famine

In reaction to the formation of a new South Sudanese unity government today, Elysia Buchanan, Oxfam South Sudan’s Campaign Manager said: “We welcome this decision as an important first step in South Sudan’s journey towards sustainable peace, but it cannot be the last. The country’s leaders must now work together to urgently end the suffering of 7.5 million South Sudanese facing a dire humanitarian crisis.

As drought devastates the Horn of Africa yet again, the following analysis comparing 2019 to earlier droughts paints a bleak picture and indictment on the humanitarian community. The urgency to better respond is exacerbated by people’s lack of recovery from the 2017 drought and a further deterioration predicted in coming months.

New figures released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) show that the number of hungry people has risen for the third year in a row, mainly as a result of conflict and the climate crisis. However, despite the spiralling hunger and two global food price crises in a little over ten years, hunger has fallen off the political agenda.

More than half a million people who have fled fighting in Yemen are facing a double threat of famine and near freezing temperatures

The UN and NGOs received warnings over the weekend for staff to evacuate Hodeida by Tuesday ahead of the offensive, affirming the humanitarian community’s worst fears for Yemen. With thousands of lives at stake, peace is urgently needed now.

Escalation of fighting around Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah threatens to cut off essential supplies to millions of people who are already one step away from famine. 

Oxfam today called for urgent action to prevent millions of people being hit by famine in South Sudan.

In the past three and a half weeks only 18 per cent of the Yemen's monthly fuel needs and just over half its monthly food needs have been imported through these ports.

Oxfam and sixteen other aid agencies working in Yemen are urging for the complete and unconditional opening of Hudaydah port to allow for the uninterrupted flow of food and fuel.

This briefing calls for action by all actors in the conflict and by the international community to protect the civilian population from the effects of the war and to alleviate the food crisis. It calls for renewed momentum towards a peace deal which is inclusive of women, civil society, youth and minorities, and which begins with an immediate, nationwide ceasefire.