News & Media

Kiwis stand together to ask Government to step-up for Afghanistan

September 9, 2021

The United Nations has called for the international community to stand together for Afghanistan as world leaders meet at a flash appeal on Monday 13 September. Charity groups, local communities and other organisations in Aotearoa have taken the opportunity to call upon the New Zealand government to commit to more humanitarian aid. Executive Director of Oxfam Aotearoa Rachael Le Mesurier says that New Zealand needs to do more to contribute as a global citizen:

“The need is severe. Forty years of war, natural disasters, and now Covid-19 have conspired to push Afghanistan to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The $3 million of aid the government has recently provided pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars the New Zealand government spent on the military campaign in Afghanistan over the last two decades.

“We ask the government to commit to $10 million of new humanitarian aid to help people in Afghanistan. The global flash appeal for Afghanistan is asking for more than NZ$840 million to support around 11 million Afghanistan people in crisis, particularly women and girls. New Zealand can and must step-up.”

This week it was reported that even before the Taliban took over the country, the people of Afghanistan were already struggling to feed their families due to drought, loss of crops and soaring food prices. A combination of conflict, Covid-19 and drought could mean that soon millions of Afghans may experience starvation. Women are going hungry to feed their children, as 50 per cent of children under five are facing acute malnutrition and need life-saving treatment.

New Zealand was part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan for the past twenty years. Charity groups, local communities and other organisations say that New Zealand has an obligation to help the Afghan people who remain in their country even though we have left.

Along with Oxfam Aotearoa the following support this ask:

ActionStation
Afghan Cultural Association of Wellington
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
Christian World Service
ChildFund New Zealand
Council for International Development
Hazara Association of New Zealand
Save The Children New Zealand
Tearfund NZ
United Afghan Association of Canterbury
World Vision New Zealand

One-off emergency tax on billionaires’ pandemic windfalls could fund COVID-19 jabs for entire world

September 6, 2021

A one-off 99 percent levy on billionaires’ wealth gains during the pandemic could pay for everyone on Earth to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide a US$20,000 cash grant to all unemployed workers, according to new analysis released today by Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires. The organisations are calling on governments to tax the ultra-wealthy who profited from the pandemic crisis to help offset its costs.

The one-time emergency COVID-19 billionaire tax would raise US$5.4 trillion and still leave the world’s 2,690 billionaires US$55 billion richer than before the virus struck. Governments across the world are massively under-taxing the wealthiest individuals and big corporations, which is undermining the fight against COVID-19 and poverty and inequality.

The world’s billionaires have a collective net worth of US$13.5 trillion up from US$8 trillion at the beginning of the pandemic, a gain of nearly 69 percent. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos’ wealth increased by US$79.4 billion during the pandemic, rising from US$113 billion in March 2020 to USD$192.4 billion. Billionaire wealth has increased more over the past 17 months than it has in the past 15 years, and 325 new billionaires joined the ‘3-comma club’ since the pandemic began ―equivalent to roughly one new billionaire minted every day.

Less than one percent of people in low-income countries have received a vaccine, while the profits made by Big Pharma has seen the CEOs of Moderna and BioNTech become billionaires. The COVID-19 crisis has pushed over 200 million people into poverty and cost women around the world at least USD$800 billion in lost income in 2020, equivalent to more than the combined GDP of 98 countries. At the same time, 11 people are now dying of hunger and malnutrition each minute, outpacing COVID-19 fatalities.

Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at Blackrock and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, said: “The surge in global billionaire wealth as millions of people have lost their lives and livelihoods is a sickness that countries can no longer bear. Rich people getting endlessly richer is not good for anyone. Our economies are choking on this hoarded resource that could be serving a much greater purpose. Billionaires need to cough up that cash ball ―and governments need to make them do it by taxing their wealth.”

Governments have in the past turned to the wealthiest in response to major crises. After World Wars I and II, one-off wealth taxes were levied in European countries and Japan to fund reconstruction. France, for example, taxed excessive wartime wealth gains at a rate of 100 percent after the Second World War. More recently, following the global financial crisis of 2008, countries including Iceland introduced temporary wealth taxes to help refill public coffers.

Policymakers, leading economists, civil society organisations, the UN, IMF and the World Bank are calling for one-time ‘solidarity taxes’ and longer-term wealth taxes targeted at the super-rich to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic and reduce inequalities. In December 2020, debt-saddled Argentina adopted a one-off special levy dubbed the ‘millionaire’s tax’ that has brought in around US$2.4 billion to pay for pandemic recovery.

Dr Jo Spratt, Communications and Advocacy Director of Oxfam Aotearoa said: “Billionaire Jeff Bezos could personally pay for enough vaccines for the whole world and still have more than he did at the start of the pandemic, yet he would rather spend his wealth on a thrill ride to space. COVID-19 is turning the gap between rich and poor into an unbridgeable chasm. The obscene levels of wealth gained from the pandemic by a handful of mega rich individuals should immediately be taxed at 99 percent ―enough to fully vaccinate everyone on Earth and help millions of workers who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Only with this kind of visionary and progressive policy making will we be able to fight inequality and end poverty.”

The Festival to Fight Inequality, a two-day virtual gathering of thousands of activists from nearly 30 countries, will take place 13-14 August. They will discuss solutions to the worsening global inequality crisis, including taxing the rich.

Njoki Njehu, Pan Africa Coordinator of the Fight Inequality Alliance, said: “With a 99 percent tax on billionaires’ COVID-19 wealth gains, we are calling time on this age of greed. Billionaire wealth is not earned. Billionaires are profiting from working people’s hard graft and pain. It’s their money ’earned’ by your sweat ―and it’s high time that sweat began to pay off. Governments need to tax the rich for us to stand any chance of reversing the inequality crisis we’re in.”

Notes to editor

The cost of vaccinating the world’s adult population was calculated as follows: two doses at US$7 per dose for 5 billion people, for a total of US$70 billion. This is based on the average cost per dose. Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires do not endorse such high prices for vaccines and, as part of The People’s Vaccine Alliance, are campaigning for patent-free access to allow generic manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines to drive down prices.

According to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook 2021 Flagship Report, 220 million people are currently unemployed. Of these, 114 million people were made jobless by COVID-19. To give a one-off US$20,000 cash grant to all workers currently unemployed would cost US$4.4 trillion dollars.

Analysis of Forbes’ real-time and annual billionaire lists shows that the world’s billionaires increased their wealth by US$5.5 trillion over the past 17 months, from US$8 trillion on 18 March 2020 to US$13.5 trillion on 31 July 2021. This is more than the US$5.4 trillion billionaires gained over a period of 15 years, from 2006 to 2020. A one-off 99 percent levy on billionaires’ US$5.5 trillion pandemic windfalls would raise US$5.445 trillion.

At least nine people have become new billionaires since the beginning of the pandemic, thanks to the excessive profits pharmaceutical corporations with monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines are making.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed over 200 million people into poverty, according to estimates by World Bank researchers.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged governments to “consider a solidarity or wealth tax on those who have profited during the pandemic, to reduce extreme inequalities”. The IMF and the World Bank have also called for wealth taxes to help cover the costs of COVID-19.

Argentina has collected 223 billion pesos (around US$2.4 billion) from its one-off pandemic wealth tax.

Oxfam Aotearoa, Amnesty International and ActionStation: More support needed urgently for Afghanistan

September 6, 2021

ActionStation, Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand and Oxfam Aotearoa support the Council of International Development (CID) statement released asking the Government to step up support for Afghanistan communities. The three charities said in a joint statement:

“We whole heartedly support the statement released today by CID. As we understand, Cabinet is meeting imminently to discuss the next steps of the lives of those left behind in Afghanistan and we encourage the Government to make sure they engage with and listen to the Afghan community in New Zealand as they make decisions. We also join CID in their ask to the government.”

CID’s statement asks the New Zealand government to play its part, which includes:

At least double aid to Afghanistan to support local organisations
Increase humanitarian aid for surrounding countries taking in refugees now
Welcome at least 1500 Afghan refugees in this year’s current refugee intake, over and above the current Refugee Resettlement Quota, for those at most immediate risk
Expedite visa processing of both Refugee Family Support Category Visa and Critical Purpose Visas for those with a connection to New Zealand
Support the reunification of families

Last month, Canada committed to taking 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan, the UK committed to 20,000, and Australia 3,000 refugees; however, New Zealand has made no such commitments. More than 18 million people in Afghanistan are now dependent on aid. 600,000 people have fled their homes in the last few weeks.

Recently, Amnesty International, Oxfam Aotearoa and ActionStation handed over a petition to the Minister of Immigration Phil Twyford asking for the safe passage of people in Afghanistan to Aotearoa. The petition gained the support of over 21,000 Kiwis.

Oxfam Aotearoa and Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade announce partnership

August 11, 2021

A historic moment for Oxfam Aotearoa and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) as both sign a partnership for a new programme called Kōtui that will support our Pacific neighbours.

The total $12.4 million investment will help those people who have the least power to get the resources and opportunities they need to keep themselves and their families safe, well and cared for through climate breakdown and extreme weather.

Anna Mosley, International Portfolio Manager at Oxfam Aotearoa said that the joint initiative will change so many lives for the better, and expressed how proud Oxfam is to be working with civil society organisations across the Pacific and Timor-Leste that have a wealth of experience and deep connections to communities:

“Our partner organisations in the Pacific will bridge the gap between communities and policy makers, making sure that governments are responsive to those hit hardest by climate change,” said Mosley. “Across the Pacific, women are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because they are more likely to depend on gardening and selling produce rather than formal employment, and because they have less say in decision making and fewer resources.

“There is international funding available for climate change adaptation, but it’s not always reaching those women who need it most, or meeting their needs. Kōtui will help women to negotiate better access to the resources they need.”

MFAT’s Partnerships Manager Salli Davidson said about the partnership and the Kōtui programme:

“We’re excited to be embarking on a new phase of our partnership with Oxfam Aotearoa. With MFAT’s $9.7m co-investment, together we will make a difference in the lives of women and girls in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu.

“Within the next five years, we expect they will be more actively involved in local governance so that communities, including the vulnerable and marginalised, are more resilient to climate change. Oxfam Aotearoa’s resources and relationships will help to achieve this.”

Kōtui will improve women’s access to key adaptation resources – climate finance, land, water, services, information – building sustainable resilience for 238,000 people across Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu.

Oxfam’s partners in the Pacific and Timor-Leste also expressed their excitement for the programme and partnership:

Raijeli Nicole, Regional Director at Oxfam in the Pacific said:

“Our excitement for the Kōtui programme stems from our own experience in partnering with others in building more inclusive, accountable and transformative governance mechanisms that deliver to marginalised groups, particularly women and girls in all their diversity, the promise of full agency and autonomy.

“We are incredibly excited to be a partner with Oxfam Aotearoa as well as with local NGOs WARA and SICAN in Solomon Islands, and Touching the Untouchables in PNG to implement this programme.”

Dr Alice Aruheeta Pollard, co-founder of the West ’Are’Are Rokotanikeni Association (WARA), said:

“We are looking forward to this new partnership with Oxfam. It is a positive step forward that will enable WARA to expand its important work of reaching out to rural communities to empower women and shift norms and expectations around the role of women. Making decisions together will mean that rural families and communities in Solomon Islands are better able to prepare for and cope with king tide/serious high tide and other climate change impacts.”

Fausto Belo Ximenes, Country Director of Oxfam in Timor-Leste said:

“We are honoured to be working with MFAT and Oxfam Aotearoa on this very critical and timely programme initiative – Kōtui – that will undoubtedly bring positive changes to the lives of women, girls and other vulnerable groups in Timor-Leste and the Pacific Region as a whole. We believe Kōtui is critical to building our vision of a truly just, inclusive and sustainable Timor-Leste.”

/ENDS

Notes:

What is Kōtui? The te reo Māori word kōtui means the binding together, or interlacing, during weaving. The woven mat represents dialogue and joint problem-solving in Pacific countries and in Timor-Leste. It is an appropriate symbol for a programme focused on inclusive and equitable governance. The term “haere kōtui” describes people walking together arm in arm. This programme seeks to walk together with people across the wider Pacific, binding us together to weave a more resilient future. The purpose of the Kōtui

MFAT will fund $9.7 million of the programme, whereas Oxfam will fundraise the remaining $2.7 million through public donations
Read more about Kōtui here.
Oxfam Aotearoa is a part of the wider Oxfam confederation and works specifically within Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific. Much of the work Oxfam Aotearoa does includes working towards ending gender inequality, tackling climate change in the fight against poverty and inequality, and more recently, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxfam helps people build better futures for themselves, hold the powerful accountable, save lives in disasters, and create lasting solutions.

Oxfam reaction to IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report

August 10, 2021

Responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier said:

“Amid a world in parts burning, in parts drowning and in parts starving, the IPCC today tables the most compelling wake-up call yet for global industry to switch from oil, gas, coal and intensive agriculture to renewables and sustainable food production. Governments must use law to compel this urgent change. Citizens must use their own political power and behaviors to push big polluting corporations and governments in the right direction. There is no Plan B.

“The world’s highest-level of political and scientific consensus, the IPCC, describes humanity’s slimmest chance to keep global warming to 1.5°C and avert planetary ruin. It sets the agenda for a make-or-break climate summit in Glasgow later this year. This report is yet more unimpeachable proof that climate change is happening now, and that global warming is already one of the most harmful drivers of worsening hunger and starvation, migration, poverty and inequality all over the world. 

“In recent years, with 1°C of global heating, there have been deadly cyclones in the Pacific and Central America, floods here in Aotearoa and Europe, huge locust swarms across Africa, and unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires across Australia and the US―all turbo-charged by climate change. Over the past 10 years, more people have been forced from their homes by extreme weather-related disasters than for any other single reason―20 million a year, or one person every two seconds. The number of climate-related disasters has tripled in 30 years. Since 2000, the UN estimates that 1.23 million people have died and 4.2 billion have been affected by droughts, floods and wildfires. Kiwis are no exception.

“The richest one percent of people in the world, approximately 63 million people, are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the 3.1 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. The people with money and power will be able to buy some protection against the effects of global warming for longer than people without those privileges and resources ―but not forever. No one is safe. This report is clear that we are at the stage now when self-preservation is either a collective process or a failed one. 

“Global warming is a base factor behind all of today’s huge regressions in human development. The main perpetrators of global warming ―that is, rich countries like New Zealand that have reaped massive wealth by burning fossil fuels and intensifying agriculture― must be the ones to cut their emissions first, fastest and furthest. They must also pay their climate debt to developing countries by scaling up finance to help them adapt to the effects of climate change and transition to clean energy. Other major polluters don’t get a free pass and must also drastically cut emissions. The world has as much to gain in terms of human safety, development, opportunity and jobs by running a global economy on renewables and sustainable food production, as it has to lose in continuing dirty business-as-usual.

“Very few nations ―and none of the world’s wealthy nations, New Zealand included― have submitted climate plans consistent with keeping warming below 2°C, let alone 1.5°C. If global emissions continue to increase, the 1.5°C threshold could be breached as early as the next decade. The IPCC report must spur governments to act together and build a fairer and greener global economy to ensure the world stays within 1.5°C of warming. They must cement this in Glasgow. Rich country governments must meet their $100 billion-a-year promise to help the poorest countries grapple with the climate crisis ―according to Oxfam, not only have they collectively failed to deliver on their promise, but New Zealand is one of the lowest contributors per capita, far below its fair share of the collective goal.”

/ENDS

Notes:

Extreme weather-related disasters were the number one driver of internal displacement over the last decade, forcing more than 20 million people a year ―one person every two seconds― to leave their homes. For more information, download Oxfam’s briefing Forced from Home.

According to the UN, a sharp rise in the number of droughts, floods and wildfires has claimed 1.23 million lives and affected 4.2 billion people since 2000.

The richest one percent were responsible for 15 percent of emissions added to the atmosphere between 1990 and 2015 ―more than all the citizens of the EU and more than twice that of the poorest half of humanity (7 percent). The richest 10 percent accounted for over half (52 percent) of emissions during this time. For more information, download Oxfam’s report Confronting Carbon Inequality. New Zealanders’ carbon footprint is more than 13 times that of the global poorest 50% (9.3 vs 0.69 tCO2/year)

Oxfam’s Climate Finance Shadow Report 2020 offers an assessment of progress towards the USD100 billion goal. It considers how climate finance is being counted and spent, where it is going, how close we are to the USD100 billion goal, and what lessons need to be learned for climate finance post-2020. Oxfam Aotearoa’s Standing with the Frontlines 2020 report outlines New Zealand’s fair share of the USD 100 billion goal.

Oxfam recently reported that there has been a six-fold increase in people suffering famine-like conditions since pandemic began.

Oxfam supports a range of climate projects across the world, and works with local communities most impacted by the climate crisis. For example, we are helping rural farming communities in Timor-Leste earn a decent income, pioneering a cash transfer program in Vanuatu that uses blockchain to provide quick and targeted support to households worst hit by cyclones, and connecting civil society organisations in Solomon Islands to ensure that climate adaptation funds reach those who need it most.

Oxfam Advisory: One Year Since the Beirut Blast

August 6, 2021

One year ago, a blast ripped through Beirut, taking 200 lives, and causing widespread and long-lasting injury, destruction, and devastation to more than one third of the city. In the immediate aftermath and in the year since, we have seen the people of Beirut act as first responders and a support system for each other.

Communities are still fighting for accountability, justice, and the resources to rebuild. Persistent inequality, super charged by a combination of the economic crisis, the impact of the pandemic and the blast has thrust the residents of Beirut further into vulnerability. The Lebanese Lira has lost over 92% of its value to the US dollar in the parallel market, causing prices of essential items, including food necessities, to double and triple. Basic resources are scarce in country, with people queuing for hours at gas stations to fill up their tanks and medicine unavailable across pharmacies.

“The multiple crises that have hit the country before the blast, and which continued to worsen after it, are affecting all residents of Lebanon like never before,” said Bachir Ayoub, Acting Country Director. “We are headed towards a humanitarian crisis that is already starting to manifest its effects, with more than 75% of the population in need of some form of assistance.”

In response to the August 4 explosion, Oxfam has adapted its programs, and is partnering with 11 local organizations to provide emergency relief like cash assistance, food, sanitation, and shelter materials. We have also helped to provide longer-term resources for people to rebuild their homes and businesses, support for mental and physical health, legal assistance, and more, making sure that marginalized groups like women, girls, migrant workers, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQI+ community’s needs are identified and met.

“The needs after the blast were immense, and the LGBTQI community was affected enormously, especially when it comes to access to safe spaces, mental health services, and basic needs,” said Tarek Zeidan, Executive Director of Helem, one of Oxfam’s partners working on LGBTQI rights. “One year on, and nothing has gotten better; we are still seeking justice, fighting for our basic rights, and attempting to survive the crises that are suffocating our country.”

Oxfam is also advocating for more equitable policies, universal social protection schemes, necessary governmental reforms, and immediate relief to those affected by the crises.

Some worrying facts and numbers one year on;

Lebanon is experiencing four concurrent crises (1) Economic crisis, (2) COVID-19 Outbreak, (3) Aftermath of the Beirut blast, (4) Political Deadlock on top of the on-going Syrian crisis.
The World Bank said that Lebanon’s economic and financial crisis could rank as one of the three most severe the world has seen since the mid-19th century.
Since October 2019, the Lira has lost more than 91% of its value to the US Dollar on the parallel market due to shortages in foreign currency in country.
Year-on-year inflation in Lebanon in the month of July 2021 on essential food products have reached 150% (Crisis Observatory and the Ministry of Economy)
77% of households do not have enough money to buy food, or enough food . The figure reaches 99% among Syrian Refugees (UNICEF).
The last week of June witnessed a 40% increase in fuel prices, amid a shortage that is felt across the country, with cars queuing for hours at gas stations to fill up their tanks.
Power cuts are still very frequent, with some areas, including Beirut, surviving on 2 hours per day of state power.
Medication shortages are felt across the country, with essential medications to treat issues such as mental health, chronic diseases not available at all.