Why a “humanitarian pause” or “humanitarian corridors” are simply not the answer in Gaza

Richard StanforthConflict, Emergency, Humanitarian

Why are Oxfam and other humanitarian organisations not welcoming calls for corridors, pauses and so-called “safe zones” to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza? Richard Stanforth and Magnus Corfixen explain – and set out why a ceasefire is the only credible solution.

We must do more to make emergency sanitation safer

Rachel HastieEmergencies, Emergency, Refugees and IDPs, Violence Against Women and Girls, WASH Impact Series, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Why do so few women and girls use emergency latrines? Rachel Hastie shares key findings that could help make sanitation safer in camps. We looked at the latrine with dismay, as Sarah told us how her relatives had been killed in South Sudan. She had walked to the Ugandan border with her three children and nine nephews and nieces. Their …

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it: Quality in WASH responses

James BrownEmergencies, Emergency, General, Humanitarian, Methodology, WASH Impact Series, Water, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

As we launch our WASH Impact Series, Oxfam’s Quality Assurance Project Manager, James Brown introduces a new global initiative to help organisations focus on achieving quality in humanitarian WASH responses. What would a quality assurance system for humanitarian WASH programming look like? That’s the question being explored by the Quality Assurance and Accountability Project, a Global WASH Cluster initiative led …

A year in emergencies

Sophie Mack SmithEmergency, Humanitarian

Sophie Mack-Smith reflects on the humanitarian events of 2017 and how Oxfam responded, both to new disasters and chronic crises. From Bangladesh to the Philippines, Iraq, DRC, Yemen, South Sudan, Syria and Somalia, Oxfam brought lifesaving aid to nearly 10 million people last year. But not everyone can be reached, and tragically the scale of need looks set only to …

Reaching refugees and boosting small businesses in Bangladesh

Corrie SissonsEmergency, Food & livelihoods, Humanitarian, Refugees and IDPs

By providing emergency cash or vouchers Oxfam can help people in crisis to get desperately needed food and other items, while boosting local businesses at the same time. Corrie Sissons explains what this looks like in Oxfam’s Rohingya Crisis response. At Oxfam we help those in crisis to meet their emergency needs in a way which does no harm. This …

Podcast: Emergency sanitation in focus

jamesEmergency, Humanitarian, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

[buzzsprout episode=’2559244′ player=’true’] Esther Shaylor talks to Andy Bastable, Oxfam’s expert on public health engineering, about the challenge of providing sustainable sanitation in emergencies. What happens when toilets in camps are not well planned out? How and why should tiger worms and urine dry diversion toilets be used? Find out more: Our work on water, sanitation and hygiene

Speaking out about the Rohingya crisis

Ed CairnsEmergency, Humanitarian, Protection, Refugees and IDPs, Research

Oxfam has interviewed Rohingya refugees about their needs, hopes and fears for the future, and published their responses in a new briefing paper. Here Ed Cairns reflects on the responsibility to speak out. More than 626,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 25 August, one of the fastest movements of people in history. By November, the world’s interest had largely moved …