam water engineers are having to drill deeper, more expensive and harder-to-maintain water boreholes used by some of the poorest communities around the world, more often now only to find dry, depleted or polluted reservoirs. 

Feleg depends on a mixed agricultural livelihood. For years, water shaped the rhythm of her day.

Failure of the last rainy season across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia is triggering a food and water emergency for millions of people.

Oxfam experts will be at the World Water Week in Stockholm (24-28 August) speaking to a number of issues on water and climate.

In rich countries, clean water is so plentiful and easily available that we simply take it for granted. Yet around the world, diseases from unsafe water kill more people each year than any other cause, making this one of the world’s most urgent health issues. Water is central to almost every aspect of Oxfam’s work.