News & Media

Oxfam responds to urgent needs of people fleeing Myanmar conflict to Bangladesh

September 8, 2017

Oxfam is deeply concerned about the plight of more than 160,000 civilians who have crossed the border into Bangladesh, and countless others caught up in the conflict in Rakhine State, Myanmar resulting in a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Lan Mercado, Oxfam in Asia Regional Director, said:

“Every day, thousands of people are taking the dangerous journey across the border, and due to access restrictions in northern Rakhine, it is unknown how many more are missing or trapped. Women, children, older people and persons with disabilities are among those taking shelter in the two South-Eastern districts of Cox’s Bazaar and the Bandarban.

They are facing extreme difficulties with many living without protection and under open skies. They have little or no access to clean drinking water, food supplies, sanitation facilities, and other basic needs.

A significant number were wounded while crossing the border, are physically and emotionally traumatized, and are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

In Myanmar, humanitarian operations in Rakhine State have been severely disrupted through administrative restrictions, security constraints, and heightened tensions. While ongoing humanitarian operations for displaced people in Central Rakhine are now resuming, humanitarian access for people affected by conflict in northern Rakhine is severely restricted.

In Bangladesh, Oxfam has started to respond to the immediate needs of the people fleeing conflict by working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). We are providing containers for clean drinking water, portable toilets and sanitation facilities, plastic sheets, and other essential Non-Food Items (NFIs).

“Oxfam calls on all authorities to guarantee humanitarian access to all civilians and ensure their protection from ongoing conflict. There is an urgent need to scale up humanitarian assistance for the people. We recognize the efforts of the Bangladesh government in providing access for the people fleeing the conflict in Myanmar and responding to the urgent humanitarians needs. We urge the Bangladesh government to extend free and unimpeded access to all humanitarian agencies willing and able to deliver essential life-saving assistance to Cox’ Bazaar and Bandarban districts,” said Mercado.

In Myanmar, Oxfam is ready to provide life-saving relief to people, and we call on the authorities to guarantee the safety and security of humanitarian workers and for an immediate cessation of violence and conflict. Oxfam also underlines that special attention must be paid to the needs of women and girls. The protection, privacy, health, and hygiene needs of women, girls and nursing mothers must be met and measures must be taken to prevent any form of sexual or gender based violence.

Oxfam ready to respond to Hurricane Irma, tropical storm Jose under watch

September 7, 2017

Oxfam and its partner organisations in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba are preparing to respond to probable damage from the impact of Hurricane Irma, to help people likely to be hardest hit by the massive storm.

The Category 5 hurricane has just made landfall in the Caribbean with winds up to 185 miles per hour, passing over Barbuda and moving towards the north into Hispaniola Island on Thursday. Oxfam teams are also closely monitoring tropical storm Jose which is developing in the southern Caribbean.

In northern Haiti, Oxfam has a team in place in Cap Haitien that is primed to reach the most affected areas immediately after Irma hits. They will determine Oxfam’s initial humanitarian response.

Oxfam country teams in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba have activated their contingency plans and are coordinating likely response efforts with partner organisations and government agencies there.

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. Oxfam responded to last year’s Hurricane Matthew in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba.

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses around the world can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

43 million people affected by South Asia floods: Oxfam responds

August 31, 2017

The UN is reporting that at least 900 people have been killed by ongoing monsoonal flooding and landslides in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and it is now estimated 43 million people have been affected across the region.

While some level of flooding occurs annually in the monsoon season, Oxfam staff in Bangladesh are reporting that two-thirds of the country is under water and in some areas the flooding is the worst since 1988.

In Nepal, one region received a month’s worth of rain in just two days and the flooding it caused later spread downstream into India and Bangladesh, worsening the situation there.

Oxfam New Zealand’s Humanitarian Manager Clive Phillips said the size of the disaster was devastating.

“Especially looking at this from a New Zealand perspective, the number of people killed and affected by the ongoing flooding is hard to comprehend,” Phillips said.

“Almost ten times New Zealand’s entire population has been affected by this disaster across South Asia.

“More support is needed to help organisations like Oxfam assist the millions of people in need across India, Bangladesh and Nepal.”

Oxfam is providing over 186,000 flood-hit people with clean drinking water, food supplies, emergency shelter, hygiene kits, and other essentials. As the crisis continues, we will work to support more people and help them recover.

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses around the world can be made at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

Rural livelihoods project changes lives in Vanuatu

August 24, 2017

One of our rural livelihoods project in Vanuatu, that began in January 2013, was completed in February this year. It was thanks to your continued support that we were able to carry out a project of this length. Long-term projects mean long-term solutions, so thank you for sticking with us and helping us create real change. We hope you enjoy hearing the stories about what you’ve helped us achieve!

From drinking and smoking on his family’s land to farming it and making a living, Frank’s life has completely turned around after taking up an opportunity to study agriculture and carpentry through a Rural Training Centre (RTC) in Vanuatu.

He was forced to drop out of school when his parents could no longer afford the fees, so this training program, tailored for people in his situation, was his only option for further education.

Frank is one of many young people in Vanuatu who have benefitted from the courses that RTCs offer. And it’s thanks to your support!

“The trainings we received were great! I learned about different root crops, cultivation methods, and proper land management techniques. The trainings allowed me to think seriously about making my life better by starting a business.”

Three-quarters of Vanuatu’s population live in remote, rural communities that often lack the essential services found in the cities – like schools, water supplies, and sanitation facilities.

Young people living in these rural areas, like Frank, can miss out on many opportunities and struggle to gain a full education, find a job and support themselves and their families.

The problems and the project

One of the best ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty is to be empowered with the skills and knowledge needed to make a reliable income. That way people can afford the things they need to get by – all on their own terms. In January 2013, Oxfam kicked off a project with a local organisation, the Vanuatu Rural Development and Training Centre Association (VRDTCA), to help them support some RTCs across Vanuatu so more young people can receive training like Frank. The RTCs provide courses on everything from farming, to building, to tourism, so young people can learn skills that will help them get a job or start a business.

There were issues, however, with some of the infrastructure and facilities at the centres that were interrupting training courses and discouraging students to attend.

The buildings at many of the centres weren’t built in a way that could withstand the severe weather that Vanuatu is prone to. During events like cyclones, the buildings either got badly damaged or totally wiped out, which put teachers and students at risk and cancelled training sessions.

The water and sanitation facilities at many of the RTCs were also inadequate and discouraged students – many of whom live at the centres – from attending. Girls, in particular, didn’t attend training during menstruation as they had no way to properly keep themselves clean.

What you, Oxfam, and our local partners achieved

We supported the construction and rehabilitation of four training centres in Pektel, Torgil, Lorakau and Nakiliaena, and we ensured that those we worked on were strong enough to withstand severe weather events like cyclones. This attracts high quality trainers and more students, and means classes are less likely to be disrupted by damage to the buildings. It also means these RTCs can offer safe shelter to surrounding communities during dangerous weather events. (Special thank you to one of our major donors, who fully funded the rehabilitation of the fourth RTC after it was badly damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam in March 2015.)

We supported the improvement of water and sanitation services to improve the students and the surrounding communities’ access to functional, hygienic facilities like toilets, showers and tap stands.

We conducted health and sanitation training for students and the wider community to improve overall health and lower illness rates. The training focused on things like good hand washing, household sanitation, and waste management. At the Torgil RTC, staff and students were very pleased when only two students got sick during an outbreak of diarrhoea – well below numbers in other communities.

“Students and community members are now equipped with the skills and knowledge to incorporate appropriate hygiene in their day-to-day activities… One of the new daily tasks every morning for the students is to clean up their bathroom and shower blocks.” – Willie Ben, who manages the RTC in Torgil.

We facilitated disaster risk reduction training which helped locals understand the safest things they can do before, during and after a severe weather event, and encouraged them to use the training centres as a form of refuge when needed. In many villages, they’re the only building capable of withstanding extreme weather.

All of this work was well accepted and locals willingly participated in all areas of it, which indicates that it aligned with the locals’ needs and priorities.

The spanners in the works

It wouldn’t be a development project if it all went to plan! Our three-year project turned into a four-year project due to a couple of curveballs.

Tropical Cyclone Pam put the project on hold for a few months when it tore through Vanuatu during March 2015, with a devastating impact. Locals who feared that their homes wouldn’t be strong enough to protect them from the storm sheltered in the new, strengthened RTC buildings as the cyclone hit. The disaster risk training was still fresh in the minds of many, which motivated more people to respond efficiently. All of the new buildings Oxfam had helped to build withstood the storm and the locals inside stayed perfectly safe, however, all of the older RTC buildings in those areas were either badly damaged or completely destroyed.

Well-timed exchange rates meant there was money left over at the end of our project, so we were able to do even more than originally planned! At the Pektel training centre, the male students had a newly built dorm with bunk beds, whereas the female students still slept on the floor of a small timber and leaf shack – so it was decided that a female dorm would be constructed with the remaining money.

By the end of the project, this is what we’d achieved at each Training Centre.

Pektel RTC:

Torgil RTC:

Lorakau RTC:

Nakiliaena RTC:

There has since been an increase in enrolments at the Pektel and Torgil RTCs, and more of the students are female than in previous years. A change of management has disrupted courses at the Lorakau RTC, but it is expected to be back on track sometime in the second half of 2017. It’s too early to tell the effects on enrolment that the improvements to the Nakiliaena RTC have made.

“Many young people in my village don’t have much to look forward to and I am glad that I have these businesses to focus on because of that I have high hopes for the future.” – Elvis Nimahunu, who in horticulture and poultry farming training at the RTC in Napil.

Download our booklet of stories of those who have been empowered by rural training opportunities.

This project was 80% funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism (MFAT).

Forced from South Sudan to Uganda: Beatrice’s story

August 22, 2017

Beatrice*, 19, fled the war in South Sudan with her husband and young baby after her mother was raped and killed. She is just one of the one million South Sudanese refugees currently hosted in nearby Uganda. Beatrice lives with her family in Imvepi Refugee Settlement, along with 95,000 other refugees, where she found protection and access to limited food and water. She worries for her child’s and her own future and dreams of going back to school and becoming a tailor one day.

The runaway

“We used to have a good life, but things started going wrong, we started to suffer, because of the war. This is why we moved from South Sudan, but it was a nice country before. There you see they are killing and raping people. They go from home to home and if they find you they will kill you, they slaughter, just like that,” she says. When the different armed groups started to kill her friends and relatives in her village, she ran away with her family to the bush. Unfortunately, her mother did not make it because she never recovered from multiple rape injuries. Only her husband, her baby and she managed to survive the journey.

South Sudanese refugees arriving at Imvepi Refugee Settlement. Photo: Kieran Doherty/Oxfam

“When we reached the border I was just remembering what we had witnessed, what happened to us and to our friends, how we were running, stepping over the dead bodies just to save our lives. We arrived exhausted, with nothing,” she laments.

A new life in the refugee camp

“They brought us to this place in Uganda. Now that we are here, I feel relieved. We came to a country where you see there is no disturbance, you can sleep and we do not have to run in the middle of the night under the sounds of the bullets. There is peace here and our plan is to stay and try to make our life,” she says.

Hot meals being distributed at Imvepi Refugee Settlement, Uganda. Photo: Kieran Doherty/Oxfam

Life in Imvepi is not easy. Food is sometimes scarce and access to water limited. Due to problems with her registration card, Beatrice did not receive her daily portion of food and basic equipment for cooking. “You have to chase where they are sharing. You look for the new people – the refugees- and share with them. My neighbour is helping me as well. If you don’t have you can ask from your neighbour and if you have some you bring back, you pay back,” she explains.

In the camp, each family is allocated a 30 x 30m plot and given emergency shelter materials. Photo: Kieran Doherty/Oxfam

Imvepi Refugee Settlement opened in February 2017 and can host a maximum of 110,000 people. To date, 95,000 people are registered and there are around 1,000 new arrivals every day, which makes the situation for residents more and more complicated.

“There is nothing you can provide, there is no milk. We have not eaten and any water that you get even down at the sewage you just drink to survive, even though it is dirty. After boiling you can drink it but if you don’t do it the dirt still remains,” Beatrice says.

Beatrice* lives in Imvepi Refugee Settlement with her husband and young baby. Photo: Kieran Doherty/Oxfam

“South Sudan is my country, but I do not feel happy if they will take us back. I am not going back, because I lost all my family there. I have nothing to come back to, so I would like to stay in Uganda.”

Uganda is responding to a massive influx of refugees, one of the fastest growing in the world. The country hosts the most refugees of any African nation – 1.2 million – and is the third refugee-hosting nation in the world. There are now 1 million South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, the vast majority of them women and children. They have fled three years of brutal civil war and the severe hunger crisis it has triggered.

You can help

Support our work fighting famine and supporting the most vulnerable in South Sudan, so more families like Beatrice’s don’t have to flee.

Donate today

One million South Sudanese have now fled to Uganda

August 18, 2017

As the announcement of 1 million South Sudanese refugees in Uganda was made today, Lydia Zigomo, the Oxfam Regional Director of the Horn, East and Central Africa, said:

“As long as the senseless, costly and brutal war in South Sudan continues, its people will continue to flee to find protection, food, water and shelter. More than anything they need peace at home. South Sudan’s neighbouring countries and the international community must honour their commitments to get South Sudan’s warring parties back to the negotiating table. Until then, it will not be safe for South Sudanese refugees to return home, forcing them to depend on aid across the border.

“Uganda’s open-door policy to refugees has provided protection for one million South Sudanese. This is the third-largest population of refugees in the world. Yet Uganda is one of the most under-funded host nations. If the international community does not increase support to Uganda’s refugee response it could quickly buckle and fail. Donor governments must urgently release funds critical in supporting refugees with life-saving aid, and long-term support for those who have already fled their country. ”

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses in South Sudan and around the world can be made online here or by calling 0800 600 700.

Notes to editors:

The South Sudan refugee response in Uganda and across the region is severely underfunded. In Uganda, of the UN appeal for $673million this year, only 17 per cent has been received so far. At the recent Refugee Solidarity Summit the Government of Uganda appealed for $2billion to meet the humanitarian and development needs of all refugees in the country. Less than a quarter was pledged towards this with just $431.1million committed.

The vast majority of refugees – 86 per cent – are women and children who need specific support to keep them safe from rape, beatings, torture, hunger and abandonment.

Uganda is also a host country for refugees from DRC, Burundi, and CAR.

There are 1.94 million internally displaced people in South Sudan. 1 in 3 people have been forced from their home since December 2013. Almost 6 million people are in need of emergency aid. Oxfam is working from 10 bases across the country to get food, water and hygiene items to people. We have been working in Panyijar County, which is where many people from the famine-affected areas have fled. Oxfam is providing vouchers for canoes so that people sheltering from the conflict on islands in the swamps can get to the help they need. To help prevent diseases like cholera Oxfam is providing clean water, safe sanitation facilities and essential hygiene items. In South Sudan, Oxfam has provided regular emergency food distributions to over 415,000 people since February.