The work of Oxfam’s partners in Japan now includes:
Oxfam America is accepting funds to support these and other efforts.
]]>We are providing funds to organizations in Japan that can assist people who might otherwise have difficulty accessing government aid. Migrant workers and immigrants, for example, who don’t speak Japanese. We’re also funding a partner focused on assisting nursing mothers and their babies. As the disaster response evolves, we'll continue to identify Japanese partners who can address unmet needs on the ground.
The Japanese government is a world leader in humanitarian preparedness and response, and it is carrying out a huge aid effort involving its armed forces, police, firefighters, and local authorities. We’d like to complement that work in whatever ways we can. But our particular expertise involves delivering clean water and sanitation facilities, and in Japan—where there are good water and sewage systems and enough water engineers to repair those that are damaged—it is unlikely that our help will be needed. There are clearly serious obstacles to getting supplies to people in need, but the government is in a better position to handle those difficulties than most outside agencies would be.
Oxfam doesn’t have a role in a nuclear catastrophe. The corporate and government authorities who are responsible for the power plants need to take full responsibility for preventing and responding to radiation releases.
When the earthquake struck, there were systems in place to warn people and protect them from what was coming, but the power of the events that followed went beyond everyone’s imagination.
What really amazes me is that a 9.0-magnitude earthquake has struck a densely populated island country, and people are not even talking about it. Clearly it triggered a tsunami and a nuclear crisis that have had far-reaching effects, but there’s very little mention of direct damage from the earthquake itself. I think that when all is said and done, Japan’s earthquake preparedness—such as its strict building codes—will turn out to have had a very positive effect.
There is no time when poverty, vulnerability, and exclusion become so apparent as at the moment of an emergency. So often, the people who suffer the deepest losses in an event like an earthquake or cyclone are the ones who couldn’t afford to live in a safe house in a safe location. When Oxfam sets out to help a community recover from a disaster, we look for opportunities to help its most vulnerable members make long-term improvements in their social and economic conditions.
When the world is hurting, you want to do something. In this case, Oxfam won’t mount a major humanitarian response, but I’m glad we’re able to offer our solidarity and support to the people of Japan.
]]>All over the world, Oxfam is responding to disasters, rushing clean water and other resources to survivors. But we are carrying out no such effort in Japan. Why?
Unlike many countries around the world, Japan has had both the means and the will to invest seriously in disaster preparedness and response. The government can deliver large amounts of aid as quickly as the conditions on the ground permit, calling for specific outside resources (such as more search-and-rescue teams) as needed. So far, Oxfam’s particular expertise in emergencies—including delivering water and sanitation facilities—has not been required.
But in every humanitarian emergency, there are those who struggle to get access to the help they need. Oxfam Japan is channeling funds to local organizations that aim to fill some of the gaps in aid—providing a hotline for non-Japanese speakers like migrant workers, for example, and assisting nursing mothers. Oxfam America is accepting funds to support their efforts.
“Oxfam is an agency focused on poverty and rights, and we prioritize the needs of women in emergencies,” says Michael Delaney, Oxfam America’s director of humanitarian response. “Thanks to the strong foundations laid by the Japanese people, our role in this emergency will be small, but our hearts go out to everyone affected by the disaster.”
]]>Oxfam staff in Tokyo say that, though they have experienced many earthquakes, they have never seen buildings shake the way they did on Friday. Aftershocks and rolling blackouts are keeping the population weary, while the threat of a nuclear meltdown is looming.
Oxfam has been ready to assist but is not launching a major humanitarian response at this time. We usually focus our resources on communities where governments have been unable—or, in some cases, unwilling—to provide for their people. But the Japanese government has a tremendous capacity for responding in crises, and a clear commitment to using its resources to the fullest.
And—particularly in the midst of a nuclear crisis—we do not want the demands of coordinating the work of outside aid providers to draw on the resources of the government.
Nevertheless, in emergencies there are always communities that fall below the radar and cannot easily access humanitarian relief. Barriers of language or residency status, for example, can have tragic consequences at times like these.
“The Japanese state has the means to reach 99% of the population,” says Oxfam Japan Executive Director Akiko Mera, “but there will always be some who need more specific assistance.”
During the coming weeks, Oxfam Japan will channel resources to local organizations that can connect vulnerable groups with the assistance they need. Oxfam America is accepting funds for those and other efforts.
]]>The first of the schools is scheduled to open this month in the city of Pengzhou. The building is constructed out of strong, lightweight materials, and it's designed to last for ten years or until it can be replaced by a permanent structure. Its outer walls are made of Styrofoam encased in thin steel sheets, and inside are classrooms, offices, and a cafeteria. It is a primary school that will serve 932 students, and it's supplied with desks, blackboards, and other supplies—all purchased as close as possible to the earthquake-affected areas in order to boost the economy of the stricken region.
A central feature of the Pengzhou school is that, like the others to come, it is earthquake resistant.
"It will be able to withstand a quake of up to 7.0 on the Richter scale," says Howard Liu, Director of Oxfam Hong Kong's China Unit.
After a disaster, it's crucial for aid providers to do whatever possible to ensure that the affected communities won't have to relive the terrible episode one or two or ten years down the road.
"We can't prevent earthquakes," says Oxfam risk reduction specialist Jacobo Ocharan, "but we can try to prevent future earthquakes from causing so much suffering."
]]>From the quake's epicenter in Sichuan and out into the rural areas beyond, key needs for people include food, water, medical supplies, and shelter. Oxfam is focusing its work in areas not served by other relief efforts. Providing clean water and sanitation services is a core part of its offerings. Oxfam is also distributing food and shelter materials.
"There is a huge demand for shelters," said Howard Liu, a unit director for Oxfam Hing Kong. "In Maoxian, Oxfam is distributing to survivors plastic sheets which can be used to set up temporary shelters."
But the massive quake and its numerous aftershocks have left much of the region's infrastructure unstable, which in turn is continuing to hamper assistance. Oxfam had planned to deliver relief goods to Qingchuan county but is waiting to see what happens to a reservoir that is now at risk of collapsing. Because of that danger, 9,000 people nearby were evacuated.
An Oxfam assessment team has now reached Xiushui town with a population of 68,000 people. The quake killed 109 of its residents and injured 300 others. The town's buildings were mostly destroyed and huge numbers of people are waiting to be resettled. Food has now reached residents, and Oxfam is giving priority attention to children, women, and elderly people. An assessment team is also gauging the needs of people.
"We are reaching areas not served by other efforts," said John Sayer, the director general for Oxfam Hong Kong. "One such project underway is with a community group in Qingchuan, which has identified that Muslim communities there—about 8,000 people—are in need of Halal food." Halal foods are those permitted to be consumed under Islamic dietary guidelines.
]]>"Having secured an arrangement with government units to provide relief in remote areas, Oxfam's five relief teams are putting all of our resources into helping people stranded in rural areas away from the epicenter," said John Sayer, director general of Oxfam Hong Kong.
Oxfam has now committed more than $3.2 million to an initial effort that has commanded response from around the world as headlines continue to bear bad news: A week after the 7.9 magnitude quake struck, Reuters is reporting that 34,000 have died and 30,000 others remain missing; 4.8 million people have lost their homes; and Sichuan Province alone is facing $9.6 billion in economic losses. Hundreds of aftershocks and heavy rain have brought further devastation, including landslides that have reportedly killed 158 relief workers struggling to repair roads in recent days.
"Oxfam is teaming up with medical and hygiene professionals and working in and around the city of Mianyang to prevent an epidemic from starting," said Sayer. Oxfam is also carrying out disease monitoring, control, and prevention in Guangyuan and Zhenzhong.
The organization is concentrating on securing an adequate supply of drinking water for survivors as well as helping to provide safe sanitation services, and carrying out public health education.
Oxfam's first shipment of goods reached Dujiangyin and Guangyuan on Monday. A second shipment is due to reach Qingchuan on Tuesday.
Among the health-related goods Oxfam is sending into the region are portable toilets, intestinal drugs, first aid materials, face masks, and sanitary supplies for women. It has also provided clothing and high-energy biscuits.
Five villages in Gansu Province will also be getting a delivery of aid that will include tents, flour, oil, blankets, and milk powder. The goods will help meet the needs of 3,000 people in Wudu County.
Oxfam, which has more than 20 years experience working in mainland China, is now working alongside the Civil Affairs Department, the Poverty Alleviation and Development Office, several mainland-based aid groups, medical schools, and a variety of volunteer groups.
Additionally, the organization is preparing to reach remote areas of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.
]]>Oxfam has committed $1.55 million to this initial response. It is also preparing for longer-term projects such as helping to rebuild damaged infrastructure.
Oxfam colleagues based in the neighboring province of Yunnan are now traveling to Wenchuan County in Sichuan, the epicenter of the 7.8-magnitude quake, for assessment and coordination of the relief work. The organization is also planning to provide assistance in Gansu Province where it had been working on development projects prior to the disaster.
Based on our communication with local organizations in the affected areas, our initial assessment is that earthquake survivors need clean water, food, medicine, clothing, and blankets. We also anticipate that there will be a huge need for rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance. Damage to infrastructure and other facilities is significant and Oxfam expects it will take months for the region to recover.
"This is the worst earthquake in 30 years, with a huge impact on people's livelihoods," said John Sayer, director general of Oxfam Hong Kong. "With over 20 years of experience working in China on long-term development work and emergency relief, Oxfam Hong Kong is determined to help as quickly as possible, to guarantee people's safety in the short term, and in the end, as a long-term goal, to improve their livelihoods."
]]>For villagers in Mindanao, once known as the food basket of the Philippines, extreme heat, droughts and flash flooding are now annual occurrences. They used to enjoy three planting seasons a year, generating bountiful crops from their fertile soil. Now, villagers are battling regular pest infestations and unpredictable weather, malnutrition is rising, and some villagers are forced to survive on bananas.
The worst crisis so far was the 1997 El Niño, which lasted for nine months. The temperature soared, plants dried, land cracked, and clean water sources were threatened. People left their villages.
In the village of Sepaka, last year's drought lasted for six months. All the crops failed and some farmers only managed to produce one sack of rice. In a good season, one hectare yields an average of 70 sacks of rice.
This year the farmers face an added crisis: many of the rice fields have turned black and dried up because of an infestation of black rice bugs. Nobody knows where the bugs come from, or why. All the villagers know is that they face food shortages again within the next six months. The people of Sepaka are desperate because they do not have staple foods.
One villager has decided to find a new way to survive in the face of a changing climate. He is Rasid Naim, 28 years old, from a family of farmers of rice and corn. In 2004, Rasid started to volunteer for Oxfam's operational project and received training in organic farming techniques. He applied these techniques to his father's hectare of land and soon found he was making huge savings by mixing his own pesticides and fertilizers instead of buying synthetic ones. He was able to pay his previous debts to traders and buy an additional 1.5 hectares of land, which is now an organic farm too.
At first, Rasid's fellow farmers teased him that his new approaches would not withstand the threats from insects and pests. But they did, and his success in organic farming has convinced 18 more farmers to shift from chemical-dependent to natural and organic practices. His experience proves that his own rice field withstood not only rice farm pests, but also intense flash floods and recurring droughts. Now Rasid is experimenting with an organic pesticide against the deadly black bugs.
It is still early days, but Rasid's work is just one of a myriad of grassroots adaptations to climate change that are already happening across the developing world. Rasid hopes for more support from the government for this kind of project.
"Organic farming frees us from poisonous substance from the chemicals found in the synthetic fertilisers and pesticides," says Rasid. "Our land is more fertile, our bodies are healthier, and we are happier that even the next generation, our children and grandchildren, can benefit from it."
Women's groups have also been created to generate income. One of their activities is making organic soap. They sell it to their neighbors and use their income to buy ingredients needed to make organic fertilizers.
"We need to save mother Earth," says Nor-aisa Iskak, one of the women fundraising to make organic fertilizers and pesticides.
]]>Over a week in August, the river rose and this season's flood threat began. On Aug. 21, the swirling waters leapt over the banks at Thakhek, Mukdahahan, and Pakse in Lao PDR. The water continued to move closer to Cambodia, further downstream.
Last week, Oxfam America partner, Culture-Environment Preservation Association (CEPA), reported the water reaching emergency levels in Kratie province, Cambodia. Water levels were as high as 72 feet in some places. And, at one point, the Mekong was just three feet short of the flood warning level in Phnom Penh.
In Stung Treng province, officials issued flood warnings. About 250 acres of rice fields in Stung Treng were soaked in the flood water for more than a week. Farmers who depend on agriculture now fear losing their crops if the water takes much longer to recede.
Further along the river in Kompong Cham province, officials declared a state of emergency Aug. 20. Emergency workers set up sandbags along the river close to Kompong Cham town. Some families were evacuated to higher ground.
Though Oxfam cannot deter the water, we hope to reduce losses through the Community Based Flood Preparedness Project. Three years ago Oxfam Great Britain, supported with funding from other Oxfam affiliates including Oxfam America, started the Community-Based Flood Preparedness Project in Takéo province.
Villagers were taught how to raise their homesteads by building up the ground above flood level. This way their lives and belongings can be safe at the time of flood and storm.
They received training in first aid and public health education.
And safety was made a top priority. Life jackets, water containers and water filters for safe drinking, family boats, and a shared safe evacuation area for five or six villages are now available.
Since most Cambodians living in the flood-risk provinces are subsistence farmers and fishers who live below the poverty line, those who do not prepare have little capacity to recover. The preparation project helps people live as normal a life as possible during the floods, said Sau Si Samuth, Oxfam humanitarian program officer.
For example, women in Takéo can use the family boats to collect water plants. "At two in the morning they take what they have gathered to the market. They cannot afford to be without this lifeline for one day. Oxfam supports these women to maintain their family boats. Wood is taken to the community where the carpenters fix it. For each tree cut down, new trees are planted," Sau Si Samuth said.
A Village Disaster Management Committee encouraged the communities to be prepared for the coming flood. At the time of flood, the committee again helped their own people prevent any accidents that might occur. Because of the relative success in this province, Oxfam and its partners, Care Cambodia, World Vision and the National Committee for Disaster Management have visited other parts to increase the range of the flood preparedness project in the future.
Oxfam already has an assessment team in place for this approaching flood. They closely track the water level in all the provinces along the Mekong River, and in other flooded areas in Cambodia. A situation report will be drafted to inform the wider Oxfam humanitarian team based in Bangkok and Oxford, other Oxfam affiliates, and donors. The National Commission for Disaster Management and interested NGOs will be consulted on plans to assist the affected communities if the need arises.
Once the rain stops in early October, the people living along the Mekong might sleep easier, without the threat of floods at the back of their minds. But at least now they are better prepared.
]]>Amid cheers from a throng of enthusiastic supporters and international media, Make Trade Fair won the day.
Oxfam's trade campaign was launched.
Within hours of the Hong Kong debut, events were held in 25 cities including Brussels, Dublin, Geneva, Mexico City, San Salvador, and Washington, D.C. These events ranged from press conferences and symposiums to a rock concert in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Oxfam's trade campaign seeks to unite concerned citizens around the world in calling for fair trade policies that will help move millions of people out of poverty.
Nobel Prize Professor Amartya Sen, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and musician and social activist Bono were among those who endorsed the campaign. "Oxfam has got it right," said Bono. "It wouldn't cost much to change the rules of trade so that poor countries can work their way out of poverty. But the world's leaders won't act unless they hear enough people telling them."
Also in this issue of EXCHANGE, writers Frances and Anna Lappé discuss their book Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, and we bring you updates on Oxfam's work with water and sanitation, drought in Ethiopia, and indigenous women in the highlands of Peru who are speaking out after decades of violence.
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