We at Oxfam America express our sorrow and sympathy for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. While the hurricane affected hundreds of thousands of people, those living in deep poverty were hit the hardest. They include many families who are members of our grassroots partner organizations in rural areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Oxfam generally focuses its emergency response on regions where governments and civil society groups have little or no capacity to respond effectively, which is seldom the case in the United States. But, despite all the resources available for relief after Katrina, we’re concerned that some poor communities still may not receive the support they need for long-term recovery of their assets and livelihoods.
We are now assessing the situation to determine where our help is needed most. Coastal flooding may have caused severe damage to farmers’ fields and to fisheries, for example, jeopardizing the livelihoods of the fishing and farming communities where our partners work. But we know already that they will need our support to get back on their feet.
We have therefore created the Hurricane Katrina Response and Recovery Fund, to channel support to our partners and the communities where they work and live. We will update this site as further details of our response are available.