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Slight increase in aid only a drop in the ocean to combat the Covid-19 crisis

Figures published today by the OECD show that development aid has slightly increased in 2020. While this rise provides a lifeline for millions of people living in poverty around the world, it’s simply not enough. With extreme poverty skyrocketing for the first time in over twenty years and increasing economic and gender inequality exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, rich countries are facing and failing the biggest test the aid system has seen since its creation 50 years ago, said Oxfam. 

Reacting to the news, Oxfam’s global aid policy expert, Julie Seghers, said: 

“In 2020, rich countries spent 0.32 percent of their gross national income on aid, up from 0.30 percent in 2019. This increase is welcome, but is partly due to declining national incomes, and still fails to fulfil 50-year-old promises of 0.7 percent of GNI. If rich countries had kept their promise, aid budgets would have been boosted by an additional $190 billion in 2020 alone – more than enough for low- and lower-middle income countries to vaccinate their entire population and guarantee basic education for all. 

“Rich countries have taken exceptional measures to respond to the crisis domestically deploying trillions of dollars to fund their Covid-19 relief and recovery plans. The same urgency must guide their international response. This means ramping up aid budgets, reallocating their Special Drawing Rights and acting urgently on debt cancellation. 

“Rich countries are giving more and more ‘aid’ through loans. This paradoxical action is piling on even more debt at a time when poorer countries are struggling to keep afloat and seeing their own revenues drop dramatically. Now is the time for grants, not loans. Investing in hospitals and schools, and providing cash grants to help people weather this crisis-induced storm is needed, not the further shrinking of countries’ fiscal space. 

“Increasing aid is vital to provide Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to developing countries, and to shore up their health systems and capacity to manufacture vaccines. But this is a drop in the ocean compared to needs and should under no circumstances replace international commitments to share patents. 

“We know there is a high chance of aid cuts to come next year due to the lagged impact of the recession. But this is a policy choice. Rich countries should instead choose to show international solidarity at a time when it’s most needed.” 

 

Notes to editors

Oxfam aid expert Julie Seghers is available for interviews in English and French. 

The 2020 aid figures are available on the OECD website. 

In a statement released today, 76 civil society organisations across the world, including Oxfam, called for increased levels of aid in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and related crises, and called on DAC members to fulfil and exceed the 0.7% aid target and the 0.15% to 0.2% target for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), prioritising unconditional grants and technical support. 

Slight increase in development aid 

OECD data shows that overall aid spending from 29 OECD donor countries totalled USD 161.2 billion in 2020. This was a 3.5 percent increase from 2019. 

Rich countries only committed 0.32 percent of their gross national income (GNI) to development aid. This is up from 0.30 percent in 2019, but still well below the 0.7 percent they promised to deliver in 1970.  

In 2020, just 6 countries – Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany and the UK – lived up to their 1970 promise of 0.7 percent. Germany reached the 0.7 percent club thanks to additional funding in response to Covid-19 and a decrease in GNI due to the crisis. The UK cut its aid but still reached 0.7 percent in 2020, although it will fall below the target in 2021 with the announcement of future cuts.  

Commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GNI in aid 

Rich countries first committed to increase their international aid to 0.7 percent of their Gross National Income (GNI) in a 1970 UN General Assembly Resolution, and have repeatedly re-endorsed this commitment since then, apart from the US and Switzerland. 

Oxfam has calculated that in the 50 years since the 0.7 percent promise was made, rich countries have failed to deliver a total of $5.7 trillion in aid. Essentially, this shortfall means that the world’s richest countries owe a $5.7 trillion debt to the world’s poorest people. In 2020 alone, if rich countries had reached the 0.7 percent target, the current aid budget of $161.2 billion would have been boosted by about $190 billion. 

Needs of low-income countries 

New IMF research shows that low-income countries will have to deploy some $200 billion over five years to fight the pandemic and an additional $250 billion to return to their original path of catching up to higher income levels. 

Oxfam’s recommendations to help low-income countries face and recover from the Covid-19 crisis Rich countries and international institutions need to take four actions:  

  • Cancel debt immediately  

  • Create Special Drawing Rights – new international reserves by the IMF)  

  • Adopt emergency solidarity taxes  

  • Undertake a massive injection of international aid — a powerful tool of global solidarity that has proven time and time again to save lives.  

This Oxfam report lays out a vision for aid in response to the crisis.  

Costs of vaccinating the entire population of low- and lower-middle income countries  

Oxfam estimated the cost of delivering a COVID-19 vaccine based on data from the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which states $18.1 billion is needed in 2020–21 for end-to-end production of two billion doses of vaccines globally. This includes research and development, manufacturing, procurement, distribution and delivery. This means that the amount needed for the production of one dose is $9.05, and $18.10 for two doses. 3,581,000,000 people live in low-income countries and lower-middle income countries, so the cost to vaccinate them with two doses each is $64,816,100,000. 

Cost of getting children and youth back to school in low-and lower-middle income countries 

According to the latest UNESCO estimates, 51.2 million children of primary school age and 51.9 million adolescents of lower secondary school age are out of school in low- and lower-middle income countries. Using UNESCO estimates of expenditure per student for one year of schooling in low and lower-middle income countries ($403 for primary school and $536 for lower secondary), we calculate that the cost of getting children and adolescents back to school and finishing primary and lower secondary education (i.e., ‘basic education’) is $48 billion. 

Projections on future aid trends 

ODA projections are uncertain, as ultimately, it’s a political decision to cut or increase aid budgets. However, the Overseas Development Institute anticipates that, if the relation between ODA/GDP growth evolves in the same way as it did between 2000-18, then ODA could fall by 9.5% between 2019 and 2021.

Media Contact:

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Timor-Leste’s most destructive floods in recent memory likely worsened by climate change, as COVID-19 threat looms: Oxfam

Almost half of the population of Timor-Leste’s capital has been impacted by severe flooding, according to government figures, after heavy rains fell on Dili and nearby provinces last week. Cyclone Seroja took the people of Timor-Leste by surprise, with the small nation previously not within the range of such extreme weather events. Oxfam in Timor-Leste’s Associate Country Director, Annie Sloman, said the impact of climate change was undeniable.

“The combination of La Niña and climate change this year has resulted in extremely heavy rainfall, and more severe flooding than the Timorese are used to. Climate change is clearly exacerbating the intensity and impact of these disasters.”

At least 36 people were killed by the flooding and landslides caused by the rains, and 10 people remain missing. While thorough assessments are still being completed, the number of people impacted is expected to be more than 100,000, which is close to 10% of the country’s population.

“There’s been significant infrastructure damage, with a third of Dili’s water systems out. This means people don’t have access to safe drinking water, and the risk of water-borne diseases, like Dengue Fever and diarrhea, spreading is high.”

She said the growing risk of an outbreak of COVID-19 in one of the 36 evacuation centres was a major concern.

“A high proportion of those who fled to evacuation centres remain there, because people are struggling to fix and clean their homes to make them habitable.”

Ms Sloman said most of those people are women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

“There are concerns about people following COVID-19 precautions: few are wearing masks, there is limited social distancing and there are challenges with accessing clean water for handwashing. The longer they stay there, the greater the risk of an outbreak among a highly vulnerable population.”

She said the impact of the emergency will be felt for a long time to come, due to the already high levels of poverty and limited access to support services.

“There is still water in some people’s homes. Not only have their possessions been ruined or damaged, but they have lost food, which was already in short supply due to COVID-19 lockdowns and supply chain problems, and people who are informal workers have lost their income.

“Timor-Leste is one of the hungriest and poorest countries in the world – people’s ability to withstand the shock and bounce back is very low. That’s why the Government is asking for support to respond.”

Historically, Oxfam New Zealand has supported Timorese farmers to prepare for and deal with the impacts of climate change on their livelihoods, and currently Oxfam supports Timorese organisations as they work to protect the rights of women, those with disabilities and the rural poor, and bolster their ability to cope with climate breakdown.

In response to these destructive floods, Oxfam is working alongside local partners and the Timorese Government to assess the full impact of the floods, as well as to distribute much-needed items to those most in need in evacuation centres, such as tarpaulins, mattresses, blankets and sanitary products. Oxfam will also distribute items such as kitchen kits and food to support people to move back into their homes.

Media Contact:

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Timor-Leste Emergency appeal

Your support is urgently needed for our neighbours in Timor-Leste. You can empower families in Timor-Leste to rebuild their lives after these devastating floods. Your donation can help to provide access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene at Evacuation Centres as well as improve access for people with disabilities to critical services. Your support today will ensure that this urgent life-saving work can happen.

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Failure to vaccinate globally could cost up to $2,830 NZD per person this year in rich nations

Rich countries hold key to leaders’ chances at World Bank/IMF meetings of halting pandemic and averting a US$9 trillion catastrophe

Rich countries must open the way to cheaper mass-produced COVID-19 vaccines in order to protect every person in the world and avert a $9 trillion “worst-case” global economic catastrophe, said Oxfam today. They should also agree this week to inject $650 billion more into the global economy to help developing countries cope with the pandemic’s already devastating effects.

The two issues —one around tackling the chronic global scarcity of vaccines that are now sparking trade disputes between and economic shocks among countries, and the other in agreeing to a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)— will feature at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Spring Meetings April 5-11.

Together, these two initiatives would go a long way towards providing the public health protection and economic stimulus that people and countries all over the world desperately need. Urgent action is needed as COVID-19 continues to spike, mutate and kill whilst continuing to wreak economic havoc.

Oxfam is urging IMF members to waste no time in endorsing a $650 billion SDR issuance —enough for low-income countries to nearly double their healthcare spending for a year. This would be a highly welcome move and the culmination of pressure that civil society and others have been applying to member countries to do the right thing.

However, Oxfam warned that the current approach to the global production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is falling far short of what is needed.

Anna Marriott, Public Health Manager for Oxfam, which is part of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Rich countries are defending the interests of the pharmaceutical sector over other businesses and their economies as a whole. It is a bizarre act of financial and economic self-harm. They are condemning everyone including their own citizens to suffer the consequences.”

Oxfam, with other members of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, is calling for an end to ‘vaccine apartheid’ which is seeing rich nations vaccinate one person a second whilst many developing nations have yet to administer a single dose. The Alliance is calling for US President Joe Biden and other rich country leaders to show immediate support for the lifting of pharmaceutical monopolies and intellectual property rules to enable a huge scale up in global vaccination.

The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that vaccine inequality at today’s scale could cost the world around $9.2 trillion in economic losses, in the worst-case scenario, with rich countries suffering half of that blow. Drawing on the findings of this study, Oxfam calculates that these losses are equivalent to:

  • The United States could lose up to $2,700 per person in household spending in 2021, which is $1,300 more than the recent stimulus cheque that each received from President Biden’s administration. Overall, the US could lose as much as $1.3 trillion in GDP as its share of the cost of vaccine inequality.
  • The UK could face up to a $1,380 loss in spending for every person. Similarly, a $1,239 loss in 2021 per person in France, roughly equivalent to a monthly rent bill.
  • Per capita losses in household spending in Japan and Italy in 2021 could amount to around $1,451 and $1,495 respectively.
  • Canadians could miss out on $1,979 this year in spending as a result of global vaccine inequalities.

Yet these same rich countries are among those now opposing moves by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to break open the monopolies of big pharmaceutical companies, a move that would help other manufacturers to mass-produce more and cheaper vaccines.

“The US, UK, Germany, France, Japan and Italy together could lose as much as $2.3 trillion in GDP this year unless they stop fighting on behalf of a handful of big drug companies to retain the intellectual property of the vaccine —despite this status quo plainly failing both them and everyone else,” said Marriott. “It totally beggars belief.”

Vaccine inequality is hitting low- and middle-income countries even harder:

  • India could lose as much $786 billion, or over 27 percent, of its GDP due to global vaccine inequities.
  • South Africa could see 24 percent wiped off its GDP, losing the equivalent of nearly $874 per person in household expenditure in 2021.
  • The Philippines meanwhile could be stripped of up to 18 percent of its GDP this year due to vaccine inequity, equivalent to around $450 per person in household spending.

“This is a stark reminder that vaccine inequality has a real economic impact on us all, even as a solution stares our leaders in the face. The richest people can cope better with this cost but every person, in every country in the world, is being expected to pay and struggle —the poorest people most of all,” Marriott said.

“A People’s Vaccine is possible if WTO members waive these companies’ intellectual property, as India, South Africa and nearly 100 other countries are demanding, and the vaccine science and technology are shared through the WHO’s Coronavirus Technology Access Pool (C-Tap). Countries from around the world, including the richest G20, are meeting this week to discuss the global economic and health crisis which makes this a perfect moment for a breakthrough,” Marriott said.

On a possible new SDR allocation, Daar said: “SDRs are the quickest, surest way to provide much-needed liquidity to developing countries which, unlike the wealthiest countries, simply haven’t been able to afford to deploy trillion-dollar COVID-19 relief plans to revive economies and boost healthcare systems. Crucially, it’s money that never has to be repaid and won’t plunge countries even further into debt.

“A new SDR allocation can be done very quickly —it took just a few short months to inject $250 billion worth of SDRs into the global economy in 2009. If enough progress is made during the Spring Meetings, this money could be saving lives and livelihoods before the end of the summer,” Daar said.

$650 billion worth of SDRs would deliver approximately $22 billion in added reserves to the world’s poorest countries, and $228 billion to middle-income countries. It is a crucial lifeline but won’t be nearly enough. The IMF estimates low-income countries will need to deploy $200 billion over five years just to fight the pandemic. “We urgently need rich countries to reallocate their SDRs to support low-income countries, act on debt cancellation and ramp up their aid commitments including through the Bank’s International Development Association replenishment,” added Daar.

Notes to editors:

Media Contact:

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Two-thirds of epidemiologists warn mutations could render current COVID vaccines ineffective in a year or less

New survey from People’s Vaccine Alliance shows urgency of vaccinating all countries

Epidemiologists, from some of the world’s leading academic institutions, delivered a stark warning today of the risk the world is taking by failing to ensure all countries have sufficient vaccines to protect people from COVID-19.

In a survey of 77 epidemiologists from 28 countries, carried out by The People’s Vaccine Alliance, two-thirds thought that we had a year or less before the virus mutates to the extent that the majority of first-generation vaccines are rendered ineffective and new or modified vaccines are required. Of those surveyed, almost a third gave a timeframe of nine months or less. Fewer than one in eight said they believed that mutations would never render the current vaccines ineffective.

The overwhelming majority – 88 per cent – said that persistent low vaccine coverage in many countries would make it more likely for vaccine resistant mutations to appear.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of over 50 organisations including African Alliance, Oxfam, Public Citizen and UNAIDS warned that at the current rate it was likely that only 10 per cent of people in the majority of poor countries will be vaccinated in the next year.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed – who included epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists from institutions including Johns Hopkins, Yale, Imperial College, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Cambridge University, the University of Edinburgh and The University of Cape Town – said that open sharing of technology and intellectual property could increase global vaccine coverage. The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling for the lifting of pharmaceutical monopolies and the sharing of technology to urgently boost vaccine supply.

Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The more the virus circulates, the more likely it is that mutations and variants will emerge, which could make our current vaccines ineffective. At the same time, poor countries are being left behind without vaccines and basic medical supplies like oxygen.

“As we’ve learned, viruses don’t care about borders. We have to vaccinate as many people as possible, everywhere in the world, as quickly as possible. Why wait and watch instead of getting ahead of this?”

While he didn’t specify a timeframe, Gregg Gonsalves, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Yale University, echoed the urgency to vaccinate globally. Gonsalves said: “With millions of people around the world infected with this virus, new mutations arise every day. Sometimes they find a niche that makes them more fit than their predecessors. These lucky variants could transmit more efficiently and potentially evade immune responses to previous strains. Unless we vaccinate the world, we leave the playing field open to more and more mutations, which could churn out variants that could evade our current vaccines and require booster shots to deal with them.

“We all have a self-interest in ensuring that everyone around the world, no matter where they live have access to COVID-19 vaccines. The virus doesn’t respect borders and new variants somewhere on the planet mean none of us are safe.”

Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Associate Scientific Director of CAPRISA and Professor in Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University, said: “As nations start to expand their vaccination programmes we are once again reminded about our inter-dependence. High coverage rates and herd immunity in one country or region of the world while others, particularly low- and middle-income countries, continue to wait in line will create the perfect environment for the virus to continue to mutate and negate the benefits of any vaccine protection.

“In contrast, there are enormous benefits for everyone to have more equitable access to available doses of vaccines and achieve herd immunity globally sooner. As scientists, advocates, and decision-makers we must ensure that as many people are vaccinated all over the world and as soon as possible so that we can all focus our efforts in rebuilding our communities, livelihoods, and economies and know that we are all safe from COVID-19 and be better prepared for the next pandemic.”

The survey shows that it is imperative for the safety of all citizens in all countries that people in developing countries are vaccinated as soon as possible. Failure to tackle global vaccine inequality heightens the risk of further mutations.

Despite this imperative, rich country defence of the monopolies of pharmaceutical giants mean that global supplies are being artificially rationed, with a handful of companies deciding who lives and who dies. Earlier this month, rich countries blocked a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. The People’s Vaccine Alliance urges them to reconsider when talks resume at the World Trade Organisation in April.

The Alliance is also calling for all pharmaceutical corporations working on COVID-19 vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property through the World Health Organization COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, in order to speed up and ramp up the production and rollout of vaccines to all countries.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, said: “In many rich nations, vaccinated people are starting to feel safer, but unless we vaccinate all nations, there is a huge risk that the protection offered by vaccines will be shattered by fresh mutations.

“This survey highlights that we need a people’s vaccine, not only to protect people in the world’s poorest countries, but to ensure that people all over the world who’ve already been vaccinated aren’t put at risk again.”

Current vaccines appear to be at least partially effective against existing mutations but where new vaccines are needed it will take many months before they are approved for use and even longer to begin rolling them out. In the meantime, lockdowns and travel bans will continue to be the main protections against rising infections and fatalities. New vaccine recipes will also be subject to the same pharmaceutical monopolies, further restricting access for the rest of the world.

Dr Mohga Kamal Yanni, Senior Health Policy Advisor to The People Vaccine Alliance, said: “If we were in a war with a country called COVID, would governments leave vital decisions on production, supply and price in the hands of arms producing companies?

“Given vaccines are our most crucial weapon in the fight against COVID-19, world leaders must take control to enable the World Health Organisation’s COVID Technology Access Pool to facilitate sharing of technology and Intellectual Property so that all capable companies can maximise global vaccine production.”

/Ends

Notes to editors:

Of the 77 respondents to the survey:

  • 66.2% thought we had a year or less before the virus mutates to the extent that the majority of first-generation vaccines are rendered ineffective (18.2% of which thought we have 6 months or less and 32.5% said 9 months or less).
  • 7.8% thought we would never see mutations rendering the current vaccines ineffective and new or modified vaccines being required and a further 7.8% didn’t feel confident in putting a time estimate. 18.2% thought we had 2 years or more before mutations render the current vaccines ineffective and new or modified vaccines are required.
  • 74% said that open sharing of technology and intellectual property could increase global vaccine coverage. 23% said maybe and 3% said no.
  • 88.3% said that persistent low vaccine coverage in many countries would make it more likely for vaccine resistant mutations to appear, 6.5% said it wouldn’t and 5.2% didn’t answer the question.

The survey was carried out between 17 February and 25 March 2021. Survey respondents include epidemiologists, virologists and infection disease specialists form the following universities / institutions:

Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark, Académie nationale de médecine in Paris, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Amader Hospital India, AMREF International University in Kenya, Belgian Lung and Tuberculosis Association, Cambridge University, Centre for Family Health Research in Zambia, Centre for Disease Control & Prevention in South Sudan, Centre for Infections Disease research Zambia, Columbia University USA, Complutense University in Madrid, Danish Medical Association, école de santé publique de l’Université in Montréal, Emory University USA, Forum for ethics review committees in India, fundacion huesped in Argentina, Georgetown USA, Good Clinical Practice Alliance – Europe (GCPA), Hamdard University in India, Ibn Sina Academy of Medicine and Sciences in India, Imperial College London, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine USA, ISPG – Instituto Superior Politecnico de Gaza, Johns Hopkins University USA, Johnson & Johnson, Kabale University in Uganda, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Lebanese University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Makerere University in Uganda, Movement for Community-led Development, Mpilonhle in South Africa, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani in Italy, National Research Ethics Board/PREVAIL in Liberia, OTRANS-RN in Guatemala, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam,  Portland State University School of Public Health USA, St. Luke’s Medical Centre in the Philippines, Tufts University USA, University College London UK, University College London Institute for Global Health UK, University of Cape Town, Cliniques Universitaires Saint–Luc in Belgium, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines, UK Emergency Medical Team, Unicamillus International University of Medical Science in Italy, Union of Junior Doctors in Denmark, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel Rene Moreno in Bolivia, Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Argentina, University of Cambridge UK, University of Cape Town in South Africa, University of Edinburgh UK, University of Maryland USA, University of Oxford, University of Pretoria in South Africa, University of Southern Denmark, University of Zimbabwe, University of Zambia, Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, World Health Organisation India, Wits University in South Africa and Yale School of Public Health USA.

The respondents were from the following 28 countries:  Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, India, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Norway, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, UAE, Uganda, UK, USA, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Media Contact:

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Massive fire in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps leaves 45,000 people displaced

Rohingya refugee camp fire

Key Facts

  • Massive fires swept through the Cox’s Bazar Refugee Camps on March 22, 2021.
  • The damage is significant and still being assessed.
  • Preliminary reports say that 10,000 families (approximately 45,000 persons) were displaced.
  • At least 15 refugees were killed. Hundreds of others were injured.
  • Four camps have extensive damage. Thousands of shelters, offices, and other facilities were burned.
  • Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team has been deployed and worked through the night providing water to help extinguish the fire. The team also provided drinking water, hygiene kits, and emergency latrines.
  • Fencing around the camps impeded firefighting machinery and refugees attempts to escape the fire. • Humanitarians are urgently asking the authorities for: (1) improved phone/internet connectivity in camps, (2) to waive the restrictions on passes for NGO cars, (3) for access gates to be opened and fences taken down from roads.

A massive fire that swept through the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Monday has left 10,000 families—roughly 45,000 people—displaced and in urgent need of food, water, and sanitation services, Oxfam warned today. The fire was yet another devastating blow to the Rohingya people who fled shocking violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The fire started on Monday at 4pm and spread rapidly for several hours in the densely populated camps, destroying thousands of bamboo and tarpaulin shelters, until government fire and rescue services managed to control the blaze. The damage is extensive and still being assessed, but early reports suggest that 15 people were killed, and at least 560 people were injured, while hundreds remain missing.

“The worst affected areas have been reduced to ash—the only things left standing are shelter foundations and bits of household metal like pots and sewing machines. The level of destruction is unlike anything our team has seen before,” said Enamul Hoque, who leads Oxfam’s Rapid Response Team.

“We are deeply concerned for the safety and wellbeing of the 10,000 families displaced by the fire. The blaze has destroyed critical infrastructure, including water stands and sanitation facilities. Refugee families are in urgent need of food, drinking water, and safe toilet facilities.”

Oxfam’s Rohingya volunteers were the first responders, followed by the multi-agency Rapid Response Team, which deployed immediately with water trucks—on standby for such emergencies—and rushed to the camps to help extinguish the blaze. The team also transported water in jerry cans to refugees in areas that the water trucks could not reach. Barbed wire fencing around the camps impeded both refugees’ ability to escape and the Oxfam response team’s ability to provide aid in time and at scale.

“The Rapid Response team worked through the night, setting up water tankers and installing tap stands to distribute emergency drinking water. The team also provided displaced refugees with hygiene kits and emergency latrines,” said Mr Hoque. “It will take time to repair water infrastructure systems, increasing the risk of sickness, particularly as the monsoon season approaches.”

Oxfam will also work with partners to distribute soap, food, and household essentials like solar lights.

The Cox’s Bazar camps are severely crowded with roughly 40,000 people per square kilometer.  The 10,000 families displaced by the fire are now taking temporary refuge in other camps which are already densely populated, further heightening the risk of an outbreak of COVID-19.

In the wake of the fire, many families and children have been separated. A top priority in the coming days will be reuniting families and monitoring the safety conditions for those who have been displaced. As we know from past experience, women and girls bear the brunt of this type of crisis—often placing themselves at risk to find means to survive. Oxfam will continue to assess gendered needs and identify immediate solutions together with other humanitarian actors.

Notes to the Editor

  • The Rapid Response team works in coordination with Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), the UN, and the Cox’s Bazar WASH sector.
  • Oxfam New Zealand has been supporting women’s leadership and access to services in the camps since 2017, with funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Media Contact

Jo Spratt | Communications and Advocacy Director | Wellington, New Zealand | Joanna.spratt@oxfam.org.nz | 0210664210

Nesrine Aly | Oxfam News Manager | Cairo, Egypt | nesrine.aly@oxfam.org | +201222486964  / +447503989838

Lily Partland | Senior Media Coordinator | Melbourne, Australia |  lilyp@oxfam.org.au  | +61 418 118 687

 

 

Yemen at tipping point as Covid-19 second wave hits amid renewed fighting and famine fears – Oxfam

Evidence is mounting that a second wave of Covid-19 is already underway in Yemen, Oxfam warned today, with a 22-fold increase in recorded cases in recent weeks. It comes at a time when it is feared renewed fighting will force hundreds of thousands of people to flee to safety.

Oxfam said that a second spike would be devastating for a country entering its seventh year of war.  The UN is already warning that Yemen faces the worst famine the world has seen for decades and amid intense fighting in Marib governorate which it is feared will force almost 400,000 people to flee. The arrival of the rainy season – expected in May – is expected to see a renewed threat from cholera, which combined with Covid will overwhelm a health system battered by six years of war and economic collapse. Despite this huge level of need Yemen’s aid programme is more than 50 per cent underfunded.

Recorded cases of Covid in the first two weeks of March were 22 times higher than the number of cases in the first two weeks of February.  The figures indicate a sharp rise in the number of people being admitted to healthcare facilities with severe symptoms as these are the only people who are tested.

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: “Yemen is at a tipping point – millions of people are already teetering at the edge of a precipice, now Covid, cholera and an intensification of the conflict threatens to push them over.

“In cities around the country people are living through intensified fighting and a second Covid spike. Many people don’t go to hospital when they have symptoms – even where treatment is available many cannot afford medical bills.

“With little testing, we can’t quantify the true scale of the problem, but we do know that Covid is accelerating fast. I’m hearing daily of fresh tragedies – people who have died of Covid-like symptoms without receiving medical attention.”

Oxfam said it was concerned that by forcing people to flee for safety, the recent surge in fighting will speed the spread of the virus around the country.

The escalation in hostilities around Marib, where a number of Covid cases have been reported recently, is one of a number of worrying developments as the war in Yemen enters its seventh year.  Renewed fighting around Taiz, Hajjah, Hudaydah and Aldhale’e which have seen multiple airstrikes and renewed tensions in Aden and have brought fresh misery to those cities.

Since February, more than 11,000 IDPs in Marib have been displaced again, with some entire camps forced to evacuate. Many have been displaced four or five times as the frontlines of Yemen’s war have shifted. Local officials have told Oxfam they think the UN figure is an underestimate and as many as 3 million people are actually displaced in the area.

More than 4 million people have so far been displaced by the conflict and nearly 68 per cent of Yemenis need humanitarian assistance. The UN estimates 1.2 million people have fled to Marib, which until recently was considered relatively safe and hosts the largest internally displaced population in Yemen. 

Muhsin Siddiquey said: “People in Marib are desperate, they face a stark choice between staying put risking their lives and their children’s lives or fleeing into the desert where there is no water or food.

“In cities around the country people are living through intensified fighting and a second Covid spike. I’m hearing terrible reports of children being killed, houses in residential districts being hit and people being forced to flee.”   

Official figures record 3418 cases and 751 deaths from Covid in Yemen giving a mortality rate of nearly 22 per cent – one of the highest in the world. But with little testing and widespread reports of illness and deaths, the actual Covid death toll is undoubtedly far higher. So far no-one in

Yemen has been vaccinated against Covid, although the country is expecting to receive vaccines later this month. 

Yemen’s health system is estimated to be operating at half of its pre-war capacity despite the massively increased need for it. Many healthcare staff have been unpaid for months while there are just 700 ICU beds and 500 ventilators for a population of 30 million.

The country has struggled with cholera since the world’s worst outbreak began five years ago with more than 2 million reported cases.

Earlier this month the UN held a donor pledging conference asking for $3.85 billion but received less than $1.7 billion, less than was received in 2020 and $1 billion less than the amount pledged at the 2019 conference.

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said: ““Even people who escape the missiles and bullets face a daily struggle to survive in the face of disease and destitution. Yemenis have suffered for six long years – it is time for the world to say, enough.

“This is a man-made conflict and these deaths are avoidable. With efforts from the UN Envoy and a recommitment to peace from the new US administration, the international community must seize this moment to collectively pressure all sides to end the suffering. Peace is possible if governments put lives ahead of politics.”

/ends

 

Notes for editors:

The international escalation of conflict in Yemen occurred on March 26th 2015.

Case studies from Marib available on request

Yemen 2021 Humanitarian needs overview https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Yemen_HNO_2021_Final.pdf

Yemen covid data – https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

Covid Vaccine distribution https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/

2018 Hudaydah displacement figures : https://www.iom.int/news/yemen-hudaydah-displaced-population-now-estimated-336846

https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/situation_reports/file/en_iom_yemen_displacement_in_marib_flash_update_5_11_march_2021.pdf

Local officials estimate 3 million IDPs in Marib https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/iom-yemen-displacement-marib-flash-update-23-february-2021 

Between April 2017and December 2018, there were over 1.3million suspected cholera cases and 2,760 associated deaths in the country –one of the worst outbreaks in recent history.(UN YHNO –December 2018)

The World Health Organisation reported an increase in suspected cholera cases in 2019, with over 861,000 suspected cases and 1025associated deaths recorded. http://yemeneoc.org/bi/

Between January 1st and June 30th 2020 there have been 150, 849 suspected cases recorded

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/2019_Yemen_HNO_FINAL.pdf

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