News & Media

NZ aid agencies launch campaign for action on climate change

August 8, 2017

Fourteen leading New Zealand aid agencies are today launching a campaign to demand political action which will see New Zealand reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050.

Six weeks out from the General Election, Back the Plan: Back to Zero was launched with an open letter to political parties from coalition organisations Oxfam, World Vision New Zealand, ChildFund, TearFund, UNICEF, FairTrade, CWS, cbmi, VSA, SURFAID, Amnesty International, UNANZ, Engineers without Borders and Council for International Development.

The letter calls on all parties to follow the lead of countries like the UK and Denmark to put in place binding climate legislation, not only to safeguard New Zealand’s future, but that of communities in the developing world who are already on the frontline of climate change.

“There is widespread consensus that safeguarding our planet for future generations means significantly reducing our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Coalition spokesperson and Oxfam New Zealand Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier.

“In our work with vulnerable communities, particularly in the Pacific, we are already seeing the negative impacts of more extreme weather events, temperature changes, rising sea levels and disease outbreaks associated with climate change. If unaddressed, climate change will displace and push millions of people further into poverty. For the sake of these vulnerable women, men and children, we, as an affluent developed nation, have a responsibility to act in a bold and meaningful manner.”

A zero carbon act will require any future Government to produce policy plans on track to zero carbon, and establish an independent Climate Commission to provide expert advice. Taking urgent action to combat climate change is a commitment New Zealand has signed up to internationally, both under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The agencies also today warned that climate change threatens to unwind decades of hard-won development progress that New Zealand has contributed towards. While more than a billion dollars (60% of NZ government aid) will be directed to the Pacific through to 2019 – climate change is already reversing the positive gains and placing additional pressure on food security.

“The New Zealand government is rightly supporting development overseas, but it also makes sense for us to do our part in lowering carbon emissions at home,” added Le Mesurier. “We know that we need to reduce emissions globally to curb the effects of climate change. If we don’t play our part, we risk the great work we do in the developing world being undone by the impact of climate change.”

The aid agencies are working hard to reduce risks communities around the world face due to climate change and natural hazards. This includes disaster preparedness as storms become more intense, weather pattern changes threaten food security, and people face long-term loss of their homes.

Join thousands of New Zealanders and demand real climate action from our government and Back the Plan: Back to Zero. Sign the Oxfam petition

Oxfam launches new emergency simulation event

August 1, 2017

A new natural disaster simulation event – the first of its kind in New Zealand – has just been launched by international aid agency Oxfam, in association with Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management, to raise money for Oxfam’s humanitarian work in the Pacific.

Operation Oxfam is a unique challenge that will see teams of four show off their survival skills in a simulated emergency response, with the most effective survival solutions taking home the crown.

Participants must combine brains and brawn using limited supplies to build shelter, water (capture and storage) and a toilet, all vital elements for surviving a natural disaster before aid arrives.

The event is designed to emulate challenges faced in the immediate aftermath of a disaster such as a cyclone, earthquake or tsunami.

Fundraising Events Manager at Oxfam, Amanda Wright, said she was delighted to launch the country’s first emergency simulation charity event. “Operation Oxfam offers the public an opportunity to experience first-hand some of the challenges people face in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As well as putting your survival skills to the test you’ll be contributing to Oxfam’s vital emergency response and disaster risk reduction work, making sure we can continue to support communities around the Pacific who need it most.”

Craig Glover, Head of Strategy and Planning for Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management said the Operation Oxfam event is a fantastic reminder to Aucklanders to have a think about how they might react in a natural disaster.

“While it might seem daunting, we all need to have plan. Having a chat with your loved ones about what you might do if there’s a natural disaster while you are at work, home or out and about is a really simple way you can be prepared.”

Oxfam is one of the world’s leading providers of humanitarian aid in emergencies, with well-recognised expertise and a strong reputation for scale, speed, and innovation. Fundraising efforts from Operation Oxfam will go towards life-saving assistance for people affected by natural disasters, as well as supporting communities’ long-term recovery and resilience to future disasters.

Operation Oxfam will take place in Auckland on 14 October during Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management’s Get Ready Week. You can register your team and find out more information at the Operation Oxfam website.

Photo: Rodney Dekker/Oxfam

Victory in Tunisia: new law says “Enough” to violence against women and girls

July 28, 2017

The Tunisian Parliament, on July 26th 2017, adopted a new law for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence.

In response, Soufia Galand, Oxfam Country Office Tunisia Gender Justice Officer, said:

“The revolution is still alive and it has added a feminist milestone to its path!

This week, women and men from different political parties – from left to right, religious and secular – stood up together to say that violence against women and girls is unacceptable, and that we all have a responsibility to end this atrocious violation of women’s rights.

Through this law, the State shifted the blame from the woman survivor of violence to the perpetrator, and ended the shameful right for a rapist to marry the woman he has raped. It also explicitly condemns women’s economic exploitation including discrimination against women in pay. The law has new criminal provisions and penalties as well as various preventive measures. With this law, we finally put the needs and rights of women and girls who have experienced violence at the center of the State’s response.

To all the survivors of violence who have spoken out, to all the feminist activists and organizations that campaigned for decades for this law, to every Tunisian who stood up and said ‘Enough to violence against women and girls’: today we are a bit safer – thanks to you.

This law is a critical milestone achieved by the feminist struggle and revolution. More milestones are yet to be achieved while ensuring the translation of these commitments on paper to reality, including the review of the family code, monitoring the implementation of the law and ensuring the modelling of positive gender norms.

For Oxfam, the adoption of the new law is a reflection of the momentum to be the change we want to see. We will continue our effort, together with our partners, to take this law into its greatest potentials, to challenging and changing the social norms that perpetuate and condone abuse, and mobilize people to stand together to say ‘Enough to violence against women and girls’. We will ensure our ‘Enough’ call continues to be heard in Parliament and in everyday life, so that once and for all we can truly end violence against women and girls.”

Notes to editors:
Oxfam spokespeople are available for interview in Tunisia.

In November 2016, Oxfam launched a global campaign called “Enough: Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls”.

Yemen cholera worst on record & numbers still rising

July 21, 2017

The number of people with cholera in Yemen is now the largest ever in any country in a single year since records began, Oxfam said today. At over 360,000 suspected cholera cases in just three months since the outbreak started, it is now already the largest number of cases in a year, topping the previous annual record of 340,311 in Haiti in 2011.

Though there are signs that the increase in numbers is slowing, the country’s rainy season from July to September will increase the risk of the disease spreading further. It is feared that the total number of people infected could eventually rise to over 600,000, making it one of the largest outbreak since records began in 1949.

Almost 2,000 people in Yemen have died from suspected cholera since late April this year and many more are now at risk, weakened by hunger, disease and the ongoing war.

Nigel Timmins, Oxfam’s Humanitarian Director who has just returned back from a fact finding mission to Yemen, said:

“It is quite frankly staggering that in just three months more people in Yemen have contracted cholera than any country has suffered in a single year since modern records began. Cholera has spread unchecked in a country already on its knees after two years of war and which is teetering on the brink of famine. For many people, weakened by war and hunger, cholera is the knockout blow.

“This is a massive crisis needing a massive response – if anything the numbers we have are likely to underestimate the scale of the crisis. So far funding from government donors to pay for the aid effort has been lacklustre at best, less than half is what is needed.

“Cholera is easy to treat and simple to prevent. We need a massive well coordinated effort to get clean water and decent sanitation to people and simple things like soap to keep them safe from disease. We need an end to country entry restrictions of supplies and people so that we can get on with the job.

“The war has destroyed the economy and left millions without jobs or the means to earn a living and forced 3 million people to flee their homes. It has precipitated a crisis which has left 7 million people on the brink of starvation. And the war has destroyed or damaged more than half the country’s health facilities and ushered in one of the world’s worst cholera outbreaks in over 50 years.

“Vital public servants such as health workers have not been paid for nearly a year. Hospitals, ports, roads and bridges have been bombed. All this is crippling efforts to tackle the cholera crisis.

“Those countries providing the arms and military support, such as the US and the UK, are fuelling a war that is causing wide-spread suffering and tipping a whole nation towards a catastrophe. It is hard to imagine how much more Yemen can take before it collapses entirely.”

War has had a devastating effect on Yemen’s people and its infrastructure – almost 5,000 civilians have been killed in the fighting and parts of the country stand on the brink of famine. Health, water and sanitation systems have been bombed to the point of collapse leaving over 15 million people without adequate access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation. Millions more are hungry and need help in getting a decent meal.

Waste is piling up on the streets and in the settlements of displaced people because sanitation services, severely damaged by the two year war, cannot cope. Aid agencies tackling the cholera crisis are in danger of being overwhelmed by the scale of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the world’s major arms exporters – which include the UK and US – are making more money from arming the Saudi led coalition force than they are spending on Yemen’s humanitarian appeal. In 2016, Saudi Arabia spent nearly $3 billion on arms from the world’s major arms exporters. As of this month, many of those same governments had given just $620 million toward the $2.1 billion UN appeal for Yemen.

Oxfam is calling for an immediate cease-fire to enable a nationwide cholera campaign to tackle the disease unhindered by fighting and allow people to get their lives back together. It is calling for the opening of ports and Sanaa airport to allow a massive injection of aid and for the UN and aid agencies’ appeal to be fully funded.

Notes to editors:

Footage available on request

Figures of previous cholera outbreaks taken from the World Health Organisation’s Global Health Observatory data repository
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.175?lang=en

From 27 April to 18 July 2017, 362,545 suspected cholera cases and 1,817 deaths (CFR: 0.5%) have been reported in 91.3% (21/23) of Yemen governorates, and 88% (293/333) of the districts. YEMEN: Cholera Outbreak Daily epidemiology update 19 July 2017 WHO
http://www.emro.who.int/yem/yemeninfocus/situation-reports.html

The largest outbreak since modern records began was in Haiti where the total number of cholera cases reached 754,373 between 2010 and 2015.

Your questions answered: Oxfam’s Inequality Index

July 20, 2017

A computer classroom in Oneputa Combined School, northern Namibia. The Namibian government is committed to reducing inequality and secondary education is free for all students. Photo: John Hogg/World Bank

The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index ranks 152 governments on their policies in three areas critical to reducing the gap between rich and poor: social spending, progressive taxation and labour rights.

Since the index was launched many people have been in touch to find out more – our response to some of the most common comments and questions are outlined below.

Why is Oxfam talking about inequality – shouldn’t it be focused on tackling poverty?

Extreme inequality is trapping millions of people in poverty and must be stopped. The World Bank estimates that 700 million fewer people would have been living in poverty at the end of last decade if action had been taken to reduce the gap between rich and poor. The World Bank has also been clear that there will be no way we can meet the global goal to eliminate extreme poverty unless we redouble efforts to tackle inequality.

My country isn’t ranked correctly.

As a global tool, the index only offers an indication of how well governments are tackling inequality – it doesn’t provide a comprehensive assessment.

The index focuses on taxation, social spending and labor rights because there is widespread evidence that progressive action in these areas can significantly reduce inequality. However, it does not include all policies that have an impact on inequality. For example, it doesn’t look at the distribution of land ownership or the extent to which a country operates as a tax haven. We hope to expand the indicators in future editions of the index and this could have a significant impact on the rankings of some countries. For example, Belgium would fall down the rankings if its role as a tax haven was assessed by the index.

The index is based on the most up to date data that is available from governments and international institutions however it will miss very recent developments. Several countries including Argentina and France have recently made cuts in social spending or corporate taxes which are not reflected in the index – they can expect to slip down the ranking in the next edition of the index.

This is left-wing propaganda.

Oxfam is a non-party political organization. However, we have a duty to draw attention to government action and inaction across the globe that is exacerbating poverty and inequality.

Why isn’t my country included in the index?

Some countries have been excluded from the index because there was either insufficient data or major question marks about the quality of the data available. The extremely poor level of public data available for some countries on policies relevant to reducing inequality is a cause for serious concern -, especially in the Middle East. Oxfam is calling for governments to address this data gap.

My country is ranked towards the top of the index – does that mean all is well?

The index ranks countries in relation to each other. This means countries at the top of the index are doing better at tackling inequality than countries further down but it doesn’t mean they are doing everything they could be tackle inequality.

Even Sweden, Belgium and Denmark which top the index can do more. Sweden’s low corporate tax rates benefit wealthy business while its high rate of VAT disproportionately impacts the poorest, Belgium’s corporate tax incentives allow big business to avoid paying their fair share, and Denmark has cut taxes for its wealthiest citizens. Denmark and Belgium have also cut social welfare for their poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Overall the index found that 112 out of the 152 countries assessed are doing less than half of what they should be doing to tackle inequality in the three policy areas assessed by the index.

What is Oxfam calling for?

The index shows that inequality is not inevitable. It is a policy choice. Government choices matter when it comes to tackling inequality.

Oxfam is calling for all governments to do more to tackle inequality by increasing and improving social spending, building fairer tax systems, and ensuring workers – especially women workers – are better paid and better protected.

Governments must also work with international institutions to improve the quality and quantity of publicly available data on inequality levels in a country and the policies that governments are taking to tackle it.

A key thing the New Zealand government must do right now is crush tax avoidance by multinationals. Our broken tax system means big companies can legally avoid paying a lot of tax in New Zealand, and it’s depriving our social services of millions of dollars each year.

We need you to join us in telling our Minister of Revenue, Judith Collins, that we want our tax policies cleaned up to keep public spending money in New Zealand and to close the gap between the rich and the poor.

Sign the petition

The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index: A new global ranking of governments based on what they are doing to tackle the gap between rich and poor

July 17, 2017

In 2015, the leaders of 193 governments promised to reduce inequality as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Without reducing inequality, meeting the SDG to eliminate poverty will be impossible. Now Development Finance International and Oxfam have produced the first index to measure the commitment of governments to reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.

The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index uses a new database of indicators covering 152 countries, which measures government action on social spending, tax and labour rights – three areas found to be critical to reducing inequality.

This first version of the CRI Index is work in progress, and DFI and Oxfam welcome comments and additions. We find that there is an urgent need for coordinated global investment to significantly improve the data on inequality and policies to reduce it, and much greater concerted action by governments across the world to reduce the gap between rich and poor.

Download file:

CRI Index – Summary.pdf

CRI Index – Report.pdf

CRI Index – Methodology.pdf