Press releases

Hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees will face a humanitarian emergency this year, unless urgent steps are taken to deal with a serious public health crisis unfolding in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, international agency Oxfam warned in a new report issued today.

Europe is turning its back on poor countries just when they need help most. At a crucial time just ahead of the G20 Summit in London, the EU is empty-handed and in no fit state to lead the world on the two biggest issues we face today – the economic and climate crisis.

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is on a high-level European lobbying tour to highlight the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where civilians have experienced an upsurge of violence in recent months.

Civilians in Chad are still facing high levels of banditry and danger as the European force (EUFOR) hands over to a UN force later this week (Mar 15). Although the European troops made some civilians feel safer, the underlying security situation has not significantly improved.

The scale of the losses could outweigh the $103bn developing countries receive annually in overseas aid.

New science which predicts a rise in sea levels of one meter or more by the end of the century would spell disaster for the some of the world's poorest people.

Oxfam International's British affiliate - Oxfam GB - is appealing the Sudanese government's decision made on March 4 to revoke its registration to work in the north of the country.

Oxfam GB urged the Government of Sudan to allow it to continue its vital humanitarian efforts, affecting hundreds of thousands of lives.

Europe is putting a global climate deal at risk and threatening the lives of millions of the world’s poorest, said development agency Oxfam International, as Environment Ministers met today to hammer out Europe’s position for a post-2012 global deal.