News & Media

Meet the OTW team: Welly Queen

December 15, 2017

Pictured, from left: Lucy Liu, June Cui, Jennifer Ma, Sophie Chen.

It was the Great Lake Relay in Taupō that brought the four members of team ‘Welly Queen’ together. They all met there in February, connected over their love of running trails, and decided to challenge themselves as a team to the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker.

The team is made up of four ladies – Sophie, Lucy, Jennifer and June – who are originally from China but who now reside in Wellington, which they call “the coolest little capital in the world.”

Sophie Chen, team leader and sales engineer, is trail-running obsessed. She challenged herself to an endurance race in Italy this September – Tor des Geants – and completed 148 kilometres and 9500 metres of elevation gain in 55 hours.

“I am a big fan of ultra-trail running. I want to help children living in poverty to have access to clean water.”

Lucy Liu, a chartered accountant, has been running regularly since 2015, this year completing the 80 kilometre Round the Mountain race in Taranaki in 11 and-a-half hours.

“Running is contagious. So is sharing! It dawned on me that regardless how little we share, we are elevating vulnerable people’s living conditions.”

Jennifer Ma, a postgrad student who first came to New Zealand in October last year, completed her first half marathon in Queenstown last year, and her first full one in Auckland this year.

“Running is who I am, what I am, why I am. I believe giving is the greatest act of grace.”

June Cui, an IT consultant, got into trail running early this year, completing a half marathon in Wellington in June.

“I know I’ll never be able to help all the people living in poverty, but by running, at least I can help some.”

Challenging themselves physically and contributing to the fight against poverty are things that the team have always wanted to do.

“We feel very fortunate to live in New Zealand, a country with stable economy and fabulous environment. We are also aware that there are still many people around the world living below the poverty line without access to clean water, basic healthcare and education.”

The girls have identified two big focuses for their team, the first being ensuring that they’re prepared for such a long distance. With a target time of 24 hours, they have been training together since November to make sure they’re physically ready to hit the trail for a full day and night.

Their second big focus is working together as a team to complete the challenge. Each team member has different levels of experience and fitness, so they are prepared to look out for and make allowances for each other in order to cross the finish line together.

The team has a big fundraising target and are determined to smash it, so they can provide as much support to people in the Pacific as possible.

“We have set the target at $5,000. None of us have any local fundraising experience in New Zealand, but we believe that our passion, planning and execution will surely help us beat the target.”

Welly Queen is hosting a CrossFit fundraiser class in Alicetown on 13 January 2018. To attend, RSVP to [email protected]. More details here.

A big thank you to Welly Queen for their enthusiasm and dedication to Oxfam Trailwalker!

If you wish to make a donation to the team you can do so here.

Follow the team’s progress via their Facebook page here.

‘One Planet’ summit must help those on the front lines of climate change

December 11, 2017

Tuesday’s climate summit in Paris must boost the financial support going to help poor communities adapt to climate change, said Oxfam. French President Emmanuel Macron, the World Bank, and the United Nations are co-organizing the event, which comes on the two-year anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement.

The “One Planet” summit is specifically focused on climate financing, and is meant to “determine how those working in public and private finance can innovate to support and accelerate our common efforts to fight climate change.”

The Paris Agreement promised rich governments would mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020, with a “balance” between funding for emission cuts and climate adaptation needs. However, the adaptation pledges have fallen short. Last year, Oxfam estimated that adaptation finance had added up to just around $4 to 8 billion and multilateral adaptation funding for small-scale farmers totaled just $345 million. By contrast, recent estimates show total adaptation needs could add up to $140 to 300 billion per year by 2030.

Armelle Le Comte, Oxfam France’s climate change policy lead said: “Two years ago, in this same city, world leaders reaffirmed their promise to deliver tens of billions of dollars to help poorer countries adapt to the effects of climate change. Unfortunately, we’re far from that goal. Right now, small-scale farmers are getting only a tiny fraction of the help they desperately need to survive.

“This year’s barrage of climate disasters showed that poor communities are often completely unprepared to deal with extreme weather. They need real help; from sea walls to protect against rising sea levels to sustainable water sources that won’t go dry during a drought. The last thing they need are pricey loans that will saddle them with interest payments for years to come.

“With his speech in Bonn and in convening this summit, Macron is trying to position himself as an international climate leader. However, if he wants to be truly credible, he should double France’s current adaptation finance commitment and push the country’s development agency to stop funding fossil fuel projects.”

#ParadisePapers exposes feeble political attempts to end tax havens

November 6, 2017

Another year, another scandal.

First came #LuxLeaks, then #PanamaPapers. Today, reporters all over the world are covering the Paradise Papers, based on leaked documents from yet another offshore tax firm, showing how international corporations and billionaires hide their fortunes and avoid paying taxes.

Why is Oxfam campaigning on this at all? For one simple reason — the money sitting in these tax havens could be used to fund schools, hospitals, and help people escape poverty.

Tax, poverty, inequality

This is about more than just basic fairness. This kind of tax dodging causes very real damage.

Corporate tax dodging alone costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year – enough money to provide an education for 124 million children and prevent the deaths of at least six million children.

Many of the companies and individuals involved in these scandals defend themselves by saying, “but this wasn’t illegal!”

That’s a big part of the problem.

The tax system benefits the rich

In too many places, tax codes are purposefully riddled with loopholes to benefit the wealthiest. Super-rich corporations and individuals spend millions of dollars lobbying to make sure that their fortunes stay safe.

Just look at the current tax reforms under debate right now in the United States. The plan would create new incentives for companies to stash even more funds in tax havens, starving government agencies of badly-needed funds to help the poorest. It’s Robin Hood in reverse.

The other part of the problem is the so-called “race to the bottom,” where countries take turns slashing corporate tax rates and offering incentives in a frenzied bid to attract investment.

The truth is, corporate taxes are lower than they’ve been in decades in many countries. The average rate across G20 countries was 40 percent in 1990; today, it’s less than 30.

So where do we go from here?

One thing’s clear — the “fixes” that have been tried barely scratch the surface of the problem.

The OECD and the G20 have promoted the “BEPS” tax reforms, and have managed to persuade more than 100 countries to sign on. This process though does little to prevent the use of tax havens, and limits how much poor countries can get out of the process.

Furthermore, the “blacklist” of tax havens that these two organizations published earlier this year contained just one country on it – a sharp disconnect with the real picture that scandals like this one paint.

Three key ways to End Tax Havens

Here are three things that need to happen to get to the root of the problem:

We need a real blacklist, one based on objective, comprehensive criteria, and free from political interference. Listed countries should face stiff penalties.
To end tax secrecy, we need transparency. Governments should make multinational companies report publicly their financial information to see where they do business and where they pay taxes. They should also establish a publicly-available, centralized register of companies, foundations and trusts, and we should know who their real owners are. This will make it easier to follow the money.
Finally, we need a second round of tax reforms to build on the BEPS process, but this time around, it should work in favour of all countries, and not just the wealthiest.

These changes take a lot of time and effort, but most importantly, they take political will.

Otherwise, the super-rich will keep syphoning billions of dollars away from our homes and into their offshore accounts.

Join our movement to End Tax Havens Now

Uprooted by climate change: responding to the growing risk of displacement

November 2, 2017

Climate change is already forcing people from their land and homes, and putting many more at risk of displacement in the future. Supercharged storms, more intense droughts, rising seas and other impacts of climate change all magnify existing vulnerabilities and the likelihood of displacement, disproportionately affecting low-income countries, women, children and indigenous peoples

Responding to these growing realities demands far stronger action towards ending global climate pollution, supporting resilient communities, ensuring rights for people on the move and developing long-term strategies to ensure that those who are forced to move in the future are able to do so safely and with dignity.

What to watch for at the UN’s climate change conference

November 2, 2017

By Heather Coleman
Climate and Energy Director, Oxfam America

When the Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted by 195 countries back in 2015, most assumed that the next several COP meetings would be sleepy, technical affairs. After all, the agreement was done! Only the fine-print—the so-called “Paris Rulebook” — was left undecided.

The “rulebook,” which is due to be completed 2018, will include detailed guidelines on how the different parts of Agreement will be implemented. Because the Paris system relies on countries enacting their own emissions cuts, accountability and transparency are essential.

While these proceedings might normally go unnoticed, both President Donald Trump’s announced intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and back-to-back extreme weather disasters this year have put next week’s summit in Bonn in the spotlight.

Here are four things to watch as the negotiations unfold:

1) Shifting country dynamics: Since Trump’s withdrawal speech in June, many have wondered how his administration would engage in a process to establish rules for an agreement they never mean to implement. Their intentions are spurious at best, malevolent at worst. Because the U.S. is still technically part of the Agreement until formal withdrawal take effect in 2020, Trump’s envoys can actively participate in negotiations.

How active the U.S. will be at the Bonn meeting is still an open question: the U.S. State Department has announced that Tom Shannon, the Undersecretary for Political Affairs, will lead the delegation in Bonn. Shannon, a career diplomat who’s served presidents of both political parties, will likely streamline and professionalize U.S. engagement on technical issues at the COP, in line with what previous U.S. teams have done. Staff from the White House are also expected to attend, and to promote further support for advanced fossil fuel technologies.

In the past, the U.S. had provided substantial leadership within their negotiating bloc, the Umbrella Group, which is comprised of developed countries outside of the European Union. With the U.S. taking a less-visible role at the COP, it’s not yet clear how the Umbrella Group will function, and which members will attempt to set its direction more broadly.

2) Call for action to support small island states: Several small island nations and territories have been ravaged by powerful hurricanes and other severe weather events this year. With Fiji chairing this COP meeting, there is no doubt that the issue of “loss and damage” will be a focus this year. “Loss and damage” describes the permanent and unavoidable impacts caused by climate change.

As these countries ask for more support to respond and build resilience to future disasters, one subject of much discussion will be what “financial mechanism” (funding system) can address damages to homes, cultures, and communities.

3) Businesses, local governments, and others demand climate action: The Paris Agreement explicitly recognized the role of sub-national actors in helping address the climate crisis — states, cities, provinces, businesses, and so forth. The 2016 COP22 meeting in Marrakech formalized their role and started to coordinate and promote their actions.

In the wake of Trump’s June 2016 decision to back away from the Paris Agreement, hundreds of pro-Paris businesses, universities, and local and state governments signed the “We Are Still In” declaration. This network will host a series of events at the COP this year, where leaders like California governor Jerry Brown and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg will showcase all the work still being done in the U.S. to fight climate change.

4) Setting the stage for deeper emission cuts: The Paris Agreement calls for a “Facilitative Dialogue” process in 2018 to measure both countries’ progress towards meeting their 2020 emissions goals and holding warming as far below 2 degrees Celsius as possible. This will be big test: are countries prepared and able to do more to reduce emissions (or “ratchet up ambition” in climate lingo) going forward?

This COP is so important because it tees up next year’s Facilitative Dialogue; how things go in Bonn will heavily determine if the FD is a real and credible moment, or a hollow and mostly-symbolic affair.

—

Climate change is affecting our communities, our businesses, our Pacific neighbours and the poorest people in the world. It is threatening to unwind the progress made over the last 60 years in the fight against poverty. Every government must do its part to fix this problem. Join us in demanding that our government commits to a Zero Carbon Act.

Facing hardship, but striving for self-reliance

November 2, 2017

Story by Kamilo ‘Ali, Oxfam’s Polynesia Micronesia Livelihoods Programme Manager, 13.10.2017

Seven years ago, Sione Te’i fell from a multi-storied building and completely paralysed both of his legs. He’s confined to a wheelchair 24/7, with his legs covered, which seriously limits income-generating opportunities for him.

As a way of making money, Sione used to help out a friend whose livelihood is making and selling carvings – however, this income was not reliable. Sione would only earn money if the carvings sold.

“Some weeks I would get $30 pa’anga [approximately NZD 20], max, and other weeks I would get nothing. My wages depended on the sales of the carving that my friend made.”

In order to earn a more stable living, Sione started working for the Tonga National Youth Congress (TNYC), who Oxfam has been partnering with since 2011. The partnership started with a focus on sustainable livelihood sources for young people, with an emphasis on sustainable farming to conserve the fragile, land-based resources. TNYC seeks to ensure that their projects are inclusive of people living with disabilities, in order to reduce the barriers they face to accessing secure livelihoods.

Oxfam’s Rural Enterprise and Sustainable Livelihoods in Tonga (RESULT) project, in partnership with TNYC, has the goal of establishing a viable youth-led and community-focused business, selling virgin coconut oil and dried vanilla bean. The establishment of this business aims to generate sustainable cash flow to support TNYC’s non-commercial social activities, as well as providing employment opportunities to unemployed youth, and creating an environment that will allow them to flourish. RESULT staff saw the opportunity to use the coconut shells from the VCO, which were initially simply discarded, to be turned into handicrafts and carving.

That’s where Sione comes in. With the skills he gained from helping his friend make and sell his carvings, he now produces and sells handicrafts from coconut shells as a part of the RESULT project.

Sione is happy that, through this, he can earn an income he can rely on.

“I now earn a more stable income here at TNYC of $100 pa’anga [NZD 65] a week.”

TNYC provides transport for Sione to and from work, and they also take him home when he needs to use the toilet.

“If the toilet facility here at the TNYC was fully enclosed I would not have been needed to be taken home to go to the toilet during working hours.”

Sione’s goal is to get himself his own carving tools so he can work from home, where he is most comfortable.