Press releases

Today, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the implications of the Ukraine war on food security. In response, Hanna Saarinen, Oxfam EU food expert said:  “EU leaders must learn from this moment. Only by taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, can they avoid copy-pasting the same policies which led to the food price crisis of 2007-2008, and which have led to the one the world faces today.  

Oxfam today urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to extend the current truce to help avert catastrophic hunger and prevent the humanitarian crisis spiralling in Yemen. The two-month truce which is due to end on 2 June, has brought hope to the country after seven years of conflict.

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. “Profiting from Pain” is published as the World Economic Forum — the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos — takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes. 

Tomorrow, European development ministers are meeting to discuss how the Ukraine war impacts food security in the world. Ahead of this, Oxfam is calling on the EU to step up and address global hunger crises mushrooming across the world.  

Today, the European Parliament voted through a non-binding report on the European Commission’s proposal to implement the deal on a global minimum tax at the EU level. EU Finance Ministers are expected to vote on a final agreement next Tuesday, 24 May. 

One person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to estimates by Oxfam and Save the Children in a report published today highlighting the world’s repeated failure to stave off preventable disasters. 

Up to a quarter of a billion people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis and the crisis in Ukraine. Global inequality threatens to rise massively unless more is done to effectively address this situation.
 

In response to the first flight from Sana'a airport in Yemen this week, the Oxfam in Yemen country director, Ferran Puig, said: “The re-opening of Sana’a airport is a positive step that restores hope for an end to the suffering of millions of Yemenis after seven harrowing years of conflict."

In response to the commitments made at President Biden’s Second COVID-19 Summit today, especially the licensing of publicly owned medical technologies, such as the stabilized spike protein for use by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) through the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), Robbie Silverman, Oxfam America’s Senior Manager of Private Sector Advocacy, made the following statement:

World leaders have not done enough to achieve their goal of vaccinating 70% of people in each country by September, campaigners with the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned ahead of the second virtual summit on COVID-19 hosted by US President Biden along with Belize, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal. The World Health Organization’s target of reaching 70% by mid-year is even further out of reach.