News & Media

Oxfam coordinates response to tropical cyclone Harold

April 6, 2020

Oxfam teams in the Pacific are working with partner agencies and governments in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, to plan a response to Tropical Cyclone Harold.

The Category 5 cyclone, made landfall in Santo and Malo islands in Vanuatu’s northern Sanma Province this morning local time and the slow-moving storm is now moving into the Penama and Malampa Provinces. The three provinces have a population of 127,000 people, many of whom are considered high risk as their very livelihoods depend on their food and vegetable gardens.

Heavy rainfall and gale force winds are expected to cause damages to homes, buildings and flooding to low lying areas and river banks.

Oxfam in Vanuatu’s Country Director, Elizabeth Faerua reported that teams are on standby as the country braces for the impact of what is believed to be one of the worse storms since Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2015 devastated the country.

“There are reports of damaging gale force winds, heavy rainfall and flooding in low lying areas of Luganville, the second largest town in Vanuatu, and the power lines and communications lines in the north are currently down,” Mrs Faerua said.

“We are collaborating with our local partners and working with the National Disaster Management Office, Provincial Governments and Area Councils to respond accordingly.”

Oxfam will conduct a remote survey across all the provinces to better assess and identify a suitable response to support income and livelihoods of vulnerable households across Vanuatu.

Since Cyclone Harold’s departure from the Solomon Islands a day ago, the response in that country has been immediate, with local and international organisations responding to Government’s call for assistance.

This has been confirmed by Oxfam in Solomon Islands Country Director, Dolores Devesi, who has said our teams are already working along-side Government and sector committees in coordinating multi-agency assessments and responses.

The Oxfam Pacific team continues to engage at all levels; national and provincial governments, and with the communities, to coordinate thorough assessments on the ground, which will drive our response.

Up to 250 people per single water tap in refugee camps braced for arrival of coronavirus

April 6, 2020

Emergency WASH response to the conflict affected people in Taiz and Ibb Governorates of Yemen. Photo: Hitham Ahmed / Oxfam

Refugees living in camps are sharing one tap between up to 250 people and many have less than 3.5 square meters of living space per person which means it will make it extremely difficult to contain a coronavirus outbreak, Oxfam said today.

The virus could also be catastrophic for people and places hit by conflicts, like Yemen, Syria and South Sudan, who are already struggling with malnutrition, diseases like cholera and a lack of clean water and health facilities.

The standards for refugee camps, agreed by agencies responding to humanitarian crises, were simply not designed to cope with a global pandemic. They state that there should be one tap for no more than 250 people and 3.5 square meters of living space per person.

In some cases, even these minimum requirements are not met. The sprawling Rohingya refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh is severely overcrowded with 40,000 people per square kilometre.

Malnutrition and diseases like dysentery, cholera and typhoid are already a high risk in Cox’s Bazar, undermining the health of these communities. There is also very limited access to basic health services, let alone more specialised care.

In Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which was built for 3000 people but now hosts nearly 20,000 people, there are up to 160 people using the same dirty toilet and over 500 people per one shower. In some parts of the camp, 325 people share one tap and there is no soap. Fifteen to 20 people can be living in a single shipping container, or in tents or makeshift shelters.

Advice from the World Health Organisation states that people should stay a meter away from anyone coughing or sneezing, wash their hands frequently and seek medical help as soon as symptoms become apparent to avoid spreading coronavirus.

Oxfam’s global Coronavirus Response Operations Lead, Marta Valdes Garcia, said: “The death toll around the world is rising rapidly but this will be just the tip of the iceberg if and when the virus spreads to the world’s most vulnerable communities”.

“Camps for people who have been forced to flee their homes are simply not set up to cope with a pandemic like coronavirus. Aid agencies will need to work even harder to prepare for and deal with the arrival of this disease.

“While many nations are understandably focused on containing the spread of the pandemic amongst their own population, it’s crucial they don’t turn their back on millions of the most vulnerable people worldwide. The international community needs to mobilise huge resources behind developing countries to cope if we’re to honour the promise of “no-one is safe until we’re all safe”.

“Millions of people in countries for instance across central, southern and eastern Africa are already suffering chronic and severe food shortages and will be equally hit hard by the disease and any restrictions needed to help deal with it, which are likely to further compromise their food security as well as their jobs and livelihoods,” she said.

Oxfam’s expertise is in water, sanitation, hygiene and public health promotion – vital for any attempts to manage the rate of inevitable infections – and it is working closely with local partner organisations to increase the number of communal taps and water distribution systems, toilets and engaging communities on improved hygiene practices.

Women are usually hardest hit during emergencies and as they carry out most of the care work, are especially vulnerable to exposure to the virus. Oxfam is also concerned about risk of gender-based violence as families are forced to remain in their homes and support centres and networks are closed.

Communities, local organisations, women and refugee-led organisations are already mobilising, and Oxfam is working alongside them to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Oxfam is also building up its work to help people in the poorest countries make a living and feed their families should coronavirus hit.

Beyond refugee camps, many other communities with whom Oxfam works are particularly vulnerable to the disease. In Gaza, where there are already 10 confirmed cases, there are more than 5,000 people per square kilometre and fewer than 70 intensive care beds for a population of two million. In Yemen, only 50 percent of health centres are functioning, and those that are open face severe shortages of medicines, equipment and staff. Around 17 million people – more than half the population – have no access to clean water.

Efforts to respond to humanitarian crises in several locations, like Yemen and Syria, were already underfunded. Now they must compete with each other for the resources to fight the Coronavirus all while the world reels from the economic effects of widespread shut-downs. The UN has called for $2 billion to fund a global coordinated response to coronavirus in vulnerable countries. Oxfam supports the UN call for a global cease-fire in order to help countries in conflict to cope.

Notes

The standards for size and capacity of refugee camps are set out here

Information on camp density in Bangladesh is available from UNHCR here

Oxfam is helping vulnerable communities affected by coronavirus, including:
Working with local partners to help 118,000 Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, and Rakhine state in Myanmar with clean water, soap and hygiene kits, as well as public health awareness information, including using female volunteers to disseminate hygiene and prevention awareness messages to women and girls at their doors. We are also supporting 5,000 vulnerable households in communities around Cox’s Bazar with water and sanitation.
Prompting hygiene awareness and hand washing to 76,000 Syrian refugees in Zaatari camp, Jordan and distributing soap in communities hosting Syrian refugees in Lebanon
Rehabilitating a hospital and its isolation unit that serves a community of 50,000 in Iraq
Planning to build or repair 107 water points for people in Burkina Faso who have fled fighting
Carrying out hygiene awareness training for refugees in the north of Uganda
In Yemen, Oxfam is training volunteers to raise awareness and promote hygiene amongst conflict-affected communities.

Coronavirus pandemic reaches 1 million

April 3, 2020

Wael Algadi (PHP Officer) at hygiene kit distribution in Mahwa Almarkazi Camp, Yemen

In reaction to the coronavirus pandemic reaching 1 million confirmed cases, Oxfam interim Executive Director Chema Vera, said today:

“This is a grim milestone that must spur the international community to take immediate action. We must tackle this pandemic with single-minded determination, and as one. The outpouring of compassion and support towards public servants must now extend across borders and countries must act in global solidarity. A million cases is just the beginning of this mammoth challenge, there is still an opportunity to stop this virus from decimating our most vulnerable communities. If no-one is safe until everyone is safe, then we must act now to make that so.”

“Oxfam is already gearing up its entire humanitarian aid delivery system to help the most marginalised and people living in poverty as they face the rising tide of infections ahead. Despite access restrictions, we are working around the clock with our local partners in more than 60 countries to deliver much needed humanitarian assistance, to try to curb the spread of the virus. For nearly three billion people living in poverty and without enough clean water, jobs and access to basic health care; and for millions, especially women, already facing years of malnutrition, disease and conflict, the coronavirus will be a lethal killer.”

“The international community must act now urgently and fully fund the UN’s humanitarian appeal to enable the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and provide an additional US$160 bn through aid and immediate debt cancellation to help poor countries double their spending on public health.They must also support the UN Secretary Generals call for a global ceasefire to enable humanitarian work to reach the most dangerous places.”

Donate to Oxfam’s emergency appeal here to support the worldwide response to Covid-19.

UN Climate Summit postponed as a result of Coronavirus

April 2, 2020

Responding to the announcement that the UN Climate Summit due to take place in the UK in November, has been postponed until 2021 as a result of the Coronavirus, Chema Vera, Interim Executive Director of Oxfam International said:

“This pause is understandable in light of efforts to stop the pandemic we all now face. But this should not mean pausing our vital efforts to respond to a climate crisis that is already threatening lives and pushing millions of people deeper into hunger and poverty.

“The UK, as host of the summit, can keep global momentum going by working with countries worldwide to commit to bold economic stimulus measures that will reduce carbon emissions as well as accelerate the recovery from coronavirus. Steps taken now to reshape the economy and clean industries of the future cannot wait.

“Governments are right now showing they are ready to cooperate. They should avoid repeating the same mistakes that were made after the 2008 global financial crisis when stimulus packages caused emissions to rebound.”

Health spending in poor countries must double immediately to prevent millions of deaths – Oxfam

March 30, 2020

Oxfam today called for a package of nearly US$160 billion in immediate debt cancellation and aid to fund a Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response, to help prevent millions of deaths as a result of the Coronavirus. The five-point plan would enable poor countries to take action to prevent the spread of the disease and build the capacity of health systems to care for those affected.

The pandemic has caused widespread suffering in rich countries, overwhelming some of the best healthcare systems in the world. But with the disease now spreading to many poor countries where high levels of poverty and inequality risk accelerating the disease, the public health challenges are even greater. Nearly 3 billion people across the developing world do not have access to clean water, millions more do not have access to adequate healthcare and live in crowded slums or refugee camps where social isolation is impossible. As women make up 70 per cent of health workers and carry out most unpaid care work, it will hit them the hardest.

Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director said “In Mali there are three ventilators for one million people. In Zambia, one doctor for 10,000 people. We know from Oxfam’s experience of fighting Ebola that with rapid action, this disease can be stalled and its catastrophic impact stopped. But we must act now and on a scale never seen before.

“Without urgent, ambitious and historic action, we could easily see the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two.”

The Imperial College estimates that in the absence of interventions the Coronavirus could have led to 40 million deaths in the coming year. Oxfam calculates that doubling the health spending of the 85 poorest countries, home to nearly half the world’s population, would cost $159.5 billion dollars. This is less than 10 per cent of the US fiscal stimulus to fight Coronavirus. While some donor institutions have begun to increase funding, the scale is not anywhere near the immense size of the challenge.

Oxfam is working with local partners, ministries of heath and key UN agencies in 65 countries to respond to the crisis and help save lives. In Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh where over 855,000 Rohingya are living in makeshift camps, Oxfam is already scaling up preventive measures like soap distribution and handwashing stations at communal facilities to help 70,000 refugees. In Zaatari camp, Jordan – the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world – Oxfam has already started hygiene and hand washing awareness for 2,000 children and aims to reach 78,000 people with water, hygiene and sanitation. And in Burkina Faso, where 780,000 people are internally displaced (IDP), Oxfam is currently working in some of the largest IDP areas ensuring that both host communities and displaced people have access to safe, clean water. To meet the desperate humanitarian need now emerging, all governments must step up and fully fund the UN Global Humanitarian Response plan.

Oxfam is calling for the G20 and other national governments to tackle the virus head on by agreeing an ambitious Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response. The five-point plan calls for:

Huge investment in prevention. Public health promotion, community engagement, access for humanitarian workers and provision of clean water and sanitation, especially handwashing
10 million new paid and protected health workers. Together with urgent funding and equipment for local responders and humanitarians already on the ground
Healthcare must be free. All fees for health should be removed, and free testing and treatment delivered
Governments must requisition all private facilities. Governments must requisition all healthcare capacity in their countries, ensuring that all facilities, private and public are directed towards fighting this virus and meeting all other essential healthcare needs
Vaccines and treatments must be a global public good. Global agreement must be reached that vaccines and treatments, when ready, will be made rapidly available to everyone who needs it free of charge. The profits of pharmaceutical corporations cannot be put ahead of the future of humanity

Vera added “It’s understandable that national leaders are focused on helping their own citizens, but G20 leaders must also find the space for supporting poor nations too. We can only beat this pandemic if we act in solidarity with every country and for every person. No one is safe until we are all safe.”

Pandemics know no borders. Neither does compassion.

March 20, 2020

Sometimes a week can feel like a very long time. As we watch the global spread of coronavirus and see our country and our world changing daily in front of us, we naturally feel concern, and even fear, for ourselves, our family, friends and beyond.

Everyone is impacted, whether feeling the distance of loved ones far away, anxiety for those in isolation, uncertainty around a job, or disappointment of having a big life event cancelled.

Take heart: while the pandemic knows no borders, neither does our compassion.

As someone who is part of the Oxfam community, I know you care deeply about how disruptive global forces can impact other’s lives. Thank you for how you care and look out for others – your aroha and ability to look beyond yourself is more precious now than ever.

This pandemic highlights how interconnected we are; our own health depends on the health of the person next to us, and the person next to them. And the same connections that make us a global village also mean we can overcome this challenge as a community, cooperating together.

Though we may have to be physically distant, we can practice social togetherness.

Thank you for being together with us. We appreciate your ongoing involvement with Oxfam in this tough time – your support means we can respond to the ever-growing needs. As experts in water, sanitation and hygiene during crises like the current pandemic, we at Oxfam New Zealand are preparing to respond to the compounding impacts of Covid-19 on those in developing countries who are already living in crisis situations.

We’re doing more of what we do best:

working with local community partners to save lives and meet basic human needs in global crises, including to prevent, slow and stop the spread of coronavirus
maintaining our existing overseas work to secure safe water, grow crops and other such needs, that are even more acute in a crisis like this
speaking up for strong, connected communities, with robust public services and governance that leaves no one behind, and that promotes community resilience to better face pandemics and climate destruction.

The challenges ahead are real. Here, in the Pacific, and globally, the impact of the virus will be much worse for people who are poor, not in regular employment or in precarious living environments. Women will be hit hard by this crisis. They make up 70% of the world’s health workers and shoulder the vast burden of unpaid care, which will increase dramatically with caring for sick family members.

Our response to tough realities such as these can strengthen our capacity for connecting across humanity, and demonstrating compassion and kindness.

The good news is that we know we can pull together to get through such crises. Just this week, communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were celebrating the containment of a major Ebola outbreak, working hand-in-hand with humanitarian organisations including Oxfam.

Thank you for your commitment to forging a better world and kinder communities. We will let you know of our work to combat this pandemic as the situation unfolds, and we will keep up our efforts to eradicate injustice in all its forms. Strength and kaha be with you in keeping yourself and your loved ones healthy.

Together we will keep working with courage and compassion in the face of this challenge.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Rachael Le Mesurier,

Executive Director, Oxfam New Zealand