Press releases

In reaction to the UN Security Council's renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSU) today, Oxfam welcomed the decision but warned of the continued suffering of over 170,000 Sahrawi refugees in Algeria as the conflict marks its 45th year this October.

Poor countries have lost out on $5.7 trillion in aid over the last 50 years - equivalent to $114 billion a year - because rich countries have reneged on their “solemn promise” to deliver 0.7 percent of their national income in international aid, a new Oxfam report revealed today.

The new temporary camp on the Greek island of Lesbos is even worse than the original Moria camp, with inadequate shelter, hardly any running water, limited healthcare services, and no access to legal aid, said the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam in their latest ‘Lesbos Bulletin’ news update.

The true value of money provided by developed countries to help developing nations respond to the climate crisis may be just a third of the amount reported, according to Oxfam estimates published today.

"The failure to cancel debt payments will only delay the tsunami of debt that will engulf many of the world’s poorest countries, leaving them unable to afford the investment in healthcare and social safety nets so desperately needed", said Jaime Atienza, Oxfam International's Debt Policy Lead, in reaction to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.

The threat of “COVID famines” and widespread extreme hunger are setting off every alarm bell within the international community, but so far sluggish funding of the UN's appeal is hampering humanitarian agencies’ efforts to deliver urgent assistance to people in need.

84 percent of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) COVID-19 loans encourage, and in some cases require, poor countries hard hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic to adopt more tough austerity measures in the aftermath of the health crisis, warned Oxfam today.

Oxfam congratulates the UN World Food Program for its Nobel Peace Prize. It is a timely and urgent recognition to the work that WFP does in fighting the scourge of global hunger. 

Very low spending on public healthcare, weak social safety nets and poor labor rights meant the majority of the world’s countries were woefully ill-equipped to deal with COVID-19, reveals new analysis from Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI) today.