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For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. “Profiting from Pain” is published as the World Economic Forum — the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos — takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes. 

In response to the commitments made at President Biden’s Second COVID-19 Summit today, especially the licensing of publicly owned medical technologies, such as the stabilized spike protein for use by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) through the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), Robbie Silverman, Oxfam America’s Senior Manager of Private Sector Advocacy, made the following statement:

Today, just four of Africa’s richest billionaires hold $57.4 billion in wealth — more than the combined wealth of 750 million people.

In response to this week’s UN General Assembly Resolution that automatically mandates the UN General Assembly to meet within 10 days in the wake of any UN Security Council veto, Oxfam’s Head of the UN New York Office, Brenda Mofya said,

Oxfam leaders, experts, and partners are joining the UN 79th General Assembly, Summit of the Future, and Climate Action week in New York, hosting and attending events focused on UN Security Council Reform, gender, digital rights, inequality, climate action, and humanitarian issues. They will be urging global leaders to take bold decisions and action as they deliberate on the pressing issues of our time.

Every year 100 million people are pushed into poverty as they have to pay out of pocket for healthcare. What today’s decision means is that we will now be able to count the cost of paying for healthcare for households around the world.

The OECD’s Tax Package, released in Paris today, will not stop corporate tax dodgers cheating poor countries out of billions of dollars of tax revenues

Renewed demands by the G77 for a UN-led body to stamp out tax havens were lauded by Oxfam today.  G77 Ministers, who met on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York, re-launched their proposal for a UN-led tax body, which was blocked at a UN meeting to discuss finance for development in Addis Ababa last year.

The Credit Suisse report today shows that the number of millionaires is rising despite slowed economic Inequality is growing faster than we had thought – Oxfam predicted the richest one percent would own more than the rest of us by 2016. The fact that it has happened this year underlines the urgency of the problem.

"Women and girls are today bravely taking a stand and Oxfam stands with them in solidarity," said Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International Executive Director and women’s rights leader, this International Women’s Day.