humanitarian

Cyclone survivors in Bangladesh are now facing a severe risk of disease as the supply of safe drinking water is reaching crisis levels. Cyclone Aila hit the coast of Bangladesh on 25 May, affecting 3.6m people and leaving over 750,000 people homeless.

We're increasing our emergency response in Somalia, providing water, shelter and other aid to thousands fleeing deadly new violence in the country’s capital. War, drought and malnutrition are thrusting Somalia towards even greater catastrophe.

Thousands of lives are at risk in Sri Lanka because aid to refugees is being restricted by a government ban on aid agency vehicles entering the camps, and difficulties in securing access for staff , Oxfam said today.

International agency Oxfam said today that it has had to double its aid effort in Pakistan as the number of displaced goes over 2 million, making the crisis the greatest internal displacement of people in the country’s history.

Traumatized, exhausted and half-starved civilians who have fled Sri Lanka’s conflict zone are being housed in camps without decent water and sanitation facilities and with inadequate food supplies, international aid agency Oxfam said today.

A coalition of 68 aid and human rights groups said the council should make clear to both the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo and the Congolese army that stronger measures to protect civilians are urgently needed during military operations against Rwandan militias.

While Oxfam recognizes that a solution is needed to halt appalling levels of human rights abuses committed by armed rebels, the answer cannot be action that knowingly increases levels of human suffering

As the UN Security Council meets on May 11th to discuss the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Oxfam International urges the Council not to overlook the needs of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and to put humanitarian imperatives first.

Oxfam is now providing emergency relief to over 36,000 civilians who have fled fighting between Sri Lankan troops and LTTE rebels in the past few days, amid fears for thousands more women, men and children trapped behind rebel lines.

Over 3.2 million Somalis are in desperate need of emergency assistance, a 77% increase since January 2008. More than one million people have fled their homes in the last two years.