The charity
Oxfam has said that it is now responding to more humanitarian crises in the
world than at any time in its 70 year history.
“Strength to
Survive” is Oxfam’s major new appeal for funds to support its emergency work
and the Oxfam Bookshop in Hertford is asking for local people to get behind it.
The UK government is matching all donations made by the British public to the
appeal so every pound donated at the Hertford Oxfam Bookshop will be doubled in
value.
The extra
cash will help Oxfam to reach greater numbers of people at high risk of
disaster as soon as possible, giving them the best chance of not just surviving
the crisis but coming back stronger when the dust settles.
- Oxfam helped more than 6.1 million people in 2014
- Oxfam gave assistance to people in 24 different
humanitarian emergencies around the world
- 11 million people were made homeless by Typhoon
Haiyan in the Philippines in late 2013
- In 2014 the number of people needing humanitarian
aid due to conflict, storms, floods and droughts was more than 73 million.
That’s up from 40 million in 2005.
The manager
of the Hertford bookshop said that local people had previously shown their
support for Oxfam’s emergency appeals. “At the shop in Hertford we’ve been
privileged to witness first hand the public’s generous response to our emergency
appeals, for example to the Tsunami in 2004, the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and,
in the last few months, the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Their support
for the Strength to Survive appeal will help Oxfam to assist people at the most
difficult moments in their lives.”
Jane Cocking,
Oxfam's Humanitarian Director says: "We cannot prevent natural hazards and
wars, but we can reduce the devastation they cause. Disasters trap people in
poverty. They hold back progress. Money raised by this appeal will strengthen
communities to emerge stronger from disasters rather than descend into the pit
of poverty again."
"The
encouraging news is that the human spirit is indomitable," says Jane
Cocking. "I'm constantly impressed by the determination people reveal in
shattering situations. Being by their side is what Strength to Survive is
all about. It's about raising houses on earth mounds in Bangladesh so families
that may have lost a son or daughter to drowning can survive the next flood and
move forward with their lives. It's about buying a sewing machine for a tailor
in the DRC so he can still work and feed his family despite the chaos of being
caught in the middle of fighting rebel groups."
The Strength
to Survive appeal runs until 4 May 2015.
