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Oxfam responds to mass forced displacement in Lebanon and ready to respond to wider regional crisis

Oxfam and partners are responding to the immediate needs of people who have been forcibly displaced by Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Lebanon, as the conflict across the region enters a dramatically new and dangerous phase.

Oxfam in Lebanon is scaling up its emergency response by supporting thousands of people across shelters in Mount Lebanon, the South, and the Bekaa, providing bedding kits, hygiene kits, menstrual hygiene management kits, and clean water. 

“This expansion of Israeli occupation and its bombing of Lebanon will devastate people across Lebanon who had not yet recovered from the last wave of violence, inflicting more trauma on an already traumatized population,” said Lebanon country director Bachir Ayoub. “Once again, families have been forced from their beds and their homes as Israel rained bombs down on their communities”.

There is grave concern about the scale and impact the conflict will have on tens of millions of people across the region, where almost 60 million already rely on humanitarian aid. The broader escalation in the region is triggering further mass forced displacement, placing additional strain on overstretched systems and pushing humanitarian conditions further towards catastrophe.

It will widen inequality gaps, intensify existing poverty and injustice, and limit the ability of humanitarian organisations to reach communities in need. 

“Global inaction has set the scene for this dangerous escalation,” said Ayoub. “The inability of the international community to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing violations of international law has led us to this point, where we again see hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon forced to flee in the march towards a wider regional war.”

Oxfam staff and partners are poised to respond with pre-positioned life-saving aid throughout the countries where the aid agency operates if the escalation is allowed to further spill out across the Middle East

In light of unlawful attacks by the United States and Israel and Iran’s retaliation, Oxfam demands that the international community reaffirm its commitment to international law. Rules governing the use of force must be applied equally, most of all the prohibition against the aggressive use of force enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The U.S, Israel, Iran and all parties to the conflict must immediately cease their attacks, de-escalate the chaos across the region and refrain from future actions that lead to yet another cycle of violence.

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Notes to editors: 

Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 indicates nearly 59.2 million people across the region require humanitarian assistance

Contact information:

For interviews please contact: [email protected]

REACTION: Oxfam urges New Zealand to oppose Middle East escalation and push for civilian protection.

Oxfam Aotearoa is deeply concerned by the escalation of military conflict across the Middle East and wider region. Oxfam calls on the New Zealand Government to take a firm stand in support of peace and International Humanitarian Law, pressing all parties to protect civilians and return to diplomatic negotiations.

As Oxfam America President Abby Maxman states:

“The United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran fall outside the narrow bounds of lawful self- defense, undermining the very rules-based order these governments claim to defend.

And the silence of many Western leaders in the face of these initial strikes is deeply alarming. Moments like this demand moral courage, not political calculation.”

Our humanitarian workers across the region are responding to urgent humanitarian needs wherever access is possible and until funds are available, in close coordination with our partners. However, humanitarian assistance alone cannot keep pace with the scale and speed of suffering generated by ongoing hostilities. Aid cannot substitute for political solutions. 

For this reason, Oxfam has joined a statement by 14 humanitarian organisations working in the region, calling for an immediate end to the military violence, protection of civilian populations, and a return to diplomatic talks with the goal of a lasting peace.

Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director Jason Myers has expressed solidarity with all communities affected by the conflict and called on the New Zealand Government to take a clear stance against military escalation:

“New Zealand has long stood for diplomacy, international law, and the protection of civilians. Our government must take a clear and principled stance against further military escalation in the Middle East, advocating for de-escalation, humanitarian protection, and a genuine path to peace”.

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz | Head of Communication, Media & Advocacy, Oxfam Aotearoa

Email: [email protected], Mobile: +64 (0)27 959 5555

Simon Watts Was Right About Pacific Climate Support at COP30. Now We Must Deliver.

At COP30 in Brazil, New Zealand has joined other higher-income countries in reaffirming their pledge to triple climate funding for lower-income countries by 2035. Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to make good on that promise to our Pacific neighbours.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told COP30: ‘In the Pacific, climate change is not a distant threat; it is a lived reality.’ Minister Watts went on to praise New Zealand’s international climate finance programme, saying: ‘we provide high-quality, grants-based, accessible, partner-responsive climate support, with over half going to adaptation action.’

But with funding for New Zealand’s international climate programme running out in December 2025, Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to explain how this promise will be delivered.

“Minister Watts is right, New Zealand provides high-quality funding for Pacific communities to adapt to the lived reality of climate change. Let’s keep up the good work.” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“Oxfam Aotearoa is glad to hear Minister Watts reaffirm New Zealand’s promise to stand with the Pacific by funding essential climate adaptation projects. With only a month to go until the current programme runs out, we look forward to a further announcement on how this promise will be funded.”

Notes for editors:

Oxfam Aotearoa’s recent report Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region shows the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since this support was increased from 2022.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]

COP30 falls short, offering a ‘spark of hope but far more heartbreak’ – Oxfam

In response to the outcome of COP30, Oxfam Brasil Executive Director Viviana Santiago said: 

“COP30 offered a spark of hope but far more heartbreak, as the ambition of global leaders continues to fall short of what is needed for a livable planet. People from the Global South arrived in Belém with hope, seeking real progress on adaptation and finance, but rich nations refused to provide crucial adaptation finance. This failure leaves the communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis exposed to the worst impacts and with few options for their survival. 

“The stark hypocrisy of the richest nations is heartbreaking: wealthy countries speak of phasing out fossil fuels even as they plan major oil and gas expansion. A truly just transition requires those who built their fortunes on fossil fuels to move first and fastest – and provide finance in the form of grants, not loans, so frontline communities can do the same. Instead, the poorest countries already in debt are being told to transition faster, with fewer funds.  

“The spark of hope lies in the proposed Belém Action Mechanism, which puts workers’ rights and justice at the center of the shift away fossil fuels. But without financing from rich countries, the just energy transition risks becoming stalled in many countries.   

“Our greatest strength lies in people power. No other COP agreement has ever emphasized human rights as strongly as this one. Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Quilombola communities, women land rights defenders and civil society across Brazil and around the world continue to demand true climate justice. Their voices are another reason for hope – and we will keep pressing governments, the fossil fuel industry, and the super-rich for financing and action until climate justice becomes reality.” 

Notes to editors

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

“Keep Up the Good Work” – Oxfam Aotearoa Calls on Government to Renew Climate Finance Commitment

As world leaders prepare to gather for global climate talks, Oxfam Aotearoa has launched a new report showing the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since the support was boosted from 2022.’

Oxfam in the Pacific’s Climate Justice Lead, Lote Rusaqoli, said:

“Aotearoa New Zealand has long been a leader on the global climate stage, setting the benchmark for other wealthy nations by providing all of its climate finance as grants and not loans – a move that has been incredibly beneficial for Pacific Islanders who continue to feel the worst of the climate crisis. As we approach 2026, we urge Aotearoa New Zealand to renew their climate finance commitments to help boost the Pacific’s resilience to disasters, tackle poverty, and reinforce its leadership on climate justice.”

Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director, Jason Myers, said:

“In 2021, the New Zealand government announced its biggest climate finance contribution to date. This has enabled communities all over the Pacific to maintain resilience in the face of the climate crisis. With no further funding for climate finance announced in the 2024 or 2025 budgets, critical projects have had to begin closing out. Keeping our promise to fund climate action has become urgent and the New Zealand government must act now to renew funding. Pacific livelihoods depend on it.”

Report author, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Climate Justice Lead, Nick Henry, said:

“New Zealand’s funding for climate action has benefited tens of thousands of people across the Pacific, but runs out at the end of next month. Our message to Government is simple: we need to keep up the good work.

New Zealand must keep our promise to help our Pacific neighbours, who have done nothing to cause the climate crisis, but are already feeling the worst of the effects.

Our report shows how New Zealand’s climate funding has generated enormous goodwill and positive relationships with governments and communities in the Pacific and beyond. If we continue the trend of ramping up funding for climate action, New Zealand could be on track to meet our fair share of the assistance promised to lower-income countries, including here in the Pacific.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

  • Full report: Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region link

  • The report includes new calculations, based on data published by MFAT, showing that New Zealand’s climate finance programme has exceeded its targets to deliver the majority of funding in the Pacific, with at least 50% supporting adaptation to climate change. The report analyses New Zealand’s climate finance since 2022 and shows that:

    • 59% of programme has been delivered in the Pacific.

    • 87% supports adaptation.

    •  57% has a significant gender-equality component.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Nick Henry, Climate Justice Lead, Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

Oxfam reacts to NZ government’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood

At the United Nations over the weekend, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced that New Zealand will not recognise Palestinian statehood. Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director Jason Myers said, “We are disappointed at our government’s inaction on this issue. Recognition of statehood is more than a symbolic gesture, it affirms the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, which is a fundamental human right.”

Oxfam insists that concrete steps must be taken toward an immediate and permanent ceasefire so that aid can freely flow into Gaza and to ensure the release of the hostages and illegally detained Palestinian prisoners.

Myers continued, “We call on the leaders of our country to push harder to broker a lasting and just peace that ensures security and prosperity for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

Contact information:

For more information, please contact [email protected]