Press releases

The news that the Sanofi/GSK vaccine will not be ready until the end of 2021 is a bitter blow for poorer nations. Sanofi-GSK was set to provide nearly one third of COVAX doses – the global vaccine purchasing facility upon which many of the poorest countries depend. 

Today’s proclamation by United States President Donald Trump asserting the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara undermines ongoing UN led peace processes and denies the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people.

Over 50 million people are in need of immediate food assistance in the Horn East and Central Africa, with numbers expected to rise significantly as the region braces for harsh, climate fuelled La Niña conditions, said Oxfam today. The warning comes as world leaders prepare to meet for a virtual Climate Ambition Summit.   

Commenting at the close of the EU council meeting where leaders agreed on a new EU 2030 climate target and discussed the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Evelien van Roemburg, head of Oxfam’s EU advocacy office said: "The new, more ambitious, EU 2030 target still falls short of what is needed and what is fair. The EU must take urgent practical steps to deliver above and beyond this target."

Oxfam reports every six months against its Safeguarding and Culture Improvement Plan. The latest report covering the period April to Sept 2020 is published today.

The United Nations Environment Programme's 20202 report shows that the over-consumption of a wealthy minority is fuelling the climate crisis, yet it is poor communities and young people who are paying the price.

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.

EU emissions reductions since 1990 resulted from a fall in the emissions of lower- and middle-income Europeans, while the emissions of the richest 10% of Europeans grew, Oxfam reveals in new analysis today.  

In response to the UN recently launched Global Humanitarian Overview, estimating some 235 million people across the globe will be in need of life-saving support in 2021, Oxfam and 6 aid agencies said it is vital that they have unhindered access to those most in need and humanitarian appeals are fully funded. 

In response to the onslaught of super Typhoon Goni, which hit the Philippines earlier this month and left hundreds of thousands without a home, Oxfam together with international and local partners is supporting 49,000 people in the hardest-hit areas of the Bicol region with lifesaving aid.