Latest Emergencies

International aid agency Oxfam has called for greater support for the hundreds of people affected by a cholera outbreak in East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea.

International aid agency Oxfam has sent staff and emergency supplies to East Sepik province in Papua New Guinea, to help respond to a cholera outbreak that has so far reportedly killed six people and affected another 250.

As the Ethiopian government issues an emergency appeal for food aid, international aid agency Oxfam is calling for a radical shake up in the way the world deals with food crises in Ethiopia and other countries.

In its Band Aids and Beyond report released today to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the worst famine in Ethiopia’s history, Oxfam said there has been a “knee-jerk reaction” to addressing food crises dominated by sending food aid which fails to offer long-term solutions to hunger.

As the international community marks World Food Day, a food crisis is looming in flood affected communities in Cambodia, international aid agency Oxfam warns.

Oxfam Australia estimates that 100,000 people are affected by the floods following Typhoon Ketsana and 15,000 households are in need of immediate food assistance.

Just over a week after tsunami waves scoured the southern coast of Samoa, killing one per cent of the population and seriously affecting one out of every six people, the relief effort remains urgent, says international aid agency Oxfam.

Some survivors do not yet have clean drinking water and the threat of disease still hangs over the islands. Women and children are particularly at risk.

International aid agency Oxfam today began tankering clean water into Padang, as part of the relief effort for the many people affected by last Wednesday’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
Oxfam’s Indonesia Emergency Response Manager David MacDonald said providing clean water was an immediate priority for the agency.

International aid agency Oxfam has activated an unprecedented region-wide humanitarian response following a week of devastation across Asia Pacific.

Oxfam staff and local partners are on the ground providing humanitarian aid to communities in the aftermath of the earthquake in Sumatra, the tsunami in Samoa and Typhoon Ketsana and Parma in the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

International aid agency Oxfam’s emergency team is at work in Samoa today with their immediate focus to ensure survivors in remote rural areas have clean water and basic sanitation.

Without coordinated action, the public health situation is at risk of deteriorating if people become dehydrated and sickness spreads through an already traumatised population.

International aid agency Oxfam is sending emergency response staff to Padang, Indonesia, after a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Sumatra last night.

International aid agency Oxfam is appealing for support from the Australian public after a devastating 24 hours across the Asia-Pacific region.