Media Releases

Open letter – seeking urgent humanitarian assistance for world’s most vulnerable people

April 28, 2020

An open letter to the New Zealand Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Finance, from fourteen leading New Zealand international aid agencies.

Dear Prime Minister Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Peters, and Finance Minister Robertson,

We thank you for the unprecedented steps your government has taken to protect people in New Zealand from the coronavirus and its impacts. Today, we ask that you extend assistance to people in places far less able to withstand this pandemic.

With your inspiring leadership and guidance, here in New Zealand we have accepted the need for radical action to stop the coronavirus and are coping as best we can. Yet, as you know, even with all your government has done to support people through these hard times, people remain worried about their health and their jobs.

Like here, family life has been turned upside down across the world. It’s hard to imagine families crammed into refugee camps in Iraq and Syria, or in the squatter settlements on the outskirts of Port Moresby, living in close quarters, with no clean water close by, no soap, and the knowledge that there will be little help from struggling public health systems.

We’ve all become experts at hand washing and staying at home as we try to stop coronavirus and save lives. It is not easy, but we know how crucial it is to stop the virus. What would it be like trying to do this at a single tap in your part of the refugee camp, that 250 other people also rely on? This is the reality for more than 900,000 people in Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh.

It is for these people that we ask your government to respond immediately to the unprecedented global coronavirus crisis by doing the following.

Provide NZ$25 million in immediate, additional humanitarian funding as part of an emergency coronavirus response to boost life-saving assistance for people already living in the world’s worst crisis and emergency situations.
Advocate for the cancellation of all external debt payments due to be made in 2020 by developing country governments.
Protect and maintain existing commitments to aid and climate finance.

Coronavirus is anticipated to exact a catastrophic human toll in developing countries. Governments are taking rapid measures to stop the virus’s spread, but with limited resources, high debt levels, and weak health systems, they struggle to protect their citizens and economies. Imperial College estimates that without interventions at least 40 million people across the world may die.

The coronavirus has spread to every corner of the globe, but so can our compassion. We request that New Zealand contribute to the collective pandemic response: no one is safe until we are all safe, and New Zealand is in a position to help.

Yours sincerely,

Care
Caritas
CWS
Council for International Development
Engineers Without Borders
FairTrade A/NZ
Family Planning
Hagar New Zealand
Oxfam
Rotary New Zealand
Tearfund
Transparency International New Zealand
UnionAid
World Vision.

COVID-19: 50 million people threatened by hunger in West Africa

April 21, 2020

According to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the impact of the coronavirus pandemic could increase the number of people at risk of a food insecurity and malnutrition from 17 million to 50 million people between June and August 2020.

As Ramadan begins this week, eight regional and international organizations warn of the impact of the coronavirus combined with the lean season and conflict and insecurity, which will stretch the West Africa population in a period of fasting and sharing for some.

Food workers are struggling to continue their activities and see their livelihoods threatened. Measures must be taken to protect the most vulnerable and ensure food production, so that hunger and malnutrition are no longer a daily threat.

In the region’s main cities as well as in rural areas, despite Governments efforts, many communities are today facing difficulties in accessing food markets, with prices increasing quickly and many basic commodities becoming less available, the consequences of restrictive measures put in place, confinement or curfews, border closures and insecurity in certain areas.

In Burkina Faso, Amadou Hamadoun DICKO, President of the Association for the Promotion of Livestock in the Sahel and Savannah (APESS) says: “In a few days the 100 kg bag of millet has gone from 16,000 to 19,000 CFA and the litre cooking oil has almost doubled. Likewise, for breeders, the price of a bag of cotton cake to feed their animals has increased. With the virus, in addition to insecurity, I wonder how Ramadan will be lived this year“.

The coronavirus crisis combined with insecurity is exacerbating the threat of market stability and hitting an already very fragile food situation with full force. In countries facing humanitarian crises, access to food has become very difficult. In Burkina-Faso or Niger, humanitarian aid is unable to reach and cover the food needs of thousands of displaced persons, and the emergency has become vital.

While the agricultural season is also beginning, producers and farmers are already severely affected economically by the crisis and have difficulties in accessing quality seeds and fertilizers. 30,5% of West Africa’s economy is devoted to agriculture, which is the largest source of income and livelihood for 70-80% of the population, mainly women who are on the frontline. “We have lost 75% of our market because of the lockdown of the city of Bobo Dioulasso,” says Mrs. Toe Hazara, who works at the Café Rio dairy in Burkina Faso. “This situation is unbearable because we can no longer support the expenses of our 13 employees and pay our suppliers“, she says.

Pastoralist communities, already hit hard by the impacts of climate change and insecurity, are also impacted, as they can no longer ensure the transhumance of livestock, made impossible by the closure of regions or borders, which risks increasing conflicts between herders and farmers.

“The introduction of curfews restricts the possibility of watering the animals at night, so the crowds around the water points are very high during the day”, says Ismael Ag, breeder member of the Billital Maroobé Network (RBM).

To overcome this crisis, farmers, herders, fishermen and food processors are counting on the support of the region’s Governments to carry out a production campaign that has begun in most localities. Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of the Network of Farmers’ and Producers’ Organizations of West Africa (ROPPA) said: “We also hope that political decision-makers and citizens will become more aware of the need to encourage local production and consumption, which has even more meaning and importance today”.

We, the leaders of peasant organizations and international NGOs call on all governments to control prices, to ensure the supply of food from family farms and the transport of goods across borders, but also to put in place social safety nets to help the most vulnerable.

In this global crisis, regional and international solidarity is also required and the support of donors to West African States, farmers’ organisations and civil society is urgently needed, to help them face this crisis in a fragile regional context.

The signatory organizations:

Action Against Hunger
APESS
Care
Oxfam
RBM
ROPPA
Solidarités International
Save the Children

New OECD figures show international aid woefully inadequate to fight the coronavirus crisis, says Oxfam

April 17, 2020

New OECD figures show international aid woefully inadequate to fight the coronavirus crisis, says Oxfam

Rich countries barely increased international aid by 1.4 percent overall in 2019, while they cut humanitarian assistance by 2.9 percent, according to figures published today by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Despite the small over-all increase, the current level of aid is far from enough for the world to tackle crises like the coronavirus and effectively achieve sustainable development, said Chema Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director, reacting to the news:

“Current levels of aid from rich countries are woefully inadequate to help developing countries face the coronavirus crisis, which could force 500 million more people into poverty, and cause up to 40 million deaths. We can stop this pandemic’s spread if we act in every country and for every person. Governments need to radically and rapidly increase their aid now to a level we’ve never seen in our lifetimes.

“The coronavirus has caused widespread suffering in rich countries, overwhelming some of the best healthcare systems. In many poor countries, which face high levels of poverty and inequality, the challenges are even greater. The Central African Republic for example has only three ventilators, which are vital to treat Covid-19 patients.

“The UN estimate that developing countries need a USD$500 billion in increased life-saving aid now to have hope of tackling the coronavirus crisis. Rich countries should contribute their fair share by immediately injecting close to USD$300 billion in additional aid to fight the virus. This is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest men combined.

“Rich countries are facing tough times, and all that is needed is only a fraction of their trillion-dollar rescue programs to prevent millions dying and hundreds of millions falling into destitution. This would also mean that donors finally and collectively reach their 50-year-old promise to give at least 0.7% of their national income in aid.

Oxfam New Zealand’s Advocacy and Campaigns Director Joanna Spratt said: “Oxfam is asking the New Zealand government to step up to make sure we leave no one behind. As a first step, we’re asking for $25 million in extra emergency humanitarian funding. This is only 0.2% of what’s already been spent on domestic measures – a drop in the bucket. The coronavirus is a problem for us all and we need to make sure we help all countries to get rid of it, especially the poorest.

“Resources are needed now for public health, income support and protection from harm for the people in the most vulnerable situations across the world. In Papua New Guinea, for example, there are only 14 ventilators for their eight million people. The world’s response is only as strong as our weakest health system. Until we are all safe, no one is safe.”

Vera added: “Donors should now prioritise emergency support to the under-funded and ill-equipped public health systems in poor countries. They should also help countries improve social protection and provide direct support to people in need so they can deal with illnesses and income loss. This is particularly vital for women, who often have limited employment rights and are far more likely to be informal workers without any social protection. In 2018, less than one percent of aid was invested in social protection while more than four billion people don’t have formal social protection.”

“This crisis is the time for bold and visionary choices for our collective future. It’s time for donors to profoundly transform their aid to build a world that is free from poverty, that is more equal, feminist and sustainable. As the coronavirus is threatening to set back the fight against poverty by decades, we must now act and build a better future.”

Notes to editors:

· Oxfam New Zealand aid expert Joanna Spratt is available for interviews

· The 2019 aid figures are available on the OECD website here.

· Slight increase in development aid: The new OECD data shows that overall aid spending from 30 OECD members totalled USD 152.8 billion in 2019. This was a 1.4 percent increase from 2018. Rich countries only committed 0.30 percent of their gross national income (GNI) to development aid, down from 0.31 percent in 2018, and well below the 0.7 percent they promised back in 1970. In 2019, just five countries – Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom – have lived up to this promise.

· Slight increase in aid to the poorest countries: The proportion of bilateral aid spent in low income countries was up by 0.4 percent. The coronavirus will most likely have a devastating impact in developing countries.

· With limited resources, high debt levels, massive capital outflows and weak, underfunded and unequal health systems, poor countries are ill-equipped to protect their populations and their economies. Without urgent action, the economic, social and health toll in these countries will be incomparably devastating. The recent Oxfam report ‘Dignity not Destitution’ found that the economic fallout of the pandemic could force half a billion people into poverty unless dramatic action is taken. This could set back the fight against poverty by a decade, and as much as 30 years in some regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa.

· UN estimates developing countries need USD 500bn in aid to face the Coronavirus
On 30 March 2020, the UN called for a USD 2.5 trillion coronavirus crisis package for developing countries. This includes: a USD 1 trillion liquidity injections to be made available through the expanded use of special drawing rights; the cancellation of USD 1 trillion of debts owed by developing countries this year; and USD 500 billion in overseas aid to fund a Marshall Plan for health recovery and dispersed as grants.

· Methodology for calculating rich countries’ fair share of the coronavirus aid response: Oxfam bases its calculation of fair share on donors’ gross national income (GNI). The members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) together account for 59% of total global GNI, so their collective fair share of any appeal or aid pledging target is 59%. The fair share of any individual DAC member is their GNI divided by the DAC collective GNI and multiplied by the DAC fair share.

· Oxfam’s vision for aid in times of extreme inequality: In its 2019 report ‘Hitting the target, an agenda for aid in times of extreme inequality’, Oxfam set out a 10-point action plan for donors to beat poverty by fighting inequality through: more spending in health, education, social protection, water and sanitation and small-scale agriculture; support to build equitable tax systems in developing countries; support for active citizenship and to fight gender inequality. These recommendations are all the more acute today, as the coronavirus is showing how deep and growing inequalities undermine our ability to face existential threats.

According to the Forbes magazine, the three richest men in the world are Jeff Bezos (USD 138 billion), Bill Gates (USD 104.4 billion) and Bernard Arnault (USD 93 billion). Their combined wealth is USD 335 billion.

Debt relief for poor countries essential in global fight against coronavirus

April 16, 2020

Oxfam New Zealand is calling on the New Zealand government to free up spending for global public health, by advocating for the immediate cancellation of all external debt payments due to be made in 2020 by developing country governments.

Oxfam New Zealand’s Advocacy and Campaigns Director Joanna Spratt said: “Countries around the world need to massively scale up their health budgets to fight the coronavirus crisis. But the very poorest countries are due to spend US$40 billion on debt payments in 2020 alone.

“World leaders are meeting this week to talk about debt cancellation at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings. While the G20 have already agreed to a suspension, this only kicks the problem down the road. This moment of unprecedented need requires at least a cancellation of all debt payments owing this year, so that money can instead help save millions of lives.

“Many of our neighbours in the Pacific region are already at high risk of debt distress. Countries like Papua New Guinea, where they only have 14 ventilators for their eight million people, currently spend more on debt repayments than public health. Until we are all safe, no one is safe.”

“New Zealand can be an advocate for debt cancellation at the World Bank and IMF meetings – as an aid donor that doesn’t give loans, our position on this is strong. We have a responsibility to advocate for our neighbours facing this intolerable situation.”

Oxfam’s recent report Dignity Not Destitution highlights how the coronavirus and the disruption caused to the global economy could push up to half a billion more people into poverty. It also shows that 46 countries were spending on average four times more money on paying debts than they were on public health services at the beginning of this year, when the coronavirus was spreading.

“This pandemic will require a massive injection of resources to support economies, so it makes no sense for poorer countries to be transferring vital resources to the rich world. The costs of the debt burden are paid by the poorest people, in cuts to government services, and women are the hardest hit.”

Over 200 organisations, including Oxfam, have signed a statement calling for the cancellation of all debt payments due from developing countries to bilateral, multilateral and private creditors. In addition more than 750,000 people have signed a petition calling for urgent debt relief.

The international aid agency is also advocating for the New Zealand government to provide NZ$25 million in immediate, additional humanitarian funding as part of an emergency coronavirus response package for people living in the world’s worst crisis and emergency situations; and for the protecting and maintaining of existing aid and climate finance budgets so that fewer people are thrown into poverty by the global pandemic.

-ends-

For more information, please contact:
Kelsey-Rae Taylor on Kelsey-Rae.Taylor@oxfam.org.nz or +6421 298 5894.

Notes to editors:
Over 200 organisations, including Oxfam, have signed a statement calling for the cancellation of all debt payments due from developing countries to bilateral, multilateral and private creditors, and more than 750,000 people have signed a petition calling for urgent debt relief.

Oxfam’s recent report ‘Dignity Not Destitution’ calls for an ‘Economic Rescue Package for All’ to support poor countries in tackling the crisis and rebuild a more equal world. Debt relief, together with aid and tax policy, is on the front line of these global plans for public health and economic rescue.

President Trump seeking to withhold funding to the World Health Organization

April 15, 2020

Reaction to President Trump hold on WHO funding

In reaction to reports that President Trump is seeking to withhold funding to the World Health Organization, Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America, made the following comment:

“Picking a fight with the World Health Organization during a pandemic is shortsighted to say the least. Instead of bringing us together through this global crisis, President Trump has attacked leaders and agencies around the world, seeking to deflect blame for his own administration’s failings.

“With this latest move to hold back funding from the WHO, President Trump is crippling any hopes for the responsible international cooperation and solidarity that is critical to save lives and restore the global economy.

“Withholding funding and blame-shifting means wasted time and needless death, misery, and poverty. And it gets the US and the world no closer to an end to this disaster.

“As we at Oxfam scale up efforts to respond to the crisis in more than 50 countries around the world, we see firsthand that strong coordination and funding is vital to save lives on the ground.

“No one individual, community, or country can deal with this crisis alone. We must work together, in our communities and across borders, with dignity and compassion. No one is safe until everyone is safe. President Trump must immediately reverse course and act like the global leader the world expects.”

G7 backs debt moratorium for poor countries, if G20 and Paris Club agree: Oxfam reaction

April 15, 2020

Responding to a joint statement on Tuesday by G7 Finance Ministers saying they stand ready to provide a time-bound suspension on bilateral debt service payments for all countries eligible for World Bank concessional financing if they are joined by all G20 members and as agreed with the Paris Club group of official creditors, Jaime Atienza, Oxfam International’s Debt Policy Lead, said:

“The G7’s statement is a welcome step, but this unprecedented crisis requires the G7, G20, IMF and World bank to go a lot further. Without urgent action to relieve developing countries of all their external debt payments this year, and ensure they don’t accrue into the future, the coronavirus could lead to millions of deaths and force half a billion more people around the world into poverty. Countries that were already on the verge of debt crisis before the coronavirus outbreak need urgent support and debt relief now more than ever”.

Oxfam showed today that the IMF’s gold holdings have increased in value by almost $20 billion since the start of the global pandemic (putting total holdings over $150 billion). The IMF should use the windfall profits from gold sales for debt cancellation to avert catastrophic loss of life in developing countries. Averaging across 46 countries, debt payments this year will be 400 percent of their health budgets.

Atienza added “We expect clear leadership and decisive action from the world’s top economies tomorrow at the G20 meeting, following France’s lead. They have the power and the means to cancel all developing country debt payments for 2020 and to ratify such a move for the IMF and World Bank. They can’t keep making excuses and hiding behind one another or the private sector. G20 leaders must be adamant that they will do whatever it takes to help developing countries free up funds in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic”.

Notes to editors

Over 200 organisations, including Oxfam, have signed a statement calling for the cancellation of all debt payments due from developing countries to bilateral, multilateral and private creditors, and more than 750,000 people have signed a petition calling for urgent debt relief.

Together with Oxfam, healthcare workers from around the world are calling in an open letter for all developing country debt payments for 2020 to be cancelled immediately to support doctors and nurses on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Oxfam’s proposed Global Public Health Plan and Emergency Response outlines key actions to increase the capacity of public health systems and cope with the economic cost of the coronavirus. In addition, Oxfam’s recent report ‘Dignity Not Destitution’ calls for an ‘Economic Rescue Package for All’ to support poor countries in tackling the crisis and rebuild a more equal world. Debt relief, together with aid and tax policy, is on the front line of these public health and economic rescue global plans.