Press releases

Violence in Central African Republic has seen many large traders and herders targeted and chased from the country, raising fears of a market collapse  that would exacerbate the current food crisis.

The huge humanitarian response in the aftermath of November’s super typhoon saved thousands of lives but three months on, the poorest coconut farmers, traders and fisherpeople are being left out of the recovery effort.

Mali is in danger of frittering away the opportunity to tackle corruption and stamp out the abuse of power by officials as democracy returns to the country, two years on from the 2012 coup.

Ahead of the Sahel Appeal to be launched by the United Nations on the 3rd February 2014 in Rome, 11 humanitarian agencies warn that northern Mali is set to face another serious food crisis unless funds are rapidly mobilized.

People living in North and South Kivu, DRC are still facing daily threats, extortion and violence at the hands of armed groups and government forces.

Fifty-five NGOs have been deeply alarmed at the scale of human suffering seen in the country in the past six weeks, and so welcome the recent signing in Addis Ababa of a cessation of hostilities agreement between the Government of South Sudan and the opposition forces.

While yesterday’s ceasefire is a sign of political progress, efforts to support the more than 50,000 South Sudanese refugees in Uganda remain grossly under resourced, and host communities are being pushed to the breaking point.

Progress by G20 Finance Ministers toward tackling the issue of multinational tax avoidance has been welcomed by Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Dr. Helen Szoke, though there is a need for more specifics on how and when low-income countries will benefit.

The World Bank has been forced to backtrack on a controversial investment in Corporación Dinant, a palm oil company implicated in serious human rights abuses in Honduras. The Bank’s private-sector lending arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) today admitted errors and promised to ‘refine’ its action plan and ‘reflect on’ internal problems that led to mistakes.

The Geneva II Conference, which opens today, must deliver real change in the lives of ordinary Syrians. Worldwide development organization Oxfam calls for increased participation of women and civil society organizations in peace process.