Contact: Tricia O'Rourke, Media Officer - Essential Services, Oxfam International, +44 (0) 7989 965359 cell

MEDIA ADVISORY, April 11 /Standard Newswire/ -- Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice. Within Oxfam International, Oxfam Australia is the lead affiliate for disaster response in the Pacific, and also manages the Solomon Islands office on behalf of Oxfam Australia and Oxfam New Zealand.

Agency Capacity Statement

Permanent staff in country:

10, including a Disaster Management Officer

Staff in head office:

Relevant Pacific & emergency staff Oxfam Australia (4)

Relevant Pacific & emergency staff Oxfam New Zealand (2)

Deployable emergency technical staff:

4 in Oxfam Australia, and access to Humanitarian Relief Register (132 humanitarian relief specialists)

Other support

Staff in logistics, finance, administration, media and humanitarian advocacy.

Oxfam has managed various disaster responses in the Solomon Islands in recent years, including to food shortages and cyclone affected areas.

Activities and plans

Deployments to date:

1.      Oxfam's Disaster Management Officer, Rex Tara led initial NDMO & other agency assessment from 2 April

2.      Pacific Emergencies Coordinator to Honiara, coordinating Oxfam response from Honiara

3.      On-site technical team (Team Leader, Water & Sanitation Specialist x 2, Public Health & Gender Specialist, Shelter Specialist and logistician)

Funding available for Solomons response and rehabilitation:

SBD$2 million+ (includes funding from AusAID and NZAID)

Area of concentration: Gizo, including Gizo town and southwest coast

People reached: 3,000 with 1,200 in and around Gizo and 1,500-1,700 on southwest coast

Activities

Supply of drinking water

• Supplement ongoing distribution of drinking water to camps

• Oxfam capable of upscaling capacity as needed with bulk storage and bulk delivery to camps

• Working closely with Save the Children

• Support RWSS and Dept of Public Works in supplying water to camps

Sanitation

• Main focus for Oxfam

• Water provision to camps in support of sanitation activities

• Construction of sanitation facilities (toilets, hand-washing facilities)

• Focus on camps, but materials also provided to Munda hospital

• Providing technical support and advice to RWSS, including provision of materials for latrine construction

Hygiene promotion

• Community mobilization with UNICEF, SAVE and MoH team (young people, community leaders) to pass on messages

• Development of hygiene promotion materials, and training and delivery of hygiene promotion messages

• Link with public health campaigns (eg measles) and messages around sexual health, trauma counseling and HIV AIDS

Shelter

• Shelter surveying of camps ongoing

• Strengthening of existing shelter followed by upgrading to transitional shelter

• Support the construction of longer-term transitional camps

• Planning to conduct more thorough assessments of destroyed/damaged houses and buildings (government staff housing hard hit)

• Facilitating access to materials for rebuilding homes

• Encourage coordination of shelter-related activities, through support to provincial government

Livelihoods

• Planning to conduct livelihoods assessments