Press releases

The world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020 —at a rate of $14 million per hour— while nearly five billion people have been made poorer, reveals a new Oxfam report on inequality and global corporate power. If current trends continue, the world will have its first trillionaire within a decade but poverty won’t be eradicated for another 229 years.

An Oxfam spokesperson said: “The last thing Yemen needs is further conflict. Oxfam calls on the United Kingdom, United States and all other parties to de-escalate immediately and continue to advance an inclusive political settlement in Yemen. 

Israel’s military is killing Palestinians at an average rate of 250 people a day which massively exceeds the daily death toll of any other major conflict of recent years, Oxfam said today, as the escalation of hostilities nears its 100th day.

In reaction to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report published today on Gaza warning of a risk of famine if intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persist or worsen, Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, said: “Gaza’s shocking descent into starvation was so predictable as to be premeditated, an ongoing war crime by the Government of Israel."

Today, EU negotiators have reached a long-awaited political agreement on the EU migration pact. In response, Stephanie Pope, Oxfam EU migration expert, said: “As we hear EU statements celebrating this deal, the question is, at what cost?"

In reaction to the UN Security Council’s passing of a watered-down resolution instead of calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Oxfam Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sally Abi-Khalil said: “The failure to call for a ceasefire after five days of deliberate delays and dilutions of the resolution is incomprehensible and utterly callous. It is a profound dereliction of duty from an organization established to uphold the UN Charter to maintain peace and protect lives"

Responding to news that the EU has discarded at least 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Piotr Kolczyński, EU Health Policy Advisor at the People’s Vaccine Alliance and Oxfam, said: “This is further proof that the EU wasted millions of its COVID-19 vaccines, hoarded early in the pandemic, as it locked poorer countries out of access.

This week, EU negotiators are hammering out the final details of the long-awaited EU migration pact.

Ahead of the trilogues, Stephanie Pope, Oxfam EU migration expert, said: “The deal is nothing but a house of cards incapable of fixing the EU’s broken asylum system. After years of negotiation, we are left with a pact that ushers in increased detention, more pushbacks, and dubious deals with non-EU countries.

In response to the $2.2bn pledged at the 2nd Global Refugee Forum (GRF), Oxfam in Africa Director Fati N'Zi-Hassane said: Oxfam welcomes the pledges made to support refugees and those who are shouldering the biggest responsibility of welcoming refugees, and to shift power to communities at the frontline of response, especially refugee leaders. But the chasm between commitments made and the political realities on the ground remains enormous."

Today, 26 EU leaders agreed on a revision to the EU’s long-term budget, with one EU country blocking the agreement. If confirmed in the new year, the deal would slash the new funding for external action proposed by the European Commission and supported by the European Parliament by prioritizing investment in migration management instead. 

Today, the EU agreed on a new European law to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet - the Corporate Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). In response, Oxfam EU’s Economic Justice Policy Lead, Marc-Olivier Herman, said: "This deal marks a significant milestone as the largest of companies will finally have to clean up their act. But it did not get through unscathed with the regressive business lobby and a group of EU countries led by France and Germany punching holes in the law.

Today, the European Court of Justice ruled that Luxembourg did not provide illegal state aid to Amazon through a tax deal.  The ruling overturns the 2017 decision from the European Commission ordering Amazon to pay back 250 million euros in unpaid taxes to the Grand Duchy.

In response to the outcome of COP28, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead Nafkote Dabi said:

“Everyone fighting against the global climate crisis has little to celebrate from this disappointing COP28. Its final outcome is grossly inadequate. Oil, coal and gas won again, but they had to struggle harder to do so and their era is nearing its end." 
 

As the second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) is about to take place in Geneva this week, the InterAgency Working Group for East and Central Africa (IAWG) urges world leaders to honour their commitment to support refugees and the countries hosting them, through increased, equitable responsibility-sharing.   

Six months after a historic five-season drought, massive floods have inundated vast swaths of farmland across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, right in the middle of the harvest season. Over four million impacted people in dire need of humanitarian assistance, warned Oxfam today. 

Oxfam leaders, experts, and refugee partners will be at the Global Refugee Forum taking place 13-15 December 2023 in Geneva. They will speak to a range of issues including meaningful participation of refugees, shifting funding and power to refugee-led organizations, gender inequality, responsibility sharing, and the growing climate-fuelled forced displacement. 

In response to the Global Stocktake draft text released tonight, Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, said: “If this current text is adopted, COP28 will be a scandal that has failed us all. It is unimaginably bad.

On the term “abatement” appearing in the final text regarding the phase out of fossil fuels, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead Nafkote Dabi said: “Abatement linked to fossil fuel phase out is a gift served on a silver platter to the fossil fuel industry they will gladly seize to dodge any commitments. It is a dangerous trick that will have catastrophic impacts on communities who are already in a vulnerable position due to climate breakdown.

EU lawmakers risk letting fossil fuel financiers, greenwashers, and companies violating labour rights off the hook under new European due diligence rules.  

We are appalled at the failure of the UN Security Council to authorise a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire and unconditional release of hostages held in Gaza. If implemented, this would have provided much needed respite for civilians in Gaza who are under constant bombardment.This was a missed opportunity to stop the violence.