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Oxfam condemns killing of water engineers in Gaza

Oxfam condemns in the strongest terms the killing in Gaza today of four water engineers and workers from the Khuzaa municipality who were working with our strategic partner the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU).  

The four men were killed on their way to conduct repairs to water infrastructure in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis. Despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities their clearly-marked vehicle was bombed. Oxfam stands in solidarity with the CMWU, their partners and the families of the victims.  

Their deaths deepen the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza where access to clean water is already severely compromised.  

Dozens of engineers, civil servants and humanitarian workers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes throughout this war. They were all working on essential services to keep Gaza’s fragile infrastructure running. Despite their movements being coordinated with the Israeli authorities by the CMWU and the Palestinian Water Authority, to ensure their safety, they were still targeted.  

Attacks on civilian infrastructure and those who maintain it are clear violations of international humanitarian law. Those responsible must be held to account. Such attacks are part of the crime of using starvation as a weapon of war.   

Oxfam demands an independent investigation into this and other attacks on essential workers. We reiterate our calls for a ceasefire, an immediate halt to arms transfers to Israel, and the international community to ensure Israel is held accountable for its continued assault on civilians and those working to deliver life-saving services.

Contact Information: 

Rachel Schaevitz, rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Up to 21,000 people are dying each day from conflict-fuelled hunger around the world

On World Food Day, hunger has reached an all-time high exposing the flaws in global peacebuilding and conflict recovery efforts 

 

Between 7,000 to as many as 21,000 people are likely dying each day from hunger in countries impacted by conflict, according to a new Oxfam report published on World Food Day.

The report, Food Wars, examined 54 conflict-affected countries and found that they account for almost all of the 281.6 million people facing acute hunger today. Conflict has also been one of the main causes of forced displacement in these countries, which has globally reached a record level today of more than 117 million people.

It argues that conflict is not only a primary driver of hunger, but that warring parties are also actively weaponizing food itself by deliberately targeting food, water and energy infrastructure and by blocking food aid. 

“As conflict rages around the world, starvation has become a lethal weapon wielded by warring parties against international laws, causing an alarming rise in human deaths and suffering. That civilians continue to be subjected to such slow death in the 21st century, is a collective failure”, says Emily Farr, Oxfam’s Food and Economic Security Lead. 

“Today’s food crises are largely manufactured. Nearly half a million people in Gaza – where 83% of food aid needed is currently not reaching them – and over three quarters of a million in Sudan, are currently starving as the deadly impact of wars on food will likely be felt for generations.”

The report also found that the majority of the countries studied (34 out of 54) are rich in natural resources, relying heavily on exporting raw products. For example, 95% of Sudan’s export earnings come from gold and livestock, 87% of South Sudan’s come from petroleum products, and nearly 70% of Burundi’s come from coffee.

In Central America, meanwhile, mining operations have led to violent conflicts, uprooting people from their homes as they no longer become able to live in degraded and polluted environments.

Oxfam argues that currently peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts are too often based on encouraging more foreign investment and export-related economies. However, this focus on economic liberalization can instead create more inequality, suffering and the potential for conflict to resume.

“It is no coincidence that the lethal combination of war, displacement and hunger has often occurred in countries rich in natural resources. The exploitation of these raw commodities often means more violence, inequality, instability, and renewed conflict. Too often, large-scale private investment—both foreign and domestic —has also added to political and economic instabilities in these countries, where investors seize control over land and water resources forcing people out of their homes,” said Farr.

Conflict often compounds other factors like climate shocks, economic instability and inequalities to devastate people’s livelihoods. For example, climate shocks like droughts and floods, coupled with the surge in global food prices associated with pandemic shut-downs and additional food-chain disruptions connected to the Russia-Ukraine war, have fueled the hunger crises in East and Southern Africa.

Many of those fleeing are women and children. Aisha Ibrahim, age 37, told Oxfam that she had to walk four days with her four children, leaving their home in Sudan for Joda, across the border in South Sudan. She left her husband behind to protect their home. “I used to live in a proper home. I could never imagine myself in this situation,” she said.

The international community’s pledge of “zero hunger” by 2030 remains out of touch. Oxfam says that states and institutions globally, including the UN Security Council, must hold to account those committing “starvation crimes” in accordance with international law.

“To break the vicious cycle of food insecurity and conflict, global leaders must tackle head-on the conditions that breed conflict: the colonial legacies, injustices, human rights violations, and inequalities – rather than offering quick band-aid solutions.”

“We cannot end conflict by simply injecting foreign investments in conflict-torn countries, without uprooting the deep inequalities, generational grievances, and human rights violations that fuel those conflicts. Peace efforts must be coupled with investment in social protection, and social cohesion building. Economic solutions must prioritize fair trade and sustainable food systems,” said Farr.

Notes to the Editor

  • Read Oxfam’s report, “Food Wars”
  • There has been an alarming rise in global conflict – not seen in decades – both in terms of number of wars and the death toll from conflict. Source: PRIO and UPSALA
  • Oxfam analysed 54 active conflict, refugee-hosting, and conflict legacy countries with populations in 2023 facing “crisis-level” acute food insecurity, i.e., at Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 3 or higher. In total, nearly 278 million people in these countries faced crisis-level hunger in 2023, accounting for 99% of the global population at IPC 3+ (281.6 million people).
  • Oxfam has calculated the hunger mortality figure based on the crude death rate in the Integrated Food Insecurity Technical Manual, and the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2024 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 3 or higher in conflict-affected countries. This was between 7,784 and 21,406 deaths per day or (5 -15 per minute). Source: GRFC 2024
  • In all 54 countries, conflict was a major cause of food insecurity, although in some, weather extremes or economic shocks may have been the principal driver.
  • 34 of 54 studied countries rely mainly on primary product exports, such as food, agriculture, and extractive industry products, or light assembly and low-end manufactures.
  • Natural resources exports figures are based on Trading Economics. (2023). Sudan Exports; World Bank. (2022). World Bank Report: With peace and accountability, oil and agriculture can support early recovery in South Sudan. Press Release, June 15; and Trading Economics. (2024) on Burundi Exports.; and USDA (US Department of Agriculture) Foreign Agriculture Service. (2022) on Ukraine Agricultural Production and Trade.
  • Food insecurity figures for Gaza are from IPC 2024, and for Sudan from IPC April report.
  • Recent analysis from aid agencies found 83% of food aid is not making it into the Gaza Strip
  • Globally, 117.3m people are forcibly displaced, of which 68.3m are internally displaced by conflict in 2023, that’s 90% of all IDPs (75.9m), Source: UNHCR 2024 and Migration Data Portal

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Urgent joint statement: Northern Gaza is being erased

Oxfam and 37 other humanitarian organisations are raising the alarm about the catastrophic situation in Northern Gaza

The Israeli forces’ assault on Gaza has escalated to a horrifying level of atrocity. Northern Gaza is being wiped off the map. Under the guise of “evacuation,” Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza, including Gaza City. This is not an evacuation—this is forced displacement under gunfire. Since 1 October, no food has been allowed into the area, and civilians are being starved and bombed in their homes and their tents. 

Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are being ordered to evacuate. They are running out of fuel and essential supplies, while doctors and nurses battle to save lives with what little they have left. The wounded flood in – children, older people, victims of Israeli airstrikes – but with no resources to treat them. 

Dr. Mohammed Salha, acting director of Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, described the dire situation: “The Israeli military has contacted us more than once to evacuate the hospital… [All] the departments are full of wounded people and we are discharging even the wounded who have minor or moderate injuries, because we do not have [enough] beds for them. I [told the Israeli military] clearly that we would not evacuate the hospital unless there are ambulances that can preserve the lives of the wounded people we have and reach another hospital that provides better service to the wounded.” 

The world cannot continue to stand by as the Israeli government commits these atrocities. Global leaders have both a legal and moral duty to act now. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the Genocide Convention including “killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”. There is no evidence that Israel has adhered to these orders, and the killing of Palestinians has only intensified. 

Any attempt to alter the territorial integrity of Gaza constitutes a blatant violation of international law. This is especially egregious in light of the recent ICJ advisory opinion, which significantly heightens the obligation of third states to take decisive action. Failure to do so risks their complicity in perpetuating the illegal occupation. 

All parties must allow unimpeded access for humanitarian organisations to deliver aid based on need, without restricting types, volumes, or locations. Aid delivery must remain impartial and independent of military objectives to prevent its instrumentalisation or politicisation. Civilians must not be forced to flee to receive aid; those choosing to stay in their homes must be protected under international law. 

We demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation. Global leaders must act in line with the UN General Assembly Resolution on the ICJ Advisory Opinion and fulfil their obligation not to facilitate or support Israel’s illegal occupation. Third states must halt now the transfer of all weapons, parts and ammunition that could be used to commit further violations of international humanitarian law.

This is not a time for silence – this is a time for action. The people of Gaza cannot wait. The world must intervene now before more innocent lives are lost. 

Notes to editors

The forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and does not amount to a permissible evacuation. Relocation areas have not provided safety, adequate shelter or essential services, and there has also been no guarantee that displaced populations will be able to return once hostilities end. 

Signatories:

  1. ActionAid 
  2. Action For Humanity 
  3. Afri (Action from Ireland) 
  4. Amos Trust 
  5. Bloody Sunday Trust 
  6. Centre for Global Education 
  7. CESVI 
  8. Children Not Numbers 
  9. Christian Aid 
  10. Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) 
  11. Comhlamh Justice for Palestine 
  12. Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu) 
  13. Embrace the Middle East 
  14. Feminist Humanitarian Network (FHN) 
  15. Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) 
  16. Global Justice Now 
  17. HelpAge International 
  18. Interpal 
  19. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign 
  20. Islamic Relief 
  21. KinderUSA 
  22. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) 
  23. Médecins du Monde Spain 
  24. Middle East Children’s Alliance 
  25. Muslim Aid 
  26. Novact Institute for Nonviolence 
  27. Oxfam 
  28. Plan International Jordan 
  29. Sabeel-Kairos UK 
  30. Sadaka-The Ireland Palestine Alliance 
  31. TDH Italy 
  32. Trócaire 
  33. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union/ Aontas Mac Léinn Choláiste na Tríonóide (TCDSU/AMLCT) 
  34. Vento di Terra 
  35. War Child 
  36. War on Want 
  37. WeWorld 
  38. Welfare Association 

Contact information

Spokespersons are available for interviews. Please contact:

Oxfam Media office | Media.OPTI@oxfam.org  

For updates, please follow @NewsFromOxfam and @OxfamJerusalem. 

Lebanon struggles to cope with Israel’s military invasion

The Lebanese authorities, communities and humanitarian agencies are struggling to shelter and provide the necessities of life to over one million people fleeing Israel’s airstrikes and invasion to the south, Oxfam said today. 

Oxfam is working with local partners in Lebanon and alongside other aid agencies as part of the government’s humanitarian response plan following Israel’s invasion of Southern Lebanon and aerial bombardment. 

Oxfam assessments in shelters across Lebanon have found people most need mattresses, bedding, and cooking and sanitation items. Women also need sanitary pads, towels, and underwear. Oxfam and partners have started distributing some of this aid as well as water. 

Gheith Bittar, Executive Director for Oxfam partner SHIFT – Social Innovation Hub, said more displaced people are arriving by the day and he fears shelters may buckle under the strain.  

 “The shelters are not ready to host the number of IDPs we are taking on and 629 are already full. They are public schools that are not equipped to be shelters and we are facing problems. For example, we don’t have hot water for showers. We will get to a point where we won’t be able to cope. Without funds, we cannot sustain our support to the shelters. The ground invasion will only increase the number of IDPs, and we have already seen an increase in the number of displaced people on a daily basis with the continuous bombardment. The situation will only get worse as winter approaches. 

 “People are coming to us traumatised. Most of them have lost their houses and relatives. Some of them were scared because of the scale of bombardment as they were fleeing, and many others because of their fear of the unknown coming to a new city. People are suffering, they have many, many, issues to think about,” 

Oxfam says without a ceasefire the greenlight by Israel to a ground invasion in southern Lebanon will likely lead to a further escalation of the conflict and fighting, that will cause even more destruction of communities and inflame an already volatile region. 

“The ground invasion and bombardment that includes Beirut and the southern suburbs will create a serious challenge for the humanitarian system in a few short days. People are being forced to flee with little to no notice, and often having to leave everything behind to shelters that are inadequate or sharing crowded homes with few essential supplies. None know when they can return. Without a ceasefire the number of people desperately in need will only grow, as will their needs. The shelter system is set to collapse if there is no peace on the horizon,” said Oxfam’s Lebanon Country Director, Bachir Ayoub. 

 “The needs of people in Lebanon who’ve been injured, traumatised and displaced, in fear of what the future might hold for them, are already huge. No other solution other than a ceasefire can alleviate the crisis they are facing,” Ayoub said. 

 There must be an end to this violence. All parties must stop fighting. We need safe space to get people the aid they need,” he said.  

Notes to editors:

  • Oxfam has worked in Lebanon since 1993, in partnership with local organisations, to support disadvantaged people with cash, clean water, and proper sanitation, as well as income-generating opportunities, advocating for women’s rights and reproductive health services, and renewable energy solutions.   
  • We also work with Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as well as Lebanese communities, including people with disabilities and migrant workers.
  • We work with 30 local partner organisations in North Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut who deeply understand the needs of the communities they are part of. 
  • Over the past decade, we have responded to the multiple crises Lebanon has faced, including the Syria crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Blast, the Economic crisis, the 2022 cholera outbreak, and violent conflicts.   

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Oxfam responds to Lebanon Crisis

Oxfam is responding to the escalating crisis in Lebanon, providing essential support to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been forced to flee as Israeli airstrikes bombard their homes and communities. The influx of internally displaced people, primarily from southern Lebanon, will quickly create disastrous conditions for local communities, beyond the ability of an overloaded international humanitarian system to properly meet. 

Oxfam and our partners are supporting internally displaced people in shelters in Beirut, Mount Lebanon and North Lebanon with clean water and sanitation, emergency cash, food, and hygiene and menstrual hygiene kits.  

Oxfam’s Lebanon country director Bachir Ayoub said the country can ill afford this on top of existing crises.  

“This conflict was predictable and avoidable. It is the result of the failure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza. For decades, the people of Lebanon have endured one crisis after another without getting the opportunity to fully recover. This latest emergency will only deepen the existing challenges facing the people of Lebanon and further destabilize an already volatile region.” 

The international community must condemn this escalation and take bold action to stop it now. Israel continues to act with impunity and it must be held to account for its actions in both Lebanon and Gaza. All parties must abide by international humanitarian law and held to account where potential violations may be involved.  

The spread of hostilities into Lebanon has inflicted immense damage on civilian infrastructure and led to a tragic loss of life. Lebanon and the region cannot afford to bear the weight of this crisis. This broader regional escalation underscores the urgent need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.  

Notes to editors:

  • Oxfam has worked in Lebanon since 1993, in partnership with local organisations, to support disadvantaged people with cash, clean water, and proper sanitation, as well as income-generating opportunities, advocating for women’s rights and reproductive health services, and renewable energy solutions.   
  • We also work with Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as well as Lebanese communities, including people with disabilities and migrant workers.
  • We work with 30 local partner organisations in North Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut who deeply understand the needs of the communities they are part of. 
  • Over the past decade, we have responded to the multiple crises Lebanon has faced, including the Syria crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Blast, the Economic crisis, the 2022 cholera outbreak, and violent conflicts.   

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

World’s top 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity

  • Over a third of world’s biggest 50 corporations —worth $13.3 trillion— now run by a billionaire or has a billionaire as a principal shareholder.
  • Global South countries own just 31 percent of global wealth, despite being home to 79 percent of global population.
  • Oxfam urges multilateral action to advance new global framework on tax, cancel debts and rewrite intellectual property rules for pandemics.

The richest 1 percent have more wealth than the bottom 95 percent of the world’s population put together, new Oxfam analysis of UBS data reveals today ahead of the annual UN High-Level General Debate.

 

Billionaires are exerting new levels of control over economies, with a billionaire either running or the principal shareholder of more than a third of the world’s top 50 corporations. The combined market capitalization of these corporations is $13.3 trillion.

 

Oxfam’s briefing paper “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy” warns that multilateral efforts to respond to critical global challenges, including the climate crisis and persistent poverty and inequality, are being undermined by the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations fueling inequality within and between countries.

 

Despite being home to 79 percent of the world’s population, Global South countries own just 31 percent of global wealth.

 

“The shadow of global oligarchy hangs over this year’s UN General Assembly. The ultra-wealthy and the mega-corporations they control are shaping global rules to serve their interests at the expense of people everywhere. The iconic UN podium is increasingly feeling diminished in a world in which billionaires are calling the shots,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s Executive Director.

 

The paper describes a “movement toward a global oligarchy,” where the ultra-rich, often through their increasingly monopolistic corporations, shape global political decision-making and rules to enrich themselves while thwarting vital global progress.

 

The top 1 percent own 43 percent of all global financial assets. Just two corporations control 40 percent of the global seed market. The “big three” US-based asset managers —BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard— hold $20 trillion in assets, close to one-fifth of all investable assets in the world.

 

“While we often hear about great power rivalries undermining multilateralism —it is clear that extreme inequality is playing a massive role. In recent years the ultra-wealthy and powerful corporations have used their vast influence to undermine efforts to solve major global problems such as tackling tax dodging, making Covid-19 vaccines available to the world and canceling the albatross of sovereign debt,” said Behar.

 

Oxfam details three recent examples of extreme inequality eroding multilateral efforts —and where civil society and Global South leaders have offered inequality-busting solutions:

 

  • Powerful corporations undermining tax cooperation. The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) fell short of realizing its potential, with new rules for profit allocation that will deliver only tiny extra revenues for lower-income countries of as little as 0.026 percent of their GDP. The exclusion of financial services from OECD rules is a carve-out attributed to lobbying from countries with large banking and financial sectors. Global South countries, led by African countries, are instead advancing negotiations for a fairer tax convention at the UN that, along with Brazil’s leadership at the G20, offer a pathway for fairly taxing the super-rich and mega-corporations.
  • Big Pharma resisting efforts to break up their monopolies over Covid-19 vaccine technologies to unlock supply. Monopoly control over vaccine production was highly profitable during the pandemic. In 2021 alone, the seven largest manufacturers generated an estimated $50 billion in net profit from the sale of Covid-19 vaccines, resulting in huge payouts to rich shareholders and the emergence of new vaccine billionaires. The CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla described the call to share Covid-19 vaccine technologies as “dangerous nonsense.” The failure to equitably share vaccines contributed to as many as 1.3 million excess deaths worldwide. A new pandemic treaty with strong provisions to suspend patents and allow for easier transfers of technology offers promise.
  • Private creditors exacerbating the global debt crisis. Low-income countries spend nearly 40 percent of their annual budgets on debt service, over 60 percent more than they spend on education, health, and social protection combined. Over half of low- and middle-income countries’ external debt is owed to private lenders like banks and hedge funds. Some of these creditors are “vulture funds,” which purchase distressed debt on the cheap and exploit legal mechanisms to be repaid in full, reaping outsized profits.

“Only a solidarity-based multilateralism can reverse the movement toward global oligarchy. Some world leaders are showing they recognize this and are stepping up to fight inequality —but we need many more to demonstrate this courage,” said Behar.

“Ultimately, a fairer world and international order —where corporations pay their fair share, global public health is prioritized, and where all countries can invest in their own people— benefits us all. This is not new, and it’s long what leaders especially from the Global South have called for.” 

 

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

 

Download Oxfam’s briefing paper “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy.”.

 

The pandemic has created at least 40 new pharmaceutical billionaires.

 

Oxfam’s recent analysis of more than 180 of the largest US public corporations shows that they collectively spent $746 million on lobbying in 2022, an average of $4.1 million each.

 

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz — rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

 

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Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against injustice. Oxfam Aotearoa is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Register (registration CC24641). Donations are tax refundable.

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