Press releases

As donors are set to meet at a key conference hosted by Egypt in Sharm Al-Sheikh tomorrow to raise funds to help rebuild the Gaza Strip, international agency Oxfam International warned that unless key goods are allowed in and Israel ends its blockade reconstructing Gaza will not happen.

17 Feb – Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline should be congratulated for breaking industry ranks and taking a major step toward helping poor people in developing countries to get better access to medicines, says international agency Oxfam. However GSK’s initiative this week is just the beginning.

Voluntary approaches to increasing transparent and accountable management of natural resources wealth are making sluggish progress. The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative must put in place additional mandatory disclosure rules.

Rich country donors and the World Bank are wasting money and risking lives by continuing to push unproven and discredited private healthcare programs in poor countries. Oxfam’s warning comes in a new report ‘Blind Optimism: Challenging the myths about private health care in poor countries’.

The international aid agency, Oxfam, has cautiously welcomed steps in Zimbabwe to form a government of national unity. Now the new government must urgently address the combined humanitarian crisis of cholera epidemic and more than half the population being in need of food aid.

A coalition of 100 humanitarian and human rights organizations today called on John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, to insist that protecting civilians be a top priority of the joint Congolese and Rwandan military operation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

As the UN is launching an appeal for funding to Gaza in Geneva today, aid agency Oxfam International insists that access of goods to the Gaza Strip is equally important as fundraising. Without further delay, Israel must allow for all existing crossings to function at maximum capacity.

At a moment where many look for ways to tackle the global economic crisis, the World Social Forum has set a clear message: “the weight of the crisis cannot fall on the shoulders of the poorest.”

President Obama has the opportunity to chart a new course for US policy in Afghanistan by taking the urgent steps needed to reverse the slide into a major humanitarian crisis.

Oxfam International is participating at the 9th World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil to help tackle the combined effects of the global economic crisis, rising food prices, and the effects of climate change in developing countries.

Europe’s refusal to commit money to help poor people cope with climate change could derail the chances of reaching a fair climate deal in Copenhagen, warned Oxfam International today.

Leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week should seriously consider how the economic crisis can be a catalyst for new models of growth and a new way of doing business.

Europe is trying to shirk its responsibility and pass the burden of dealing with the impacts of climate change onto the world’s poorest countries, Europe’s leading environmental and development groups warned today.

Zimbabwean children and their families are being forced to choose between an education and immediate survival, with cholera adding yet another obstacle to today's scheduled return to school. The disruption could blight the future of millions of children.

Urgent action is needed to prevent hundreds of millions more people slipping into hunger as a result of volatile food prices and increasing energy and water scarcity. Decades of underinvestment in agriculture coupled with the increasing threat of climate change mean the situation could get worse.

International agency Oxfam today (21 January 2009) expressed its fears for the safety of civilians as fresh fighting loomed in Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese and Rwandan armies and CNDP rebel troops are set to disarm another rebel group, the FDLR.

International agency Oxfam called on European Foreign Ministers to insist that Gaza’s borders are completely opened to allow the required massive levels of humanitarian aid needed by 1.5 million people into the area and end the 19 month-long blockade.

Oxfam expressed concern that the unilateral declaration of a ceasefire by Israel from 2am local time on Sunday 18 January would be insufficient to halt civilian deaths and injuries from violent conflict in Gaza or to ensure vital humanitarian aid will reach all who need it.

Zimbabwe has entered its peak hunger period with more than half the population now dependent on food aid. The situation could rapidly worsen as vulnerable households are set to receive smaller food rations this month because of funding shortfalls.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The first National Climate Change Conference was held today in an effort to bring about coordinated and urgent action from all sectors on mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Ethiopia.