April, 20 2015, 07:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Phone,+1 617 482 1211 (Toll-free 1-800-77-OXFAM),Email,info@oxfamamerica.org
Oxfam Condemns Coalition Bombing of a Warehouse Containing Vital Humanitarian Aid
Yesterday's events demonstrate again that all Parties to this conflict are adding to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation on the ground. All parties must now find a negotiated peace and allow for humanitarian access.
LONDON
Oxfam has vehemently condemned yesterday's Coalition airstrike on one of its storage facilities in Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.
Grace Ommer, Oxfam's country director in Yemen said: "This is an absolute outrage particularly when one considers that we have shared detailed information with the Coalition on the locations of our offices and storage facilities. The contents of the warehouse had no military value. It only contained humanitarian supplies associated with our previous work in Saada, bringing clean water to thousands of households. Thankfully, no one was killed in this particular airstrike although conservative estimates put the death toll in the country as a whole, since the conflict began, at around 760 - the majority of which are civilians."
Oxfam has been working in the northern governorate of Saada for several years, building water networks to bring clean water to 70,000 people in rural communities through the generous support of the European Union and Swiss Government. Before the escalation in violence, 10 million people were without access to clean water across the country..
Ommer added: "Yesterday's events demonstrate again that all Parties to this conflict are adding to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation on the ground. All parties must now find a negotiated peace and allow for humanitarian access."
Oxfam International is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice. We are working across regions in about 70 countries, with thousands of partners, and allies, supporting communities to build better lives for themselves, grow resilience and protect lives and livelihoods also in times of crisis.
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