Oxfam America

Impact of climate change on response providers and socially vulnerable communities in the US

nhailu — 2011-01-03T17:44:34Z

Disaster mitigation discourse rarely refers to the vulnerability of communities affected by disasters. The planning assumptions driving domestic emergency management are derived from an assessment and understanding of risk (i.e., the likelihood that a particular type of natural disaster may occur and the expected severity of its effects should it occur).

For natural disasters, this assessment of risk is based on detailed modeling and analysis of historical data on the frequency and severity of all manner of disasters. In this report, we examine how homeland security policy could be revised to accommodate climate change impacts on socially vulnerable populations in the Mississippi Delta region and the Gulf Coast, building on the 2009 Oxfam America report, "Exposed: Social vulnerability and climate change in the US Southeast."

Climate change wake-up call

mborum — 2010-10-15T13:59:39Z

Hardest hit: Survival strategies from the frontlines of climate change

ldiolosa — 2011-06-01T01:30:24Z

Hardest hit: Louisiana

mborum — 2010-05-25T18:00:30Z

The new adaptation marketplace

mborum — 2011-06-08T19:58:24Z

Climate change is a growing humanitarian crisis that we cannot ignore. Developing innovative ways to adapt to its impacts is a necessity. Policies that address the impact of global warming on the world’s most vulnerable communities can drive the market toward new innovation and stimulate the US economy.

OXFAMExchange Winter 2009

mborum — 2009-06-19T20:02:22Z

This month, the US will inaugurate its first African-American president—a moment that many of us thought we would not live to see. Had the election gone the other way, we would have inaugurated the nation's first woman vice president. We must learn to suspend disbelief because sometimes the unimaginable is possible. At Oxfam, we face dwindling resources just as people's needs increase. Despite the challenges before us, we believe that solutions are within our collective grasp. To mark this, we open this issue of OXFAMExchange with some very special photos. The photographer deliberately chose to elevate the human aspect of the crisis in Congo. These images are a visual expression of Oxfam's conviction that our greatest resource—our reason for hope—is people. It is the same sort of perverse hope that inspires someone living in a refugee camp amidst great violence to name their newborn child Happiness. So, in these extraordinary times, do not forget these extraordinary people. They deserve an extraordinary commitment.

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OXFAMExchange Fall 2007

mborum — 2009-06-08T16:53:35Z

Lasting solutions take time, and part of our challenge is to help find answers that anticipate future hardships—a broken pump, a refugee crisis—and allow people to prepare for them. Showing up with water or food addresses immediate problems but does nothing to improve things long-term. A water pump that can easily be repaired or a cereal bank that holds grain against future shortages is a different approach to meeting needs. It's an Oxfam approach—one that empowers local people by giving them control. In this issue of Exchange, we present two such success stories alongside two recent major campaign victories: the groundbreaking Starbucks case and a landmark win for indigenous Bolivians. All of these stories fulfill our desire for change and, in reality, all were or were part of long-term efforts.

Open publication