Aid provider Oxfam plans exit from 18 countries
LONDON – The decision by Oxfam International to close operations in 18 countries in response to the devastating financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic was met with shock and sadness Thursday across developing countries where the aid organization has often been helping the needy for decades.
Oxfam, which currently operates in 66 countries and whose global work is coordinated via 20 affiliate offices around the world, said in a statement late Wednesday that it has had to accelerate and deepen changes that it was mulling as a result of the pandemic.
“We’ve been planning this for some time but we are now accelerating key decisions in light of the effects of the global pandemic,” said Oxfam International’s interim executive director, Chema Vera.
The most notable changes involve its exit from countries around the world. Among those it is planning to leave are Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Rwanda and Sri Lanka. It said 1,450 out of nearly 5,000 program staff could lose their jobs and that there will be an impact on 700 of its nearly 1,900 partner organizations.
In Liberia, in West Africa, for example, Oxfam has been present since 1995 and has been helping local partners increase access to essential services like safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Bobby Whitfield, chairman and CEO of Liberia’s National Water Sanitation and Hygiene Commission, said in a statement that Oxfam’s decision to leave the country must have been “tough” but that it had come as a “shock.”
“Water, sanitation and hygiene are at the heart of this fight against COVID-19,” he said. “So it must be at the center of our response. To see one of our partners closing down their operations when we need them most is truly devastating.”
And in nearby Sierra Leone, the country’s minister of development and economic planning, Dr. Francis Kaikai, said it was “unfortunate” that Oxfam, which has been working in the country since 1998, has had to leave, though he had yet to receive formal notification.
“We will feel it because they had their own niche in our development efforts,” he said. “Any partner we lose which is involved in our development plans, especially in the current global pandemic, is something of significance to the government.”
Oxfam insisted that the changes will be phased and that its departure does not necessarily mean the end of its involvement in those countries. It said it will continue to advise local aid agencies and could launch fundraising events where and when needed.