public services

As Vietnam graduates from IDA, the World Bank’s concessional finance window, there will be a major change in the types of development finance the country can access. Oxfam is concerned about what this changing financial landscape might mean for Vietnam’s fight against poverty, inequality, and gender inequality.

In this briefing, Oxfam sets out the seven key issues the G7 must act on if the Biarritz Summit is to deliver more than just warm words on fighting inequality.

Vietnam has a strong record of poverty reduction, but today, increasing inequality is threatening decades of progress. To tackle the dangerous gap between rich and poor, Vietnam should urgently implement progressive policies on governance, taxation, public spending, public services, labour rights, and civic engagement.

With no end to the conflict in Syria in sight, the four million people forced to flee the country have no foreseeable prospect of safe return. And as the impact of the crisis on neighboring countries grows and aid dries up, the situation for these refugees is becoming increasingly dire. This briefing calls for a new approach by the international community.

European states insisting on emerging countries providing their ‘fair share’ while continuously failing to reach their own aid targets is a backward step. 

The World Bank and international donors must find $1.7 billion to improve dangerously inadequate health systems in Ebola-affected countries said Oxfam.

Countries can start tackling inequality today by triggering an “economic stimulus” directly into the pockets of those who need it most – by investing more in public services like health and education.

This study aims to provide an evidence basis for the provision of budget support in fragile states.

The study sits at the intersection of three main sets of issues:

In order to be able to find enough resources to ensure public services, such as education and health for all, poor countries need to raise more tax, and raise tax in ways that are progressive and f

Growth is back on the development agenda, promoted by bilateral and multilateral donors, and the G20, as the most effective way to lift people out of poverty.