Emergency
Drought, Hunger and Famine Crises
Right now, millions of families around the world are struggling to survive hunger, violence, skyrocketing food prices, climate-driven natural disasters, and poverty pushed to the extreme by inequality.
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The Situation
Persistent climate-fueled drought, compounded by ongoing conflict, political uncertainty, COVID-19, and the rising cost of living, has led to a humanitarian nightmare. As many as 28 million people across the Horn, East and Central Africa are at risk of severe hunger.
A massive mobilization of international humanitarian assistance is needed now to avoid loss of life and to help people already facing severe levels of hunger, conflict and a massive drought across the region. Rising food prices are a hammer blow to millions of people who are already suffering multiple crises, and make the huge shortfall in global support potentially lethal. We urgently need to scale up our response to save more lives.
Rising food prices are a hammer blow to millions of people already suffering multiple crises, making the huge shortfall in global support potentially lethal. We urgently need to scale up our response to save more lives.
You can help.
Oxfam and local partners provide urgent, life-saving assistance in the short term and, wherever possible, invest in longer-term programs to help protect communities from future climate shocks. We are also using our position on the global stage to call for long-term peaceful resolutions to hostilities that are ravaging lives and lobbying governments for meaningful change in policy and legislation.
South Sudan
South Sudan is in the midst of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis driven by years of brutal civil war. There are now more than 2 million internally displaced people in South Sudan and millions more refugees have fled to neighbouring countries.
In addition, the country has suffered a fifth consecutive year of severe flooding, which has destroyed crops and homes. Around 70 per cent of South Sudan is flooded. Nearly a million people have been forced to flee their homes, searching for food and shelter.
Over two-thirds of the total population are estimated to need humanitarian assistance and 7.2 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
We are on the ground distributing food, providing clean water and sanitation facilities, promoting good hygiene practices, and helping people produce food for themselves and make a living.
Horn, Central and East Africa (HECA)
Across the Horn, Central and East Africa, 44.7 million people are in need of emergency food and water due to severe drought across Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya. On top of food insecurity crisis, parts of the region have simultaneously been hit by the worst flooding in 30 years. Significant rain has fallen on drought-stricken ground causing nearly a million people to be affected.
In South Sudan, Oxfam continues to provide people with safe water, sanitation and hygiene services and supports, cash grants for families to buy food and other essentials and livelihood supplies like seeds, tools and fishing kits.
In Somalia, Oxfam is providing life-saving water, sanitation and health support, including drilling boreholes in water insecure areas, distributing hygiene kits, providing materials to help protect communities from water-borne diseases and distributing cash, seeds and tools, and training farmers in small-scale greenhouse farming.
In Kenya, Oxfam is currently supporting with cash transfers for food and other essential items and water, sanitation and hygiene activities, such as repairing water points and boreholes to provide access to clean, safe water.
In Ethiopia, Oxfam has supported people in Northern Ethiopia with life-saving clean water, food and cash assistance, particularly in conflict-affected areas in South Tigray, Central Tigray, Amhara and Afar.
Yemen
Almost three million people in Yemen have been forced to flee their homes due to bombing and fighting. 22 million people – 75 percent of Yemen population – are in need of emergency aid. 17 million Yemenis are suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition, including 8 million who are now on the brink of famine. Yemen is also the world’s worst ever recorded cholera outbreak, with over 1 million reported cases to date.
Oxfam has reached more than 1.5 million people with water and sanitation services, cash assistance and food vouchers. In response to the Cholera outbreak, Oxfam has provided water and sanitation assistance to more than 430,000 people in an effort to prevent and contain the disease.
Your donation today will go towards Oxfam’s Hunger and Famine relief efforts where the need is greatest.