News & Media

70% of Tongan population affected in wake of Cyclone Gita

February 14, 2018

The full scale of destruction is beginning to emerge from Tonga in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Gita.

Around 50,000 people, or almost 70% of the country’s population, have been affected, a third of whom are children.

Water supplies across the main island of Tongatapu have sustained significant damage, making the risk of further outbreaks of waterborne disease a very real threat. Tonga was already addressing an outbreak of dengue fever in Tongatapu before the storm hit.

Jane Foster, Oxfam’s country director for Tonga, said: “Homes have been destroyed, government buildings flattened, and churches devastated. We have one report of a man, who is one of our local partners, sheltering in his home with his family as part of it was ripped away while they watched in horror.

“The impact of this severe storm will be felt on many people’s livelihoods for a long time to come. We also have grave concerns for the immediate threat from damage sustained to water supplies as the risk of contamination is high. There is a real risk of a second disaster from water and mosquito borne illnesses like dengue.”

“Our focus right now is to support our local partners to conduct assessments as quickly as possible – they are out there now finding out exactly where the most urgent needs are. Oxfam’s main relief efforts will focus on our area of expertise: providing safe water for people, as well as sanitation supplies and public health support to help prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.”

Severe tropical cyclone Gita made landfall in the southern part of Fiji last night. Ms Foster said the agency was deeply concerned for communities in the outer islands, who are yet to make contact.

“Some of these islands that are going to be affected are extremely remote and hard to reach in the best of times. We hope that preparedness plans and evacuation centres keep people safe until support reaches them.”

New Zealanders wanting to support people affected by Cyclone Gita are urged to ensure their generosity has the biggest impact by sending cash, not goods, Ms Foster said. “In a disaster, many people are often moved to send goods they think can help. But for the cost of shipping nine litres of bottled water from New Zealand to Nuku’alofa, Oxfam can produce over 16,200 litres of safe drinking water in Tonga.”

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses in the Pacific and around the world can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

Cyclone Gita heading towards Tonga: Oxfam poised to respond

February 12, 2018

Oxfam is on standby to respond to Cyclone Gita, as latest forecasts predict the storm could intensify up to a category 5 cyclone before affecting Tonga later tonight.

Up to 70% of the country’s population is at risk with the severe tropical cyclone expected to pass near the populated main islands of Tongatapu and ‘Eua. The storm’s impact may also be felt in the low-lying Ha’apai group, where damaging winds, rain and storm surge are likely.

With the country already addressing an outbreak of dengue fever in Tongatapu, the deterioration of sanitation conditions on the island could increase the risk of a second disaster due to the spread of dengue and other vector and water-borne diseases.

Oxfam stands ready to support the Tongan government, which may include mobilising local partners and other emergency personnel.

Oxfam, along with its partner the Tongan National Youth Congress (TNYC), has disaster preparedness programmes in Ha’apai and Vava’u. Oxfam is liaising with TNYC and the Tongan government to prepare for an appropriate and coordinated response.

Jane Foster, Oxfam’s country director for Tonga, says: “Once the urgent needs are assessed we are expecting to help coordinate the supply of clean water and sanitation for those affected by the disaster.

“Oxfam has a long-established presence in Tonga and Samoa and we have pre-positioned emergency supplies already in-country ready to be deployed should they be required.”

If you’d like to help us support those affected by disasters like Cyclone Gita, donate to our Disaster Response Fund.

Oxfam’s reaction to recent news on sexual misconduct in Haiti and Chad

February 10, 2018

Over the past few days, the media has talked of sexual misconduct by staff employed by Oxfam Great Britain in Haiti seven years ago, as well as in Chad in 2006.

“Following the media coverage surrounding cases of sexual misconduct involving Oxfam Great Britain in 2011, I saw it as extremely important to get in direct contact with supporters of all kinds – donors, campaigners, event participants, event volunteers – to share our shock, and sadness, at the abuse of power, to acknowledge your concerns and to share the actions we took then as a global network of Oxfams and the actions we are taking now.

“If you aren’t on our email lists (you may have advised us to not send you information) and haven’t received a direct message from me and would like to, or you have questions about the recent news coverage, please get in contact with us by phone (0800 600 700) or by email (oxfam@oxfam.org.nz). We don’t want any of you to feel like you are uninformed or with unanswered questions.

“Thank you for your continued support, and for your commitment to making a better, fairer world for all.”

Rachael Le Mesurier
Executive Director
March 6, 2018

Over the past few days, the media has talked of sexual misconduct by staff employed by Oxfam Great Britain in Haiti seven years ago, as well as in Chad in 2006.

It hurts all of us at Oxfam, deeply, to hear that a few Oxfam Great Britain staff abused the very people they were sent to help.

What happened in Haiti and clearly in other countries we work in was a few privileged men abusing the very people they were meant to protect – and our processes were too weak to stop them. Oxfam gave them power and they used it against powerless women. They betrayed their trust and the trust of our supporters and of the governments that allow us to come in to respond and support their people.

They also betrayed the trust of hundreds of thousands of Oxfam staff – kind and dedicated women and men. People who wake up every day to put themselves on the front-lines to help save the lives of others. These people represent the Oxfam I believe in – not those men who abused others.

Back in 2011 when this happened, several staff were fired. A few resigned during the investigation, or left the country, leaving Oxfam unable to satisfactorily resolve disciplinary measures. Acting on legal advice at the time, the Oxfam Great Britain Haiti Country Director was allowed to resign as he cooperated transparently with the investigation. Though the media has reported that Oxfam gave positive references to these staff, this did not happen. We have never and will never endorse individuals who are capable of such behaviour.

We always seek to do better and to learn. Oxfam today as a global confederation has grown significantly since 2011, and has put stringent and powerful measures in place to make sure this kind of behaviour never happens again.

Since the Haiti case in 2011 we have introduced a range of measures including a Global Taskforce on Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation & Abuse that is co-chaired by our Oxfam International Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.

The Oxfam Great Britain Deputy CEO, Penny Lawrence, has resigned. We respect her decision to take responsibility for incidents that happened on her watch.

Oxfam around the globe is united with you in outrage against the behaviour of these few men. It was then, and is now, unacceptable. We stand with the women and girls who experienced this exploitation. In view of our work advancing women’s rights, especially in situations of vulnerability, it’s imperative that sexual misconduct is stamped out everywhere. Your support is integral.

Top 5 questions you asked about the new Oxfam inequality report

January 25, 2018

Blog by Nick Bryer, Oxfam Global Inequality Lead

Our new report about the state of inequality in the world reveals how our economy is delivering unimaginable rewards for those at the top by exploiting millions of ordinary workers at the bottom.

As soon as we published it, we started to receive lots of great comments and questions. Here are some of the most interesting questions we’ve been asked, and our answers to them.

1. “Poverty is going down globally. People are living longer, healthier lives. Why should we care if a few people are also getting really rich?”

It’s absolutely true – and absolutely brilliant – that extreme poverty has declined very significantly over the past 25 years. In fact, the number of people living in extreme poverty – which is defined as anyone living on less than $1.90 a day – has more than halved. However, there are several reasons why that doesn’t mean we can now put our feet up, or even carry on along the same path that we’ve been going down.

Over this same time period, inequality has been increasing within most countries, and is now at dangerously high levels. There’s a great deal of evidence to show that extreme inequality leads to very negative social, political and economic impacts. It also stands in the way of the fight against poverty. Yes – lots of people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty in recent years, especially in countries like China, but the data shows that 700 million more people could have been lifted out of poverty by the end of last decade if inequality had been reduced at the same time.

Also, while the number of people in extreme poverty has reduced, there are a huge number of people who are poor but not ‘extremely poor’ because they earn slightly more than $1.90 a day. They still work very long hours in difficult and dangerous jobs, and they are still struggling to make ends meet. This includes many of the people who grow our food and make our clothes. They work in global supply chains that are channelling huge wealth to those at the top, while failing to pay a living wage to those at the bottom.

How can we accept such injustice?

Join the movement to fight inequality and beat poverty

2. “Oxfam is a charity – why are you talking about politics?”

Ending poverty is Oxfam’s reason for being – but we know that we can’t achieve our goal unless we work with others to tackle the big, structural issues that push people into poverty and keep them trapped there.

This means addressing really big challenges such as economic inequality, gender discrimination and climate change. And these problems are all fundamentally about power.

To understand their causes and to find solutions, we have to look at who has been making the big decisions, whose interests they have been acting in and whose voices have been excluded. We also have to look at who has the responsibility and the ability to put things right – and very often that means challenging governments to make better decisions.

3. “Oxfam keeps criticizing big companies. Are you anti-business?”

We’ve been asked this a few times over the years, but it simply isn’t true. Much of Oxfam’s work involves actively supporting and developing enterprises in communities around the world. We have productive partnerships with many companies, large and small.

What we are against is the kind of business model that maximizes profits by paying poverty wages, endangering workers, trashing the planet, or aggressively dodging tax. We are happy to be seen as anti those kinds of business.

We want to see companies showing that there is a different way of doing business – that profit is not the only thing that matters to them.

We want to see governments regulating against bad business practices, and actively supporting more positive ones. That includes encouraging the development of alternative business models that have a social purpose at their heart and that distribute power and profit more fairly among their different stakeholders.

4. “Last year you said that 8 men owned the same wealth as half the world. Now, you’re saying that it’s 42. So it sounds like inequality is getting better – but you’ve also just said it’s getting worse! Which is it?”

Unfortunately, those two numbers aren’t directly comparable. We base these statistics on data from the Forbes Rich List and from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report. Credit Suisse is the most reliable source for data on how much wealth is held by different sections of the global population – including the value of stocks and shares, housing, livestock etc. That’s obviously a very difficult thing to calculate so they’re always trying to add to and improve their data sources. That means we can’t always compare a new figure with something we’ve published in the past.

To work out how inequality is changing over time, we need to re-calculate the figures for previous years using the latest data set. When Oxfam did this we found that actually 61 people owned the same wealth as half the world in 2016 (rather than 8). And that 61 has now dropped down to 42, which is consistent with all the other evidence showing how wealth inequality is increasing.

The really important point here isn’t whether it’s 8 or 42 or 100 people who have the same wealth as half the world. The point is that an elite group of billionaires – mostly men – are rich beyond their wildest dreams, while 3.7 billion people have less than 1% of the world’s wealth between them. And that enormous imbalance in wealth translates into an enormous imbalance of power and opportunity.

5. “Oxfam talks as though the economic pie cannot grow, and so it’s just a question of sharing that pie out more equally. But that’s obviously not true. If the economy grows, there will be more for everyone. And billionaires are the real wealth creators, driving that economic growth, so why shouldn’t they be rewarded for that?”

Of course, economic growth can bring benefits with it – but at the moment, we see that those benefits are mostly going to those at the top. 82% of the wealth created in the world last year went to the top 1%. We need both governments and businesses to take action to ensure growth benefits everyone – and particularly those at the bottom.

Economic growth isn’t driven by the actions of a few entrepreneurs. It’s built on the labour of millions of ordinary people who make things, grow things, buy things. Everyone has a right to share in the benefits of that growth.

The IMF have recently shown that redistribution – taxing the rich more and using the proceeds to pay for public services for everyone – is a great way of tackling inequality, and doesn’t have a negative effect on economic growth.

While inclusive economic growth is going to play a really important role in ending poverty in many countries, we also know that we have to tackle inequality at the same time, or we’ll destroy the planet that we all depend upon. With current levels of inequality, our global economy would need to grow 175 times bigger before everyone was able to earn $5 a day. That’s obviously completely unsustainable.

We have to find a different and better route to shared prosperity.

We are asking people to help spread the word and to join with us to demand governments and big businesses do things differently.

Super-rich got 82% of wealth created last year – poorest half of world got nothing

January 23, 2018

Eighty two per cent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one per cent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half got nothing, according to a new Oxfam report released today.

The report is being launched as political and business elites gather for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Earlier today, Oxfam New Zealand reported that the richest 1 per cent of Kiwis bagged a staggering 28 per cent of all wealth created last year while the poorest 30 per cent of the population got just 1 per cent. ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’ reveals how the global economy enables the super-rich to accumulate vast wealth at the expense of hundreds of millions of people who are struggling to survive on poverty pay. • 2017 saw an unprecedented increase in the number of billionaires, at a rate of one every two days. Billionaire wealth has risen by an average of 13 per cent a year since 2010 – six times faster than the wages of ordinary workers, which have risen by a yearly average of just 2 per cent. • It takes just four days for a CEO from one of the top five global fashion brands to earn what a Bangladeshi garment worker will earn in her entire lifetime. In the US, it takes slightly over one working day for a CEO to earn what an ordinary worker makes in a year. • It would cost $2.2 billion a year to increase the wages of all 2.5 million Vietnamese garment workers to a living wage. This is about a third of the amount paid out to wealthy shareholders by the top 5 companies in the garment sector last year. Oxfam’s report outlines the key factors driving up rewards for shareholders and multi-national corporate bosses at the expense of workers’ pay and conditions, particularly in developing countries. These include the erosion of workers’ rights, the excessive influence of multi-national big business over government policy-making, and the relentless corporate drive to minimise costs in order to maximise returns to shareholders. Oxfam has also highlighted the role of tax havens in helping the extremely wealthy become even richer, with multinational tax avoidance from corporations costing poor countries at least $100 billion each year. Furthermore, many of these companies are growing their profits at the expense of their workers – paying unfair wages and forcing them to work in gruelling conditions. Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand, said: “The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system. The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones, and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a steady supply of cheap goods and swell the profits of multi-national corporations and billionaire investors.’ Women workers often find themselves off at the bottom of the heap. Across the world, women consistently earn less than men and are concentrated in the lowest-paid and least secure forms of work. By comparison, 9 out of 10 billionaires are men. “Oxfam has spoken to women across the globe whose lives are blighted by inequality. Women in Vietnamese garment factories who work far from home for poverty pay and don’t get to see their children for months at a time. Women working in the US poultry industry are forced to wear nappies because they are denied toilet breaks. Women working in hotels in Canada and the Dominican Republic who stay silent about sexual harassment for fear of losing their jobs,” said Le Mesurier. Oxfam is calling for governments globally to ensure our economies work for everyone and not just the fortunate few:

Limit returns to fair levels for shareholders and top executives and ensure all workers receive a minimum ‘living’ wage that would enable them to have a decent quality of life. For example, in Nigeria, the legal minimum wage would need to be tripled to ensure decent living standards.
Eliminate the gender pay gap and protect the rights of women workers. At current rates of change it will take 217 years to close the gap in pay and employment opportunities globally between women and men.
Ensure the extremely wealthy pay their fair share of tax through higher taxes and a crackdown on tax avoidance, and increase spending on public services such as healthcare and education. Oxfam estimates a global tax of 1.5 per cent on billionaires’ wealth could pay for every child in the world to go to school.
In New Zealand, demonstrate global leadership and work with political leaders to call for international tax reforms, including strengthening tax transparency for multi-nationals which is an essential step in fighting global tax avoidance.

Results of a new global survey commissioned by Oxfam demonstrates a groundswell of support for action on inequality. Of the 120,000 people surveyed in 10 countries, nearly two-thirds of all respondents think the gap between the rich and the poor needs to be urgently addressed. “It’s hard to find a political or business leader who doesn’t say they are worried about inequality. However there are not that many who are doing something about it. Many political leaders are actively making things worse by slashing taxes and scrapping labour rights,” said Le Mesurier. “People across the globe are ready for change. They want to see workers paid a living wage; they want multi-national corporations and the superrich to pay more tax; they want women workers to enjoy the same rights as men; they want a limit on the power and the wealth which sits in the hands of so few. They want action from their governments.” Notes to editors ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’ and a methodology document that outlines how Oxfam arrived at the key statistics in the report, is available for download here. New data from Credit Suisse reveals that 42 people now own the same wealth as the poorest half of humanity. This figure cannot be compared to figures from previous years – including the 2016/17 statistic that eight men owned the same wealth as half the world – because it is based on an updated and expanded data set published by Credit Suisse in November 2017. When Oxfam recalculated last year’s figures using the latest data we found that 61 people owned the same wealth as half the world in 2016 – and not eight. Oxfam’s calculations are based on global wealth distribution data provided by the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Data book 2017. The wealth of billionaires was calculated using Forbes’ billionaires list last published in March 2017. RIWI and YouGov conducted the online survey for Oxfam in ten countries: India, Nigeria, United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Morocco, Netherlands and Denmark. For details on the methodology and the full results see Oxfam’s report Reward Work, Not Wealth.

What’s wrong with wealth?

January 23, 2018

Lan, 32, works in a factory in Dong Nai province, southern Vietnam, which produces shoes for global fashion brands. She works on 1200 pairs of shoes a day, yet she can’t afford to buy even one pair for her son on the amount she earns each month. Photo: Sam Tarling/Oxfam

Blog post by Nick Bryer
Oxfam Global Inequality Lead (Davos)

Oxfam’s new inequality report is bound to ruffle feathers at the World Economic Forum – the annual get together of the rich and powerful in Davos, Switzerland.

Some will accuse us of being ‘anti-rich’, and of focusing on billionaires because we’re jealous of their success. They will say we should be focusing on the hundreds of millions of people who are still trapped in poverty, rather than on those at the top who are doing so very well for themselves.

Two sides of the same coin

Don’t be fooled. We are absolutely focused on people living in poverty. What has become increasingly clear over the years, however, is that there’s no way we’re going to end poverty unless we tackle extreme wealth too. They are two sides of the same coin.

The reality is that all too often the fortunes of the super-rich have been amassed at the expense of the rest of us – and especially the workers and producers who are at the bottom of every global supply chain.

An economy for the rich

The insatiable pursuit of profit by giant corporations and their rich shareholders is fuelling an epidemic of tax dodging that is depriving developing countries of at least $170 billion every year – money that should be going to schools and hospitals. It is driving down wages and working conditions across the globe, leaving hundreds of millions of people in dangerous and difficult jobs, struggling to earn enough to get by.

It is no coincidence that most of these people are women.

The effects of inequality

Women like Lan, who is a garment worker in Vietnam, working in a factory far from her home. Lan’s pay is so low, and she has to work so much overtime, that she goes months at a time without seeing her young children. She will earn in her lifetime what a CEO of a top garment company earns in just ten days. Or Dolores, who works in a US poultry factory, and has to wear diapers to work because she isn’t allowed to take toilet breaks. And that’s in the richest country on earth!

A broken system

So yes, if people are getting rich at the expense of others, we have a problem with that.

If companies are paying out huge dividends to their rich shareholders and bumper pay packets to their top executives, while workers in their supply chains aren’t earning enough to feed their families, then yes, we have a problem with that.

If billionaire fortunes are the result of monopolies, of crony capitalism, of vast inherited wealth – the gilded results of a broken economic system that rewards wealth rather than work – yes, we have a problem with that.

Of course, it is true that some billionaires contribute a lot to our societies. Many are pioneers in their fields, innovators and risk-takers who have created things we can all enjoy and benefit from. Many of them are very generous philanthropists, giving away vast sums of money to help those less fortunate than them.

But this doesn’t change the fact that they are the beneficiaries of a broken economic system that is enriching them first and foremost at the huge expense of millions of others who remain trapped in poverty.

Toward a fairer, more human economy

We need a different kind of economy now. One that shares value more fairly. One that treats women as well as it treats men. One that increases prosperity and well-being for all, without trashing the planet in the process. An economy that rewards work, not wealth.

We need to see governments acting in the interest of ordinary workers – implementing and enforcing living wages, limiting excessive rewards for investors and top executives, regulating new technologies to ensure they benefit the majority, cracking down on tax dodging, investing in healthcare and education for all.

And we need businesses that are ready to act in the interests of their workers and wider society, and not just rich shareholders. That means more responsible tax behaviour, it means ensuring better working conditions, it means no longer paying out big dividends until they can be sure that everyone in their supply chain is being paid enough to live a decent life.

Say goodbye to poverty

These are necessary, practical steps that can help us consign both extreme wealth and extreme poverty to the history books.

You can help spread the word and join the growing global demand for governments and big businesses to do things differently.