Bangladesh

Risk of disease outbreak as Bangladesh floods

September 5, 2024

The risk of waterborne disease outbreak is rising as the water and sanitation systems across 11 districts in Bangladesh have been submerged or disrupted by recent floods, said Oxfam today.

Oxfam’s recent needs assessment survey across Fulgazi, Feni Sadar, Senbag, and Kobirhat areas in Feni and Noakhali, the hardest-hit districts, showed that nearly all shelters were submerged and 48% were destroyed. All of the sanitation facilities in the areas studied have been entirely damaged.

Oxfam’s Country Director in Bangladesh Ashish Damle said:

“We are looking at a health ticking bomb. The water and sanitation infrastructure in those districts have almost entirely collapsed. Floods have washed away agricultural and industrial chemicals as well as people’s waste, which have severely contaminated the water, putting millions of people already struggling at a very high risk of waterborne disease outbreak.”

The Bangladesh floods which started last week and are the worst in recent history, have affected around 5.8 million people. With sanitation facilities, infrastructures, homes, and agricultural lands extensively damaged, communities need immediate and sustained support.

Enamul Hoque, Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation Specialist said: “When we visited households in both urban and rural areas of Feni, we saw entire families suffering from acute watery diarrhea and vomiting. We need a large-scale coordinated response to prevent and mitigate an imminent disease outbreak.”

According to the UN, water and sanitation facilities in 10 districts have been severely impacted. Most have been flooded, washed away or damaged, posing major risks to the water quality and health, adding burden onto already struggling health facilities. Nearly 300,000 latrines have also been damaged, according to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE).

Hosne Ara Begum, a 38-year-old Feni district resident, recounted her harrowing experience: “We spent days on the roof, with no food or clean water. The toilets were underwater, and we had no privacy. We had to use a saree (cloth) to cover and defecate on the roof. We’ve been sick, but there’s no other option. This flood has taken everything from us.”

 People urgently need clean drinking water, cash, food, and hygiene kits. In the mid-term, they will also need support to repair their homes, restore water and sanitation infrastructure, and provide agricultural inputs to restart food production. In the long term, sustainable solutions such as building resilient water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and promoting income-generating activities are essential to ensure these vulnerable communities’ recovery and future resilience.

Oxfam in Bangladesh has been on the ground since the floods, providing immediate emergency support, including clean water, dry food, water purifications, and mobile charging stations.

Oxfam is providing the most affected communities with shelter, sanitation facilities, cash, hygiene kits, and food. Together with its partners, Oxfam is also planning long-term rehabilitation of critical water and sanitation networks, as well as supporting people to rebuild their lives.

However, the scale of the disaster demands more substantial resources to address immediate and long-term needs.

Note to the editors:

According to the UN, Bangladesh Water, 520 unions of 77 Upazilas of 10 districts have been severely impacted. Source: UN Situation Report, 30 August 2024

According to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) report, as of 31 August 2024, 295,689 latrines have been damaged.

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz, Rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Bangladesh Floods: Affected Communities Look for Urgent Support

August 26, 2024

The ongoing flash floods in Bangladesh, triggered by relentless heavy rainfall, overflowing rivers, and upstream water releases from India, have devastated 12 districts, leaving millions stranded and in desperate need of aid. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, with nearly 5 million people affected and at least 18 lives lost, the situation is dire.

With roads cut off and communication networks down, Oxfam in Bangladesh is on the ground, delivering urgent life-saving support to the most vulnerable. The organization calls for urgent support as the country battles one of the worst flooding crises in recent memory.

Ashish Damle, Country Director of Oxfam in Bangladesh, expressed deep concern over the scale of the disaster: “This is one of the most severe flooding events Bangladesh has faced in recent years with millions stranded without access to essential resources. We urgently need the global community to stand with us in providing life-saving support to those most affected.”

“On the ground, our colleagues are supporting the people in need. We also call on individuals, organizations, and communities to stand by affected communities,'” he added.

The floodwaters have ravaged homes, destroyed critical infrastructure, and submerged vast agricultural land across districts, including Cumilla, Noakhali, Feni, Chittagong, and Sylhet. Feni district has been particularly hard hit, with residents struggling to survive amid limited access to food, clean water, and medical care.

The disaster has rendered over 2,000 mobile towers inoperative and severed key rail and road connections, severely hampering communication and the coordination of relief efforts. The floods have also displaced around 200,000 people and damaged over 350,000 hectares of crops, threatening food security in the coming months. With 1.1 million people still without electricity, the disruption to communication networks continues to pose significant challenges.

Nazrul Islam, a resident of Feni district, described the reality: “We have lost everything. Our home, which once sheltered us, is now completely submerged under water. We have no food to eat, no clean water to drink, and no place to turn to for help. We are struggling to survive each day, praying for any assistance that can help us make it through this nightmare.”

Along with partners, Oxfam is also responding to the situation, addressing immediate lifesaving needs. In the coming weeks, Oxfam plans to intensify its efforts, addressing critical needs in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), protection, shelter, and livelihood assistance. These include distributing dignity kits, baby food, cooked meals, and sanitation facilities.

Oxfam urgently seeks EUR 3 million to reach 170,000 people to respond to this escalating crisis effectively. Additionally, EUR 5 million ($5.4 million NZD) is required for long-term rehabilitation efforts to support 300,000 people through the restoration of WASH facilities, shelter repairs, and rebuilding of livelihoods and community infrastructure. Oxfam’s priority intervention locations include Feni, Noakhali, Chittagong, the Hill Tracts, and Moulvibazar.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) warns of continued heavy rainfall over the next 72 hours, making the situation precarious. Oxfam is committed to staying with these communities throughout the crisis and recovery phase, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help now more than ever.

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz, Rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Amitabh Behar named Oxfam International’s Executive Director

August 9, 2024

Oxfam International is pleased to announce the appointment of Amitabh Behar as its new Executive Director. Behar is a respected global civil society leader, with three decades of experience and extensive work on human rights, economic inequalities, governance accountability, philanthropy, democracy and social justice. He was selected following a competitive recruitment process.

Behar joined Oxfam in April 2018 as the Chief Executive of Oxfam India. More recently, he served as Oxfam International’s Interim Executive Director.

“Behar is a thoughtful and creative feminist leader, with an in-depth understanding of the causes and complexities of poverty, inequality, discrimination and suffering. We are confident in his ability to convene our confederation, alongside our partners, to deliver our vision for a just and equal world,” said Dr. Aruna Rao, the Chair of the Oxfam International Board of Directors.

Behar said: “I embark on this new chapter acutely aware of the global and interconnected challenges we face in our world today. We require urgent action built on new solidarities, new imaginations, and new dreams to deliver a more equal and sustainable future for all.

“Oxfam carries a rich legacy rooted in working with communities while advocating for systemic change. I am eager to channel our collective energies, boldness, resources, and partnerships in support of peoples’ power for the good of majority of the global population.”

Behar has made valuable contributions to Oxfam’s transformation of its own confederation, decolonizing its decision-making and strengthening its collective structure and policies. He has been widely recognized for his work on people-centric advocacy, governance accountability, social and economic equality, and citizen participation.

Prior to Oxfam, Behar was Executive Director of the National Foundation for India and Co-Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. He has also served as the Vice-Chair of the Board of CIVICUS and the Chair of Navsarjan (Ahmedabad) and President of Yuva in Mumbai. He currently serves on the boards of several other organizations, including the Global Fund for Community Foundation and the Norwegian Human Rights Fund.

Contact: Rachel Schaevitz, rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Bangladesh’s Monsoon: At least five killed in Cox’s Bazar camps

August 10, 2023

At least five people were killed in the Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps today, as the monsoon floods that hit Southern Bangladesh earlier this month caused severe landslides and left a trail of destruction. Oxfam is mounting a response to address the immediate needs of the most affected people.

“Nearly 300,000 people across 60 union parishads in Cox’s Bazar have been impacted and thousands have been displaced. The monsoon floods lent another hard blow to hundreds of thousands of refugees already recovering from the fury and destruction of Cyclone Mocha last May,” said Ashish Damle, Oxfam in Bangladesh Country Director.

Oxfam staff tell how in the Ukhiya camp-09, one mother and her one-year-old daughter were washed away by the landslide. In Bandarban, Chattogram region, 30,000 people were stranded, and hundreds lost their homes due to landslides.

“People most urgently need food, cash and temporary shelters. They also need essential supplies for children, hygiene kits, raincoats and torchlights. Oxfam, together with our partners, are scaling up response to ensure those most affected receive the support they desperately need. But the heavy rains have also impacted essential infrastructure making our operations challenging”, said Damle.

For media inquiries and further information, please contact:

Rachel Schaevitz, Communications Manager, Oxfam Aotearoa

rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Protected: What She Makes – Naughty or Nice?

What She Makes – Resources and news

The latest:

The What She Makes campaign is focused on the long-term need for the payment of a living wage. Clothing brands in New Zealand have a responsibility and the power to pay the women who make their clothes a living wage and make sure they earn enough to live with dignity.

This document outlines how brands in New Zealand can pay a living wage to garment workers in their supplier factories. Learn how we go about rating fashion brands and tracking their progress towards paying a living wage.

This report provides a background on the importance of the second campaign milestone—supplier transparency— and why clothing brands in New Zealand should reveal the details of the factories that make their clothes.

Oxfam and Monash University found that clothing brands’ current purchasing practices exploit the women who make our clothes and keep them trapped in poverty, no matter how hard they work.

This Clean Clothes Campaign research from July 2021 shows that garment workers globally are owed 11.85 billion USD in unpaid income and severance from March 2020 to March 2021.

Oxfam Australia’s report on how little the women in the garment industry make and how poverty wages have a profound effect on their lives.

This Oxfam research interviewed more than 130 factory owners, managers, union leaders and garment workers and found how clothing brands participate in the systemic exploitation of women who make their clothes.

A companion report to “Made in Poverty” by Oxfam in Vietnam

Almost a century after the ILO recognised the need for workers to earn a living wage, the question of whether wages enable workers to meet their needs and those of their families has gained renewed momentum.

Rising economic inequality across Asia is threatening poverty reduction and slowing down the fight against gender inequality.

To end the inequality crisis, we must build an economy for ordinary working people, not the rich and powerful.

This report found that Covid-19 has increased the vulnerability of garment workers in Bangladesh, while legal protections and grievance mechanisms remain limited.

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All images by Fabeha Monir, except where stated otherwise.