armed conflict

Oxfam welcomes today’s Open Debate on the UN’s 2023 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, which highlights the urgent need for all parties involved in armed conflicts to respect their international obligations and to prioritize the protection of children. 

The world spent yearly an estimated $112 billion on arms imports between 2018-2022, even as 9,000 people die each day from hunger driven primarily by conflict. The top five-arms exporters – the USA, Russia, France, China and Germany - which account for over three-quarters of the global arms trade, together sold an estimated $85 billion worth of arms yearly.  

In response to the announcement of the withdrawal of the Barkhane military operation and the Takuba forces from Mali, Oxfam's West Africa Regional Director, Assalama Dawalack Sidi said: "The withdrawal is a terrible admission of failure. Nearly ten years of military operations in the country have solved nothing as much of the Central Sahel continues to be plagued by conflict." 

One year since conflict broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, almost seven million people in Tigray and in neighboring Amhara and Afar are suffering from the toll of violence, human rights abuses, hunger, locusts, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conflict in Tigray compounded by climate-fueled locust infestations and coronavirus has left millions of people in desperate need of humanitarian aid yet access to those affected continues to be restricted, warned Oxfam today. 

In response to the UN recently launched Global Humanitarian Overview, estimating some 235 million people across the globe will be in need of life-saving support in 2021, Oxfam and 6 aid agencies said it is vital that they have unhindered access to those most in need and humanitarian appeals are fully funded. 

The European Union risks fuelling conflict and human rights abuses around the world if it adopts the European Peace Facility (EPF) in its current form, warned Oxfam and 39 other civil society organisations with expertise on peace, human rights and the protection of civilians.

There has been a catastrophic failure by the international community to forge a global ceasefire in order for countries in conflict – and the world at large – to stop the coronavirus and save millions of lives, said Oxfam today.

The war in Yemen has been marked by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, often in serious violation of International Humanitarian Law. Such use of explosive weapons has a gendered impact, affecting men and women differently.

In response to today’s announcement of the end of the M23 rebellion by M23 Commander Bertrand Bisimwa, Oxfam’s DRC Humanitarian Coordinator Tariq Riebl said: