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The coronavirus crisis has exposed our collective frailty and the inability of our deeply unequal economy to work for all. Yet it has also shown us the vital importance of government action to protect our health and livelihoods, and to create a more equal and sustainable world. 

The coronavirus pandemic has swept across a world unprepared to fight it. Only one in six countries assessed for the CRI Index 2020 were spending enough on health, and in more than 100 countries at least one in three workers had no labour protection such as sick pay.

New research by Oxfam and partners reveals that while COVID-19 and the related containment efforts have caused increases in women’s – and men’s – unpaid care workloads, women are still doing the bulk of this work. Care work is essential to the healthy functioning of our societies and economies. It must be at the heart of a feminist COVID-19 recovery.

Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, Oxfam has geared up its entire humanitarian aid delivery system to help the most vulnerable communities. Despite access restrictions, we are working around the clock with our local partners to deliver vital assistance to curb to spread of the virus and help protect people from its economic impact. You can help.

The Fizi territory, in the South Kivu region, is one of the most inaccessible places of DRC. And here, Oxfam is building a 96-kilometers-long gravity-fed water supply system, that taps into a river source in Mitumba mountain ranges. The project will reduce the burden on women and girls and leave them with more time to go to school and undertake other responsibilities in the community.

This second edition of the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index is based on a new database of indicators, now covering 157 countries, which measures government action on social spending, tax and labour rights – three areas found to be critical to reducing the inequality gap.

The coronavirus pandemic has swept across a world that was already profoundly unequal.The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2020 shows that no country in the world was doing enough to tackle inequality prior to the pandemic. This is helping to fuel the crisis and has increased the vulnerability of people living in poverty, especially women.

Somalia’s financial lifeline remains under threat as banks in US, UK, Australia, and elsewhere have broken ties with the money transfer operators that make remittances possible, NGOs warn.

Efforts to contain the spread of Ebola through poorly implemented mass quarantine of communities in Sierra Leone are causing unnecessary hardship and are at risk of further spreading the deadly disease warned international agency Oxfam today. 

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.