In reaction to the coronavirus pandemic reaching 1 million confirmed cases, Oxfam interim Executive Director Chema Vera, said today: "This is a grim milestone that must spur the international community to take immediate action. We must tackle this pandemic with single-minded determination, and as one."
Former UN Human Rights Commissioner and Irish President, Mary Robinson, a vocal advocate for a People’s Vaccine has joined calls of 174 former world leaders and Nobel laureates for a patent waiver at the international level. This was prompted by news that US President Biden is considering supporting a proposal at the WTO that would temporarily suspend Covid-19 vaccine patents.
Oxfam today publishes its regular six-month update (to March 2021) of its Safeguarding and Culture Improvement Plan that it set up two years ago. The headlines include a new governance structure, that begins July 2021. It will help to separate management from governance and promote accountability, diversity and effectiveness. The new Board will have four independent members including as chair.
As G8 leaders arrive in France ahead of the Summit, international agency Oxfam urged the eight leaders to show they are not just a talking shop, and to Google their previous commitments to the world’s poor before making new ones.
European Union member states should urgently relocate unaccompanied children from the Greek islands to safety in their territory, 65 human rights, humanitarian and civil society organisations said in a statement today.
As Israeli attacks intensify on Rafah, the unpredictable trickle of aid into Gaza has created a mirage of improved access while the humanitarian response is in reality on the verge of collapse, warn 20 aid agencies.
Today, Egala and Oxfam published a new report, “Brutal Barriers”, detailing the frightening and sometimes deadly journey of people trying to reach safety in Europe. Survivors’ testimonies reveal the violence inflicted by both Polish and Belarusian authorities on people seeking asylum as well as the treacherous conditions people face in crossing the swamplands of the primeval Białowieża forest.
With more people fleeing violence and persecution now than at any time since records began, governments must make firm commitments at two major summits in New York to share their international responsibilities more equally, and to offer all refugees a safer future.
