aid

Yemenis, already on the tipping point after more than two years of war, are now being forced to choose between treating cholera and putting food on the table, said Oxfam in a new report.

Massive aid effort and cease-fire needed as rainy season approaches.

The number of people with cholera in Yemen is now the largest ever recorded in any country in a single year, Oxfam said today. At over 350,000 suspected cholera cases in just three months since the outbreak started, it is now already the largest number of cases in a year, topping the previous annual record of 340,311 in Haiti in 2011. 

An Oxfam analysis of more than 7,500 EU-funded projects reveals a significant lack of transparency in reporting, casting doubt on the accountability of the EU’s aid. Based on the reported data, only a small portion of the EU’s agricultural development aid complies with the aim of targeting small-scale producers and women.

The agency is calling for a massive aid effort and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers tackle the cholera outbreak.

A growing cholera crisis in Yemen that has already killed more than 120 people with 11,000 suspected cases could deteriorate rapidly unless donor governments immediately send aid they pledged last month to help the struggling country, Oxfam warned today.

High levels of inequality across Africa have prevented much of the benefits of recent growth from reaching the continent’s poorest people. To combat inequality in Africa, political and business leaders have to shape a profoundly different type of economy.

More money is urgently needed to ease the humanitarian suffering in Yemen but aid alone is no substitute for reviving efforts to bring about peace, Oxfam said today as ministers will gather in Geneva tomorrow for a high level pledging event.

The number of people in need as a result of Yemen’s conflict continues to rise, but the international aid response has failed to keep up. Aid alone, however, cannot solve Yemen’s crisis. All sides and their international backers should stop the de-facto blockade and the conflict that are pushing Yemen towards famine.

Aid donors increasingly seek to inject private-sector resources into development by ‘blending’ official development assistance (ODA) with private finance. There is little evidence of the development impact, and projects often do not align with country ownership, transparency and accountability.

This briefing note presents a preview of key findings from Oxfam-commissioned research in Lebanon and Jordan and concludes that for assistance to succeed in its aim of helping both refugees and poor host communities there is a need for increased democratic ownership, transparency and accountability in donor and government aid policies.