With your help, Oxfam provided lifesaving support to people experiencing the toughest crises around the world.
Following attacks by armed Palestinian groups in Israel in October 2023, the government of Israel imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, with tragic humanitarian consequences. Thousands of families seeking safety in southern Gaza are still struggling to survive.
“We have nothing—no food, no electricity, no water,” one young man in southern Gaza told Oxfam. “We've hit a point of complete exhaustion. There's simply nothing to eat.”
Despite the nearly impossible operating conditions, the 35 Oxfam staff members living and working in Gaza immediately coordinated with partners—Palestinian organizations based in Gaza—to provide cash, food, hygiene kits, clean water, clothing, and other aid to people displaced from their homes.
By March, Oxfam estimated that as many as 1.1 million people in Gaza—roughly half the population—were facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Conditions in the northern part of Gaza were particularly severe, raising the threat of famine. The 300,000 people trapped there in the early part of 2024 were forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day—less than what’s in a can of beans.
By April, Oxfam and 14 partner organizations reached a total of 262,424 people with critical resources. We also installed solar-powered wells and water treatment systems and latrines that served 10,500 people in southern Gaza.
In addition to raising money to support our humanitarian response in Gaza, Oxfam America has joined other groups to urge the U.S. government and others to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the safe return of all hostages and unlawfully detained Palestinians, access for full humanitarian aid, and an end to the transfer of lethal arms to the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups.
Oxfam supporters have played an important role in urging the Biden administration and Congress to prioritize these measures: 50,000 supporters signed petitions early in 2024, making it clear that the United States’ early unconditional support for Israel—which is leading to the high civilian death toll—is unacceptable. Our steady advocacy in Washington, D.C., media outreach, and pressure from voters are all helping to shift U.S. policy on Gaza.
Oxfam continued to respond to a range of emergencies in 2024, including in:
East Africa: Years of failed rains in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya (as well as heavy rains and floods in 2023 in these countries and in South Sudan) have pushed more than 26 million people into acute levels of food insecurity. Oxfam is collaborating with local partners to help 1.5 million people access water, cash, and veterinary assistance for livestock farmers. Oxfam is also working with partners to assist people affected by conflict in northern Ethiopia with cash and food, and Oxfam is providing water for 350,000 South Sudanese refugees (and the communities hosting them) in western Ethiopia.
Türkiye and Syria: After a massive earthquake and numerous aftershocks hit Türkiye and Syria in early 2023, Oxfam affiliate KEDV in Türkiye and Oxfam in Syria and our partners have since helped more than 2 million people with clean water, sanitation systems, food, information, and other support to keep people safe from disease and violence.
Bangladesh: Since nearly 1 million Rohingya crossed the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape violence, Oxfam has been working with partners to provide people with clean water, latrines, an extensive sanitation system, and training for families to grow vegetables. Since 2017, Oxfam has assisted 360,000 people in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Ukraine: Since the war broke out in February 2022, Oxfam has worked with 40 organizations that have assisted 2 million people in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova with water, sanitation, and hygiene support for families displaced by conflict, cash and assistance with building repairs, and psychosocial assistance for the most vulnerable ethnic minorities and women-headed households.
Sudan: Oxfam and our partners in South Sudan and Chad are assisting refugees fleeing violence in Sudan. In South Sudan, Oxfam delivered clean water, built latrines, and provided hygiene support in transit centers to help 30,000 people crossing the border. In Chad, Oxfam targeted support for 56,000 refugees in three camps (as well as people in four villages hosting refugees), providing cash, clean water and latrines, and hygiene items.
Oxfam is also helping people affected by major floods in Pakistan, hurricanes in the Philippines, an extensive drought and related cholera crisis in southern Africa, and conflict in Yemen and Syria.