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The failure of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee’s to agree tough new rules governing aid invested in the private sector – so-called private sector instruments – was criticised by Oxfam and the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) today.

International aid agency Oxfam condemns Syria, Iran and North Korea for blocking  agreement today of the Arms Trade Treaty, which would have saved lives and closed the many loopholes that unscrupulous arms dealers now navigate with impunity.

Without urgent action to relieve developing countries of all their external debt payments this year, and ensure they don't accrue into the future, the coronavirus could lead to millions of deaths and force half a billion more people around the world into poverty, said Oxfam today in response to the G7's joint statement on debt moratorium for poor countries.

The proposed EU climate law is a good framework for EU climate action over the next decades, Oxfam says. The Commission, national governments and the European Parliament now must enact the law and take swift and decisive action to drastically reduce climate-heating emissions.

In response to the announcement that AstraZeneca is to move away from the non-profit model for COVID vaccines, Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager and spokesperson for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “AstraZeneca is breaking its repeated and celebrated public promises of a non-profit vaccine for all countries for the duration of this pandemic and to never to make a profit in any low- and middle-income country from this publicly funded vaccine."  

There are some problems so big and so entrenched it is easy to believe they will never be solved. Hunger is one of these problems. Yet there is no problem so great it cannot be solved.

At a time when one in seven people face a daily struggle to get enough food, Oxfam is calling on world leaders gathering in Turkey May 9-13 to seize the opportunity and help lift the most vulnerable nations out of poverty.

The UN could drastically reduce the 24,000 deaths occurring daily around the world from hunger-related causes, provided countries agree that it coordinates all the different initiatives to fight hunger.

The G8 Agriculture meeting in Italy is heading for a profound failure with ministers dithering about the bold action needed to tackle the global food crisis. The Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia’s opening promise of “three days that will make history" is sounding very hollow.

This Briefing for Business is intended for senior managers in global and national companies, especially those producing and retailing food and fast-moving consumer goods.