Press releases

Ongoing airstrikes, ground fighting and fuel shortages mean that an additional 3 million Yemenis are now without drinking water – raising the total number of Yemenis without a clean water supply and sanitation to at least 16 million – almost two-thirds of the population.

The influx of 70,000 Burundian refugees to Tanzania is overstretching the capacity of the government of Tanzania and aid agencies to respond, as emergency aid workers struggle to meet the urgent demands of providing clean water, shelter and food to new arrivals.

One month on since the first earthquake hit Nepal, Oxfam is working with mountain guides and porters to deliver life saving aid to the most remote communities before the imminent monsoon hits the country. Mountain guides and porters are assisting Oxfam with its relief delivery in the Gorkha district, one of the worst hit by the earthquake.

Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities have led to cholera among the estimated 40,000 Burundian refugees including in the Tanzanian border town of Kagunga.

The number of refugees arriving in Tanzania has risen exponentially over the past week as people pour over Burundi’s borders, with new arrivals citing fear of violence and intimidation as primary reasons for leaving.

The current five-day humanitarian pause in Yemen will not significantly ease the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict and the six-week-long de facto blockade, Oxfam warned today.

Tens of thousands of people have seen their homes flattened or damaged to such an extent that it is not safe for them to return.

Three trucks carrying tarpaulins, foam sheets, water containers, chlorine tablets and solar lamps have left Gorkhpur and another two have departed Kolkata with water filters and latrine construction materials.

A bottleneck of people and supplies at Nepal’s Kathmandu airport combined with nationwide fuel shortages, blocked roads and difficult terrain is hampering the efforts of aid agencies and emergency services to reach earthquake survivors.