inequality

A new Oxfam report today says that as many as 11 people are likely dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute. This is more than the current global death rate of COVID-19, which is around seven people per minute. The report, ‘says that conflict remains the primary cause of hunger since the pandemic, pushing over half a million people into famine-like conditions ―a six-fold increase since 2020.

The COVID-19 crisis cost women around the world at least $800 billion in lost income in 2020, equivalent to more than the combined GDP of 98 countries, said Oxfam today.  

The supply of safe and effective vaccines for all is being artificially rationed because of the protection of exclusive rights and monopolies of pharmaceutical corporations, the People’s Vaccine Alliance said today.

The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their COVID-19 losses within just nine months, but it could take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, reveals a new Oxfam report today. ‘The Inequality Virus’ is being published on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Davos Agenda’. 

Oxfam’s new report, ‘The Inequality Virus’, reveals that the wealth of the ten richest men has increased by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began - more than enough to pay for a vaccine for all and prevent anyone on Earth from falling into poverty because of the virus.  We have received lots of great questions about the report − here’s our answer to the 10 most frequently asked questions.

Commenting at the close of the EU council meeting where leaders agreed on a new EU 2030 climate target and discussed the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Evelien van Roemburg, head of Oxfam’s EU advocacy office said: "The new, more ambitious, EU 2030 target still falls short of what is needed and what is fair. The EU must take urgent practical steps to deliver above and beyond this target."

In 2009, an Oxfam report highlighted five main effects that Bolivia could expect as a result of climate change: less food security; less water availability; more frequent and larger-scale “natural” disasters; an increase in mosquito-borne diseases; and more forest fires. About 10 years later, a similar team of experts traveled to different regions of the country, to explore some aspects that could not be covered in the previous visit and to observe the changes.

In most countries, land inequality is growing. Worse, new measures and analysis published in this synthesis report show that land inequality is significantly higher than previously reported. This trend directly threatens the livelihoods of an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide involved in smallholder agriculture.

This year marks an historic chapter in the story of international aid. On 24 October 2020, it will be 50 years since high-income countries committed to spending 0.7% of their gross national income on aid to low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines how aid has helped to improve the wellbeing of people in low- and middle-income countries.

Lebanon is extremely unequal and has been rocked by massive protests in recent months. The country is facing a financial crisis and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a potential bailout programme.