What exactly happens when disaster strikes, and how does Oxfam respond so quickly?

Did you know that Oxfam is currently doing emergency work in over 40 countries? Or that Oxfam runs development projects in more than 80 countries. These are just a couple of the surprising facts that you will find in this essential step-by-step guide to Oxfam's emergency work, from the moment disaster strikes, to the long process of helping people get their lives back in order.

Emergency

Oxfam makes the decision to launch an emergency response whenever lives, health, and livelihoods are threatened as a result of natural disasters or armed conflict. In any emergency, our primary goal is to reduce the incidence of death and sickness. Natural disasters which strike overnight, like floods or earthquakes, often make the headlines. Other emergencies, such as those caused by armed conflict and drought, usually build up over time. These may be less sensational, but no less devastating for the victims. That's why Oxfam doesn't respond only to the most newsworthy emergencies: in 1999/00 our emergencies program was active in 41 countries.

Early hours

In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, Oxfam needs to know as much as possible about the situation, in order to determine how it can best respond. Because we run development projects in more than 80 countries, we have the expert knowledge and local staff to enable us to react rapidly and effectively. When a crisis occurs in a country where we work, local staff, partner organizations, other NGOs, and country governments send regular reports to staff in Oxfam GB's headquarters, who plan a response. Meanwhile, locally held stocks of food and shelter are immediately made available to those most in need.

Within days, experienced emergency staff arrive on the scene to assess the needs of affected communities, so that Oxfam staff both locally and around the world, together with partners organizations, can organize the necessary relief work.

Fundraising

Emergency work is very expensive. That is why donations from the public are vital. The amount spent on emergency work was more than Oxfam usually spends on its work in India in a whole year. When disaster strikes, Oxfam needs to respond without delay. Because it takes time for donations to arrive, we have a reserve of money, called the Catastrophe Fund, so that work can start immediately.

Ready to go

Oxfam's emergency response is managed centrally by the Humanitarian Department, based in Oxford, GB. When a crisis erupts, we have a pool of specialist staff and a store of life-saving equipment, which can be sent anywhere in the world within days. At any time, about 30 Humanitarian Support Personnel (HSPs) are on call, or at work in emergencies, co-ordinating the programmes and sharing their expertise in health care, nutrition, water supply, and sanitation with local people.

In Action

In the four main areas of emergency response in which we work, Oxfam adheres to SPHERE standards; a set of universal minimum standards for humanitarian organizations which provide water and sanitation, nutrition, food aid, shelter, and health care in emergencies. The SPHERE guidelines were drawn up by Oxfam and other NGOs in 1997, to improve the quality of humanitarian aid provided to people affected by disasters, and to make relief agencies more accountable. Oxfam’s main aims in any emergency situation are:

+Health promotion: Teaching people about health and hygiene is a vital part of Oxfam's work in an emergency. For example, simply showing a mother how to make an oral-rehydration solution, (a cheap, but effective treatment for diarrhea) could save the life of her sick child.
+Non-food items: In many emergencies, people are forced from their homes without time to gather any possessions. As well as water and food, they urgently need shelter, clothes, and cleaning and cooking materials.
+Water and sanitation: People need clean water and proper sanitation urgently in an emergency. So providing equipment that is quick and easy to assemble is a priority for Oxfam.
+Access to food: An emergency is made more serious if people, for whatever reason, don’t have enough food to stay healthy and active. The short term answer may be to provide them with food, to prevent the life-threatening risk of malnutrition. The minimum requirement is 2,100 kilocalories per day per person, of which 17% should be fat and 20% protein.

Longer term solutions require different interventions ? providing communities with seeds and tools, or vaccinations and fodder to keep livestock alive during the worst months, helping people improve soil quality and maintain irrigation systems, or supporting them in finding alternative employment.

+Teamwork: Team work is essential in running an effective emergency program. Oxfam succeeds in emergencies because it works alongside other Oxfam’s (collectively known as Oxfam international), relief agencies, partner organizations, governments, and local people to ensure that aid reaches those in need as soon as possible.
+Afterwards: Just because a crisis is over, it doesn't mean that Oxfam's work is finished too. Wherever possible, Oxfam stays on after an emergency, to offer communities the long-term help that they need to recover. Rehabilitation program include distributing seeds and tools to help people to replant lost crops and restart their businesses, and cash-for-work reconstruction schemes, to provide people with an income while they rebuild their homes and communities. Oxfam also helps people to lobby their local and national governments to provide compensation and support after an emergency.
+Local Products: Apart from its specially designed equipment, whenever possible Oxfam tries to find local sources for most of the essential items that it needs in an emergency. Often, it is far more cost-effective to buy clothes and blankets in the country where a disaster has taken place, rather than flying them in from the UK. And in many instances, clothes and food from the UK are not nutritionally or culturally suitable for use in other countries. Buying locally also puts much-needed cash into the local economy at a critical time.