Press releases

In reaction to the publicaiton today of the FAO’s “State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World 2023” report, stating that up to 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, and that 600 million persons will be chronically undernourished in 2030, Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam International Food Policy Lead said:  “It is unforgivable for governments to watch millions of people going hungry in a world of plenty, as they put the interests of mega-rich agribusinesses and energy companies before those of the most vulnerable people and widen the inequality gap.  

Oxfam welcomes today’s Open Debate on the UN’s 2023 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, which highlights the urgent need for all parties involved in armed conflicts to respect their international obligations and to prioritize the protection of children. 

722 of the world’s biggest corporations together raked in over $1 trillion in windfall profits each year for the past two years amid soaring prices and interest rates, while billions of people are having to cut back or go hungry. 

Responding to the attack that took place in Kramatorsk on the evening of Thursday 27 June which resulted in the killing of at least 11 people, including three children, and a continuing search for survivors, Nicola Bay, Organizational Lead for Oxfam’s Ukraine response said: “Oxfam strongly condemns this attack. Innocent civilians, including children, should not pay the price for this war." 
 

Patients living in poverty in the Global South are being bankrupted by private healthcare corporations backed by multi-million-dollar investments from development finance institutions (DFIs) run by the UK, French, German and other rich country governments. DFIs like the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) invest public funds via the private sector to help foster economic development in the Global South and tackle poverty. However, Oxfam published two investigations on DFI funding into private hospital chains and other for-profit healthcare corporations operating in low- and middle-income countries and found cases of them.   

Today, the European Commission presented its proposal for new sources of revenue for the EU’s budget.  

Reacting to donor pledges made at the Brussels conference on Syria today, Oxfam in Syria Country Director, Moutaz Adham, said: “While we welcome these donor pledges, they are modest.

A group of economists, activists, politicians and millionaires from seven countries across Europe today registered a ‘European Citizens’ Initiative’ (ECI) calling on the European Union (EU) to adopt a permanent annual wealth tax on Europe’s biggest fortunes to raise revenue to reduce poverty and inequality both at home and in poorer countries, and to tackle the climate crisis.

After years of deadlock, EU justice and home affair ministers will seek to reach an agreement this week on two key files: the border procedure which includes the potential detention of children, and the solidarity mechanism which puts relocations on equal footing with financial contributions.   

As global greenhouse emissions continue to rise, and climate change wreaks more havoc upon the people and places least responsible for the problem, rich polluting countries are now three years overdue on their promise to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance for low- and middle-income countries.