News & Media

For the first time in more than a decade, the United Nations reported a sharp increase in hunger around the world. Reacting to the news, Oxfam International’s executive director Winnie Byanyima said:

“This is a disgraceful failure of our international leaders and institutions. The ground we’ve painstakingly gained throughout the years can easily be lost; today is proof of that. This is the ugly truth of inequality: hundreds of millions going hungry, while a handful of multi-billionaires gorge more wealth than all combined.”

The UN report largely attributes the increase on “the proliferation of violent conflicts and climate-related shocks,” and points to the role they played in the famine in South Sudan, as well as the high risk of famine in Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen.

“Hunger is not about a lack of food; we grow more than enough to feed the world. We must find real, lasting solutions to the root problems. This means pushing for peaceful resolutions to violent conflicts; it means curbing carbon emissions and helping communities adapt to the changing climate now; it means investing in women, who are at higher risk of falling into hunger than men.”

“These are not new ideas. For years, the people we work with—small-scale farmers, community leaders, refugees, and others—warned us that this ‘perfect storm’ of climate change, conflict, hunger, and poverty was brewing. Now that it’s here, let’s deal with it. We must not be the generation that admitted defeat against hunger,” said Byanyima.

Notes to editors: 

The United Nations report says 815 million people were hungry in 2016, 38 million more than the previous year.

The full report can be found here.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Oxfam and its Caribbean partner organisations are helping the most vulnerable people who have lost their homes and livelihoods to recover from the disaster, including ensuring access to clean water and basic sanitation. Irma’s severe flooding and strong winds caused considerable damage to people’s homes, infrastructure and agricultural production.

In Cuba, ten people were reported killed and two million have had to evacuate their homes. Oxfam is still evaluating the extent of the damage on the eastern part of the island, and coordinating our response with partners and Cuban authorities. Large parts of Havana remain flooded and many other towns are without electricity or water.

In the Dominican Republic, Irma left more than 24,000 people displaced, destroyed more than 100 houses, and obliterated over 2,000 hectares of crops. Oxfam is working in the northern coastal provinces of Montecristi and María Trinidad Sanchez, where people’s livelihoods were severely affected. Oxfam is calling on the government to provide humanitarian assistance to the most affected people.

In Haiti, Oxfam will concentrate on hygiene and sanitation work in the Nord-Est and Artibonite departments. Our primary goal is to prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases due to damage to water infrastructure. Oxfam will provide safe water in four villages with handwashing points and chlorine tablets. Oxfam is also coordinating a public health and hygiene campaign with government and aid agencies.

Oxfam New Zealand’s Executive Director, Rachael Le Mesurier, said: “As usual, the hurricane has mostly affected poor people who have precarious housing conditions and insecure livelihoods. They are most vulnerable to climate shocks and do not have the resources to recover. Women particularly bear the brunt of the impact and are central to Oxfam’s efforts of recovery.

“Oxfam calls on governments to tackle the causes behind extreme poverty as part of their national strategies for disaster risk reduction, and invest more in building people’s resilience so they can recover more quickly.”

Donations to Oxfam’s Hurricane Irma appeal can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/irma or by calling 0800 600 700.

The people of eastern Cuba face devastation from Hurricane Irma, the first category 5 hurricane to hit Cuban territory since 1932.

Oxfam is actively engaging with Cuban authorities and local partner organisations to support a possible response, having previously worked together to develop one of the most effective disaster prevention and response systems in the Caribbean.

In the provinces at risk from Irma, ranging from Guantanamo, at the eastern end of the island, to the capital, Havana in the west, families have been guaranteed basic access to food and evacuation centres.

In Baracoa, a city hit by Matthew less than a year ago, there were intense rains and the coastline was eroded by the sea. Impacts on agriculture are significant and are currently being assessed. Las Tunas was hit by strong winds and persistent, intense rains.

Camaguey was also affected – in particular the municipality of Nuevitas. Many banana and plantain plantations were reportedly destroyed. People in Havana experienced flooding, strong winds and loss of power.

According to UN figures, more than 1,130,000 people – 10 per cent of the Cuban population – are seeking refuge in shelters, homes of neighbours and relatives, and even in caves, where officials are taking steps to ensure safety. This figure may increase in the coming hours.

Oxfam has worked in Cuba for the past 25 years and responded to hurricanes Sandy and Matthew in 2012. Oxfam’s ongoing work in this Caribbean nation allows the agency, together with local partners and governments, includes the support of long-term recovery efforts and disaster risk reduction. Oxfam’s main activities on the island are in Eastern Cuba, a region vulnerable to strong hurricanes that is experiencing one of the worst droughts in the last 115 years.

Oxfam is on the ground preparing to respond. Donations to Oxfam’s Hurricane Irma appeal can be made online or by calling 0800 600 700.

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Notes to Editors:

• Oxfam’s country director in Cuba, Jerome Faure, is available for interviews
• Oxfam has been able to maximise its support to the affected communities thanks to the support of organizations such as the Cuban Civil Defence, the Red Cross, the Federation of Cuban Women and local governments. Several donors have also assisted in this effort: European cooperation and countries such as Switzerland, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain.
• In terms of material damage, hurricanes Sandy (2012) and Matthew (2016) are considered – after Ike (2008) – the most devastating cyclones of the last 11 years in Cuba.
• Since the passage of hurricanes Sandy and Matthew, Oxfam’s humanitarian response in Cuba has allowed more than 5,000 people to benefit from totally and partially rehabilitated roofs with a management and risk reduction approach. More than 8000 basic kits (hygiene, cooking) and more than 7,000 water tanks have been distributed.
• Oxfam in Cuba has also contributed to the civil defence system by installing 31 risk management and reduction centres and 97 early warning points. Additionally, the organisation has contributed to five seismological stations, nine agro-meteorological stations and nine accelerographs within the system of early warning.

Hurricane Irma caused widespread damage overnight. Oxfam teams will immediately assess the needs of the most vulnerable people in the heaviest-hit areas, mainly in the north of both countries.

Overnight, Oxfam’s Tania Escamilla – who weathered the storm in Haiti’s second city, Cap Haitien – said, “We believe the worst of the hurricane has passed, and people here hope to have fortunately escaped the worst.”

Thousands of houses have been damaged in the Dominican Republic and people displaced. In Haiti, Oxfam teams reported heavy rain and flooding in Ouanaminthe district and in Fort Liberte city at the Dominican Republic border, and a broken bridge at the Massacre River linking the two countries.

“Our main concern remains how much damage Irma’s rains and flooding caused to sanitation and water infrastructure,” Escamilla said. “We’ve heard that flooding up to a metre high in poor neighborhoods here in Haiti.”

“Many people didn’t evacuate their homes here, so there is still a risk from the rain. We are seeing a lot of trash and waste out in the flooded streets in Cap Haitien which is exactly the type of condition that heightens the risk of cholera and other diseases.”

Oxfam teams in Cap Haitien, Ouanaminthe and Gonaive, in the northern part of the country, have the necessary stock for cholera prevention.

Irma is moving north and will severely impact Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. Oxfam is continuing to monitor the progress of Hurricane Jose following behind, which threatens more damage including to islands already wrecked by Irma. A third hurricane – Katia – is forming to threaten Veracruz in Mexico. Oxfam is prepared to assess and respond with essential supplies.

Latin America and the Caribbean are highly vulnerable to multiple recurrent hazards, aggravated by climate change, and where people are more vulnerable because of poverty and inequality.

Oxfam is on the ground preparing to respond. Donations to Oxfam’s Hurricane Irma appeal can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/irma or by calling 0800 600 700.

The strongest storm ever recorded in the Atlantic has caused widespread damage in the already vulnerable islands of the Caribbean, with as many as three million people expected to be affected by the disaster in Haiti alone.

Oxfam staff on the ground in Haiti have reported damage to water and sanitation facilities across the country, increasing the risk of the spread of diseases like cholera.

The Haitian government has prepared 793 temporary shelters across seven departments and, together with Oxfam and other agencies, is trying to move as many people as possible away from the coast.

Oxfam’s team is assisting with the evacuation in Cap Haitien – Haiti’s second largest city, with a population of 280,000 – as people in coastal areas flee inland to schools and public buildings in preparation for the worst of Hurricane Irma today and tomorrow.

Oxfam spokesperson Tania Escamilla said although the mood was calm, the potential for destruction was concerning with so many people still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Matthew.

“I get the sense that people here are used to hurricanes and no one seems frantically scared, but I’ve heard from many that some areas of the country haven’t even fully recovered from Hurricane Matthew last year – and now they’re facing this,” Escamilla said.

“We fear that half-a-million people could be affected even in the best-case scenario – or as many as 3 million in the worst”.

The Oxfam team in Cap Haitien is already preparing to mount emergency repairs to water and sanitation facilities, under the DINEPA division of the Ministry of Public Works. “My engineering and humanitarian colleagues tell me that although cholera cases are considered low and ‘under control’, the disease remains their biggest concern should the storm wreck infrastructure,” she said.

Escamilla said Cap Haitien has a combination of well-established houses with slums in some areas including in the coast. “The damage that could likely happen from the winds and storm surge would be devastating for a large part of this city and surrounding towns.”

“While many are moving, there are quite a few people however who have decided not to evacuate but to stay put instead, fearing to lose their belongings and home,” she said last night.

Oxfam New Zealand humanitarian manager Clive Phillips said Haiti’s geography and environment – and poverty – made people extremely vulnerable to further devastation from flooding and landslides. “This is a region that is very susceptible to disasters like this, but the scale of Irma cannot be understated. Alongside the high levels of poverty in the country, the potential for catastrophe in this already vulnerable region is high.

“Oxfam will be keeping a close eye on the situation and we are ready to respond with emergency aid immediately after the storm passes.”

In Haiti, Oxfam has moved emergency aid into five locations across the country, three of which are in northern areas that will be the most exposed to the hurricane’s impact. Already four teams, made up of five or more specialists in emergencies, have been mobilised in Cap-Haitien, Ouanaminthe, Anse-Rouge and Gonaives. Oxfam also has nine cholera response teams now prepared to deploy.

Oxfam teams in Dominican Republic and Cuba are also preparing to respond. Oxfam has worked in the Caribbean region for over 30 years and has expert teams in providing safe water and carrying out sanitation and hygiene work for those people most vulnerable after an emergency strikes.

Donations to Oxfam’s Hurricane Irma appeal can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/irma or by calling 0800 600 700.