Demonstrations in the northern Peruvian town of Bagua began in late April, when indigenous organizations began protesting over the content of a set of legislative decrees justified by the Peruvian government as part of the United States-Peru Free Trade Agreement (US-Peru FTA). The national police's action to quell the protests resulted in a tragic loss of lives and a large number of wounded police officers and indigenous peoples.
Indigenous federations and many civil society organizations claim the new legislative decrees could have detrimental consequences for the Amazon rainforest and indigenous land rights, and were passed without transparency or genuine consultation with indigenous communities. This is an apparent contradiction to US-Peru FTA commitments as well as a direct violation of ILO Convention 169. This convention, ratified by the Peruvian government in 1993, grants indigenous communities the right to be consulted on issues affecting them.
"Oxfam calls on the Peruvian government and indigenous organizations to end the use of violence," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "By clarifying that concerns raised by indigenous communities do no conflict with Peru's obligations under the US-Peru FTA, the US government can help foster a mutually beneficial resolution."
On June 10, the Peruvian Congress temporarily suspended two of these legislative decrees, numbers 1090 and 1064.
"The Peruvian Congress has taken an important first step by suspending these decrees, but much more needs to be done to bring an end to this conflict. The US government can help by fostering a solution through dialogue, not force," said Offenheiser.
With the most recent tragic events and the possibility of more violence—especially now that the Peruvian government has communicated its intention to clear protesters in other areas of the Amazon—the US government must act quickly to work with Peru to address the concerns about these legislative decrees, and to clarify what relation, if any, these decrees have to compliance with US-Peru FTA.
"We strongly urge the US government to help bring an end to this crisis by supporting a dialogue that includes views of indigenous communities and protects the human rights of these citizens as guaranteed by national and international law," said Offenheiser.
]]>I flew into Mogadishu in a plane full with nine tons of Oxfam aid. We took blankets, mosquito nets, medical supplies, and plastic sheets for families to build temporary shelters. We also took 3,500 buckets: Many of the families who have fled the fighting have lost everything they had, so they can use the buckets to carry clean water and store milk for their children.
At Mogadishu airport, I was met by some of our local Somali partners who quickly unloaded the aid for distribution. We carry out all of our work in the country through partners like them.
People are still fleeing the capital. Every day more buses, vans, and donkey carts carry families out of the city along a road called the Afgooye corridor. In the past few weeks, tens of thousands of people have fled down this road to escape the violence. They are settling in camps nearby, where about 400,000 people have taken refuge in the past two years.
The living conditions in the camps in Afgooye are some of the worst I have ever seen. Families are sheltering in tiny huts, pieced together from plastic bags and sticks. When the rains come, the huts are washed away. Oxfam is about to provide 10,000 new shelters, which will improve the lives of about 70,000 people.
The most urgent need is for shelter, but people also desperately need clean water, food, and medicine. The fighting has had an enormous impact on children's health. One doctor told me that there is so much gunpowder in the air in Mogadishu at the moment that it is making children sick.
When people leave the city and arrive in camps—which are so basic and overcrowded—diseases can quickly spread, and there are few health services. I saw young children lying on the floor of the shelters, too ill to move. Many children are suffering from diarrhea and cholera. Oxfam has helped set up an oral rehydration treatment center where mothers can bring their children for help. Oxfam has also distributed mosquito nets to mothers to help them protect their children from the spread of malaria.
To help address the critical need for water, Oxfam recently expanded its water system—which features large, circular holding tanks—to reach an additional 78,000 people. In total, we now provide water to more than 200,000 people in Afgooye—and we hope to increase the supply in the coming months. Despite these efforts, the need for water remains huge. People line up for hours to get clean water.
But it was the terrible condition of people's shelters that struck me most.
"Our biggest problem is shelter," Halima Abdi, a mother of six children, told me. "If people see this house and the conditions that we live in they will be shocked. It is raining heavily during the nights. Without shelter it is a disaster for us. My children are sick and I'm worried what will happen to them. They don't have enough water or food either.'"
]]>"War, drought, and malnutrition are thrusting Somalia towards even greater catastrophe. Tens of thousands are on the move, hundreds of thousands are displaced, and more than three million are in dire need of aid," said Hassan Noor, Oxfam's humanitarian coordinator for Somalia. Noor just returned from Afgooye, a town several miles south of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
Many of the 70,000 people who have fled Mogadishu in the past few weeks are now sheltering in Afgooye, as part of the approximately 400,000 people made homeless by years of conflict who are now taking refuge in Afgooye. Working through local partners, Oxfam is providing shelter and mosquito nets to recently arrived families, and has expanded its water and sanitation system to aid an additional 84,000 displaced people. Oxfam is now supplying water to over 200,000 people in Afgooye, and plans to increase its efforts further in the coming months. Additionally, the agency's local partner organizations will soon begin providing specialist care and food to 9,500 of the most severely malnourished children and mothers in Mogadishu itself.
"Living conditions in Afgooye are some of the worst I have ever seen," said Noor. "I couldn't see a single shelter fit for human beings, and thousands of people have nothing to sleep under or protect them[selves] from the searing heat and heavy rains. I saw sick children lying on the floor with diarrhea and disease. I saw a young girl who had been shot in the head, fleeing with her family. People told me they expect the situation to get even worse in the next few weeks—more people are going to be killed or forced to flee for their lives, and the humanitarian need here is going to keep rising."
Oxfam warned that if the newly erupted fighting continues, it will become even more difficult for aid agencies to respond to the escalating needs. Somalia is already one of the most dangerous places in the world to deliver humanitarian assistance, with 40 aid workers killed since the beginning of 2008. The agency called on all parties involved with the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, and allow for the safe provision of aid to all who need it.
"Local Somali aid workers, who are working tirelessly to get help to thousands of people, need support from the rest of the world. The recent fighting has made the humanitarian crisis in Somalia even worse, at a time when nearly half the country's population is already in desperate need of aid. Families are struggling to cope with a lack of food and basic services, and the worst drought Somalia has seen in more than a decade," said Noor.
]]>The agency urged the Sri Lankan government to do all it can improve the situation in the camps around Vavuniya, in the north of the country.
Oxfam has rapidly expanded its work in Sri Lanka and is now providing water and sanitation to over 100,000 people and is preparing to assist a further 40,000. Almost 200,000 people have escaped the war zone since January and a further 60,000 are on their way says the UN.
Aid agencies are struggling to play catch-up after a second influx in a month of thousands of displaced people from the conflict zone. Most are exhausted and half-starved after a gruelling three-month siege which cost over 6,000 civilian lives, according to the UN.
David White, Oxfam's acting Country Director, said: "Oxfam is very concerned about conditions in the camps. It's been a race against time to get water and sanitation services up and running, and we're worried that people are not getting enough clean water. There are problems with providing food and shelter to the displaced people.
"Now the end of the fighting has led to a massive influx of new people, and we are worried that the camps will not be able to cope.
"These people are extremely traumatized. Many have lost family in the fighting or become separated as they escaped. They are innocent civilians caught up in this conflict.
"The Sri Lankan government must work with aid agencies and the international community to make sure the camps are of a decent standard so the displaced people get the help they urgently need.
"In the longer term, the government of Sri Lanka must work towards letting the displaced people return home as soon as possible. They must not be allowed to fester in these camps for years, and instead be housed with relatives or friends as soon as possible."
In addition to the camps being brought into line with international standards, Oxfam says independent observers such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or the International Committee for the Red Cross must witness the screening process which separate any remaining Tamil Tiger fighters from civilians.
]]>The agency had previously planned for a £2.2 million (about $3.4 million) program reaching 175,000 people. Now, as the numbers of people needing urgent assistance mounts, Oxfam has boosted its efforts to a £5.3 million (about $8.29 million) program reaching 360,000 people with clean water and sanitation, food and public hygiene information.
"We've been seeing thousands of families continuing to flee their homes, many walking great distances to find food, water, medicine, shelter and other essential items. This is now a massive humanitarian crisis. We have never witnessed such huge numbers of people fleeing conflict inside Pakistan before. With the Pakistani authorities and aid agencies already severely stretched, a further influx could turn this crisis into a catastrophe," said Neva Khan, Oxfam country director in Pakistan.
Yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a $110 million commitment in emergency aid for displaced Pakistani civilians. This is in addition to the nearly $60 million the United States has provided to Pakistan since last August.
"The announcement is critical as we now have a full blown humanitarian crisis on our hands. The international community needs to follow suit and recognize the urgency of the situation in Pakistan. If we do not act fast, this crisis will overwhelm the aid effort already struggling to cope," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America.
Since the fighting started in April, more than 1.5 million people have fled their homes, bringing the total number of those displaced by conflict to over two million since August of last year. While many are housed in official camps, most are staying with host families, with large numbers in temporary shelters such as schools or spontaneous camps. It is estimated that nearly half of those displaced are children.
Conditions in official camps are still extremely difficult with shortages of essential items, including food, water, sanitation facilities, shelter and health care.
Oxfam is concerned about people staying with host families. They are less visible than people in camps but have urgent needs, so special efforts are required to ensure they are not neglected. Conditions in spontaneous camps are very poor. They are scattered across the region and harder to assist, but local people and organizations are generously providing help. Displaced women and girls are especially vulnerable wherever they find themselves.
]]>With some champions in Congress and support from the White House, we're hoping to see domestic legislation that not only fines companies who pollute, but also uses some of these funds to help affected communities build their resilience. If we are successful domestically, we can lay the groundwork for a global deal at the UN Climate Change Conference this December—an agreement that will create a more hospitable climate for us all.
Also in this issue: A force of peace in Peru; Rebuilding in Bangladesh; Oxfam America's new role in Darfur.
]]>"We're seeing a flood of families arriving from the conflict area, carrying whatever possessions they could bring," said Neva Khan, Oxfam country director in Pakistan.
"The provincial authorities and aid agencies are working hard to cope with the huge influx. But with clashes continuing and thousands more families on their way, much more needs to be done—especially to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, such as women and girls.
"The lack of sufficient water and sanitation facilities is causing problems for many people. With the current hot temperatures set to rise and torrential monsoon rains just six weeks away, the risks of illness and disease are rising fast. The Pakistani authorities, donors, and aid agencies need to respond quickly and effectively to prevent further suffering."
Working closely with local partner organizations, Oxfam is providing essential items and services, such as water and sanitation facilities and health information, not only to people in camps but also to those staying in cramped, difficult conditions with host families whose resources are already overstretched.
"Although they are less visible, around three-quarters of displaced people have sought refuge outside camps. We need to ensure that they are not neglected," said Neva Khan.
More than 360,000 people have registered in camps and special centers for displaced people in recent weeks, with another 200,000 estimated to be on their way following renewed fighting between government forces and armed groups in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
This latest exodus comes amid renewed fighting between Pakistani government forces and armed groups and is in addition to more than 550,000 people who have fled their homes since August 2008 to escape previous clashes. Oxfam assisted more than 15,000 women, men, and children who fled their homes in NWFP after battles erupted in the region last year.
Scores of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in recent weeks of clashes and many thousands more have lost their homes and livelihoods.
An estimated 200,000 civilians are thought to be trapped in areas where intense fighting continues. The humanitarian community has no access to these populations. Oxfam calls on all sides in the conflict to take special care to avoid harming non-combatants and to allow humanitarian workers safe access to assist civilians affected by the conflict wherever they are.
Oxfam also calls on the international community to support efforts by the government and aid agencies to provide displaced civilians with emergency relief as well as plans to help them return to their communities to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
Aiming to reach the most vulnerable women, men, and children, Oxfam has been providing humanitarian relief and development in Pakistan for more than 35 years.
]]>According to Oxfam, while 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.
Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in DRC, said:
"Four months ago an offensive against the FDLR set in train a spiral of violence against civilians which has forced 250,000 to flee their homes and caused untold death and suffering that continues to this day. By any yardstick it has been a humanitarian disaster, and one the world has ignored. The UN force's top priority in Congo must be to protect the lives of innocent civilians. The UN needs to be aware of the full implications of continuing to support military action in the present circumstances."
Oxfam said any military action should ensure that risks to civilians are kept to an absolute minimum and, in accordance with international humanitarian law. The agency also called for appropriate sanctions for any violations of international humanitarian law noting that for too long human rights abuses, including by government soldiers, have gone largely unpunished.
The aid agency urged the UN to set out and stand by clear preconditions, based on rigorous observance of international humanitarian law, for MONUC support to any military action by the FARDC. It also called for greater emphasis on non-military efforts to disarm rebel groups, which present less risk to civilians but so far have not been given sufficient priority.
The previous joint offensive against the FDLR in North Kivu, launched in January 2009, has already created immense suffering for thousands of civilians. An estimated 250,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. Villagers have reported that thousands of homes have been burned to the ground in reprisal attacks mainly by the FDLR. Rape and looting by all sides, including government forces, has also been reported. According to recent reports, 100,000 people have already fled their homes in South Kivu, even before the new offensive has started. Aid agencies are planning for the possible displacement of a further 400,000 people in South Kivu.
Oxfam had to expand its programs in North Kivu after the first offensive, bringing life-saving assistance to at least a further 85,000 people, in addition to those that it was helping already. Oxfam has also opened a new rapid response office in Bukavu, South Kivu, to be prepared for possible humanitarian fallout there. The international agency urged all major donor countries to give sufficient attention to the humanitarian crisis, which has been raging since January.
Oxfam is helping to support more than 500,000 people affected by the conflict.
]]>Marcel Stoessel, Head of Oxfam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who just came back from the conflict zone, said: "There is nowhere that is safe in the area I visited. Villagers are being forced to flee, some for the fifth or sixth time, losing family members on the way. Women are being raped and abused. People have been looted of the few possessions they owned, and have had their houses burned to the ground—all of this is happening as we speak, but the world is looking away.
"The stories I heard are heartbreaking. A woman told me how she witnessed a brutal gang rape of a neighbor by three armed men. She thinks the victim must have died afterwards. She ran away with her children, but her husband ran in another direction. She does not know where he is."
At least 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since January. Oxfam is alarmed about the lack of protection of civilians in their home villages, but also about their safety in the towns they fled to, where armed men are also carrying out serious abuses.
There are not enough UN peacekeepers patrolling the areas affected by the new violence, leaving civilians feeling scared and vulnerable. While there are around 17,500 MONUC peacekeepers in the country, the force has very little visible presence in the areas to which people have fled.
"Communities tell us that they would like to see more peacekeepers patrolling the areas on foot, so that they feel safer," said Stoessel.
Oxfam called on MONUC to ensure that its resources are deployed in areas where they can best protect people at risk.
Oxfam this month significantly scaled up its life-saving emergency response by providing clean water, sanitation, and carrying out crucial hygiene promotion activities. Up to 150,000 additional people will benefit from this assistance.
With the military operations against the FDLR now expanding to South Kivu, Oxfam is also concerned for civilians there, with initial reports of thousands of people already fleeing in anticipation of increased violence and attacks. Oxfam has opened a new rapid response office in Bukavu, South Kivu, to be prepared for possible humanitarian fallout.
"What we have seen in North Kivu sets a terrible precedent for what may happen in South Kivu," said Stoessel. "Oxfam calls on all parties to the conflict, including the Government, to respect the life, dignity and property of civilians."
]]>Working closely with Sri Lankan partner organizations, Oxfam is providing primarily clean water, sanitation and public health assistance to families arriving in government-controlled areas, as well as cooked food and other essential relief items. Plans are in place to assist up to 60,000 more.
However, over 50,000 civilians may still remain trapped in a small, heavily crowded rebel-held enclave in northeast Sri Lanka, where humanitarian conditions are now catastrophic. Hundreds have been killed or injured in the past few days. Children are dying of untreated wounds as well as a lack of clean water and unhygienic conditions.
Both sides must pause in their battle to allow trapped civilians to leave safely and for humanitarian workers to reach the sick and wounded, said Oxfam.
"For each day that passes without at least pause in fighting, civilian families are paying with their lives," said Joan Summers, Oxfam Country Director in Sri Lanka.
Oxfam calls on both parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law by permitting safe civilian evacuations and humanitarian access, respecting the lives and neutrality of all non-combatants.
Oxfam urges the Sri Lankan government to fulfill its obligations under national laws and international humanitarian law by ensuring the humanitarian relief effort is increased rapidly and significantly, allowing both national and international aid workers safe and unhindered access to affected families.
Oxfam also urges the international community to help affected civilians by pressing for a humanitarian pause in the fighting by and supporting efforts to provide the 250-300,000 Sri Lankans displaced by the war with both adequate emergency relief and longer term recovery assistance.
Oxfam has been working closely with local partners to provide safe drinking water, sanitation facilities such as latrines and hygiene kits, emergency shelter, and other essential items to thousands of displaced civilians. Our relief activities have been targeting the most vulnerable civilians such as women and children.
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According to UN figures, some 250,000 people in the provinces of North and South Kivu have been displaced since mid-January following a military operation targeting the FDLR rebel group. This is the equivalent to the numbers displaced last autumn when intense fighting broke out, with the newly displaced hidden in far and remote areas, the international aid agency said.
Marcel Stoessel, Head of Oxfam in the Democratic Republic of Congo said:
"The war is far from over for ordinary Congolese. These terrible human tragedies are happening in remote areas far away from television cameras, but this does not make the suffering less real for those concerned.
"Homes and shops are being looted and ransacked, women and girls are being raped, and civilians are being forced to flee, many for the third or fourth time. We are helping them pick up the pieces by increasing our emergency work. It is tragic to see Congo's civilians caught up in this awful violence yet again."
There also have been reports of armed men committing reprisal killings of civilians, blocking off roadways, in some cases burning down houses and chasing people away. In parts of Lubero, where most people are subsistence farmers, civilians can barely access their fields to harvest due to widespread insecurity and looting.
With the operations against the FDLR set to expand to South Kivu, there are mounting concerns for civilians there, several tens of thousands of whom have already been forced from their homes. Although, according to the UN, some 300,000 other people have returned to their homes in parts of the North Kivu, the calm in some areas, such as Rutshuru, has been accompanied by renewed insecurity in others, such as Lubero and Walikale.
Oxfam is developing a flexible response to the new crisis that can provide water, sanitation and life-saving hygiene promotion to dispersed groups of people on the move, as well as larger groups of people sheltering in specific areas. Fighting and insecurity has hampered humanitarian access this year, and a quicker and lighter response is required to reach people during windows of opportunity. Throughout eastern DRC, Oxfam is already assisting half a million people, and as a result of the scale up the agency will reach 650,000 people, despite ongoing security challenges. Teams have been sent to Lubero in North Kivu and Bukavu in South Kivu to plan the scale-up. In Lubero, Oxfam is already providing clean water and basic sanitation to 40,000 people newly displaced by the fresh fighting, especially to combat epidemics.
Stoessel continued:
"All parties to the conflict—including the government armed forces as well as militia groups—have to live up to their responsibility under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to provide humanitarian agencies safe access to the civilians in need."
Oxfam said a lack of peacekeeping resources on the ground was also hampering efforts to protect civilians.
The Head of Oxfam International's New York office, Nicole Widdersheim, said, "More than four months after the UN Security Council approved 3,000 additional peacekeepers, not one extra soldier has arrived. Until the reinforcements come, MONUC needs to ensure that the troops on the ground are doing all in their power to protect people. Civilians need more foot patrols in towns and along the main roads in order to be kept as safe as possible."
With the UN Security Council set to discuss the MONUC peacekeeping force on Thursday this week, Oxfam is urging world leaders to mark the occasion by rapidly providing the extra troops needed. It also called on them to ensure that existing resources are deployed to the most insecure locations, so as to more effectively protect civilians.
]]>Oxfam called upon world leaders, meeting in the Netherlands today, to provide more money immediately for humanitarian relief, to radically overhaul the way they give aid to the country, and to prioritize the protection of civilians. The humanitarian emergency appeal launched last year is still less than 50 percent funded.
The health of over a million young children and half a million women is at serious risk due to malnutrition but a humanitarian rescue package is only 42 percent funded, with key sectors such as health and education less than 2 percent funded.
The agency also asked the international community to follow long-term strategies, which put the needs and wellbeing of Afghan civilians first.
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, said: "Today ministers will spend hours debating security and counter-terrorism, but the conflict is only part of the problem. The living conditions of many Afghans are deteriorating.
"Stability and prosperity will only occur if there are immediate efforts to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans. So far, the results have been inadequate.
"The response to the ongoing humanitarian situation has been slow, fragmented and insufficient. Aid has been ineffective, with too much money spent on foreign contractors or on projects that don't benefit the most vulnerable Afghans.
"If this international conference is to avert a crisis and create a workable solution, it must start by putting the future of the Afghans at the center of its agenda."
More money must go to agriculture and rural development to deal with the long-term causes of the current food crisis. For example, in Daikundi province, where half-a-million people are dependent on agriculture, the Afghan Department of Agriculture in 2007 had a budget of only $2,400 to improve farming in the area.
Offenheiser said: "Most Afghans depend on agriculture to feed their families or to make a living, but only a tiny fraction of international aid supports farming. More aid to agriculture will make Afghanistan less vulnerable to future food shortages and provide real alternatives to opium poppy cultivation."
There should also be a national strategy for ground-level peace-building and conflict resolution to make daily life safer for Afghans, Oxfam said. Peace processes must be developed at all levels, from the local and national right through to the regional.
]]>Oxfam America is joining other groups in Peru in calling for a complete investigation of these events, and for the individuals responsible for these crimes to be brought to justice.
"We are requesting that the Public Ministry [public prosecutor] and the police carry out an investigation," said Javier Aroca, coordinator of Oxfam International's extractive industries program. "It is essential that these accusations be investigated and that those responsible are punished to ensure that the laws of our country are enforced and that the fundamental rights of our citizens are protected. In the future, we must be able to attain peaceful solutions to social conflicts."
In January 2009 the National Human Rights Coordinator released a report alleging that 28 community members, who were concerned that mining exploration was being carried out on community farm land without their permission, were kidnapped and detained for three days. They had been marching to the mine site, where the Majaz Mining company (now known as Rio Blanco Copper) was exploring for copper deposits. The community members came from Segunda y Cajas and Yanta in Piura, and Jaén, and San Ignacio in the neighboring department of Cajamarca. According to the report, the march was peaceful—no participants carried any weapons apart from the machetes and whips customarily used when traveling by foot in the rough Huancabamba mountains. According to local leaders, they intended to go and speak with the representatives of the mining company, since other attempts to discuss their concerns had failed.
According to the report published by the National Human Rights Coordinator and FEDAPAZ, the community delegation of approximately 400 people was camped out the night before their planned arrival at the mine site when they were attacked by helicopters shooting tear gas. Soon after, police entered their camp and burned their equipment, food, and medicine. The next day the group was attacked again when it arrived at the Majaz mining camp, one person was killed, 40 were injured, and 28 were kidnapped and detained inside the mining camp. The National Human Rights Coordinator report says the detained individuals were subjected to "diverse forms of physical and psychological torture. As well as being savagely beaten…they were kept hooded, sprayed with tear gas and blindfolded, with no warm clothes in spite of the low temperatures." They were released after three days.
The kidnapped community members made formal legal complaints, but the public prosecutor in the region did not conduct an investigation. Instead, the government accused these individuals of terrorism, and they have been under police investigation. In June of 2008 the Human Rights Coordinator and FEDAPAZ filed a legal case in Piura against the police officers and employees of the security firm Forza who were working for the mine company. The suit also included the public prosecutor and medical examiner, who are alleged to have been aware of the kidnapping and torture, and failed to take proper legal action against the perpetrators.
In January of 2009 the national Human Rights Coordinator received photos taken during the three days in 2005 when the community members were detained at the mine site. The organization says the photographs, submitted anonymously, clearly verify the accounts of the detained individuals and have shocked many in the country.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Justice have issued statements urging a thorough investigation of the incidents in 2005. However the police still have not identified any of the officers involved.
"People living in a democracy should not be kidnapped, tortured, and persecuted just for expressing their opinion and raising their concerns," says Oxfam's Javier Aroca. "We need our institutions to create avenues for dialogue so we can avoid conflict and ensure our laws are respected."
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