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Southern Sudan is one of the least-developed regions in the world. Its poverty, combined with limited government and aid agency capacity to respond to emergencies and deliver development, exacerbates the potential for renewed conflict.
The people of southern Sudan have shown extraordinary resilience to emerge from decades of war. If they are to have hope for the future, they urgently need development and protection from violence. Sudan faces many interlocking challenges, but if the international community acts now, they are surmountable.
]]>This enormous aid effort was made possible by the overwhelming and unprecedented level of public generosity. Oxfam raised $294 million to carry out its aid program – 92 percent of this came from public donations.
However, the agency warned that future emergencies might not attract the level of funding needed. Oxfam projects that, in six years, the number of people affected by climatic crises could rise by 54 percent, to 375 million people, threatening to overwhelm the humanitarian aid system. Ongoing conflicts in places such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also need substantial and sustained humanitarian support.
Oxfam worked in seven tsunami hit countries; Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, and Somalia. In the wake of the disaster, which killed 227,000 people and left 1.7 million homeless, Oxfam first concentrated on immediate needs, emergency shelter, water supply, and public health. As the programs grew, work focused on helping people make a living and also on efforts to address some of the obstacles survivors faced such as land rights. There was also a particular emphasis on supporting women, not only with material help but also assisting them have a say in the way their communities organized themselves.
“The tsunami was an awesomely destructive event matched only by a truly monumental expression of public generosity and compassion. This allowed local people, local organizations, governments, and aid agencies to come together in an extraordinary aid effort. The disaster was on such a massive scale that it raised huge challenges to the aid world. The hard work of Oxfam staff and local partners and the sheer fortitude and resilience of the tsunami survivors helped us rise to those difficult challenges. As we close the final part of our response, we are leaving behind people and organizations in better shape. This was possible because, for the first time, we had the resources to stay with communities long enough to help them rebuild their lives and leave a legacy that we can be proud of,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America.
]]>There are places in the world where it is a simple fact of life, but Darfur isn’t one of them. Under the blazing desert sun, the fact of life is thirst, and finding clean water is anything but simple. In a region plagued by conflict and banditry, trekking to a source of water can be dangerous - matched only by the risk of drinking what you find there.
So when Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) and 15 other aid providers were expelled from Darfur in March of 2009, everyone braced for the worst. Without agencies providing engineers to ensure the flow of water to the camps, fuel to run the generators, and public health workers to supply critical materials and information, the risk of disease epidemics was very real.
But in emergencies, it is never wise to underestimate the power of communities.
In North Darfur, the community committees and leaders who had worked closely with Oxfam were able to quickly take charge of the diminishing water supply, supervising and protecting the facilities until outside help arrived.*
And the public health volunteers didn’t miss a beat. “When an epidemic happens...it will not stop,” says one. As stocks of hygiene supplies dwindled, she and others did what they still could do. “We did not stop guiding and working with our people. We never stopped raising awareness about health.”
Meanwhile, Oxfam shifted gears. As OGB exited the region, Oxfam America – one of the few international agencies permitted to remain in Darfur - prepared for a massive scale-up. Soon Oxfam was again supplying water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene programs and materials to more than 235,000 people in the camps of North Darfur and was moving quickly to expand its programs to South Darfur.
The armed conflict has taken its toll on survivors. Faces there are etched with grief, loss, and fear, and the tone of the camps is grave. But on the subject of clean water, sometimes a note of satisfaction or even happiness creeps in.
“The clean water we get is what we want for eating, for drinking, for bathing, for washing, for taking care of our children,” says a resident of Kebkabiya, where an Oxfam partner has taken charge of the water supply. “Because it’s clean water, we don’t have diseases or health problems. Isn’t it good!”
As the crisis in Darfur falls off the headlines yet stretches on with no end in sight, the Oxfam taps convey more than water; they carry a heartfelt message from the outside world: We have not forgotten you.
Donate now to the Sudan Crisis Relief and Rehabilitation Fund.
* In the interim between the exit of Oxfam Great Britain and the launch of the Oxfam America water and sanitation programs, a Sudanese government agency supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was able to step in temporarily to fill some of the needs, such as fuel for generators.
]]>“The water rose above the windows. That was around one or two o’clock in the morning. It rose very quickly. I left my house swimming through the window and we went to the house of a neighbor who has a wide wall. We all climbed onto that wall, even some dogs. There we stayed until five or six o’clock, when the rain began to stop. Then, with the light of day, we all helped each other to get out. By then, the bridge had already collapsed and they had to get us to the other side of the river with a rope, one by one. On the other side, a pick-up truck waited for us, ready to bring us here, to the shelter.”
Mayra’s little house of cement blocks remained intact, but she lost all of her belongings. In the mud and rubbish, she found a picture of her two children, 7 and 8 years old. At the sight of it, Mayra burst in tears. The loss of these irreplaceable things is what most hurts.
“We were the last ones in the neighborhood to get out. But not via the streets. We had to go through the houses of other people. We didn’t know what to do! My brother came and we put my mother in a big bucket to get her out. I walked behind them, hanging on to the ropes they provided us with. And when the car went over the bridge, it came down.”
“Eight months ago, my husband died and I was very lonely. So, I came here (El Achiotal), where my sisters live. But after a while I decided to go back, because my sisters gave me everything and I felt like I had to earn my own living. And after only two weeks of being back in my own village, this happened. I stayed in my house. When the water came up to here (chest high), I climbed into my hammock, which I had tied up as high as I could. But when I saw that the water rose even more, I decided to get out. I reached for a chair. I almost fell! Many had gone to the school, but I decided to go back to my sisters. I thought that maybe the water hadn’t entered there. I left on Sunday morning and when I got here, I saw that they were also evacuating people. It’s pure luck that I found my sisters! And now, where they are, I’ll be. Because I have nowhere to go. I’m all alone, without my husband, without my home, without my house.”
“We had gone to dig up turtle eggs. We were on our way back and we saw the water coming. First a little bit, and then it rose to our knees. We were seven all together, riding our bikes. When the water rose up to our chests, we had to throw our bikes on our shoulders. After one hour we could barely go on, our legs hurt too much! The bike is the only thing that I could save; I left it in a house where almost no water entered. But apart from that, I’ve lost everything, my little shack, the metal sheets, everything is gone. Just a pool of muddy water is left behind.”
“I called 911 and they said ‘Have patience. We’ll get there.’ In the mean time, we climbed onto a beam. The water was already chest high. At five o’clock a brother from the church came and he took one of my boys. I carried the other one. The water was already above their heads. We can’t live here anymore. The mud came above the windows, everything is destroyed. And we have no income. Normally we live from working in the sugar cane fields, but now, the harvest is ruined too.”
]]>While the team was at the mayor’s office, news arrived that two more bodies had been found—one of them, a 5-year old girl--which brought the number of dead to 16. Ten people remain missing.
“Seeing the devastation to the town caused by the enormous boulders, rivers of mud, and rubble that swept through I was surprised—and grateful—that the human cost wasn’t higher,” said one team member.
Living through the disaster was clearly a nightmare—the story of Emerita Rivas, 26, made that clear. The Oxfam team met her that day at the mayor’s office where she had been working for just two months when the disaster struck. Smiling and intelligent, she seemed already to be a crucial part of the local administration. She was meeting delegations, coordinating with the mayor and the secretary, and keeping tabs on where to send humanitarian aid.
Here is her account of the early morning hours of November 8 when the landslide hit:
“It was one in the morning and we heard a noise that sounded like heavy machinery that was getting close to us. But it was the mud and the rocks that were coming. We left quickly to knock on doors so that people would leave. Soon, we also heard the whistles, the sign that everyone had to get out. Ever since the earthquakes in 2001, people have been organized into eight sectors, and every sector has a leader.
“At around two in the morning, police cars and private cars started to arrive in order to bring people to the shelters, but there wasn’t anything there—the mats didn’t come until Monday. Thank God, the area where we live was not affected and we could help out during the emergency. We spent all day Sunday evacuating people. There were many injured people. People had to go up on the roofs or hang onto the walls, and those walls have broken glass in order to prevent robberies.
“Even though our neighborhood wasn’t affected, I am also sleeping in the shelter, because I am still afraid. Many people have suffered nervous breakdowns. One neighborhood and the town center ended up completely destroyed and the authorities have said that it’s not a good idea to rebuild the town.”
]]>Torrential rains the previous weekend triggered the landslide and spread devastation across El Salvador. The disaster has left 184 people dead, and in Verapaz alone, more than 800 people have sought refuge in shelters.
Oxfam has been responding to the disaster by providing hygiene kits, water tanks, stoves, and kitchen utensils. The organization is now helping about 4,200 people and assessing the damage to determine how best to provide support as communities work to recover.
]]>Cars lie twisted and half-buried in the mud.
White-capped waves appear in the torrent of water that sweeps past a gas station.
The scenes from the floods and landslides that struck El Salvador last weekend reflect a storm of almost unbelievable intensity.
“In San Vincente, more than a foot of rain fell in just four hours,” says Carolina Castrillo, regional director for Oxfam America.
These have been the deadliest rains since Central America’s storm of the century—Hurricane Mitch—struck El Salvador in 1998. More than 200 people are dead or missing, more than 2,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, and crops that the rural population depends on for food have been obliterated.
“Where are we going to live, now that we have lost everything?” asked a woman in Verapaz, a town nearly destroyed by a landslide. “Where are we going to plant, what is going to happen to our lives?”
In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, many Salvadoran communities have joined forces with aid providers to reduce the deadly outcomes of violent storms and earthquakes. Over the past four years, Oxfam has supported local organizations to help form and train committees within the villages to operate early warning systems, develop evacuation plans, and administer first aid. This week, more than 70 Oxfam-supported community-protection committees were mobilized to help survivors reach the safety of shelters.
“Although this week’s storm was destructive, the partnership between aid providers and communities has made people less vulnerable than they were eleven years ago,” says Castrillo.
“Hurricanes, earthquakes, and landslides are all hazards in El Salvador, but the risks they pose to communities can be reduced,” she says. “That’s what we’re aiming for."
In the meantime, the needs on the ground are real and urgent, as survivors struggle to recover. Among their countless losses is peace of mind, as they live and relive the disaster. Days after the landslide, a boy from Verapaz describes his gripping fear: “I can’t speak because I feel my heart beating.”
Oxfam has built a warehouse stocked with emergency provisions in a disaster-prone area of El Salvador. In the November flood emergency, we were able to rush food, clean water, shelter materials, mattresses, first aid kits, and other essentials to shelters for displaced people, while making plans to help ensure longer-term food security when people return to their homes.
Donate now to Oxfam’s Global Emergency Response.
]]>In practice, however, US-supported SSR efforts often continue to focus primarily on training and equipping military and police forces, especially in connection with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. This paper looks at the implementation of US-supported SSR programs, and particularly at how they have integrated protection of civilians. The paper identifies current gaps between global standards of good practice—with which US doctrine and principles increasingly conform—on the one hand, and actual US practice in the field on the other. Oxfam believes that protection of civilians must be a cornerstone of US foreign policy, so effective links between SSR and protection must be present in practice as well as in principle. The paper concludes by offering legislative and policy recommendations that can help ensure that US-supported SSR serves as an instrument of protection.
]]>The heavy rains that pummeled El Salvador on November 7 triggered deadly floods and landslides that have buried homes, collapsed bridges, and destroyed crops. By November 9, 130 people had died—many in a single devastating landslide—and more than 13,000 had fled to emergency shelters.
But it could have been worse. Oxfam and our local partners began helping communities prepare for this emergency long before it ever came to pass. Working in areas that are vulnerable to floods, landslides, and other hazards, our partners have helped villages form community-protection committees that they then provided with equipment and trainings in first aid, early-warning systems, shelter management, and evacuation planning. When the downpour began to signal danger, 71 Oxfam-supported community-protection committees swung into action and helped guide their people to safety.
Once in the shelter of schools and community buildings, many felt the impact of another Oxfam preparedness measure: a nearby warehouse stocked with essentials. Events like hurricanes and earthquakes that put communities at risk often damage and destroy the roads and bridges that connect them with outside help. The Oxfam warehouse, which is located in a hazardous region of the country, helped ensure that we could move emergency equipment to the shelters quickly and safely.
So when disaster struck, Oxfam aid reached three shelters in the hard-hit areas of Zacatecoluca, Melara, and Puerto La Libertad within hours of the arrival of displaced families. Industrial kitchen equipment and utensils and tanks of clean water helped ensure that there was food to eat and water to drink, and mattresses provided a measure of comfort.
Oxfam also quickly purchased materials for distribution, so other shelters in Zacatecoluca and San Salvador soon received deliveries of first aid kits, hygiene materials, and food, as well as pickaxes, wheelbarrows, and shovels to facilitate the clean-up effort around shelters.
Meanwhile, teams of staff and partners were fanning out across the affected areas to determine how best to meet the longer-term needs of those who have suffered the loss of homes and the means to make a living.
“Disaster preparedness can save lives and help alleviate suffering and economic losses,” says Oxfam America humanitarian response director Michael Delaney. “We hope our supporters will help us sustain and expand this program so we can continue to help communities and partners plan ahead.”
Read more about Oxfam’s preparedness work in El Salvador.
Donate now to Oxfam’s Global Emergency Response.
]]>In a survey of the area in mid-October, Oxfam staff reported that many families had lost 80 to 100 percent of their harvest this year.
“There’s no food in this community,” Francisca’s aunt Margarita Rosales, 54, says.
Lack of rain in Guatemala has reduced harvests this year, pushing up food prices in stores and creating a crisis in poor communities. The government declared a food emergency in September.
Malnutrition and chronic food shortages are not unusual in Guatemala. Lack of investment in small-scale agriculture has reduced food production over the years, and the country now has the highest rate of malnutrition among children under five in Latin America: nearly 50 percent, according to the World Food Programme. The malnutrition rate for indigenous children is higher; close to 70 percent. The Famine Early Warning System warns that 350,000 families in Guatemala are at risk this year, especially in the south, east, and central regions of Guatemala’s “dry corridor."
Many men will finish their harvest and migrate to coffee- or sugar-cane producing parts of the country to work on large plantations to earn extra money. This year such income will be more crucial than ever, for farmers in Baja Verpaz, in central Guatemala.
“We would like people to have more options than just migration,” says Gloria Gonzalez, who works with the Association of Community Health Services, known by its Spanish initials ASECSA. Oxfam is working with ASECSA and the Training Institute for Sustainable Development (IEPADES) to help farmers in Baja Verapaz survive the coming winter. Oxfam is helping these organizations in the following areas.
Oxfam is committing $269,000 to the project, which will assist nearly one thousand families in Baja Verapaz.
]]>The recommendations, written by a group of national and international non-governmental organizations including Oxfam International, Cooperation Centre for Afghanistan (CCA), and Sanayee Development Organization (SDO), also call for the protection of civilians and securing the rights of women.
Mary Akrami, head of the Afghan Women’s Skills Development Centre (AWSDC), said: “Life expectancy is still only 43 years and in many areas the rate of maternal mortality is the highest in the world. Half of all schools in Afghanistan don’t have buildings. The country needs more health workers, more teachers, and better infrastructure. Afghans are desperate to see improvements in all these areas.”
Grace Ommer, head of Oxfam in Afghanistan, said: “Our recommendations are ambitious, given the increasing violence in Afghanistan. But they are not impossible. Over the last eight years, Afghanistan has made significant progress, enrolling more than six million children in primary school and expanding access to healthcare by 40 percent.”
“Positive change can happen in Afghanistan, but there must be political will in Kabul and long term support from the international community.”
The report suggests ensuring government appointments are made on merit and that human rights and criminal records are thoroughly checked. Access to equitable justice remains limited and despite modest improvements in the Afghan National Police, the force needs more reforms such as better oversight and improvements in pay.
Mirwais Wardak, Program Director for Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU) said: “Afghans overwhelmingly want their government to deliver basic services and maintain law and order. But too much waste and inefficiency and a lack of access to justice has frustrated Afghans and undermined confidence in the government.”
The organizations called for international donors to improve transparency and provide complete information to help the Afghan government track and coordinate foreign aid, which funds around 80 percent of its budget.
Dr. Hamid Saljuqi, Director of Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA), said: “The Afghan government faces immense challenges in making aid money work more effectively. Too often, aid delivery is opaque or distorted by the conflict, rather than being spent according to need. Donors should provide complete information about the aid they give and devote more funds to long-term projects that are aligned with the Afghan National Development Strategy.”
As the Afghan National Security Forces start to take on more military operations, protecting civilians should also be a priority for the new government. There should be more checks and balances to prevent abuses and to investigate abuses when they do occur. An autonomous forensic unit should be set up to address allegations that pro-government forces have killed or injured civilians.
The recommendations highlight the progress made for women since the fall of the Taliban while noting that many of these fragile and limited gains are in serious danger of being reversed. Oxfam said the government should secure the rights of women enshrined in the Afghan constitution. For example, by fully enforcing the Elimination of Violence Against Women act, which criminalizes rape and provides greater protection for female survivors of violence.
"Memo to the President: Key Recommendations to the Next Afghan Government."
]]>“These disasters have left millions of people in need of assistance from groups like Oxfam,” said Michael Delaney, director of humanitarian response.
“This week’s emergencies come at time when we are already responding to many ongoing disasters around the world—including a crippling drought in East Africa, floods in West Africa, and drought in Central America,” Delaney added.
Oxfam America is launching an appeal to support its response to the earthquake in Sumatra, Typhoon Ketsana and for the South Pacific tsunami. With extreme weather in the forecast, Oxfam expects to respond to more destruction in the coming days.
Oxfam is sending an emergency response team to Padang, Indonesia, following the devastating earthquake on the island of Sumatra yesterday. They will join staff from local partner organizations who are distributing Oxfam’s pre-positioned emergency stocks, including 5,000 tarps for shelter.
The Sumatra earthquake came in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana, which swept through the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos earlier in the week, causing severe flooding. An estimated two million homes were inundated with floodwater in Manila, and more than 400,000 people are now homeless.
“According to current forecasts, a super-typhoon is set to strike the Philippines again within the next two days, so for us it’s all hands on deck,” said Delaney.
Right now, Oxfam is helping 25,000 of the worst-affected families in the Philippines by providing clean water and emergency materials like blankets, soaps, cleaning equipment, clothes, and water containers.
Oxfam is also responding to the South Pacific tsunami, which hit the islands of Samoa and Tonga on Tuesday. Waves flattened villages and swept people and cars out to sea. Oxfam has emergency supplies on hand for up to 10,000 people and expects to help coordinate the supply of clean water and sanitation for those affected by the disaster.
“This is a time of great need around the world, and particularly in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Delaney. “Americans have always shown incredible generosity when disasters strike.”
To support Oxfam’s Asia Pacific Emergency Response please donate online or call 1 800 77-OXFAM.
]]>When disaster-affected people have to move into crowded, makeshift camps, conditions can jeopardize public health. Outbreaks of deadly waterborne diseases like cholera can compound the original emergency with a health crisis. Oxfam specializes in providing clean water and sanitation facilities in emergencies, and we are moving quickly to meet these and other needs in the Ketsana-affected areas: along with clean water, we will distribute blankets, water containers, soap, cleaning equipment, clothes, and shelter materials.
Donate now to Oxfam America's Asia Pacific Emergency Relief Fund.
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