A new survey of people across 40 regions of Somalia by international agency Oxfam has found that water and food shortages are at critical levels and likely to deteriorate in parts of the country over the coming months, risking a prolonged humanitarian crisis well into next year. While results show a return to famine is unlikely, the situation in the south of Somalia - particularly in Gedo, Lower Juba and Bakool regions - remains critical...

Muslim families can make a huge difference to impoverished communities in the occupied Palestinian territory this Ramadan by buying Fair Trade dates grown by Palestinian farmers. Oxfam, MADE in Europe and Palestinian date and olive oil suppliers, Zaytoun have come together to ask Muslims to buy ethically-sourced dates when they shop for their iftar ingredients.   With the challenges facing the Palestinian rural economy, due to Israeli...

One year after South Sudan's independence on 9 July, the young country is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the end of the war in 2005, under the weight of severe economic meltdown and ongoing conflict. Long-term and emergency efforts to help nearly half the population, who don't have enough to eat, could be derailed by an economy out of control, warned the international aid agency Oxfam. Vital spending on infrastructure...

Oxfam’s executive director in Mexico, Carlos Zarco said: “This is a hugely disappointing outcome for developing countries. Europe’s crisis must be fixed because it is becoming a serious drain on developing countries. But it’s not good enough for the G20 to have fought over growth versus austerity in Europe. Leaders failed to keep the world’s poorest in their sights, despite the fact that more than half these people live...

Agreement on Sustainable Development Goals is expected to be one of the major outcomes from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which starts on Wednesday, 20 June in Rio de Janeiro. The UN has already begun to deliberate on the post 2015 global development framework, starting with a review of lessons learnt from the existing Millennium Development Goals and options for after they expire in 2015.  The current proposal on...

At midnight tonight Brazil will take over the presidency of the talks, and with this, the responsibility to lead the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and define the outcomes that will shape our development future. However, the Brazilian government has yet to define what it sees as the major potential outcomes from the summit. "The final negotiations have gone almost nowhere since they began on Tuesday. It is developing...

Charity warns "UK could return to inequality levels not seen since Victorian times" Government rhetoric about 'making work pay' - used to justify sweeping welfare reforms- is sounding increasingly hollow, according to a new report by Oxfam, which details how getting a job in modern Britain is no guarantee of escaping poverty. Oxfam's report, The Perfect Storm, documents how the Government's...

In response to the FAO's report "Towards The Future We Want: End Hunger And Make The Transition to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems", which argues that eradicating hunger should be at the heart of sustainable development, Oxfam's Chief Executive Barbara Stocking said: "We welcome the FAO report which rightly places the need to address the scandal of global hunger if we are to develop in a...

In response to the Royal Society's report, People and the Planet, launching tomorrow, Oxfam's Chief Executive Barbara Stocking said: "The Royal Society rightly points out that it is dangerously misleading to focus solely on population growth or solely on consumption, as we struggle to work out how we can sustain a population of nine billion people on the planet in the future. A much broader approach is needed. ...

Yemen is at the crossroads of humanitarian catastrophe international aid agency Oxfam said today in reaction to new figures from the World Food Programme, which showed a radical increase in the number of people facing severe hunger in the country. The new figures indicate that 45 percent of population in Yemen do not have enough to eat - more than 10 million people with half of these people  severely food insecure and in need of...