News & Media

Protecting and supporting women human rights activists

October 29, 2011

The Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea has a new network of women fighting for human rights. Key women leaders from the seven Highlands provinces in Papua New Guinea, all of whom are fighting to defend human rights in their region, joined together in March 2011 to form The Highlands Women’s Human Rights Network (HWHRN). Together, the women are working to promote peace, economic, social and gender justice in the Highlands.

Oxfam responds to floods in El Salvador

October 19, 2011

Following a severe tropical depression in El Salvador, 32 people are dead and nearly 34,500 are living in 439 shelters. Intense rainfall has battered Central America for more than a week, wreaking havoc across the region. International humanitarian organisation Oxfam is proving emergency assistance in El Salvador to help combat the dangerous floods and mudslides resulting from the rain.

Governments must show political will to tackle hunger at Rome meeting

October 16, 2011

With more than 13 million people in dire need of food in the Horn of Africa, food prices set to remain high and volatile, and almost a billion people going to bed hungry every day, Oxfam is calling on governments meeting at the UN’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) to take action and tackle the root causes of hunger.
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Stepping up aid is critical for saving lives and futures in Pakistan

October 3, 2011

The gains made and the lives saved through flood-relief activities in Pakistan are in jeopardy as critical emergency-response supplies run low, the international aid agency, Oxfam, said today, calling on the donor community to urgently fund the response to the recent floods.

Not a game: Speculation vs food security

October 3, 2011

Food prices are a matter of life and death to many in the developing world. Financial markets that should be helping food growers and processors to manage their risk and set prices have become a potential threat to global food security. Deregulated and secretive agricultural commodity derivatives markets have attracted huge sums of speculative money, and there is growing evidence that they deliver distorted and unpredictable food prices. Financial speculation can play an important role to help food producers and end users manage risks, but in light of the harm that excessive speculation may cause to millions, action is required now to address the problem. This briefing explains what has gone wrong with financial markets and what the United States, the European Union and other G20 members should do to fix them.

Download file:

111003 ib-speculation-vs-food-security-en.pdf

Ten years of gains for Afghan women under threat

October 2, 2011

The improvements for Afghan women’s rights gained over the last decade are at risk of slipping away and could be lost in a quick fix bargain for peace, the international aid agency Oxfam warned today.