Press releases

Oxfam International is participating at the 9th World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil to help tackle the combined effects of the global economic crisis, rising food prices, and the effects of climate change in developing countries.

Europe’s refusal to commit money to help poor people cope with climate change could derail the chances of reaching a fair climate deal in Copenhagen, warned Oxfam International today.

Leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week should seriously consider how the economic crisis can be a catalyst for new models of growth and a new way of doing business.

Europe is trying to shirk its responsibility and pass the burden of dealing with the impacts of climate change onto the world’s poorest countries, Europe’s leading environmental and development groups warned today.

Zimbabwean children and their families are being forced to choose between an education and immediate survival, with cholera adding yet another obstacle to today's scheduled return to school. The disruption could blight the future of millions of children.

Urgent action is needed to prevent hundreds of millions more people slipping into hunger as a result of volatile food prices and increasing energy and water scarcity. Decades of underinvestment in agriculture coupled with the increasing threat of climate change mean the situation could get worse.

International agency Oxfam today (21 January 2009) expressed its fears for the safety of civilians as fresh fighting loomed in Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese and Rwandan armies and CNDP rebel troops are set to disarm another rebel group, the FDLR.

International agency Oxfam called on European Foreign Ministers to insist that Gaza’s borders are completely opened to allow the required massive levels of humanitarian aid needed by 1.5 million people into the area and end the 19 month-long blockade.

Oxfam expressed concern that the unilateral declaration of a ceasefire by Israel from 2am local time on Sunday 18 January would be insufficient to halt civilian deaths and injuries from violent conflict in Gaza or to ensure vital humanitarian aid will reach all who need it.

Zimbabwe has entered its peak hunger period with more than half the population now dependent on food aid. The situation could rapidly worsen as vulnerable households are set to receive smaller food rations this month because of funding shortfalls.