natural disasters

Areas hit by Cyclone Idai are “like a war zone” says Oxfam. The destruction and suffering are still not fully mapped. Despite initial appeals, international aid effort are still grossly underfunded, and aid agencies are already stretched and running out of resources.

With the United Nations’ climate conference drawing to a close, it’s clear there’s been very little progress on how to help people affected by climate change, despite record-breaking hurricanes and catastrophic floods dominating headlines this year.

Oxfam country teams and partner organizations in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba are now preparing to respond to probable damage from the impact of Hurricane Irma, to help people who are likely to be hardest-hit there.

This briefing argues that the recovery effort is an opportunity to create much needed improved conditions for single women in Nepal. It provides practical suggestions for better disaster preparedness and enabling single women to be more resilient.

From Syria to South Sudan, the lives of more than 125 million people around the world have been devastated by conflict or disaster. It is time for the international community to change how it provides humanitarian aid to these vulnerable populations.

Oxfam water and hygiene expert Carlos Calderon has landed in Fiji, where Oxfam is gearing up its aid efforts following the complete destruction left by Cyclone Winston. 

The Fijian Government is still trying to contact areas that haven’t been heard from since being struck by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston on the weekend. Oxfam in the Pacific Regional Director Raijeli Nicole said communication blackspots were making it very hard to assess damage and determine the scale of the response required.

As the scale of devastation wrought by Cyclone Winston in Fiji becomes apparent today, Oxfam is preparing to deploy staff to assist if needed.

Women in Nepal are living in fear of abuse because of the lack of privacy and security afforded by temporary shelters, Oxfam said today.

On 12 January 2010, a massive earthquake hit Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, killing 220,000 people, injuring 300,000 and severely damaging great swaths of the city. This progress report highlights Oxfam’s work in Haiti in 2014 in water, sanitation and public health; in disaster risk reduction, economic development and reconstruction. It also summarizes the funding and spending for Oxfam’s response to the Haiti earthquake.