water

Two rapid assessment teams have arrived in the two small southern Vanuatu islands hit hardest by Cyclone Pam to rapidly assess exactly what survivors of the disaster need.

Vanuatu could face a second emergency with waterborne disease a real risk if the need for clean water, sanitation and hygiene is not met, Oxfam said today. 

Up to 90 per cent of housing in Vanuatu's capital reported to have been seriously damaged by Cyclone Pam, with still no information from the extremely vulnerable outer islands which are home to 33,000 people. 

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and international agency Oxfam today called on donors and others to join forces to support the government’s $60m appeal to upgrade Liberian schools with water and sanitation facilities as thousands of children across the country return to school for the first time in six months. 

Oxfam rapid assessment teams have been deployed to survey the immediate needs of evacuees forced to flee tropical storm Hagupit, to ensure those who have lost their homes don’t lose their health as well.

The Philippines office of international humanitarian organization Oxfam has been activating contingency plans and readying stocks of emergency assistance

Typhoon Hagupit has struck the Philippines, making landfall in Eastern Samar, pummelling the coastal communities with 210km/h winds. Oxfam is ready to dispatch teams to assess and respond to the greatest needs.

Efforts to contain the spread of Ebola through poorly implemented mass quarantine of communities in Sierra Leone are causing unnecessary hardship and are at risk of further spreading the deadly disease warned international agency Oxfam today. 

Mistrust, rumor and myths about the origin and spread of Ebola are allowing the disease to thrive, the aid agency Oxfam is warning.