Blogs & Stories
Who is a Refugee? Frequently Asked Questions About Forced Migration
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
We're living at a time of unprecedented global displacement. Here are 7 things you must know about refugees and forced displacement.
by Oxfam Canada | June 20, 2022
In Bangladesh, refugees help design handwashing stations
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Creating effective handwashing facilities in the Rohingya camps means embracing community input.
by Elizabeth Stevens | December 14, 2020
COVID-19 may be borderless, but privilege isn’t
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
The global community is saying ‘no one is safe until we are all safe’ but safety is a relative concept, depending on your location and reality.
by Simmi Dixit | Oxfam Canada | April 20, 2020
How everyday items celebrate solidarity and our shared humanity
- Advocacy in Canada
- Conflict and War
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
In November 2019, Oxfam Canada travelled to five Canadian cities to help present our award-winning exhibit Museum Without a Home.
by Brittany Lambert | January 9, 2020
Women, peace and security: Ending the Saudi arms deal
- Advocacy in Canada
- Conflict and War
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Canada’s bold commitments to Women, Peace and Security hold tremendous potential. But this potential will go unrealized if Canada simultaneously fuels wars that harm women.
by Brittany Lambert & Christine Martin | October 2, 2019
Transformative tailoring for Rohingya refugee women
- Conflict and War
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Gender dynamics in the largest refugee settlement in the world “You have come to this country as a guest,” Shompa, 60 years old, says to me as I sit in…
by Caroline Leal | August 23, 2019
Humanitarians on the frontline of the Burundi refugee crisis in Tanzania
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
World Humanitarian Day is held every year to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service around the world. Here, we profile some of Oxfam’s inspiring…
by Paula Baker | August 16, 2019
71 million people displaced in 2018 due to conflict: 'We did not choose to become refugees'
- Advocacy in Canada
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
- Violence Against Women and Girls
After an alarming UN report saying a record-breaking 71 million people have been displaced by war in 2018, Susan Grace Duku, founder of Refugee Women and Youth Aid in Uganda,…
by Susan Grace Duku | Founder of Refugee Women and Youth Aid | June 20, 2019
Skills training for economic empowerment in Jordan
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Women’s Economic Justice
Economic empowerment is fundamental to women's ability to move out and stay out of poverty. Meet two amazing women participating in Oxfam projects in Jordan that have supported their ability…
by Oxfam Canada | May 16, 2019
Designing hygiene and sanitation facilities in Rohingya refugee camps: for women by women
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
A female architect from Bangladesh collaborates with Rohingya women refugees to design safer hygiene and sanitation facilities.
by Oxfam Canada | March 4, 2019
What she knows matters. #Askher
- Conflict and War
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Some days, I feel like a feminist future has never been so close at hand. Female foreign ministers gathered for the first time ever in Montreal this September to find…
by Melanie Gallant | January 4, 2019
Rebuilding lives with beads and a megaphone
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
In Uganda’s Bidibidi refugee resettlement camp, one woman is helping others make money—and heal—through a jewellery-making group. Forced from their homes after three years of brutal civil war in South…
by Luna Allison | June 20, 2018
Displacement and Hunger in Qara Tapa
- Conflict and War
- Hunger
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
“I’ve experienced going to bed without eating anything and it’s really painful.” 33-year-old Rasmiya sits on the floor of her one room mud house on the outskirts of Qara Tapa…
by Luna Allison | April 17, 2018
One woman leading the way for healthy mothers in Bangladesh's refugee camps
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
- Women's Transformative Leadership
Oxfam has come to know Rajiah as a leader when she was unanimously selected to represent her community during an Oxfam assessment of what their most pressing needs were. This…
by Oxfam | March 28, 2018
SEE ME: The perilous flight of a Rohingya refugee
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Violence Against Women and Girls
- Women's Transformative Leadership
Since August 25, over 600,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed over into Bangladesh’s southeastern districts. More than half are women, and 60 percent of these are girls under 18. They have faced…
by Sara Thaw | December 6, 2017
Why We All Need to Stand As One with Refugees
- Advocacy in Canada
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Women's Transformative Leadership
Emily Kirby recounts her experience as an Oxfam Ambassador for the Stand As One campaign – a global movement of Coldplay fans standing in solidarity with refugees and displaced people.…
by Luna Allison | September 28, 2017
Stand Together with Oxfam & Coldplay
- Advocacy in Canada
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Women's Transformative Leadership
This summer, Coldplay invited Oxfam volunteers on their World Tour to encourage fans to get involved with the STAND AS ONE campaign. Right now, more than 65 million people have been forced…
by Sara Thaw | August 23, 2017
Hope and resilience: Sylvie’s life in Buporo refugee camp
- Emergency Response
- Hunger
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
- Violence Against Women and Girls
- Water
When Sylvie’s husband died of disease in Buporo refugee camp, it was not only heartbreaking for this young mother and her four children. It was also terrifying. Sylvie’s days became…
by Oxfam Canada | June 19, 2017
Solidarity: Let's make sure it doesn't end here
- Advocacy in Canada
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
On Monday June 20, 2016, we marked World Refugee Day, standing with refugees around the world, from Syria to Burundi. Just two days later, we stood together in solidarity once…
by oxfamcanada | June 25, 2016
8 things that make our bucket life-changing
- Advocacy in Canada
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Water
We know that clean water saves lives, but in order to access it, people need to be able to safely transport and store it. That’s why a better bucket makes…
by Oxfam Canada | June 14, 2016
This is just such a good idea, Period.
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Written by Ann Witteveen, Humanitarian Manager, Oxfam Canada. I grew up in the 70’s when commercials for ‘feminine hygiene products’ were a rarity and even when shown were often so…
by oxfamcanada | June 14, 2016
A Life Displaced is Still a Life with Hope and Dreams
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
By Melanie Gallant, Oxfam Canada’s Media Relations Officer Whether through civil war or other forms of conflict, natural disasters or climate related disasters such as drought, the global scale of…
by oxfamcanada | June 14, 2016
As winter settles in, refugees from Syria face increasing hardship
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
by Joelle Bassoul, Media Advisor for Oxfam in Beirut Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria have seen another winter descend on the Middle East, for some this is their…
by oxfamcanada | January 8, 2016
Thanking and giving in the Syrian refugee camps of Lebanon
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
I have a lot to be thankful for. Good health, a loving family, a home and a gratifying job. But like many, I often take these blessings for granted. This…
by Oxfam Canada | October 10, 2015
Syria: A Lasting Solution in the Wake of Needless Tragedy
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
The searing images of three-year-old Alan Kurdi have moved through cyberspace and galvanized reaction around the world. People everywhere are shocked and saddened in witnessing the tragedy of a little…
by oxfamcanada | September 3, 2015
War, peace and women's long journey for justice in Somalia
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Hunger
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Women's Transformative Leadership
Somalia hasn’t been in the news much in the past couple of years – which is largely good news – but just because there aren’t headlines doesn’t mean there isn’t…
by oxfamcanada | August 5, 2015
In Focus: Syria, World Refugee Day
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Written by: Adeline Guerra, Regional Campaigns and Communications adviser Children hide behind water tanks while clothes dry outside flimsy tents in the Mediterranean sunshine. We have arrived at a refugee…
by oxfamcanada | June 20, 2015
Ask world leaders to act now #withSyria
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Four years since it began, the Syrian crisis continues to deepen, and the human suffering is greater than ever before. Women and children are particularly affected by the violence. Satellite…
by oxfamcanada | March 14, 2015
Palestinian refugees from Syria: A story of perpetual displacement
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Bright peeled paint covers humidity stains on the walls. An old bed has been pushed into a corner. Thin mattresses are strewn on the floor. Clothes hang on a lonely…
by oxfamcanada | September 9, 2014
Syrian refugees in Jordan: ‘A bomb flattened our brand new home’
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
“To reach the Jordanian border, we walked for more than an hour at night. I was holding my 2-months old son tightly, my heart pounding with fear. When I got…
by oxfamcanada | September 9, 2014
"Have faith in Syrian women. We can do anything."
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Jenny Enarsson, Oxfam's Syria crisis response gender advisor, explains why including Syria's women in negotiations is critical for the peace process. A few days after the high-profile summit on ending…
by oxfamcanada | June 26, 2014
What does it feel like to be a refugee? Perceptions from Za’atari and beyond
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
- Women's Transformative Leadership
What does it feel like to be a refugee, forced to flee to an unfamiliar country and dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive? How do you know where to turn,…
by oxfamcanada | June 20, 2014
An amazing display of solidarity #WithSyria!
- Conflict and War
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
What an amazing display of support for the #WithSyria campaign for the third anniversary of the Syria crisis – congratulations one and all for a truly moving display of solidarity!…
by Oxfam | March 20, 2014
Children’s hopes for the future of Syria take to the skies to mark the third anniversary of the crisis
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
As the third anniversary of the Syria crisis approaches, it is impossible not to be affected by the plight of millions of children caught in the cross-fire, fleeing with families…
by oxfamcanada | March 13, 2014
Time for change: UN Security Council demands humanitarian access across Syria
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
“This resolution should not have been necessary”, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told the 15 member states of the UN Security Council on their unanimous adoption of a resolution…
by oxfamcanada | February 24, 2014
Syria's refugees: Surviving through the kindness of strangers
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
It was the kindness of strangers. When Aziz fled from the Syrian conflict to Lebanon, he heard about a farmer who allowed Syrian refugees to camp on his land. “How…
by oxfamcanada | December 9, 2013
One million child refugees?! Four reasons we need Syria Peace Talks now
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
by Joel Bassuk Amidst the horrific images (which I’ll not link to here) coming out of Syria this week, the UN has announced that more than one million children from…
by oxfamcanada | August 23, 2013
How solar power is helping Syrian refugees
- Advocacy in Canada
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
by Anna Kramer, Oxfam America Look closely at the photo above. Notice anything different about those lampposts? In fact, the lights in the background of the photo—which was taken in…
by oxfamcanada | August 10, 2013
Liqaa’ is a friend of mine
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
Meet Liqaa. She’s a 23 year old English literature graduate from Syria. She’s recently married, and expecting her first child soon. She’s also the face of a new global…
by oxfamcanada | July 29, 2013
Helping Syrian refugees with disabilities in Jordan’s camp Za’atari
- Advocacy in Canada
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
April 2013 – Adapting to life in Jordan’s sprawling desert refugee camp, Za’atari, is hard for all refugees, but especially so for those with disabilities and special needs. …
by oxfamcanada | April 17, 2013
Syrian refugee influx adding to Jordan’s water worries
- Advocacy in Canada
- Emergency Response
- Refugees and Internal Displacement
A short distance from Zaatari, a sprawling camp for Syrian refugees, lies a road full of small nurseries growing vegetables and olive trees. Khaled runs one of them. These…
by oxfamcanada | April 11, 2013
