humanitarian repsonse

Access to clean water and sanitation will be one of the greatest needs in Fiji’s Tropical Cyclone Winston response, and must be prioritised, Oxfam said today. Clean water for drinking and hand washing is essential for the prevention of waterborne diseases after a disaster.

On 25 April 2015, Nepal was struck by a massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake that left nearly 9,000 people dead and destroyed or damaged more than 850,000 homes. Many of the affected people have received some support from the Government of Nepal and aid organizations, but others are still waiting for assistance. 

In this research report, Oxfam puts the humanitarian system under the lens and finds that it must change to remain effective; with locally led humanitarian action whenever possible; adequate funding to state and non-state actors in affected countries; and stronger partnerships between international and local actors, focusing on strengthening local capacity.

Oxfam has calculated that nearly half of the world’s top donors didn’t give their fair share of aid to the Syria crisis in 2014, based on the size of their economies.