Assistance for survivors of India floods

The Humanitarian Coalition announced that Oxfam Canada will use $275,000 from the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund (CHAF) to help people recover from flooding in India.

The need

Battling floods since November 8, 2015, several districts in the state of Chennai, India were overwhelmed when heavy sustained rain fell from November 28 to December 2. Then, more rain on December 6 exacerbated the situation in numerous districts. The floods have killed more than 300 and affected over 2 million people. Within these affected communities, women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and/or who are socially excluded are the most vulnerable as they have less contingency resources to draw on for support. In the initial days of the emergency, the most significant impact was felt around availability of food and access to safe water and sanitation facilities. Now, the most significant need is for shelter.

The response

Oxfam Canada is providing WASH and emergency shelter, but there is a critical lack of cash and resources to meet daily needs, to rebuild shelter and restart livelihoods. As such, Oxfam Canada will support  1,100 families with shelter-related items (e.g. tarpaulins, groundsheets, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, etc.) and assist the 300 most vulnerable households with unconditional cash transfers of INR 10,000 (approximately CAD $210) per beneficiary.

Thanks to the CHAF, Oxfam Canada will be able to provide support to 6,600 people.

The funds for this response are broken down as follows:

·         $206,250 from Global Affairs Canada

·         $27,500 from the Humanitarian Coalition

·         $41,250 from Oxfam Canada

More information on the response.

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For media inquiries, contact us at 613-239-2154 or media at humanitariancoalition dot ca


The Humanitarian Coalition (HC) brings together leading aid organizations to provide Canadians with a simple and effective way to donate during large-scale humanitarian emergencies. The HC also partners with Global Affairs Canada to enable its member agencies to respond to lesser-known small and medium-scale disasters.