Media Releases

Cyclone threatens world’s largest refugee camp as first Covid-19 cases are confirmed.

May 18, 2020

Almost one million Rohingya people in the world’s largest refugee camp are facing the added threat of a cyclone as the first cases of Covid-19 are confirmed, Oxfam warned today. The cyclone, which looks likely to form off the coast over the weekend, could bring further suffering and destruction to the camps on top of a potentially devastating health crisis.

Dipankar Datta, Oxfam Bangladesh Country Director said: “Our worst fears have been confirmed as the virus hits the overcrowded camps where many people are suffering from pre-existing health conditions.

“With 40,000 people crammed per square kilometre maintaining social distance is impossible. People share water and toilet facilities making it extremely challenging to maintain the strict hygiene needed. If a serious outbreak is to be avoided more prevention and containment measures – adapted to the needs of women and men – must be rapidly put in place.”

If the cyclone hits, the contamination of water sources caused by heavy rains and flooding could lead to a spike in illnesses. And any weakening of people’s immune systems will likely leave them even more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Oxfam is providing humanitarian relief, including essential water and sanitation to the refugees and the local host community.

Datta said: “Every effort is being made to keep the people safe, but there are huge gaps. We need more funds to immediately ramp up hygiene, health, and protection facilities to save lives. All governments and international agencies must step in to make sure no one is left behind.

“Our frontline workers and partners are providing clean water and toilets in Cox’s Bazar, and supporting the local host community with food and hygiene kits. Since the pandemic began, Oxfam teams have been promoting awareness on hygiene, hand washing, and Covid-19 prevention practices.”

Last week, Oxfam installed an innovative new contactless hand washing station designed with community input to reduce the risks of Covid-19 transmission. In the coming weeks teams will install more facilities.

Oxfam aims to raise approximately $3m to be able to ramp up its response in the camps. To date, less than a fifth of the UN Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya refugees has been funded.

Datta said: “While nations around the world are understandably focused on containing the spread of the pandemic amongst their people, it is crucial that the international community does not turn its back on at-risk populations. Special attention needs to be paid to the particular risks faced by women and girls during the Covid-19 crisis.“

Notes to the editors

In Bangladesh, Oxfam has stepped up its work on hygiene promotion and water and sanitation facilities for the most vulnerable marginalized communities including in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, where some 855,000 refugees currently live in extremely overcrowded conditions. With 23 local partners, Oxfam reached 106,050 people in 21 districts with food, hygiene promotion and protection materials in the country.
Oxfam is also providing hygiene promotion activities and essential water and sanitation to 173,000 Rohingya refugees in the camps and 9000 people in the host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
There are now roughly 19,000 confirmed cases in Bangladesh– and likely many more due to limited testing capacity.

Vaccinating poorest half of humanity against coronavirus could cost less than four month’s big pharma profits – Oxfam

May 14, 2020

Vaccinating the poorest half of humanity – 3.7 billion people – against coronavirus could cost less than the ten biggest pharmaceutical companies make in four months, Oxfam said today.

The agency is urging governments and pharmaceutical companies to guarantee that vaccines, tests, and treatments will be patent-free and equitably distributed to all nations and people, ahead of the World Health Assembly next week. The virtual meeting on Monday 18 May will be attended by health ministers from 194 countries.

The Gates Foundation has estimated that the cost of procuring and delivering a safe and effective vaccine to the world’s poorest people is $25 billion. Last year the top ten pharmaceutical companies made $89 billion in profits – an average of just under $30 billion every four months.

Oxfam warned that rich countries and huge pharmaceutical companies – driven by national or private interests – could prevent or delay the vaccine from reaching vulnerable people, especially those living in developing countries.

The EU has proposed the voluntary pooling of patents for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, and tests in their draft resolution for the World Health Assembly. If made mandatory and worldwide, this would ensure that all countries could produce, or import low cost versions, of any available vaccines, treatments, and tests. However, leaked documents reveal that the Trump administration is trying to delete references to pooled patents and insert strong language on respecting the patents of the pharmaceutical industry. This would give pharmaceutical companies exclusive rights to produce, and set prices for, any vaccines, treatments and tests they develop – even if taxpayer money has been used to fund their research and development.

Jose Maria Vera, Oxfam International Interim Executive Director said:

“Providing a vaccine to 3.7 billion people could cost less than what the ten biggest pharmaceutical companies make in four months. Anything less than guaranteeing that a vaccine is made available free of charge to all people would be obscene.

“Vaccines, tests and treatments should be distributed according to need, not auctioned off to the highest bidder. We need safe, patent-free vaccines, treatments and tests that can be mass produced worldwide, and a clear and fair plan for how they will be distributed.”

Once vaccines or treatments are developed, there is also a high risk that rich and powerful governments will outbid poorer nations and force their way to the front of the queue, as they did in the scramble for other essential medical supplies such as personal protective equipment and oxygen.

In March, drug manufacturer Gilead moved to extend the monopoly on a potential treatment for the virus, and only withdrew it after a public outcry. Gilead has now donated a significant portion of its current supply of remdesivir to the US government, but news reports suggest the company could make significant profits from subsequent production. Some Wall Street analysts expect Gilead to charge more than $4,000 per patient for the drug, even though the cost of remdesivir can be as low as $9 per patient.

Many poor countries are unable to access essential vaccines and medicines due to patent rules which give pharmaceutical companies monopoly rights and the power to set prices well above what they can afford. Pneumonia is the biggest killer of children under the age of five, with 2,000 children dying every day. For over a decade, millions of children have not had access to patented pneumonia vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline due to its high cost. After years of campaigning by Médecins San Frontieres, both companies reduced their prices in 2016, but only for the very poorest countries, leaving millions of children still without access to their vaccine.

Oxfam is proposing a four-point global plan that calls for:

1. Mandatory sharing of all Covid-19 related knowledge, data and intellectual property, and a commitment to make all public funding conditional on treatments or vaccines being made patent-free and accessible to all.

2. A commitment to deliver additional global vaccine manufacturing and distribution capacity with funding from rich country governments. This means building factories in countries willing to share and investing now in the millions of additional health workers needed to deliver prevention, treatment, and care both now and in the future.

3. A globally agreed, equitable distribution plan with a locked-in fairness formula so that supply is based on need, not ability to pay. Vaccines, treatments, and tests should be produced and supplied at the lowest cost possible to governments and agencies, ideally no more than $2 a dose for a vaccine, and provided free at the point of delivery to everyone that needs it.

4. A commitment to fix the broken system for the research and development of new medicines. The current system puts pharmaceutical profit above the health of people across the world meaning many needed put unprofitable medicines never get developed, and those that do are too often priced out of reach for the poorest countries and people.

Vera concluded “Delivering an affordable vaccine for everyone will require unprecedented global cooperation. Governments must rip up the rulebook and prioritise the health of people everywhere, over the patents and profits of pharmaceutical corporations. Governments must ensure that no one is left behind.”

Notes to editor

A background briefing paper is available on request

The Gates Foundation estimated the cost of producing and distributing a vaccine and have confirmed that this cost relates to the production and distribution in low and lower middle income countries only.

The 2019 profits for the top ten pharmaceutical companies can be found here

The Gilead monopoly decision can be found here, future Gilead cost of remdesivir here and remdesivir potential cost per patient here

Oxfam believes that vaccines should ideally be produced and supplied for no more than $2 per dose. This is a reasonable challenge to set given that new complex vaccines for big killers like pneumonia are already available for this price.

No one safe until we are all safe: NZ aid agencies call for global action on pandemic

April 28, 2020

Fourteen leading New Zealand aid agencies have today called on the New Zealand government to step in with immediate humanitarian assistance to save millions of lives in the world’s worst crisis and emergency situations.

The organisations have published a joint statement calling for extra humanitarian funding for people in places less able to fight the coronavirus pandemic, to prevent a catastrophic human toll in conflict areas and developing countries.

Ian McInnes, Council for International Development Chair and Tearfund CEO said: “New Zealand is in the extraordinary position of potentially beating Covid-19, but we can’t stop here. Opening our borders and resuming life as normal requires we now act to support communities far more vulnerable than our own, in countries with far weaker health systems and just as much to lose.”

“The severe challenges responding to the devastation of Cyclone Harold in places like Vanuatu show, right on our doorstep, the double-whammy of a crisis situation with coronavirus. In crises like this, people are living in makeshift shelters, crowded close together, sharing water sources with often hundreds of others, and very basic, or no, health services.”

“Pandemics know no borders, and neither does compassion. We must not leave anyone behind as we fight this virus. The New Zealand government is rightly taking radical action to eradicate it from our nation and support people through these hard times, even as many of us worry about our health and our jobs. Across the world the coronavirus is threatening to set the fight against poverty back by decades, but we can turn the tide by increasing funds for vital humanitarian work, especially through NGOs who know their local communities and have strong relationships with people in need.”

According to the group, millions of lives are at stake in developing countries that have limited resources, weak health systems and high debt levels. Imperial College estimates that without interventions at least 40 million people across the world may die.

As a first step towards New Zealand’s fair share, the letter calls on the government to provide NZ$25million 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.

Needs were already high before coronavirus hit. Now they are even higher, the agencies say we must provide more resources and not divert support already committed to poor countries. The group asks the New Zealand government to help 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, and to protect and maintain existing commitments to aid and climate finance.

The aid agencies are currently responding to the global pandemic in developing countries, partnering with local organisations to provide access to soap and clean water, promote good hygiene, and provide accurate information to communities on how to protect themselves against the virus.

-ends-

Notes to editors:

– Signatories to the open letter include 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.

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. Overall, despite significant need, total humanitarian assistance fell by 2.9 percent in 2019.
The proportion of bilateral aid spent in low income countries was up by 0.4 percent.
New Zealand gave NZ$46 million in humanitarian assistance in 2018, which was 11 percent of the total aid budget. This was an increase on previous years, placing New Zealand in about the middle of the pack for humanitarian assistance amongst OECD peers.
New Zealand gives approximately 0.28% of Gross National Income to overseas aid. The internationally agreed target is 0.7% of GNI to overseas aid.
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.
The United Nations has called for US$2 billion in urgent humanitarian assistance for the people living in the worst crisis situations, to begin to fund the Global Humanitarian Response Plan. UN estimates developing countries need US$500bn in aid to face the Coronavirus. On 30 March 2020, the UN called for a US$2.5 trillion coronavirus crisis package for developing countries. This includes: a US$1 trillion liquidity injections to be made available through the expanded use of special drawing rights; the cancellation of US$1 trillion of debts owed by developing countries this year; and US$500 billion in overseas aid to fund a Marshall Plan for health recovery and dispersed as grants.

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.