The richest 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population, reveals a new Oxfam report. During the past decade, the richest 1 percent had captured around half of all new wealth. “Survival of the […]
Oxfam
Oxfam: Israel’s blockade of Gaza hits 15 years with no diplomatic resolution in sight
The United Nations and all other humanitarian actors have spent 15 years delivering humanitarian support to 2.1m Palestinians blockaded inside Gaza, and yet, there is still no sustained collective political action or will to resolve it. In those 15 years, the international community has spent an estimated $ 5.7 billion in Gaza just to help […]
Oxfam: A quarter of a billion more people could fall into extreme poverty this year due to Covid-19, rising inequality and Ukraine war
A quarter of a billion more people could be pushed into extreme poverty this year because of Covid-19, rising global inequality and food price rises supercharged by the war in Ukraine, a new Oxfam report warned today. First Crisis, then Catastrophe, published ahead of the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings next week (18-24 April), […]
COVID vaccines create 9 new billionaires with combined wealth greater than cost of vaccinating world’s poorest countries
At least nine people have become new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, thanks to the excessive profits pharmaceutical corporations with monopolies on COVID vaccines are making, The People’s Vaccine Alliance revealed today ahead of a G20 leaders Global Health Summit. Key members of the G20, who meet tomorrow, including the UK and […]
Oxfam reaction to US support for TRIPS waiver
In response to today’s announcement that the US Trade Representative is supporting waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, Abby Maxman, Oxfam America’s President and CEO, made the following statement: “President Biden and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai have recognized that Pharma’s ‘business as usual’ is killing us. In this moment of crisis, we applaud their willingness […]
Pharmaceutical giants shell out billions to shareholders as world confronts vaccine apartheid
Ahead of shareholder meetings for the giant pharmaceutical corporations, the People’s Vaccine Alliance calculates that Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have paid out $26 billion in dividends and stock buybacks to their shareholders in the past 12 months. This would be enough to pay to vaccinate at least 1.3 billion people, the equivalent of the […]
Former Heads of State and Nobel Laureates Call on President Biden to Waive Intellectual Property Rules for COVID Vaccines
April 14, 2021 – More than 170 former heads of state and government and Nobel laureates, including former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown, former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of France François Hollande and Nobel Laureates Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Francoise […]
Rich nations vaccinating one person every second while majority of the poorest nations are yet to give a single dose
March 10, 2021 – One year on from the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the People’s Vaccine Alliance is warning that developing countries are facing critical shortages of oxygen and medical supplies to cope with COVID-19 cases yet the majority have been unable to administer a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In contrast rich […]
Oxfam: Mega-Rich Recoup COVID-Losses In Record-Time Yet Billions Will Live In Poverty For At Least A Decade
The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their COVID-19 losses within just nine months, but it could take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, warned Oxfam report today, calling for the fight against inequality to be at the heart of economic rescue and […]
Campaigners warn that 9 out of 10 people in poor countries are set to miss out on COVID-19 vaccine next year
December 10, 2020 – Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in ten people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced, a group of campaigning organisations warned today, as the UK begins to rollout vaccinations. By […]
Pandemic Profiteers Exposed by Oxfam America
July 22, 2020 – While the United States faces the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression because of COVID-19, a subset of corporations is reaping dramatic profits that are flowing to their already wealthy, mostly white male shareholders, further exacerbating existing inequalities, according to a new analysis released by Oxfam today. InPandemic Profiteers Exposed, Oxfam […]
More than 80 millionaires call for higher taxes on the richest to help COVID-19 global recovery
July 14, 2020 – A group of 83 millionaires from seven countries released an open letter to governments today, calling for a permanent tax increase on the very wealthiest to help pay for the global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The letter praises the essential workers who have been on the frontline of the crisis and highlights the role […]
Efforts to forge a global ceasefire fail, as key local peacebrokers are sidelined, says Oxfam
May 13, 2020 – The international community has thoroughly failed to forge a global ceasefire in order to stop the coronavirus and save millions of lives, said Oxfam today. In its new report “Conflict in the time of Coronavirus,” Oxfam showed that despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for a global ceasefire, conflict has continued, […]
Rainy season threatens huge cholera spike in Yemen as conflict hampers efforts to address forgotten crisis
March 9, 2020 – Yemen is suffering a forgotten cholera crisis, Oxfam said today, as it warned the number of people there with the disease could spiral as the country approaches rainy season in April and health systems are close to collapse. The north is at greatest risk because of the scarcity of water there. […]
Water, food and shelter first priorities in communities devastated by Typhoon Phanfone
December 27, 2019 – Coastal communities hit by Typhoon Phanfone urgently need food, clean water and shelter, Oxfam warned today. Many of the communities were still recovering from the impacts of Typhoon Kammuri which hit the areas earlier this month. Typhoon Phanfone (known locally as Ursula) made landfall seven times between 24 and 25 December […]
Poorest people get less than 1 cent per day to protect themselves from impacts of climate crisis
September 23, 2019 – People living in the poorest countries receive around $3 per year – less than one cent per day – to protect themselves from the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, Oxfam estimates in a new report today ahead of the Climate Action Summit in New York. The report highlights how people in Mozambique […]
Major spike in Yemen cholera cases likely as agencies struggle to reach infected people – Oxfam
April 18, 2019 – Fears that the world’s worst cholera outbreak could be set for a massive resurgence are growing as aid agencies in Yemen are struggling to reach almost 40,000 people suspected to have the disease, Oxfam warned today. Fighting and restraints on access – including checkpoints and permit requirements imposed by the warring […]
Last year, billionaires saw their wealth grow by $2.5 billion a day while the poorest saw their wealth fall
Jan. 21, 2019 – Billionaire fortunes increased by 12 percent last year—or $2.5 billion a day—while the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity saw their wealth decline by 11 percent. The research also includes that the number of billionaires has nearly doubled since the financial crisis, yet wealthy individuals and […]
Oxfam forced to suspend Ebola response in DR Congo following pre-election violence
December 28, 2018 – Oxfam has been forced to suspend its work in the Ebola ravaged areas of Beni and Butembo, due to violent protests following the announcement that people in these areas won’t be able to cast their votes for a new president, when the rest of country goes to the polls this Sunday. […]
Oxfam ready to respond after tsunami in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait
December 23, 2018 – Oxfam is getting ready to respond to tsunami-affected communities in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait following a tsunami that struck islands in the Strait last night. Coastal communities in small islands in the Sundra Strait are believed to be among the worst hit from the tsunami, with Indonesia’s national disaster management authority saying […]