Press releases

Governments across Europe are planning to divert scarce development aid budgets to cover security and defense costs, anti-poverty campaigners understand.

Voters in Central African Republic will this Sunday vote in a new president whose first task must be to end the violence which continues to devastate the country, and to provide better protection for its exhausted population. 

In response to the publication of the UN Secretary General's report ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, Oxfam deems the focus on political solutions correct as the humanitarian system is overwhelmed.  

Zimbabwe has declared a 'state of disaster' regarding drought in the country that has been triggered by El Nino. With one in five Zimbabweans facing food struggles, Oxfam says this could shock the international community into action.

Oxfam and more than 30 non-governmental organizations have welcomed the ambition demonstrated at the ‘Supporting Syria And the Region' donor conference in London to increase the scale and scope of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, but said that overall pledges for 2016 fell more than $3 billion short of what was urgently needed.

In response to billions of dollars being pledged by governments today to help Syrians engulfed in the country's conflict, Andy Baker, Regional Program Manager for Oxfam's Syria crisis response said: "The London conference is a potential turning point. But while money for aid is vital, it will not solve the crisis."

Rich countries meeting in London this week must commit to real changes that will improve the lives of millions of Syrians. The aid funding and resettlement places offered so far have often been so low as to be little more than token gestures. Syrians in need are waiting for actions not just kind words and promises.

Six months after the International Conference on Ebola Recovery in New York, at least $1.9 billion worth of promised funds have not been delivered and scant information is available about the remaining $3.9 billion.  Global leaders are failing to honor their promises to communities devastated by Ebola in West Africa as $5.8 billion of pledged recovery funds proving almost impossible to track.

The Ethiopian government estimates that 10.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year after more than 12 months of erratic or failed rains have caused the worst drought in Ethiopia since the mid 1980s. Ethiopia is one of a number of countries struggling to cope with the effects of one of the strongest El Niños on record.