Press releases

This statement was read by Shane Stevenson, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen, on behalf of Oxfam and 21 other international NGOs currently working in Yemen.

INGOs are delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance to millions of vulnerable Yemenis, despite the complex and serious nature of the security situation and sustained bureaucratic access constraints.

Three years of war in Yemen: over 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes, the world’s largest cholera outbreak on record, and the country is teetering on the brink of famine. The world cannot continue to turn a blind eye to Yemen’s suffering.

Today's digital tax proposal could help bring EU tax rules into the 21st century, by updating them to the digital economy. However, the European Commission's short-term proposal will not stop tax dodging by big tech firms, and could delay the much-needed global long-term solution. 

Zainab Bangura, a former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, and Katherine Sierra, a former Vice-President of the World Bank, will co-chair an Independent Commission on Sexual Misconduct, Accountability and Culture Change.

With a growing EU gray list of tax havens, the EU must make sure countries follow up on their commitments, or else blacklist them, Oxfam said.

The Swedish development agency Sida has announced their decision to go ahead with a new three year humanitarian partnership with Oxfam. The €10.2 million partnership arrangement will ensure over 280,000 people in more than five countries will receive critical humanitarian aid. 

The European Council has started to publish the commitments taken by countries to escape the EU blacklist of tax havens. Governments must now pressure all tax havens on the EU's grey list to make their commitments public, and the EU must ensure tax havens implement the reforms they have promised, or else blacklist them.

It is very good news that the European Commission seems ready to finally tackle harmful tax competition inside the European Union, Oxfam said in reaction to a report criticising seven EU member states for their aggressive tax policies. The organisation also welcomed the increased pressure on tax havens greylisted by the EU to make their reform commitments public.

As the two-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal nears on March 18, 2018, thousands of asylum seekers are trapped on the Aegean islands in deplorable conditions and without access to adequate protection and basic services, nine humans rights and humanitarian organisations including Oxfam said today.The Greek government should act immediately to end the containment policy that traps asylum seekers in these conditions on the islands and move them to safety on the mainland.

 

Billionaire fortunes have risen six times faster than the wages of ordinary workers since 2010. Our failing economies are enriching a wealth minority while millions of ordinary workers are struggling to survive on poverty pay.