New Zealand

More than 140 former heads of state and government and Nobel laureates today called on the candidates to be the next German chancellor Annalena Baerbock, Olaf Scholz, and Armin Laschet to declare themselves in favour of waiving intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines and transferring vaccine technologies, and “to make these the policies of any future coalition government”. 

More than 170 former heads of state and government and Nobel laureates, including former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown, former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of France François Hollande and Nobel Laureates Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, today called on President Biden to support a waiver of intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines and pursue a people’s vaccine to end the pandemic in an open letter today.

Very low spending on public healthcare, weak social safety nets and poor labor rights meant the majority of the world’s countries were woefully ill-equipped to deal with COVID-19, reveals new analysis from Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI) today.

Our thoughts are with the many Muslim New Zealand families grieving the loss of their loved ones and to people of the Islamic faith – and all faiths – over the world who have been traumatised by this act of mass murder.

Today Oxfam’s thoughts are with all of the people affected by the earthquake in Christchurch – those who lost their lives, those who are missing and every family and friend waiting

On 11 December 2009 a 35 ton cache of conventional weapons left North Korea bound for Iran. The following day the arms were intercepted and seized by authorities in Thailand.

In a new report released today, Oxfam exposes the weaknesses in New Zealand company law that enabled unscrupulous international arms brokers to drag the country into the deadly business of the illegal arms trade, highlighting the urgent need for a global Arms Trade Treaty.