Cyclone Pam – Vanuatu

You can support Oxfam's response to humanitarian crises in Vanuatu by donating online or by calling 1-800-466-9326.

The Situation

• Tropical Cyclone Pam directly impacted the central and southern regions of Vanuatu, including the nation’s capital Port Vila on the island of Efate.
• The National Disaster Managment Office (NDMO) reports that 166,000 people on 22 islands, two-thirds of Vanuatu’s population, have been affected by Cyclone Pam.
• Approximately 110,000 people are in need of clean drinking water and 75,000 people are in need of emergency shelter.
• An estimated 82,000 children are directly impacted across Vanuatu.
• Cyclone Pam has severely compromised the livelihoods of at least 80 per cent of Vanuatu’s rural population.
• 60% of people in Tafea and Shefa provinces are estimated to be in need of safe drinking water
• 11 people are confirmed dead.

We urgently need your help to reach those most affected with emergency relief. Clean water, hygiene kits and shelter will be critical to save lives in the wake of this disaster.

Please make a donation to help get emergency relief to those most affected by Cyclone Pam.

What Oxfam is doing

Oxfam is on the ground in Vanuatu. Together with partners, Oxfam is bringing clean, life-saving water and essential hygiene items to thousands of people in Vanuatu. Oxfam’s response also includes emergency livelihood support with strong gender and protection components.

Oxfam has reached at least 24,910 people (12,477 men, 12,433 women) in more than 60 communities on four islands — Efate, Epi Ambrym and Emae — since Tropical Cyclone Pam struck on 13 March 2015. This is 13.3% of the total population affected by Tropical Cyclone Pam. In addition to this, we are supporting local partners who are also working on Tanna and Paama islands.

• Oxfam has trucked clean water that will help prevent the outbreak of disease to more than 3000 people on the Island of Efate in partnership with Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office.
• Oxfam has distributed hygiene kits to communities in Efate and Ambrym islands. These kits provide essential items for families to maintain their health and hygiene in very difficult circumstances.
• Oxfam continues to escalate its water and sanitation response
• While Vanuatu has borne the brunt of damage wrought by Cyclone Pam, other Pacific island countries have been severely affected as well. Oxfam is working directly with the National Disaster Coordination Committee in Tuvalu to support the emergency response in Tuvalu.

Support Oxfam's response to the humanitarian crisis in Vanuatu by donating online or by calling 1-800-466-9326.

Update on humanitarian crises in Vanuatu:

• 65,800 litres of clean water delivered to 3,474 beneficiaries through water trucking activities on Efate Island.
• 13,809 people accessing clean water through water system rehabilitation.
• 20,928 people on Efate and Ambrym Islands receiving hygiene kits.
• 3,406 people have learned good hygiene practices through watching a theatrical performance by Oxfam’s partner Wan Smol Bag.
• At least 700 people across ten communities—including two schools and a dispensary—provided with large-scale gravity-fed water supply system reconstruction.
• 10,000 people attended hygiene awareness sessions and received information, education and communication (IEC) materials.
• Eight one-week-long community-based Water Safety and Security Planning sessions completed on Efate, Epiand Emae islands.

To learn more about Oxfam's work on the ground, please read complete 6-month update hereOpens in a new window.
Previous update:

Updated October 1, 2015