Oxfam Warns Global Funding for El Niño Humanitarian Response Is Critically Insufficient

Global funding dedicated to preparing for and responding to the current El Niño weather phenomenon is critically insufficient, international aid organization Oxfam warned on Thursday, as the climate pattern drives wildfires, droughts, and food insecurity worldwide. Scientists project the ongoing event could become the strongest on record, with its intensity expected to peak between now and April next year.

According to Oxfam, total global funding for El Niño humanitarian preparation and response stands at $450 million. The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has allocated up to $100 million, disbursing $20 million across six nations so far. The remaining $350 million is largely dependent on appeals, with less than 20 percent pledged to date. By comparison, during the 2015–2016 El Niño event, which affected more than 60 million people, an international collective appeal raised nearly $2 billion of a $5 billion target.

While warnings were raised at the UN General Assembly by Secretary-General António Guterres alongside leaders from countries including Vanuatu, India, and Barbados, these statements have not yet resulted in a dedicated UN resolution on El Niño, Oxfam stated.

The organization highlighted mounting regional impacts linked to the climate pattern:

• Eastern and Southern Africa: An estimated 62 million people are facing deteriorating food insecurity due to floods and drought, with famine risks flagged in Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia. Declining water levels are affecting nearly 80 percent of monitored water points across the Sahel.
• Asia and the Pacific: Severe rain deficits have triggered droughts, water shortages, and heightened wildfire risks in countries including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, and Sri Lanka.
• Latin America: Approximately 16 million additional people are projected to face food insecurity. An Oxfam assessment across Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador reported maize harvest losses of 75 to 100 percent for nearly four in five surveyed farming households.
• Southwest Asia and North Africa: More than 8 million people across Syria and Palestine are facing acute food insecurity, alongside recurring droughts in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

In response to the escalating conditions, Oxfam reported it is adjusting operations across vulnerable regions, implementing water conservation projects, early warning systems, and cash transfers in countries including the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Kenya, and across Central America.

Oxfam is urging donor governments to scale up humanitarian financing immediately, direct investments toward climate adaptation and water security, and cancel unsustainable debts in vulnerable nations to bolster local disaster response capacity.

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