International aid agencies Oxfam, Fred Hollows Foundation, and World Vision have joined with delegates at a United Nations’ health conference in Melbourne, Australia to call for the international community to freeze Pakistan’s debt and do more to help the country cope with the devastating effects of widespread flooding. Read full release »
The issue of asylum seekers is, without a doubt, a complicated one. International law and emotive political rhetoric make it so. There are no hard and fast answers but there are, dare I say it, ways to truly move forward on the issue. Read full release »
A comprehensive regional approach to asylum seekers must be adopted by whoever wins the election if there is to be any hope of truly moving forward on this complicated issue. Read full release »
The Kabul Conference to be held this week must be a turning point not another wasted opportunity, international aid agency Oxfam said. Read full release »
Prime Minister Julia Gillard must explain how her plans for a regional processing centre in East Timor differ from the discredited ‘Pacific Solution’, international aid agency Oxfam Australia said today. Read full release »
Prime Minister Julia Gillard should use today’s expected announcement on asylum seeker policy to commit to a broader, regional approach in an effort to create long-term, sustainable solutions for asylum seekers and refugees, international aid agency Oxfam Australia said. Read full release »
International aid agency Oxfam Australia today called on Canberra’s politicians to step out of their offices and cross Lake Burley Griffin to experience life as a refugee in a mock refugee camp. Read full release »
Gaza, 2 June 2010 - Oxfam condemns Monday’s attack on the aid flotilla that resulted in the killing of a number of passengers and it links the tragedy to the failure of Israel and the international community to lift the three year blockade on the Gaza Strip. Read full release »
An extensive study of rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) commissioned by Oxfam and conducted by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative shows that 60 percent of rape victims surveyed were gang raped by armed men and more than half of assaults took place in the supposed safety of the family home at night, often in the presence of the victim’s husband and children. Read full release »
Seventy per cent of Afghans surveyed see poverty and unemployment as the major cause of the conflict in their country, according to new research by international aid agency Oxfam and a group of Afghan organisations. Read full release »
The new Afghan government must urgently devote greater resources to building up to 6,000 new schools, training upwards of 5,000 new midwives and professionalising the police force, according to aid agencies working throughout Afghanistan. Read full release »
As the Ethiopian government issues an emergency appeal for food aid, international aid agency Oxfam is calling for a radical shake up in the way the world deals with food crises in Ethiopia and other countries. In its Band Aids and Beyond report released today to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the worst famine in Ethiopia’s history, Oxfam said there has been a “knee-jerk reaction” to addressing food crises dominated by sending food aid which fails to offer long-term solutions to hunger. Read full release »
Today marks six years since the bombing of the UN office in Baghdad. The casualties from that blast included the top UN official in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello and other UN staff working to help Iraqi civilians in the middle of war. The UN has designated today the inaugural World Humanitarian Day, to honour aid workers and the jobs they do in difficult and dangerous environments. Read full release »
The Rudd Government has made a minor increase to its overseas aid spending, but fallen short of what's needed to help the people being hurt most by the global financial crisis, international aid agency Oxfam said tonight. Read full release »
The Rudd Government must help the people hit hardest by the global financial crisis and deliver a real increase in foreign aid spending in tomorrow night's budget, international aid agency Oxfam said today. Read full release »
The number of people affected by climatic crises is projected to rise by 54 per cent to 375 million people over the next six years, threatening to overwhelm the world's ability to respond, according to new figures released by international aid agency Oxfam today. Read full release »
Asylum seekers trying to reach Australia's shores are desperate to escape persecution and violence in their home countries. Read full release »
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other G20 leaders have delivered a vital pick-me-up for poor countries struggling to survive the economic crisis, but much more is needed to ensure their long-term recovery, international aid agency Oxfam said today Read full release »
Australian spending up, but more still needed A 10% increase in global foreign aid spending by OECD member countries announced overnight overnight is welcome but still nowhere near enough to meet the needs of poor countries in the face of global economic meltdown, international aid agency Oxfam said today. Read full release »
Oxfam is calling on Pacific Brands and other major Australian clothing companies to take more responsibility for the rights of the overseas workers who make their goods. This follows today's release of a report that found a Hong Kong-based company that coordinates the manufacture of some Pacific Brands products rates poorly on efforts to eradicate sweatshops. Read full release »