peace and security

Diplomats at the United Nations’ talks on the future Arms Trade Treaty have made serious progress this week with a growing number of key countries bringing their support to the process. The week was also marked by pro-ATT statements from global investors’ with over US$ 1.2 trillion in assets.

Oxfam reaction to UN Security Council’s Resolution on the new Peace Keeping Mission

Kirsten Hagon, Head of Oxfam's Office in New York said:

The UN Security Council should ensure that the UN mission in Congo (MONUSCO) has adequate and appropriate resources to protect civilians from attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and to avert election-related violence

South Sudan is facing its most violent year since the end of the civil war in 2005, international agency Oxfam warned today, and it urged the UN Security Council, as it visits the region, to ensure that civilians are better protected.

With violence escalating over the past week, now is the time for both Palestinians and Israelis to show immediate restraint, says humanitarian aid agency Oxfam. All sides must do everything they can in order to protect innocent civilians.

Progress in girls’ education, one of the rare Afghan success stories of the last nine years and vital to the long-term development and stability of the country, is under threat, 16 aid agencies including Oxfam and CARE warned today in a new report.

Oxfam deplores the use of lethal force against unarmed civilian protesters in North Africa, particularly evident in Libya.

Somalia is suffering its worst drought in years and failed rains are already devastating half a million lives, international aid agency Oxfam warned today. An ongoing conflict in the country together with the drought has pushed hundreds of thousands of Somalis beyond their ability to cope.

Arms traffickers can too easily navigate the patchwork of national arms regulations, fuelling conflict while avoiding arrest and extradition, because of the lack of global regulation of the arms trade.

Southern Sudan will face enormous challenges and will need long-term support from the rest of the world regardless of the outcome of this week’s referendum. The vote could create the world’s newest country, which would also be home to some of the world’s poorest people.