G20

Nine of the G20 countries have failed to deliver adequate support in the fight against Ebola despite calls for more help and the fact they are the largest economies in the world, Oxfam says today.

G20 Leaders meeting in Brisbane, Australia this weekend (15 and 16 November) are being urged to tackle rising inequality head-on or risk leaving millions of people trapped in poverty, as new figures reveal the wealth disparity in a number of G20 countries.

The gap between the rich and the rest is extreme and growing. G20 nations are not immune.

Hundreds of local volunteers are helping Oxfam to provide support and information to more than 400,000 people living in Ebola-affected communities in West Africa to stop the spread of the disease.

Women won’t be paid as much as men for another 75 years. That’s according to a report released by Oxfam today, which urges G20 leaders to tackle gender inequality when they meet in Australia later this year.

Across G20 countries and beyond, women are paid less than men, do most of the unpaid labor, are over-represented in part-time work, and are discriminated against in the household, in markets and in institutions.

Fair tax regimes are vital to finance well-functioning states and to enable governments to uphold citizens’ rights to basic services, such as healthcare and education.

Today, after five years of obstruction, Luxembourg and Austria agreed to increase the amount of information shared automatically by national tax authorities in Europe as of 2016.

The G20 must take necessary steps to reform the international taxation system to stop wealthy tax dodgers, beginning at its Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting this weekend (22-23 Feb) in Sydney.

Progress by G20 Finance Ministers toward tackling the issue of multinational tax avoidance has been welcomed by Oxfam Australia Chief Executive Dr. Helen Szoke, though there is a need for more specifics on how and when low-income countries will benefit.