Oxfam ramps up efforts to tackle world’s worst cholera outbreak in Yemen

Aid agency ships 39 tonnes of water and sanitation equipment to war-ravaged country

Thursday 29th June 2017

Oxfam is dispatching 39 tonnes of water and sanitation equipment to Yemen as the aid agency urgently ramps up its efforts to tackle the world's worst cholera outbreak.

In just two months, Yemen’s cholera epidemic has spread to nearly every corner of the war ravaged country. It is estimated that more than 200,000 people are suffering from the preventable illness and more than 1,300 people have died – a quarter of them children.

The aid convoy from Oxfam, worth over €400,000 (£360,000), includes water storage tanks, buckets, tap stands, hand washing water dispensers, water testing and purifications kits, oral rehydration sachets, insecticide sprayers, pipes and fittings – all vital in preventing the spread of the deadly disease.

It will be loaded from Oxfam’s emergency warehouse in the UK between 10am and 2pm on Thursday 29th June and will fly from London via Djibouti in Africa and then onto Yemen.

Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive, said: “The war in Yemen has laid the country to waste, destroying schools, hospitals, homes and lives. It’s impossible to overstate the human cost – over 10,000 people dead and tens of thousands injured while countless men, women and children face death every day through the lethal combination of hunger and now cholera.

“As we ship 39 tonnes of aid to Yemen, we’re continuing to call for a massive aid effort and an immediate ceasefire so that humanitarian workers can reach communities most in need. The UN is forecasting that the number of people affected by cholera will reach 300,000 by August – aid is vital to stopping this outbreak from spiralling out of control and to saving lives.”

The conflict has forced three million people from their homes and left nearly 19 million people – almost 70 percent of the population – in need of humanitarian assistance.

Shane Stevenson, incoming Oxfam Country Director in Yemen, said: “Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East and its health service has been all but destroyed by two years of a brutal war. Efforts to beat cholera are being massively undermined by the war. That is why we are calling on all parties to the fighting to agree a ceasefire to allow health and aid workers to get on with the task of saving lives.”

Oxfam has reached more than one million people in eight governorates of Yemen since July 2015 with water and sanitation services, food vouchers, cash and other essentials. In response to the cholera outbreak, Oxfam has been coordinating with partners to deliver clean water and sanitation to affected communities.  

Oxfam Ireland is appealing for vital funds for their hunger crisis appeal to support people facing famine in Yemen as well as in East Africa, South Sudan and Nigeria: oxfamireland.org/hunger

ENDS

CONTACT

Shane Stevenson, incoming Country Director in Yemen is available for interview and will be  in Oxfam’s emergency warehouse from 10.30am – 11.30am on Thursday 29th June. For interviews, images or more information, please contact:

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Alice Dawson on 00353 (0) 83 198 1869 / alice.dawson@oxfamireland.org

NORTHERN IRELAND: Phillip Graham on 0044 (0) 7841 102535 / phillip.graham@oxfamireland.org