Oxfam America in the Kosovo Refugee Camps
1 April 1999
Oxfam America provided emergency relief to the refugees in the Kosovo-Albanian camps and, as they returned home, helped build sources of clean water.
In many of the refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania Oxfam was designated by UNHCR as the lead agency for provision of clean water to the Kosovars. Providing clean water, hygiene supplies, clothing and shelter to the refugees, Oxfam was instrumental in caring for the destitute Kosovo-Albanians in camps.
Oxfam met longer-term needs by pioneering community support programs in the camps. As the refugees return to the homes they fled in Kosovo, Oxfam's humanitarian aid effort is as important as ever. Over three quarters of a million people have fled Kosovo since April, and it will be a long time before many of them are able to return home. Hundreds of thousands of people still within Kosovo were forced to leave their home towns for safer areas of the country.
Basic supplies such as food and water are hard to come by in this time of crisis. The need for clean water is critical. Infectious disease continues to be a very real threat to these people who have already endured so much. As the refugees streamed back home, Oxfam simultaneously transported its relief efforts back into the region and is now building and re-constructing sources of clean water. Teams of Oxfam health experts are working with vulnerable disabled refugees, distributing hygiene kits and creating community support programs. Oxfam is leading and sanitation reconstruction efforts across the region.
In this time of crisis, Oxfam is proud to have worked hand-in-hand with Kosovar refugees, providing relief and sustenance regardless of ethnic origin. With your help we can help more and more refugees.
