humanitarian aid

Oxfam staff in Ecuador are working with the government to establish the effective distribution system of safe water in Portoviejo and Pedernales, two of the communities worst hit by the 7.8 earthquake that struck the northern coast of the country on April 16th.

Some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Nepal are being excluded from the reconstruction process a year after the earthquakes there that killed 8,700 people, said Oxfam in a new report published today.

Rich countries have resettled only 1.39 percent of the nearly five million Syrian refugees, a fraction of the 10 percent of people who need to be urgently offered a safe haven. As wealthy states meet in Geneva on 30 March to discuss the Syria refugee crisis, Oxfam urges them to redouble their efforts and offer their ‘fair share’ of support to hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Russia, the United States, France and the United Kingdom must now safeguard the glimmer of hope that the ceasefire has brought to civilians, rather than “adding fuel to the fire”, warn 30 aid agencies in a new report. 

Oxfam water and hygiene expert Carlos Calderon has landed in Fiji, where Oxfam is gearing up its aid efforts following the complete destruction left by Cyclone Winston. 

Rich countries meeting in London this week must commit to real changes that will improve the lives of millions of Syrians. The aid funding and resettlement places offered so far have often been so low as to be little more than token gestures. Syrians in need are waiting for actions not just kind words and promises.

Six months after the International Conference on Ebola Recovery in New York, at least $1.9 billion worth of promised funds have not been delivered and scant information is available about the remaining $3.9 billion.  Global leaders are failing to honor their promises to communities devastated by Ebola in West Africa as $5.8 billion of pledged recovery funds proving almost impossible to track.

The Ethiopian government estimates that 10.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year after more than 12 months of erratic or failed rains have caused the worst drought in Ethiopia since the mid 1980s. Ethiopia is one of a number of countries struggling to cope with the effects of one of the strongest El Niños on record. 

Yemen is on a slow downward road to starvation and the growing number of people going hungry shows its descent is gathering pace. All those fuelling Yemen's tragedy need to stop being arms brokers and start becoming peace brokers. 

Oxfam is scaling up its operations in Taiz governorate, Yemen, to meet the increasing humanitarian needs in communities affected by the escalating fighting in and around Taiz city. The UN’s Emergency Response Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, has described Taiz city as a ‘city under virtual siege’, with food, medical supplies, and fuel blocked from entering and humanitarian agencies denied access to the besieged population.