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Call centre agents handling calls from the community, centre located in Hargiesa, Somaliland. Photo by Abdiaziz Adani/Oxfam

Locally led COVID-19 call centre connects patients and doctors in Somaliland

Somaliland confirmed the first case of coronavirus in April 2020. While the country has taken certain precautions to curb the spread of the virus by closing schools and banning flights, the number is increasing each day, community acceptance is very low, and people are still following their normal...

South Sudanese women demand justice for an 8-year-old rape victim

Following the gang-rape of an 8-year-old girl in Juba, South Sudan, young women activists took to the streets to protest and to demand justice. They marched (while physically distancing, wearing facial masks and hand gloves) and carried placards and posters with messages and strong quotes against...

Millions hit by floods, locusts, and coronavirus require massive social safety nets

Millions of people in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) region are at risk of increased hunger and poverty due to the triple threat of floods, locusts and coronavirus. There is an urgent need for increased safety nets, especially cash grants, to help people survive. The floods and the next...

L’insécurité menace la préparation et la réponse au COVID-19 dans l’est de la RDC

La maitrise de la propagation du COVID-19 nécessite un accès adéquat à l’eau, une sensibilisation de la communauté et le respect des mesures de santé publique telles que l’éloignement social. En Ituri, dans l’est de la RDC, il y a eu 2 cas confirmés de COVID-19. Mais l’activisme des groupes armés-...

Témoignage de Jeanne* sur l’impact de COVID-19 pour les femmes travaillant dans le secteur informel

Le COVID-19 a un impact profond sur les femmes travaillant dans le secteur informel—y compris les travailleurs domestiques, les vendeurs du marché, et propriétaires de petites entreprises. Pour ces femmes, c’est souvent impossible de gagner un revenu sans proximité physique avec leurs clients. Le...

The economic impact of coronavirus in Rwanda: Insights from Oxfam supported Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

The COVID-19 pandemic characterized by airports and border closures as well as lockdowns, has already become an economic and labour market shock, impacting not only supply but also demand. In Rwanda, the implementation of lockdown measures has placed a major distress on the country’s food value-...

Fears of DRC’s 5.1 million IDPs over coronavirus outbreak in camps

DRC has the most number of coronavirus cases in the Horn East and Central Africa (HECA) region. The Forum of National Humanitarian and Development Organizations in DRC (FONAHD-RDC) is a network dedicated to building the capacities of its 98 member organizations and to supporting joint advocacy on...

A worker produces face masks at the Kitui County Textile Center in Kitui, Kenya, which was converted to produce masks. Photo by Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images. Source: Washington Post.

Three lessons Africa must learn from the coronavirus pandemic

If there’s anything that’s been affirmed with the coronavirus pandemic it’s that the African continent needs to take this as a wakeup call; for governments to shift their focus to the foundation of what should hold our countries together - our people, our systems and our structures. Here are some...

The economic aftershock of coronavirus hits hard the Horn, East and Central Africa

Coronavirus has stretched the public health systems of even the world’s richest countries beyond their limits. But the economic fall-out from governments’ efforts to contain the virus raise even greater alarm. New Oxfam research says that over half a billion more people globally could be pushed to...

International Women’s Day at Oxfam – in video

Over the last decades, women in many countries have managed to secure labour rights and protection from violence, access to sexual and reproductive health, and political rights to reach the highest positions of leadership. Despite some progress, there is consensus that real change has been slow for...

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