oxfam

Oxfam and partners mounting a humanitarian response to help people affected by cyclone in Malawi and Mozambique

March 13, 2023

More than 80 people including women and children have been killed in Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar, and millions more urgently need clean water, shelter and food following Cyclone Freddy – the longest and strongest tropical storm on record in the Southern hemisphere – which has damaged thousands of homes, roads, and telecommunication infrastructures.

Oxfam and partners are currently assessing the scale of devastation in order to mount a humanitarian response to provide clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as emergency cash and food.

“This is a double tragedy for the people of Malawi and Mozambique as this is happening at the time when the two countries are already battered by a cholera outbreak,” said Dailes Judge, Oxfam in Southern Africa Programme Director.

Among the hardest hit areas are Quelimane district in Zambezia Province in Mozambique, and Blantyre City, Chikwawa, Thyolo, Phalombe and Nsanje districts in Malawi. Collapsing infrastructure particularly in the remotest areas is slowing relief efforts. Oxfam is working in close cooperation with both governments.

Cyclone Freddy made its first landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar on February 21, 2023, and proceeded to hit Mozambique. The climate crisis has made extreme weather including cyclones more severe and prolonged.

“The people that contribute the least drivers of climate change are once again paying the steepest price to climate change, including their own lives”, said Lynn Chiripamberi, Oxfam in Southern Africa Humanitarian Programme Lead.

“A comprehensive humanitarian response is urgently needed to ensure those most impacted get immediate shelter, water and food. Equally important is for rich polluting nations to pay for the climate loss and damage of these countries,” added Judge.

Trailwalker has begun!

March 12, 2023

Oxfam Trailwalker 2023 kicked off early this morning with the first wave of participants stomping through the start line at TSB Stadium at 06:00am. Deputy Major David Bublitz welcomed in the first lot of teams well before the sun rise, and Oxfam’s fundraising director Ange Janse van Rensburg hyped the teams up before sending them on their way.

One team hit the first 16km check point at 07:47am – an incredible 1 hour and 47 minutes after kick off. The ambitious team has chosen to run the Oxfam Trailwalker, rather than walk it.

Over 860 participants are taking place this year, that’s a total of 137 teams with their support crew. Teams will walk 50km in under 18 hours or 100km in under 36 hours to raise funds for Oxfam’s vital work in the Pacific and beyond.

Oxfam reaction to Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai Volcanic Eruption

January 16, 2022

Following the recent eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai and the ensuing tsunami, Carlos Calderόn Oxfam Aotearoa Humanitarian Lead said:

“We share the concern of our Tongan whanau here in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and our heart goes out to all those impacted by this event. We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible.

“With little communication getting through, we cannot be sure how much damage there may be. Our colleagues have reported volcanic ash upon the ground of approximately 1-2 centimetres. Until we know more, our immediate concerns are air and water pollution from volcanic ash.”

Oxfam in the Pacific runs two programmes in Tonga: The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) programme and Food Security and Livelihoods Programme. Oxfam in the Pacific also works with several partners locally, including Tonga National Youth Council, Tonga National Council of Churches (TNCC), Ma’a Fafine mo e Famili Inc. (MFF), Tonga Leitis Association (TLA), Civil Society Forum of Tonga (CSFT).

More to follow.

For more information please contact:

David Bull | +64 274 179 724 | David.bull@oxfam.org.nz

Philippines hit by over half a billion dollars in damages from Typhoon Rai; farming and fishing hardest hit

January 10, 2022

Oxfam staff report people begging for food in towns worst-hit.

The Philippines is struggling to recover from last month’s massive Typhoon Rai that caused losses worth 11.1 billion Php (NZ$317.3m) to agricultural crops and farmland and another 17.5 billion Php (NZ$487.2m) damages to homes, roads, electricity and water lines.

More than 420,000 hectares of land have been lost to storm floods, and as many as 925,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Key staple crops like rice, coconut and sugarcane have been wiped out across some regions of the country. The Philippines’ fisheries industry has lost over three billion’s Php (NZ$85.6m) worth of fishing boats, gear, and stock.

Oxfam Philippines Country Director Lot Felizco said: “Our staff reported finding people begging for scraps of food in Bontoc, Padre Burgos, Tomas Oppus and Malitbog, towns that were worst hit in Southern Leyte.

“As the rest of the world starts a new year with hope, nearly 7 million people – more than the entire population of Denmark – are struggling to come to terms with their homes damaged or destroyed and main incomes gone. Nearly 390,000 farmers and fishing folk have had their crops flattened, fishing boats smashed, or livestock killed or lost. They have been left with nothing.”

Petronilo Bohol, a fisher from Malitbog village, Southern Leyte, who had already been hit by two other storms before Rai said: “We live here because our only livelihood comes from the sea. We pulled out all the boats for safety, but the waves still reached them and reached the roads. Typhoon Rai was bigger and stronger than the two previous ones. It turned our mountains bald.”

Ramon Cabarrubias, a welder from Malitbog village, Southern Leyte, told Oxfam: “[During the storm] we crowded in our bathroom thinking that it was going to be our end. The next day, we came out to nothing. My mechanic tools are gone. Even my boat disappeared”.

Typhoon Rai was the last – and by far the strongest – of fifteen typhoons to have hit The Philippines in 2021.

Extreme weather events like Typhoon Rai are harbinger of worse to come. Scientists have long warned that rising global temperatures, induced by a man-made climate crisis, are causing typhoons to become more intense more frequent.

Oxfam roundly criticised the last COP26 climate talks for showing an “appalling disregard“ of the financial plan needed to compensate countries, like the Philippines, for loss and damage. It has urged rich polluting countries to honour their promises to cut carbon emissions to avoid a catastrophic global temperature rise above 1.5C, and also to stump up funding for mitigation and adaptation – and loss and damage – to poorer countries.

Climate-fueled extreme weather events, compounded by economic fallout from Covid-19 and existing inequalities, have pushed millions of vulnerable people in the Philippines to the brink of hunger and poverty. In 2021, over 26 million people – nearly a quarter of the population – were already living under the poverty line, where families of five earn less than 12,082 Php (NZ$347) a month.

A recent survey in 2021, showed that 2.5 million Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the three months (Jul-Sept 2021).

In the Philippines now – as local people struggle to clean up and recover their homes and livelihoods – urgent humanitarian funding is needed to provide lifesaving food and water, and to help people rebuild their homes, crops and businesses. Oxfam is urgently calling for 4 million Euros (NZ$6.7m) to help support its part of the collective humanitarian response in the country.

Notes:

Figures on loss and damages according to Department of Agriculture – DRRM Operations Centre. As of 3 Jan 2022
Figures on infrastructure loss and damages are according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
According to 2015-2020 data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, around 54.9 million or 64% Filipinos are chronically food insecure (IPC-Chronic level 2 and above). There are 14.5 million in level 3; and 7.1 million in level 4, totaling 21.6 million in IPC3 and above.
Typhoon Rai has already killed more than 400 people, damaged nearly 830,000 houses, displaced over half a million from their homes, and left 6.8 million people in desperate humanitarian need.
Oxfam, together with eight local partners have already reached over 38,000 people in the worst-hit communities in in Southern Leyte, Leyte province, and Siargao islands, with food packs, shelter repair materials, hygiene kits, sleeping kits, water kits, solar lights and solar packs. They also provided pre-disaster financial aid to 2,650 families in Eastern Samar to help them prepare for the typhoon.
Data on hunger by the Social Weather Survey (SWS) reported in the 3rd quarter of 2021. http://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20211206105401
Data on losses in agriculture and fishery sectors are from Philippines Department of Agriculture as of 6 Jan 2022

Typhoon Rai: Hundreds of thousands brace the new year cramped in evacuation centres, some confined in rooms taking up to four families at a time

December 29, 2021

Following Typhoon Rai, hundreds of thousands of families are spending the new year in cramped evacuation centres, some being confined in rooms hosting four families at a time, according to Oxfam.

“Typhoon survivors already spent Christmas in evacuation centres; let’s not keep them there for New Year’s Day too as we are still battling the COVID-19 pandemic”, said Oxfam Pilipinas Country Director Lot Felizco.

“Congested conditions raise major health risks as it is impossible for them to observe physical distancing. The lack of water and sanitation facilities also make frequent hand washing and proper hygiene habits more challenging for typhoon survivors,”” added Felizco.

The government reported that over 370 people have died and 4.5 million Filipinos across 10 regions have been affected and displaced by Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai). Initial monitoring showed that at least 400,000 houses were damaged — 127,000 of which were completely destroyed.

In some areas affected by Typhoon Odette, residents are already staying in makeshift houses built from salvaged materials. “These are not sturdy or safe enough as rainfall continues in many parts of the country,” Felizco said.

Women and children’s safety are particularly at risk as there are no room partitions between families. In some evacuation centres, people are also forced to bathe in open areas due to the continuous low water supply. In some evacuation centres, people are also forced to bathe in open areas due to the continuous low water supply.

Oxfam Philippines calls on donors and the international community to prioritise funding for shelter repair materials on top of food and water for typhoon-hit communities. Providing construction materials to the community will allow typhoon survivors to repair and rebuild their homes, and help, in turn, decongest evacuation centres.

In Siargao, Oxfam and partner United Youth of the Philippines-Women (UnYPhil-Women) have already distributed 200 hygiene kits, 200 sleeping kits, and 200 water kits for the island barangay in San Fernando, Del Carmen town.

Oxfam and its partner “Community Organizers Multiversity” are also currently transporting 500 food packs, 500 hygiene kits, 150 sleeping kits, 300 water containers, 90 boxes of aqua tabs, and 50 shelter kits to island barangays of Caub in Del Carmen; Mabini and Dayahoay in Pilar town.

Moreover, Oxfam Pilipinas has deployed solar packs to support SIKAT and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices of Padre Burgos and Macrohon in Southern Leyte.

Notes

Oxfam Pilipinas is a humanitarian and development organisation that has been addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality in the Philippines in the last 30 years. It is part of an international confederation of organisations present in 90 countries.

While COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is much lower now compared to previous months, other countries are experiencing a surge in new cases due to the Omicron variant.

Oxfam: local officials call for urgent aid in typhoon-hit areas in Visayas

December 22, 2021

Oxfam Pilipinas on Monday echoed local officials in Eastern Visayas calling for immediate assistance for survivors of Super Typhoon Rai (local name: Odette).

Super Typhoon Rai, which is the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, has resulted in the deaths of 208 people as of December 20, according to the Philippine National Police. Most of the deaths come from Central Visayas, followed by Caraga, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas.

The latest report of the Department of Social Welfare and Development showed that 1.8 million people across 9 regions in the Philippines were affected by the super typhoon.

Oxfam Pilipinas staff located in Eastern Visayas said that in Matalom, Leyte, 90% of the infrastructure and properties in the town have been destroyed, affecting 36,000 people. Photos of the community posted by Oxfam showed that residents have resorted to bathing and doing laundry in the river because electricity and water supply have yet to be restored.

In Brgy. Matapay in Hilongos, Leyte, 210 houses were totally damaged while 700 families were affected. Residents of the two mentioned areas are now calling for food, water and shelter kits.

The mayor of Maasin City, Southern Leyte, where 47,030 residents were affected, is also seeking donations of food, water, hygiene kits, sleeping mats, tents and materials to repair houses.

“It is our first time to experience such strong winds brought by the typhoon and it devastated almost all of the households, almost all of the barangays,” Maasin City Mayor Nacional Mercado told Oxfam.

Mercado said their city only had one casualty since most residents evacuated before the typhoon made landfall but 1,677 houses were totally destroyed and 2,182 were partially damaged.

Oxfam Pilipinas’ Resilience Portfolio Manager Leah Payud, who hails from Eastern Visayas, likened the impact of Super Typhoon Rai to that of Super Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda) in 2013, especially since it caused widespread damage to property and agriculture, which in turn affected the lives and livelihood of people. Payud said she was also reminded about how many areas are unable to receive adequate resources.

“Many areas here in Leyte and Southern Leyte are badly hit by the typhoon and need immediate attention. People are struggling to find food, water, and other necessities. People who had cash had to line up for more than three hours to withdraw,” Payud said.

She pointed out that far-flung and remote areas should be prioritized, especially since they are farthest from city centres and sources of relief goods.

Oxfam Pilipinas Lot Felizco said they are hoping that the national government, private sector and non-government organizations can work together to make the relief and recovery process quicker and more efficient.

“Besides the loss of shelter and livelihood due to the typhoon, residents also have to worry about the risks of COVID-19 in evacuation centres. The sooner we disseminate aid such as shelter kits and repair materials, the safer it will be for our kababayans,” Felizco said.

“It is also important to ensure the dignity of typhoon survivors. They should not be made to beg for aid,” she said, pointing out that there are already reports and photos of residents holding up signs on the street, asking for food and aid.

Last week, Oxfam and partner humanitarian groups distributed P4 million to 2,650 families in Eastern Samar as pre-disaster financial aid before Typhoon Odette struck. The anticipatory action was meant to help families prepare food, water, medicine, transportation to evacuation centres and even shelter repair materials in advance.

Notes

Oxfam Pilipinas (Philippines) has been distributing food, water, medical help, livelihood, sanitation facilities and other forms of support to communities affected by conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and other calamities in the Philippines for the past 30 years.