Category: Emergencies

In the lead-up to this week’s international conference on the future of Somalia, we asked five ordinary Somalis what they hoped would come out of the talks. Their responses were both thoughtful and thought-provoking. Read more »

Late and irregular rainfall, followed by plagues of birds, locusts and other pests have decimated the harvests of poor farmers and made pasture scarce for herders. Cereal production in the five countries of the region is down by a quarter from last year and is well below the five-year average. Read more »

Alejandro Chaskielberg travelled to Turkana, Kenya with Oxfam to take photographs using moonlight supplemented with artificial lighting, showing snapshots of everyday life. While he was there, he met Peter Abwell, a former pastoralist who became a fisherman before starting his own business. Peter’s shop is bustling with activity when we arrive. Clearly a central hub […] Read more »

Last week Oxfam, together with Save the Children, launched a new report called A Dangerous Delay, which found that the international community responded too late to the current Horn of Africa food crisis. Thousands of lives were lost as a result. The report calls for much earlier action to prevent such crises from happening, rather […] Read more »

Thank you In 2011, prolonged drought, poverty and conflict meant that parts of East Africa were facing the worst food crisis of the 21st century. It’s estimated that 12 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance. Your generous support during this crisis has allowed Oxfam to reach 2.8 million people with humanitarian aid in […] Read more »

In one of Port-au-Prince’s most earthquake-damaged districts, Oxfam is helping find land for residents to grow their own vegetables. As this slide show indicates, the project is already paying off in many ways. Read more »

By Caroline Gluck, Oxfam I wasn’t looking forward to returning to Haiti. Two years ago, I was one of the first of Oxfam’s emergency team to fly to the island, arriving three days after it was hit by a devastating earthquake, which killed more than 220,000 people and left over a million homeless. It was […] Read more »

By Jane Beesley, Oxfam The earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010 resulted in one of the largest emergencies in recent years – killing over 220,000 people, displacing more than 1.5 million and devastating an already poor and weak economy. Today many people struggle to find work with many businesses no longer operating or struggling […] Read more »

Keith Bacongco, Oxfam Philippines Flood-affected men and women in the Philippines had something to smile about thanks to Oxfam when they received malongs, an amazing traditional Muslim blanket that doubles as a wrap-around, water container and water purifier. Displaced by tropical storm Sendong (international name Washi) two weeks ago, they belong to at least 7,000 […] Read more »

Rodilyn Bolo, Oxfam Phillipines Many of the families who lost their homes to storm Sendong (international name: Washi) have since stayed in cramped evacuation centers, their personal space often defined by the size of the sleeping mat they own. Vicky Aguiman, a 65 year-old resident of Purok Tambo, Macasandig, one of the worst hit areas […] Read more »