The G20 is committed to supporting equitable and sustainable growth. But new data shows that a lot needs to change if they are to live up to this pledge. The stakes are high: analysis in this paper suggests that without attention to growing inequality, strong growth is unlikely to be enough to prevent poverty increasing in some G20 countries over the next decade.
More than 13 million people are still affected by the crisis in the Horn of Africa. There were clear early warning signs many months in advance, yet there was insufficient response until it was far too late.
Governments, donors, the UN and NGOs need to change their approach to chronic drought situations by managing the risks, not the crisis. This means acting on information from early warning systems and not waiting for certainty before responding, as well as tackling the root causes of vulnerability and actively seeking to reduce risk in all activities.
To achieve this, we must overcome the humanitarian–development divide.
In the two years since the devastating earthquake, Haiti’s government has still not implemented comprehensive plans to address the key issues of shelter; sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene; and secure livelihoods. Donors have failed to meet UN humanitarian appeals and have delivered less than half of promised reconstruction funds.
The international community must renew efforts to bolster the government’s capacity to effectively coordinate reconstruction, while consulting and engaging with Haitian citizens in the process.
The Pacific region continues to hold some of the highest figures of violence against women and some of the lowest figures for female political representation. The Women’s Rights and Advocacy in the Pacific (WRAP) is calling on Pacific Island leaders to take urgent action to promote gender equity in the region. This report details 14 recommendations on how to effectively address sexual and gender-based violence and to increase women’s roles in public and political decision making.
For the vast majority of people in Gaza, life has not become any easier, despite pledges by the Government of Israel in June and December 2010 to ease the ongoing blockade. Not only have certain commitments gone unfulfilled, but the unacceptably high levels of poverty and unemployment show that a token number of trucks cannot deliver what people need to rebuild their shattered lives. Karni crossing has been locked down, exports over the last year have all but ceased, and the entry of materials needed to kick start the economy remain hopelessly delayed. Residents of Gaza do not need more broken promises, they need meaningful change brought through an end to the blockade. The International Community can help make this a reality by living up to its responsibility to Palestinians in Gaza and working with the government of Israel to ensure the opening of all crossings in accordance with International Law. The crossings can be equipped with the technology necessary to handle the free flow of people and goods while addressing Israel’s security concerns.
This Oxfam media brief documents some of the devastating impacts that extreme weather events have had on global, regional and local food security in 2010-11, and the severe consequences for the lives and livelihoods of people in poverty. Our failure to cope with the climate variability and shocks of today presents a daunting outlook for food security tomorrow. For governments around the world this serves as an urgent call to act at the UN climate talks in Durban if the extreme weather events witnessed in 2010-11 are not to be a grim foretaste of future suffering and hunger.
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