Tag: Oxfam

£250,000 Humanitarian Emergency Funding for Kenya

Emergency funding to support people affected by severe flooding in Kenya

External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson has pledged funding of £250,000 to aid charities responding to those affected by the severe flooding in Kenya through the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF).

Oxfam and Islamic Relief will receive £125,000 each to support thousands of families affected by the flooding with their immediate basic needs, including food, shelter and clean water. The funding will also support services to raise awareness and prevent gender-based violence.

Nearly 1.6 million people across East Africa have been affected by recent heavy rains, flash floods and landslides. In Kenya, 315 deaths have been reported and more than 58,000 families are estimated to have been displaced.

Mr Robertson said: “Our thoughts are with the families of those who have lost loved ones and the thousands of families whose homes have been substantially damaged by the severe flooding across Kenya.

“The £250,000 funding pledge to aid charities responding to the crisis through the Humanitarian Emergency Fund demonstrates the Scottish Government’s commitment to providing essential assistance to people in need.

“This funding will play an important role in addressing the immediate needs of those affected by the flooding, including helping to provide access to food, shelter and clean water.”

Oxfam in Kenya’s Humanitarian Lead Mat Cousins said: “The Scottish Government’s contribution is a lifeline for many families in Nairobi’s informal settlements who have lost everything to the floods.

“This funding will not only address immediate needs such as clean water and shelter but also provide crucial support for women and girls facing heightened risks of gender-based violence. We are grateful for this solidarity in such challenging times and hope it inspires other governments to provide similar life-saving support.”

Islamic Relief Regional Community Fundraising Manager Nadeem Baqir added: “This funding will serve as a vital lifeline for the many families impacted by Kenya’s flood crisis, aiding in the recovery and rebuilding of lives and livelihoods.

“The world’s most vulnerable communities are often the first to suffer from climate-related natural disasters, and we are thankful for the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting those in greatest need.”

£250,000 for refugees fleeing conflict

Humanitarian emergency funding for displaced people in South Sudan and Ethiopia

International Development Minister Kaukab Stewart has pledged £250,000 in Scottish Government funding for charities responding to the ongoing conflict in Sudan and the impact on refugees in neighbouring countries.

Oxfam and Christian Aid will receive funds from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) to assist displaced people and their host communities in South Sudan and Ethiopia with food and essentials.

Since the onset of the war in neighbouring Sudan last year, South Sudan has witnessed an influx of over half a million people.

There are more than 930,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Ethiopia, over 385,000 are South Sudanese living in the Gambella region and facing challenges in meeting basic needs, leading to increasing cases of malnutrition and diarrhoea.

Ms Stewart said: “Our thoughts are with the thousands of refugees in South Sudan struggling to survive and facing a bleak and uncertain future.

“This funding will play a crucial role in addressing the immediate needs of those affected by conflict and the climate crisis, including access to shelter, food, clean water, and healthcare. It is imperative that we work with the international community to alleviate their suffering and help them rebuild their lives.

“The £250,000 funding pledge to aid charities responding to the crisis through the Humanitarian Emergency Fund  demonstrates our commitment to providing essential assistance to people in need.”

Head of Christian Aid Scotland Val Brown said: “South Sudan is dealing with multiple shocks including acute food insecurity and one of the world’s largest displacement crises. In addition, many people have arrived in the country from neighbouring Sudan, fleeing the conflict that started last April.

“We’re grateful for funding from the Scottish Government’s Humanitarian Emergency Fund which will enable to us to reach 4000 people in the Wedweil Refugee Camp, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, so people can purchase food and essentials.  There will also be additional cash assistance for 400 vulnerable women and girls to support their recovery and empowerment.”

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland said: “The Scottish Government deserves significant credit for allocating its small, but vital humanitarian funding not just to high-profile emergencies like Gaza or Ukraine, but also to those crises that unfold well away from the world’s attention – and the refugee crisis resulting from the situation in South Sudan is a stark example.

“Importantly, Oxfam is not only ensuring that water and sanitation facilities in Gambella are safer and more accessible to women and girls, and people with disabilities, but also supporting local actors to take ownership over their ongoing maintenance.

“This twin approach of inclusive and locally-led humanitarian response, underpinned by safe programming, is critical to ensuring refugees get the critical support they need.”

The Humanitarian Emergency Fund provides aid in the aftermath of a crisis. 

Oxfam: Almost two-thirds of women’s working hours excluded from GDP

A staggering sixty-five per cent of women’s working hours are unpaid every week and excluded from official measures of economic activity, according to a new Oxfam report.  

Radical Pathways Beyond GDP highlights how unpaid care – which accounts for forty-five per cent of all adults’ working hours each week globally – is excluded from gross domestic product (GDP) calculations.

The discussion paper looks at how the over-reliance on GDP warps governments’ priorities. Women carry out the majority of unpaid care – nearly 90 billion hours a week.

There is a growing consensus among policymakers and institutions that GDP is no longer fit for purpose as the primary indicator of economic and social progress. 

By excluding many factors that contribute to the overall health of the economy and wider society, the metric steers policymakers towards priorities that are fuelling inequality, gender and racial injustice and climate breakdown. 

The report argues that transformative alternatives to GDP are urgently required and that narrowly defined growth should never be a primary objective or end goal.

The report cites a handful of countries which have made efforts to incorporate alternative approaches into the highest levels of national law and policy, including Scotland. 

But while the Scottish Government describes the transition towards a wellbeing economy as a “top priority”, Scotland’s journey beyond-GDP remains far from complete.  

Anam Parvez, Oxfam head of research and author of the report, said: “Women are being short-changed the world over, pushed deeper into time and income poverty. 

“To add insult to injury, the majority of their work is ignored by official statistics. 

“Unpaid care is a hidden subsidy to the global economy; without it the system would collapse.

“In an age of climate crisis, growing inequality and economic turmoil, there is a strong case that this outdated metric should no longer be the dominant compass guiding policy making. 

“It fails to distinguish whether economic activity is harming or benefitting people and the planet. 

“Government policies and budgets should be guided by a set of metrics that look at the whole picture, including closing the divide between the richest and the rest, instead of relentlessly pursuing growth for its own sake.”  

Scotland’s drive towards becoming a wellbeing economy is underpinned by its National Performance Framework and the eleven National Outcomes which sit within it, as well as by the linked Wellbeing Economy Monitor.  

However, care work is currently invisible within these, despite the Scottish Government saying the National Outcomes describe “the kind of Scotland it aims to create”. 

Encouragingly, Scottish Ministers are in the process of reviewing and refreshing the National Outcomes for the first time in five years.  

Campaigners, including Oxfam Scotland, are calling for the glaring omission on care to be addressed through the creation of a dedicated new National Outcome on Care. 

The A Scotland That Cares campaign is backed by over 60 organisations, including frontline care and health organisations, those representing unpaid carers and parents, and prominent anti-poverty charities and think tanks.  

Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government accepts that traditional economic metrics like GDP are inadequate and that women’s contribution to the economy is persistently undervalued. 

“But while it talks a good game when it comes to measuring the things that really matter, now is the time for that rhetoric to be realised. 

“Without carers, Scotland’s communities and economy would grind to a halt yet they are virtually invisible in the Scottish Government’s vision for the country. Now is the time to right that wrong by ending the invisibility of care in Scotland’s wellbeing framework.  

“Ministers must capitalise on the opportunities presented by the refresh of its National Performance Framework and through the upcoming Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill to commit to, and then build, a truly caring wellbeing economy that puts people and planet above a blinkered pursuit of profit.”

Oxfam: Second Hand September

Is sustainability your bag? Sign up to Second Hand September and show the world that any outfit looks fabulous when it’s helping to protect the planet!

By shopping only second hand for 30 days with Oxfam, you can give everything from t-shirts to trousers a brand new lease of life. 

Plus, you’ll reduce demand for new clothes, help reduce damage to our planet, and raise money to help communities hit by poverty and the climate crisis.

Sign up to get:

  • Handy tips and tricks on how to revamp your wardrobe sustainably
  • 20% discount code for the Oxfam online shop
  • The chance of winning front row tickets to the Oxfam London Fashion Week show

Share your eco-friendly outfits on socials using #SecondHandSeptember and tag @OxfamGB

Ten richest men DOUBLE their fortunes in pandemic while incomes of 99% of humanity FALL

New billionaire created every 26 hours, as inequality contributes to the death of one person every four seconds

The world’s ten richest men more than doubled their fortunes from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion – at a rate of $1.3 billion a day – during the pandemic while the incomes of 99 per cent of humanity have fallen with over 160 million people forced into poverty and inequality contributing to the death of one person every four seconds, an Oxfam report reveals today.

The report Inequality Kills, published on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda, finds that a new billionaire has been created every 26 hours since the start of the pandemic while the collective wealth of all 2,755 billionaires surged more than in the last 14 years put together. At $5 trillion dollars, this is the biggest increase in billionaire wealth since Forbes records began in 1987.

If the ten richest men were to lose 99.999 per cent of their combined wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 per cent of people on the planet and their wealth is six times more than that of the poorest 3.1 billion people.

The enormous rise in wealth is juxtaposed by a sharp increase in poverty around the world. Over 160 million more people are living on less than $5.50 a day than when the pandemic began. Inequality is now contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds. This conservative finding is based on deaths globally from lack of access to healthcare, hunger, gender-based violence and climate breakdown.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Oxfam GB Chief Executive said: “The explosion in billionaire’s fortunes at a time when poverty is increasing lays bare the fundamental flaws in our economies.

“Even during a global crisis our unfair economic systems manage to deliver eye-watering windfalls for the wealthiest but fail to protect the poorest – it is an avoidable tragedy that every day people die because they lack essentials such as food and healthcare.

“Today’s generation of leaders can start to right these wrongs by implementing progressive taxes on capital and wealth and deploying that revenue to save lives and invest in our future. They should make sure that Covid-19’s long-term legacy is quality universal healthcare and social protection for all. Governments have an historic opportunity to back bold economic plans based on greater equality that change the deadly course we are on.”

The report also details how:

  • Developing countries, denied access to sufficient vaccines because of rich governments’ protection of pharmaceutical corporations’ monopolies, have been forced to slash social spending as their debt levels spiral and now face the prospect of austerity measures.
  • The pandemic has set gender parity back from 99 years to 135 years. Women collectively lost $800 billion in earnings in 2020, with 13 million fewer women in work now than there were in 2019. Over 20 million girls are at risk of never returning to school.
  • The pandemic has hit racialized groups hardest. During the second wave of the pandemic in England, people of Bangladeshi origin were five times more likely to die of Covid-19 than the White British population. In the US, 3.4 million Black Americans would be alive today if their life expectancy was the same as White people – a fact that is directly linked to historical racism and slavery.
  • Analysis of emissions by income group shows that over-consumption by the world’s richest people is one of the main drivers of today’s climate crisis. 20 of the richest billionaires are estimated, on average, to be emitting as much as 8,000 times more carbon than the billion poorest people.

Oxfam’s analysis showed that a one-off 99 per cent tax on the ten richest men’s pandemic windfalls alone would raise $812 billion and could fund:

  • Enough vaccines for the world
  • Universal healthcare and social protection, climate adaptation and gender-based violence reduction in over 80 countries
  • While still leaving these men $8 billion better off than they were before the pandemic.

Oxfam recommends that governments:

  • Urgently tax the pandemic gains made by billionaires and introduce permanent wealth and capital taxes, investing the trillions that could be raised on universal healthcare and social protection, climate change adaptation, and gender-based violence prevention and programming.
  • Immediately waive intellectual property rules over Covid-19 vaccine technologies to allow more countries to produce safe and effective vaccines to usher in the end of the pandemic.
  • Tackle sexist laws that discriminate against women and create new gender-equal laws.
  • End laws that undermine the rights of workers to unionize and strike and set up stronger legal standards to protect them.
Inequality Kills: The unparalleled action needed to combat unpreDownload

UK steps up Sierra Leone relief effort

Extra £5 million to aid mudslide vicitms

The UK is stepping up with new emergency support that will provide clean water, food and medicines to assist people in the communities worst affected by the devastating floods and mudslide in Sierra Leone, International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced today. Continue reading UK steps up Sierra Leone relief effort

Mind the gap: richest 1% will own more than rest of the world combined

Forget 7:84 – fifty years on it’s 1:99

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Back in 1966, The Economist magazine published a (then) startling statistic that 7% of the UK’s population owned 84% of the country’s wealth. Almost fifty years on, and … 

The combined wealth of the richest 1 per cent will overtake that of the other 99 per cent of people next year unless the current trend of rising inequality is checked, Oxfam warned today ahead of the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

The international agency, whose executive director Winnie Byanyima will co-chair the Davos event,  warned that the explosion in inequality is holding back the fight against global poverty at a time when 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat and more than a billion people still live on less than $1.25-a-day.

Byanyima will use her position at Davos to call for urgent action to stem this rising tide of inequality, starting with a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations, and to push for progress towards a global deal on climate change.

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Wealth: Having it all and wanting more, a research paper published today by Oxfam, shows that the richest 1 per cent have seen their share of global wealth increase from 44 per cent in 2009 to 48 per cent in 2014 and at this rate will be more than 50 per cent in 2016. Members of this global elite had an average wealth of $2.7m per adult in 2014.

Of the remaining 52 per cent of global wealth, almost all (46 per cent) is owned by the rest of the richest fifth of the world’s population. The other 80 per cent share just 5.5 per cent and had an average wealth of $3,851 per adult – that’s 1/700th of the average wealth of the 1 per cent.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “Do we really want to live in a world where the one per cent own more than the rest of us combined? The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast.

“In the past 12 months we have seen world leaders from President Obama to Christine Lagarde talk more about tackling extreme inequality but we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk. It is time our leaders took on the powerful vested interests that stand in the way of a fairer and more prosperous world.

“Business as usual for the elite isn’t a cost free option – failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality – they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around.”

yachtsLady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Chief Executive Officer of EL Rothschild and chairman of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, who is speaking at a joint Oxfam-University of Oxford event on inequality today, called on business leaders meeting in Davos to play their part in tackling extreme inequality.

She said: “Oxfam’s report is just the latest evidence that inequality has reached shocking extremes, and continues to grow. It is time for the global leaders of modern capitalism, in addition to our politicians, to work to change the system to make it more inclusive, more equitable and more sustainable.

“Extreme inequality isn’t just a moral wrong. It undermines economic growth and it threatens the private sector’s bottom line.  All those gathering at Davos who want a stable and prosperous world should make tackling inequality a top priority.”Oxfam made headlines at Davos last year with the revelation that the 85 richest people on the planet have the same wealth as the poorest 50 per cent (3.5 billion people). That figure is now 80 – a dramatic fall from 388 people in 2010. The wealth of the richest 80 doubled in cash terms between 2009-14.

poor 2The international agency is calling on governments to adopt a seven point plan to tackle inequality:

  • Clamp down on tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals
  • Invest in universal, free public services such as health and education
  • Share the tax burden fairly, shifting taxation from labour and consumption towards    capital and wealth
  • Introduce minimum wages and move towards a living wage for all workers
  • Introduce equal pay legislation and promote economic policies to give women a fair deal
  • Ensure adequate safety-nets for the poorest, including a minimum income guarantee
  • Agree a global goal to tackle inequality.

Today’s research paper, which follows the October launch of Oxfam’s global Even It Up campaign,  shines a light on the way extreme wealth is passed down the generations and how elite groups mobilise their vast resources to ensure global rules are favourable towards their interests. More than a third of the 1645 billionaires listed by Forbes inherited some or all of their riches.

Twenty per cent of billionaires have interests in the financial and insurance sectors, a group which saw their cash wealth increase by 11 per cent in the 12 months to March 2014. These sectors spent $550m lobbying policy makers in Washington and Brussels during 2013. During the 2012 US election cycle alone, the financial sector provided $571m in campaign contributions.

Billionaires listed as having interests in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors saw their collective net worth increase by 47 per cent. During 2013, they spent more than $500m lobbying policy makers in Washington and Brussels.

Oxfam is concerned that the lobbying power of these sectors is a major barrier in the way of reforming the global tax system and of ensuring intellectual property rules do not lead to the world’s poorest being denied life saving medicines.

There is increasing evidence from the International Monetary Fund, among others, that extreme inequality is not just bad news for those at the bottom but also damages economic growth.

 

New report shows widening poverty gap

The wealthiest households in Scotland are 273 times richer than the poorest – Oxfam

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 A new report by Oxfam Scotland says that instead of tackling inequality and poverty in Scotland, the existing economic model is making them worse and needs to change. Our Economy: Towards a New Prosperity says too much power and wealth is held by too few people.

The report challenges politicians, policymakers and businesses to focus on what is really good for the country rather increasing economic measures like Gross Domestic Product , and argues that for too many Scots work is no longer a route to a better life. Some 40% of those living in poverty in Scotland are in work – a figure that has risen substantially in recent years.

It also highlights the growing inequality at the heart of our economy, with the wealthiest households in Scotland 273 times richer than the poorest households.

Judith Robertson, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The existing economic model is not working. Despite decades of economic growth, and a myriad of anti-poverty policies, the reality for too many Scots is a cocktail of high mortality, economic inactivity, mental and physical ill-health, poor educational attainment, and exclusion from the decisions that affect them.

“This is a structural problem caused by our economy. If we are serious about tackling these issues, then our politicians and policymakers need to make a fundamental change. Without that change, poverty and inequality will continue to shame us and drag all of us down for generations to come.”

paper outlines a series of policies which together challenge economic behaviours which damage Scotland’s collective prosperity, whilst promoting positive interventions.

The report is based on Oxfam’s work with local partners in Scotland. It shows that people in local communities have the appetite and ability to start building local economies that meet their needs, but need more help from government and greater recognition that their contribution goes beyond profit.

poverty

The proposals contained in Our Economy include:

  • Putting a duty on all public authorities to make sure their policies and initiatives reduce poverty and inequality – monitored by a new Poverty Commissioner for Scotland.
  • Building on the work of the Oxfam Humankind Index for Scotland to create a new measure of economic success, beyond GDP, which reflects what really matters to people.
  • Creating a Scottish Ethical Business Initiative (SEBI) setting out key aspects of acceptable behaviour for businesses operating in Scotland.

Judith Robertson added: “We need to create a new prosperity that will benefit everyone in society.

“At the heart of this new prosperity would be community-led economies which focus on the quality and distribution of growth – creating livelihoods for the many, not profits for the few. Our Economy shows this is practical and achievable. We just need the will to work together to make it happen.”

Our Economy is being launched today at Oxfam partner The GalGael Trust, which provides training in traditional woodworking skills for people left without work for long periods of time.

Gehan Macleod of GalGael said: “The current economic structure simply doesn’t provide enough good jobs. Our experience shows it isn’t people from under-resourced communities that are deficient, it is the economy which is deficient in providing opportunities for all – opportunities that recognise people’s inner need to contribute to their communities as well as their outer need for a living wage.

“We’ve seen time and again how those who’ve been labelled work-shy or unemployable love to graft if there is respect and dignity in the work. That is what the work in Our Economy looks like.”

The report has won support from across Scottish civil society.

Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary, said: “If Scotland is to rebuild a fairer, more equal and sustainable economic and social model it is essential that strong civic voices contribute to the debate. This report, covering key areas such as employment and tax, forms one such contribution. Policymakers at all levels should take note and act”.

Martin Stepek, Chief Executive of the Scottish Family Business Association, said: “I applaud Oxfam Scotland for producing the challenging and radical Our Economy report. The current situation is morally and socially unacceptable. We have to change some fundamentals to create a fairer, happier society for all.”

James Proctor, Strategic Relations Officer at Co-operatives UK, said: “Scotland was the birthplace of early co-operative enterprise and the principle of working together for shared benefit is a fresh and vital one for our times. We warmly welcome this call for a new model of wealth creation, based on co-operative values of openness and equality.”

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