New Zealand

Oxfam reaction to 2021 Global Health Summit

May 24, 2021

Anna Marriott, Oxfam Health Policy Manager and Policy co-lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance said:

The 2021 Global Health Summit ended today in danger of being judged an historical failure of global solidarity to tackle a Covid-19 pandemic that is still, around the world, in its first expanding phase and yet to peak. World leaders talked eloquently about the bottle-necks that are limiting vaccine manufacturing and supply, and the gross inequalities today of global vaccinations, but their solutions remain the same tired ones that have failed billions of people who remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to infection ahead.

Nine people are dying every minute while the vaccine stores of COVAX – a multilateral initiative to get vaccines to developing countries – lie empty. Rich nations again parroted the lines of the same pharmaceutical companies who’ve succeeded better in creating new vaccine billionaires among their CEOs and major shareholders than they have supplying enough stock. The trickle of charity promised at the summit today was the sound of a bucket of water being thrown on a forest fire.

Governments representing the vast majority of the world’s people are calling for an end to the corporate vaccine monopolies and demanding the mandatory sharing of the rights in order to produce more doses. But a handful of rich countries are continuing to put their relationships with big pharma ahead of ending this pandemic. Pharmaceutical corporations have had more than a year to voluntarily share their intellectual property and know-how but have instead put profits before people at every turn. Relying on just a handful of pharmaceutical corporations to make enough vaccines – and the sharing of crumbs of that supply to developing countries as charity – is an insult to the nurses and doctors on the front lines trying to save lives now.

G20 leaders have once again ceded control of this pandemic to a handful of pharmaceutical corporations who continue to dictate who will get a vaccine and live, and those who will not and may die as a result.

Oxfam reaction to the ceasefire in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

May 24, 2021

Shane Stevenson, Oxfam Country Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said:  

“Finally, for the first of 12 consecutive nights, two million Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of thousands of traumatised children, can rest rather than lie awake in fear as bombs fly over their homes.  And civilians across Israel will be spared the threat of rocket attacks.

But this is not  a solution. This ceasefire will not change the occupation and denial of human rights which Palestinians are subjected to daily. This inhumane and brutal status quo has to stop, once and for all.  Oxfam calls on the parties to strictly observe this ceasefire, and for the international community to hold Israel and armed factions in Gaza accountable for any and all violations committed during and preceding this escalation of violence.  There must be a just and sustainable peace for all Israelis and Palestinians. Alleged war crimes committed in each round of violence must be investigated and prosecuted.   

This must be the last time Palestinians in Gaza are forced to again undertake the slow and painful process of rebuilding their destroyed homes, lives and livelihoods. Humanitarian aid that has been denied from entering Gaza until now must be allowed to enter immediately so that Oxfam and other aid organizations can understand the sheer scale of the needs and reach people who desperately need support to survive.  Humanitarian agencies like Oxfam have been supported by international governments and donors to work with Palestinians to rebuild after each round of violence, only to watch the results of these collective efforts destroyed time and again. The cycle of war followed by pledges of humanitarian aid can only be broken with concrete and meaningful political action by the international community to bring an end to the brutal, prolonged occupation, including a suffocating siege on the Gaza Strip.”

India’s Serum Institute: COVAX “closed” until Christmas

May 21, 2021

Late yesterday the Indian vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute, issued a statement indicating that no further supplies of vaccine for COVAX (the facility to help developing countries access COVID vaccines) will be available until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, New Zealand has enough doses to vaccinate the population at least six times over. Oxfam New Zealand’s Jo Spratt says that there is a moral obligation for New Zealand to share some of the supply for countries like India who have been hit the hardest.

“As COVAX has been supplying vaccines to the world’s poorest countries, it is devastating to think that now these countries will have to wait even longer. This disheartening development really helps illustrate how important it is for Aotearoa to step up and share more of our vaccine stockpile.”

Responding to the announcement, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, Anna Marriott, said:

“While the vaccination of people in India should be a priority, given the horrific toll COVID is having there, it is a huge concern that COVAX won’t be receiving any more doses until Christmas, given that Serum Institute is producing the majority of its doses.

“For months, rich country leaders have said they’re doing their bit to ensure developing countries receive vaccines by pointing to COVAX, but now their supply has effectively been turned off for the rest of the year. This comes at a time when many developing countries are facing soaring infection and death rates.

“The current approach that relies on a few pharma monopolies and a trickle of charity through COVAX is failing and people are dying as a result. It is time for those who are currently opposing a suspension of intellectual property rules, like the UK and Germany, to follow President Biden’s leadership to get more vaccines to developing countries.

“As G20 leaders prepare to meet at the Global Health Summit later this week they should consider how history will judge them for leaving the decisions of who lives and who dies from COVID-19 in the hands of just a handful of hugely profitable and powerful pharmaceutical corporations.”

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For more information and interviews:

David Bull
+64 27417 9724

Oxfam: Nearly half a million people out of reach in Gaza

May 19, 2021

Oxfam said today that it cannot reach around 450,000 or more people in Gaza because of fighting and aerial bombardment. Oxfam staff are trying to resume their humanitarian and livelihood programmes with its network of partners but the destruction and indiscriminate threat to life make any emergency aid, at the moment, impossible to mount. The international agency should be providing food, clean water, sanitation and child protection support but the bombing is making it too dangerous for anyone to leave their homes.  

An assessment by Oxfam’s water and sanitation team found that many water wells and pumping stations have been damaged by Israel’s bombardments. These facilities are the only way for people living in Gaza to get clean water and any disruption to them creates immediate distress. Authorities estimate that 40% of Gaza water supplies have been affected. People are struggling to secure any cash or income to support their basic needs, including for buying food, water, and medicines. Many have been forced to spend their savings or trying to sell assets. Many who have lost their homes have been forced into temporary shelters and, for now, humanitarian actors have not been able to set up systems to properly support them with food, water and sanitation facilities.

“We must remember that Gaza is in the midst of coping with the Covid pandemic too. People need access to water and medicines and hospitals to halt the virus spread and help nurse sufferers to recovery,” said Oxfam Country Director for the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, Shane Stevenson. “Adding conflict on top of Covid feels like a recipe for disaster.” Oxfam has been providing hygiene kits for staff to use in Gaza’s two main isolation centres.

As much as 200,000 hectares of agricultural land has been bombed or is otherwise inaccessible to farmers now because of the danger of attack. Transport and movement around Gaza is not only unsafe but now made highly difficult because of the bomb damage to roads and debris from destroyed buildings. Some arterial routes are blocked entirely. Oxfam says that it could take weeks to start meaningful repairs and organise some recovery and resumption of normality for people in Gaza, even if a ceasefire was declared today.   

“The situation is dreadful but – until the security situation improves enough to open up assessments and aid supply lines – things will quickly deteriorate much further,” Stevenson said. “Families are telling us that they are too scared to leave their homes for food and some have already run out of drinking water. Women and children have been maimed and killed. The scale of suffering is immense and yet we cannot respond properly. These aerial assaults have taken lives and any sense of safety, but they are also taking away people’s options to cope too – to buy food and supplies, and to go about their lives. The people of Gaza are psychologically exhausted and fearful and exposed. They need peace now in order to pick up the broken pieces of their lives.” 

Oxfam calls for an immediate end to all violence. All parties must comply and adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. The international community must immediately work to put an end to both the current escalation of hostilities and the underlying human rights violations and systemic policies of oppression and discrimination which gave rise to it, including the Israeli occupation itself.  Prior to this new escalation, Oxfam was already responding under a 14-year air, land and sea Israeli blockade rendering the Gaza Strip “unliveable”¹ according to the UN whilst eighty percent of Gaza’s two million residents were already in need of humanitarian aid. 

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 For interviews, please contact:
David Bull
+64 274 179 724 
david.bull@oxfam.org.nz

5 things to boost Climate Commission’s plan to cut NZs pollution

March 4, 2021

You might have heard about the Climate Commission’s draft plan for New Zealand’s climate action over the next 15 years. This is a crucial opportunity to put a roadmap in place that will allow Aotearoa to play our part in overcoming the climate challenge and ensuring our action will stand with those facing the impacts of climate breakdown right now. It covers a lot, so here we highlight four good things, and five areas for improvement. You can have your say too. The Climate Commission is seeking submissions up until March 28th.

This is a 5–minute read about key areas relevant to Oxfam’s work on global equity and climate justice. To make a submission that covers more areas of what the Climate Commission is asking for feedback on, use the submission guide we prepared with a bunch of other organisations.

4 great things about the Commission’s plan.

1. It confirms New Zealand’s international climate target needs to be boosted.

Something that we’ve long been talking about is that New Zealand’s 2030 target for reducing pollution under the Paris Agreement is inconsistent with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. The Commission agrees, and recommended that New Zealand ought to do more than the average to reflect our outsized carbon footprint and past contribution to causing climate change. As a developed, relatively wealthy nation, our international target should reflect our fair share of emissions cuts. Last year, we released a report outlining what New Zealand’s fair share would be: at least 99% reductions below 1990 levels by 2030.

2. Permanent native forests are part of the solution.

A key aspect to the Commission’s plans is that relying solely on large pine forests to offset our emissions isn’t desirable or sustainable. As a country we need to cut our pollution at the source. There will still be a big role for forestry to meet our targets, but the Commission envisages much more of forestry’s role in absorbing carbon to be done through permanent native forests, which is great news for our biodiversity.

3. The Commission’s plan confirmed that fossil gas is not a bridge fuel.

Vested interests in the fossil fuel industry have tried to advocate for fossil gas as a ‘bridge’ or ‘transition’ fuel while we decarbonise away from coal. However, the Commission’s analysis shows that it is necessary and possible to cut our pollution from all fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – in order to meet our targets. We think that shifting from all fossil fuels needs to be faster than the Commission plans for, but overall the Commission’s plan helps confirm that fossil fuels are history and we need to embrace the clean, renewable future once and for all.

4. It highlights climate finance to communities on the frontlines is a necessary part of our international action.

New Zealand’s responsibilities for acting on climate change are not just for cutting our pollution at home, but also supporting communities in the Pacific and beyond that are on the frontlines of climate change to adapt to the impacts they are facing. Currently New Zealand has woefully low levels of climate finance compared to others. The Commission states that climate finance to developing countries can be part of New Zealand contributing to global climate action. This is great, and can potentially supplement our international target, however the focus of this finance should be on adaptation and mitigation, not solely mitigation.

5 things that can improve the Commission’s plan

1. It should boost our domestic action to be compatible with 1.5 degrees (a safe climate future)

We know that the best chance of keeping global heating to 1.5 degrees is by cutting pollution fast in the next 10 years. The most disappointing part of the Commission’s plan is that it is not enough to meet our current Paris Agreement target for 2030. This is the same target the Commission has found to be inconsistent with limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees. We need to increase the pollution cuts in the first two ‘emissions budgets’ drafted by the Commission to set us up for a 2030 pathway consistent with 1.5 degrees. This can be done through making polluters pay for their pollution faster than planned, bringing forward end dates for fossil fuel use, and increasing direct government investment in our decarbonisation rather than relying on incentives.

2. It should recommend a fair share target for our international climate commitment.

It’s great that the Commission found New Zealand’s current international target under the Paris Agreement needs to be boosted. What’s needed now is to increase it in line with our fair share of pollution reductions, so that we don’t hand an unfair burden to developing nations to do our work for us and deal with the impacts. At the moment, the Commission doesn’t recommend what our fair share would be. We need them to recommend a target (or a target range) that would reflect our outsized carbon footprint and historical responsibility for causing climate change so that the government can’t get away with ignoring this advice or fudging the numbers.

3. Agricultural climate pollution must be reduced further and faster.

Farming is New Zealand’s largest polluting industry, contributing to around half of our country’s emissions. In its current form, the Commission’s plan largely lets agricultural emissions off the hook – it’s the area where planned reductions are most clearly not aligned with 1.5 degree pathways and the plan doesn’t anticipate any reductions in production volumes. What we need to do is make our most polluting industries pay for the damage they are causing, and reinvest that revenue in supporting farmers to diversify land uses. Cutting climate pollution from agriculture should include specific and direct regulations (such as bans and caps) on the sources of pollution, including a sinking cap on cow numbers, synthetic fertiliser and imported feed.

4. It should redirect investment now away from roads to accelerate the green transition

We can put much larger direct investment into accelerating the transition in transport and infrastructure. At the moment, the government has spent more on roads and other carbon intensive infrastructure in its Covid recovery spending than on climate friendly initiatives, and Auckland’s 10 year budget for transport being decided on right now is looking like it could do the same. The Commission’s plan only forecasts $190 million per year to be spent on decarbonisation between now and 2025. There are billions of dollars in planned road and urban sprawl spending that could be redirected right now into building public and active transport, reallocating street space, and retrofitting and building energy efficient and accessible housing. There needs to be clear recommendations so the government can change track before polluting investments are locked in.

5. It should make life better for all communities as we decarbonise

It’s critical that taking action to cut our pollution leaves no one behind and takes us closer to a fairer, more equal and just society. The Commission’s report notes lots of ways to mitigate the impact on communities in vulnerable situations, but this needs further work to highlight the opportunities and co-benefits of doing so. One example is the opportunities to build and retrofit housing stock that will address the unacceptable shortage of accessible housing for disabled people; Another is the opportunity for native forests management and planting to move beyond consultation approaches and give management of land back to Maori to uphold Article Two of Te Tiriti or Waitangi. There is no consideration in the report of the adverse impacts of climate change on women and other genders, and the need for gender-responsive climate action. This needs to change.

Hope that’s been useful! Want to learn more? Read the in-depth submission guide prepared by Oxfam and 10 other organisations here: bit.ly/CCCsubmissionguide

Air NZ “bought share of the blame” for Yemen humanitarian catastrophe with Saudi contract – Oxfam

February 12, 2021

Air New Zealand’s contract with the Saudi military is an unacceptable breach of international obligations and New Zealanders’ trust, said Oxfam today, as the aid agency called for the government’s investigation to be made public.

The $3m contract, signed by Air New Zealand in 2019 to repair critical engine components for Saudi naval vessels, is more than twice the value of New Zealand’s humanitarian assistance last year to the conflict in Yemen – the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

“With one hand, New Zealanders are donating critical funds through government and humanitarian agencies to save lives in Yemen, while with another, a New Zealand company, of which the New Zealand government is a majority stakeholder, is supporting a military accused by the UN of war crimes during this crisis,” said Oxfam New Zealand’s executive director, Rachael Le Mesurier. “The New Zealand public deserves an investigation that answers the question of whether or not this country has failed to live up to its legal and ethical obligations to the international community.”

Le Mesurier said the fact Air New Zealand could not answer whether its remaining military contracts were aiding international humanitarian crimes must spark a bigger conversation about how we hold New Zealand businesses to account. “It all points to the need for stronger measures to monitor and ensure New Zealand corporate compliance with human rights in their overseas operations.”

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia and its military coalition partners have been parties to the conflict in Yemen’s vicious civil war, leading the fighting and preventing shipments of life-saving supplies by air, land and sea– committing, the UN say, clear violations of International Humanitarian Law.

“Yemenis were looking to the people and Government of New Zealand to help put a stop to these outrageous violations; not enable them,” said Le Mesurier. “By providing services to the Saudi Navy, implicated in potential war crimes, Air New Zealand has bought a share of the blame for the resulting humanitarian catastrophe.”

After more than five years of war, over 24 million Yemenis – eighty per cent of the population – are in need of humanitarian assistance, with almost 4 million people displaced and half a million facing starvation. Saudi Arabia’s military has enforced intermittent blockades on Yemen’s ports, disrupting humanitarian access and preventing imports of food, water and medical supplies.

Le Mesurier said while it was good that Air New Zealand has since cancelled work on the contract, and the Government has announced it is investigating, it raises serious questions about the processes in place to monitor such deals. “Oxfam welcomes these first steps, but this contract suggests that many serious ethical failures occurred at many levels,” she said.

“Both Kiwis and the people of Yemen deserve better from the New Zealand government and the companies they trust. The prime minister must urgently deliver answers on whether this contract violated New Zealand’s international legal obligations, such as under the Arms Trade Treaty; and whether export control procedures were followed, and on what basis the contract was approved.

“If Air New Zealand – a company in which the government itself owns the majority of the shares – can circumvent export controls, what confidence do we have other companies aren’t doing the same?”, she asked.

Ibtisam Sageer Al Razehi, a 35-year-old former teacher and mother of three, lives with her children in the remains of the family house in Sa’ada city in Yemen, which was damaged by missiles and artillery fire. Her husband was killed by an airstrike in 2015.

“I lost my husband, my children lost their father, we lost the breadwinner and because of war I also lost my salary as our last hope for living,” she said.

“Humanitarian aid has decreased a lot; now we receive food every two months instead of every month. I appeal to the world to have mercy on the children of Yemen and stop this war. We are very tired of living in war for years, we lost everything beautiful in our lives, even the simple hope of peace.’’

-ends-

Notes to editors:

Article 6 of the Arms Trade Treaty prohibits the transfer of arms to countries where there is awareness of any war crimes or other serious violence against civilians. However, even where this threshold is not reached, Article 7.1 further requires that state parties ‘pursuant to its national control system, shall, in an objective and non-discriminatory manner, taking into account relevant factors, including information provided by the importing State in accordance with Article 8 (1), assess the potential that the conventional arms or items: […] could be used to:
- commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law;
- If, after conducting this assessment and considering available mitigating measures, the exporting State Party determines that there is an overriding risk of any of the negative consequences in paragraph 1, the exporting State Party shall not authorise the export.

For more information, or to arrange an interview please contact:

Kelsey-Rae Taylor on kelsey-rae.taylor@oxfam.org.nz or 021 298 5894