Oxfam GB

On June 24, 2026, Venezuela was struck by two consecutive earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, followed by multiple aftershocks. According to the most recent official information (June 26), there are over 1,750 casualties and thousands more injured. The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator stated that "more than 50,000 people remain missing." Oxfam will respond to this emergency through its partner organizations in Venezuela.

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Challenge

This event is unfolding against a very difficult backdrop, marked by a complex humanitarian crisis driven by political, economic, environmental, and geopolitical factors, which has become chronic and spread to a large portion of the population. As of early 2026, at least 7.9 million people required humanitarian assistance.

The worst damage is concentrated in La Guaira and Caracas, with impacts also reported in Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Falcón, and Lara. The earthquakes caused structural damage to homes, public buildings, and critical infrastructure, as well as disruptions to electricity, drinking water, and telecommunications services.

Simón Bolívar International Airport (Maiquetía) remains closed due to damage to its infrastructure, limiting access to the country by air. The main needs identified so far include emergency medical care, the restoration of basic services, temporary shelter for the affected population, and rapid needs assessments to guide the humanitarian response.

Solution

Oxfam’s local partners will deliver a coordinated, multi-sector response to meet the immediate and early recovery needs of earthquake-affected communities in Venezuela, with a strong focus on the most vulnerable households. Overall, the response aims to reach 20,000 people in the first six months, not only to meet urgent humanitarian needs but also to lay the groundwork for recovery and increased resilience among earthquake-affected communities. The response will focus on the following areas:

Safe water and sanitation - Distributing hygiene kits, supporting sanitation facilities, and ensuring access to safe, clean water to prevent disease outbreaks.

Food security and nutrition - Providing emergency food assistance tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups, including children and pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Protection - Expanding safe spaces, case management, and referral services to ensure people—especially women, children, and older people—are protected and supported with dignity.

Long-Term Impact

Living conditions have not improved, nor has investment in public services increased. The majority of the population remains trapped in a situation of extreme deprivation. New resources will be key to scaling up assistance in WASH, food security, protection, and accountability.

At Oxfam, we believe that to end poverty, all human rights must be respected and upheld. In June, Pride month offers us an opportunity to proudly support our LGBTQIA+ colleagues, volunteers, partners, and communities.

More than a celebration, Pride is a protest against systemic inequality and injustice that keeps LGBTQIA+ folk marginalised. It is a call for solidarity and empathy, especially for those in the community who are too often targeted and punished simply for being who they are. Oxfam GB’s CEO Halima Begum published this blog highlighting the horrifying rollbacks of LGBTQIA+ rights.

In Fiji, Oxfam have partnered with a local organisation, Rainbow Pride Foundation (RPF), who run initiatives that challenges queer stereotypes and harmful narratives. PRIDE farms is a project helping to address the food insecurity issues that many queer people in Fiji face.

RPF have also established a “Queerpreneurs” project where they provide seed funding and financial literacy training to LGBTQIA+ people to establish small businesses as a form of social and economic empowerment.

“The people who used to be against us, their perceptions of us have now changed. It’s completely changed their views. Now when we walk by their houses, they call out to us to come and have something to eat. That’s how things have changed.” - Porsha, pictured above, who oversees the PRIDE farm in Nakavu village, Western Fiji.

Because of discrimination, LGBTQIA+ people globally are more likely than others to:

Live in poverty

Experience unemployment

Experience homelessness

Lack access to healthcare

Experience violence

Experience sexual assault

Experience mental health issues

Oxfam is also proud that our stores can be a safer space for LGBTQIA+ customers, colleagues and volunteers to exist in their full authenticity. Meet Dollie, who shares their experience as a non-binary person volunteering in an Oxfam store.

We work with communities and organisations globally toward a just world - a world where people can live with dignity, have their basic needs met and their fundamental rights respected. We work for a world where people can speak up for their rights, their needs and their concerns, so people in power listen and act. Supporting LGBTQIA+ rights is a core part of Oxfam’s work to end poverty and inequality.

Author and photo credit: Liban Hailu

In Ethiopia's Gambela region, amidst various refugee camps that shelter about 380,000 refugees, lies Pinyudo camp—a home for those who fled conflict in South Sudan. Here in Pinyudo , we meet Adugk Owitti, a refugee struggling to provide hope for her family amidst many challenges.

In 2012, Adugk, 35, fled the conflict in South Sudan with her four children. As a person living with disability, a legacy of a childhood fire accident, Adugk took a long and risky journey, enduring five days of walking with her children to reach Pinyudo camp, in Gambella, Western Ethiopia.

Despite reaching the safety of Gambella, Adugk struggled to get food for her children.

"Food was really hard to find,” Adugk explained. “My children suffered a lot with no food, and they faced a lot of difficulty. During that time, I had to work so I can help my family by gathering and selling firewood and making local alcohol to earn money,” she added. Adugk relied on her resourcefulness, recalling her past livelihood of selling firewood to get water and sustain her family's needs, she said: "Before, I used to sell firewood to buy jerrycans for water. Now, Oxfam has provided us with jerrycans and soap, easing the burden of daily survival." Many refugees have lacked such basic essentials for years.

For survival amidst the many challenges they face, some refugees vandalize latrines and sell the corrugated metal sheets used for the construction of the latrines to meet their other critical needs, such as access to food following the reduced food rations in the camps. To curb this practice, Oxfam – with funding from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund – is working with refugees to use a different approach to build the latrines that ensures no theft of materials.

“Now, with the help from Oxfam, I have built my own latrine. They provided cement and slabs, which enabled me to construct it. This has not been vandalized", said Adugk. The absence of proper sanitation facilities was a big challenge for Adugk and many refugees in Gambella. "We used to go outside to use the toilet”, she explained, adding: “When we go out into the bushes at night, we worry that something bad will happen, especially to my children. It's risky to go out for the toilet at night”. Adugk is grateful that now with self-built latrine close to her own home, there is dignity, and she does not have to worry about the safety of her family, as well as sanitation issues.

Pinyudo refugee camp is home to more than 51,000 people. Oxfam in Ethiopia is providing essential items such as jerrycans, soaps, and dignity kits to more than 5,500 refugees across Pinyudo, with distribution continuing. Additionally, initiatives such as latrine construction and water treatment have been implemented, ensuring access to safe and hygienic facilities for all.

Despite the strides made in enhancing living conditions, Adugk acknowledges the persistent challenges she faces as a person with a disability. "I face discrimination because of my disability," she laments, highlighting the ongoing barriers to full inclusion and participation within the community. Nevertheless, Adugk remains undeterred, steadfast in her resolve to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother and provider for her children.

As Adugk reflects on her journey and the uncertainties that lie ahead, her aspirations remain simple yet profound. "The only change I need is for my children to get a better education," she says. With education as her beacon of hope, Adugk envisions a path towards peace and stability, both for herself and her community.

This initiative is part of a greater support provided by Oxfam as a result of a £125,000 funding boost from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund.

The funding, announced at the beginning of March 2024, has enabled Oxfam to begin upgrading and repairing the existing water supply systems and support community-led sanitation initiatives. This includes building 100 new latrines and distributing vital supplies, such as 300 menstrual hygiene kits and 500 ‘WASH’ kits which are made up of two jerrycans and five bars of soap each.