aid

Eighteen months of war has pushed Yemen to the brink of catastrophe and left millions of people running out of means of survival, warned Oxfam in a new report published today.

Condemning the attack on an aid convoy in Aleppo, Oxfam said there is the real risk Syria will fall even further into the abyss. 

As the world marks a year since the signing of the Sustainable Development Agenda, Oxfam has outlined a new vision for the role of development aid. This report sets out how more effective aid can support both people and governments.

Increasing aid and making it more effective can help poor people become more politically active in decisions that affect them, while also supporting governments to become more accountable and plot their own path to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

In response to the nationwide ceasefire in Syria, Oxfam hopes it will provide a welcome respite for Syrian civilians who have faced unremitting violence and deliberate deprivation of aid. Russia and the USA must make sure their agreement translates to a real and lasting halt to violence in Syria, said the agency. 

Oxfam is using its in-country aid stocks to provide essential household items and portable toilets to families hit by the Sri Lankan landslides and flood. A team of Oxfam aid workers is assessing the scale of the crisis and how best the agency can provide further help. Initial plans for Oxfam's response are estimated to be in the region of $350,000. 

The international community must plug a $2 billion funding gap for countries hit by El Nino-related drought and storms. These have left a staggering 60 million people around the world facing crop failures and worsening hunger.

World-wide development organization Oxfam will send its first shipment of aid tomorrow to those people most affected from the 7.8 earthquake that struck Ecuador last Saturday.

Development aid has reached an all-time high, but with 900 million people still living in extreme poverty much more needs to be done, says Oxfam.

Oxfam has today suspended all of its operations in the Moria camp, on the Greek island of Lesvos, in response to the deteriorating treatment of migrants due to the recent deal struck between the EU and Turkey. The Greek authorities are transforming reception facilities into detention centers, where people will be held pending their mass return to Turkey.