Today, on the fifth anniversary of the 2004 Asian tsunami, Oxfam will close the last few remaining tsunami aid projects having helped approximately 2.5 million people; built 10,800 wells, 2900 houses, 102 schools, 31 bridges; and cleared and constructed 100km of roads.

The tsunami response was the largest aid effort Oxfam has ever undertaken in its 67-year history.

This enormous aid effort was only made possible due to the overwhelming and unprecedented level of public generosity. Oxfam raised more than £182 million to carry out its aid programme, 92 per cent of which came from public donations.

However, Oxfam Scotland's Campaigns Manager Malcolm Fleming, who flew out to Sri Lanka in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, today warned that future emergencies might not attract the level of funding needed. Oxfam projects that in six years' time the number of people affected by climatic crises could rise by 54 per cent, to 375 million people, threatening to overwhelm the humanitarian aid system.

Ongoing conflicts in places such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also need substantial and sustained humanitarian support.

Oxfam worked in seven tsunami-hit countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand and Somalia. In the wake of the disaster, which killed 227,000 people and left 1.7 million homeless, Oxfam concentrated on immediate needs such as emergency shelter, water supply and public health.

As the programmes grew, work focused on helping people make a living and also on efforts to address some of the obstacles survivors faced, such as land rights. There was also a particular emphasis on supporting women, not only with material help but also assisting them have a say in the way their communities organised themselves.

Oxfam Scotland's Campaigns Manager Malcolm Fleming said:

"The tsunami was an awesomely destructive event matched only by a truly monumental expression of public generosity and compassion. This allowed local people, local organisations, governments and aid agencies to come together in an extraordinary aid effort.

"The disaster was on such a massive scale that it raised huge challenges to the aid world. The hard work of our staff and local partners and the sheer fortitude and resilience of the tsunami survivors helped us rise to those difficult challenges.

"As Oxfam close the final part of our response we are leaving behind people and organisations in better shape.

"This was possible because for the first time we had the resources to stay there with communities long enough to help them rebuild their lives and leave a legacy that we can be proud of."