Government of Canada announces new funding to support education for displaced children and youth as Canada hosts Together for Learning Summit

(Ottawa) Thanks to a contribution of $13.8 million from the Government of Canada, more than 190,000 refugees and displaced children and youth in South Sudan and Uganda will be supported in getting an education through the Geared for Success project. The five-year project will be implemented by an innovative partnership between Oxfam Canada and War…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to the IPCC’s Working Group III report on climate change mitigation

Responding to the publication today of the IPCC’s Working Group III report on climate change mitigation, Oxfam’s Climate Policy Lead Nafkote Dabi said: “This IPCC report pulls no punches. The bleak and brutal truth about global warming is this: barring action on a sweeping scale, humanity faces worsening hunger, disease, economic collapse, mass migration of…

Read More

Oxfam Feminist Scorecard exposes key gaps in federal action on gender equality

The federal government’s progress in delivering on their feminist commitments during a prolonged pandemic has been bumpy but is making some headway. Historic investments in the care sector are helping advance women’s economic equality, but the government failed to deliver on fairer and more equitable taxation and has a mixed record on tackling gender-based violence,…

Read More

Protection of civilians in Ukraine conflict

As a humanitarian organization, Oxfam is horrified by the loss of life being witnessed, and gravely concerned by the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine.  We call for an immediate end to hostilities. The protection of life is of paramount importance. It is vital that civilians everywhere are safeguarded and we stand in solidarity with all…

Read More

Statement about the situation in Ukraine

As a humanitarian organization, Oxfam is gravely concerned about the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine and calls for an immediate end to hostilities. The protection of life is of paramount importance. It is crucial that civilians are protected and we stand in solidarity with all those affected by the violence, wherever they may be.…

Read More

Oxfam, local officials call for urgent aid in typhoon-hit areas in Visayas

Oxfam Pilipinas on Monday echoed local officials in Eastern Visayas calling for immediate assistance for survivors of Super Typhoon Rai (local name: Odette). Super Typhoon Rai, which is the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, has resulted in the deaths of 208 people as of December 20, according to the Philippine National…

Read More

Famine action letter

Dear world leaders, It is over six months since the UN warned that famine risk is soaring globally. We – a group of 120 NGOs from around the world – are at a loss that since then the crisis has only worsened. There has been a 370 per cent rise in people experiencing catastrophic levels…

Read More

Human rights advocates eye legal action against Canadian, German, Norwegian and UK governments over global COVID vaccine inequality

Coordinated legal efforts call on “recalcitrant” governments to support proposed waiver of COVID-related intellectual property monopolies at the WTO Human rights lawyers have threatened legal action against the German, Norwegian, and Canadian governments today for obstructing global efforts to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines and other healthcare technologies. The move comes as state delegates from…

Read More

Oxfam Reaction To COP26 text

As the latest draft COP26 text is published, Tracy Carty, head of Oxfam’s COP26 delegation said: “Here in Glasgow, the world’s poorest countries are in danger of being lost from view, but the next few hours can and must change the course we are on. What’s on the table is still not good enough. “We…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to AstraZeneca’s plan to take profits from the COVID-19 vaccine

In response to the announcement that AstraZeneca is to move away from the non-profit model for COVID-19 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…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to COP26 draft text

Responding to the draft COP26 decision text, Tracy Carty, head of Oxfam’s COP26 delegation said: “This draft COP decision text is too weak. It fails to respond to the climate emergency being faced by millions of people now, who are living with unprecedented extreme weather and being pushed further into poverty. “It fails to include…

Read More

Campaigners petition UN to investigate racial and gender discriminations in global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland in violation of international human rights law in “prolonging the pandemic” ahead of vital World Trade Organization meeting  GENEVA – An international coalition of human rights law groups, public health experts, and civil society organizations is taking legal action against the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, on the grounds…

Read More

A year since conflict erupted, nearly 7 million people still suffering in Northern Ethiopia as humanitarian catastrophe outpaces aid

One year since conflict broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, almost seven million people in Tigray and in neighboring Amhara and Afar are suffering from the toll of violence, human rights abuses, hunger, locusts, and the COVID-19 pandemic. With the conflict now spreading in Northern Ethiopia, many more vulnerable people are left without vital protection and resources. The need is growing…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to the UNFCCC’s updated NDC Synthesis Report

Responding to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) updated NDC Synthesis Report, Oxfam France’s Advocacy Manager Armelle Le Comte said: “This confirms we are still dangerously off track from limiting global warming to the vital 1.5°C limit. The climate clock is ticking ever closer to midnight and COP26 now needs to be a…

Read More

Third COVID-19 wave engulfs Yemen with 99 per cent of people unvaccinated

Yemenis are battling a third wave of COVID-19, which threatens 99 per cent of the population who are unvaccinated, Oxfam said today. Recorded cases of COVID-19 have tripled and the death rate has risen by more than fivefold (420 per cent) in the last month. Excluded from these figures are countless undiagnosed deaths of people…

Read More

Can you believe this is ‘What She Makes’

OTTAWA – The fashion industry is huge and glamourous – and yet it’s built on the backs of millions of women who live in poverty despite working countless hours making the clothes we wear. Top executives of Canadian fashion brands make on average over $18,000 a day, while the women making clothes in Asia earn…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report

Responding to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Oxfam Climate Policy Lead Nafkote Dabi said: “Amid a world in parts burning, in parts drowning and in parts starving, the IPCC today tables the most compelling wake-up call yet for global industry to switch from…

Read More

Vaccine monopolies make cost of vaccinating the world against COVID at least 5 times more expensive than it could be

The cost of vaccinating the world against COVID-19 could be at least five times cheaper if pharmaceutical companies weren’t profiteering from their monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines, campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance said today. New analysis by the Alliance shows that the firms Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are charging governments as much as $41 billion above…

Read More

Federal COVID-19 Funding to Alberta’s Oil Patch “Not Well Spent”

EDMONTON and OTTAWA – A new report by the Parkland Institute and Oxfam Canada exposes how $1 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency funding transferred to the Alberta government is failing to achieve its intended social and environmental objectives.   When funding to clean up orphaned and abandoned oil wells in Western Canada was announced in April 2020, the…

Read More

After the bombing, Gaza struggles to restart power, water, hospitals, markets and fishing for its 2.1 million people  

400,000 people now without regular water supply 400,000 people in Gaza do not have access to regular water supply after 11 days of bombardment devastated electricity and water services and severely impacted the three main desalination plants in Gaza city, Oxfam warned today. Oxfam Country Director in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, Shane Stevenson said:…

Read More

Statement on ceasefire in OPTI  

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 traumatized children, can rest rather than lie awake in fear as bombs fly over their homes.  And civilians across Israel will be spared the threat…

Read More

COVID-19 vaccines create 9 new billionaires with combined wealth greater than cost of vaccinating world’s poorest countries

At least nine people have become new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the excessive profits pharmaceutical corporations with monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines are making, The People’s Vaccine Alliance revealed today ahead of a G20 leaders Global Health Summit. Key members of the G20, who meet tomorrow, including the UK and…

Read More

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

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 programs with its network of partners but the destruction and indiscriminate threat to life make any emergency aid, at the moment, impossible to mount. The…

Read More

Canada still stalling on support of WTO TRIPS Waiver on COVID-19 Vaccines

In response to today’s announcement that the Canadian government is ready to discuss proposals on a waiver for intellectual property (IP) protection for COVID-19 vaccines under the WTO Agreement on TRIPS, Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns said the following: Canada’s statement released today by Minister Ng confirming their readiness to discuss…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to US support of WTO TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 vaccines

In response to today’s announcement that the US Trade Representative is supporting waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns said the following: Canada could have taken international leadership to fight vaccine inequality by supporting the TRIPS waiver but instead has chosen to sit on the sidelines…

Read More

An average of 7 in 10 across G7 countries think their governments should force big pharma to share vaccine know-how

G7 governments still refusing to waive intellectual property on Covid-19 vaccines, despite widespread public support People’s Vaccine Alliance calls for G7 leaders to support a vaccine patent waiver at today’s foreign and development ministers meeting in London. A supermajority of people in G7 countries believe that governments should ensure pharmaceutical companies share the formulas and…

Read More

Oxfam responds to deadly COVID-19 wave in India

Oxfam India has deployed teams to five of the worst-hit states in India where a second wave of coronavirus is sweeping the country. The international organization is urgently appealing for $2 million to fund its emergency response to the crisis. Teams have already started providing face masks, hand sanitizer and other protective equipment in parts…

Read More

Garment workers suffer while fashion brands’ profits return

200 rights organizations demand brands fix their broken industry by putting the money on the table to ensure workers can feed their families and respecting labour rights A coalition of more than 200 organizations today announced sweeping demands of apparel brands and retailers for cash relief for suffering garment workers and reform of the industry.…

Read More

Climate national action plans “appalling and irresponsible” – Oxfam

In reaction to the UNFCCC NDC Synthesis report launched today, Oxfam’s Global Climate Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi, said: “Today’s report findings are appalling. The combined climate plans submitted account to a dismal 1 per cent emissions reduction, far below the 45 per cent reduction needed to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees, and avoid disastrous impacts on…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to Canada taking COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX program

In response to the Canadian government’s announcement to draw on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX program, Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns said the following: “Canada should not be taking the COVAX vaccine from poor nations to alleviate political pressures at home. Receiving one or two million doses isn’t…

Read More

Oxfam warns of COVID-19 risks in camps following Indonesian earthquake

Oxfam warned today of the risk of an outbreak of coronavirus in the over-crowded camps where people are sheltering following Friday’s earthquake in Sulawesi, Indonesia. At least 56 people are reported dead, more than 826 injured and more than 15,000 fled from their homes following 6.2 magnitude earthquake which damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes…

Read More

Oxfam reaction to US Secretary of State Pompeo’s decision to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist

In response to US Secretary of State Pompeo’s decision to designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead Scott Paul said: “Secretary Pompeo’s decision to designate the Houthis as a terrorist organization is a counter-productive and dangerous policy that will put innocent lives at risk.…

Read More

Over half of Canadian women’s sector organizations forced to reduce or cancel vital services, new survey reveals

According to a new survey conducted by YWCA Canada, Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), Canadian Women’s Foundation, G(irls)20 and Oxfam Canada, women’s rights organizations in Canada are facing increasingly insurmountable challenges that threaten their very existence. These organizations provide a vital lifeline to communities, and especially women, providing essential services and…

Read More

Climate-fuelled La Niña in East Africa will drive millions into hunger: Oxfam

Over 50 million people are in need of immediate food assistance in the Horn East and Central Africa, with numbers expected to rise significantly as the region braces for harsh, climate fuelled La Niña conditions, said Oxfam today. The warning comes as world leaders prepare to meet for a virtual Climate Ambition Summit. Starting in mid-December, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya,…

Read More

Hurricane Iota lands a new blow onto Central America, Oxfam ready to respond

Millions of people in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, already hit by damage from last month’s monster hurricane, Eta, are now facing an even bigger crisis from Iota, a category five hurricane that made landfall overnight on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. COVID-19 infections could rise exponentially as a result of these consecutive hurricanes and overcrowding…

Read More

Improving safeguarding and culture at Oxfam

This report covers Oxfam’s work from April 2020 to September 2020 towards its Improving Safeguarding and Culture Plan. The Plan continues to strengthen our safeguarding policies and procedures, our transformation of working cultures, and in aligning this across Oxfam’s international confederation. The headlines are as follows: Safeguarding In June 2020, Oxfam rolled out its new…

Read More

Hurricane Eta: Oxfam begins response to help victims in Central America

Oxfam began delivery of humanitarian aid in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala to help those most affected by flooding and strong winds caused by Hurricane Eta, the most devastating weather phenomenon to hit Central America since 1998. “More than 3 million people have been affected and the number is likely to rise as access to the…

Read More

Hurricane Eta: Oxfam begins response to help victims in Central America

Oxfam began delivery of humanitarian aid in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala to help those most affected by flooding and strong winds caused by Hurricane Eta, the most devastating weather phenomenon to hit Central America since 1998. “More than 3 million people have been affected and the number is likely to rise as access to the…

Read More

The Hunger Virus: ‘Abysmally low’ funding for 55 million people facing extreme hunger in 7 worst-affected countries

The threat of “COVID-19 famines” and widespread extreme hunger is setting off every alarm bell within the international community, but so far sluggish funding is hampering humanitarian agencies’ efforts to deliver urgent assistance to people in need. A new Oxfam analysis says that the international community’s response to global food insecurity has been dangerously inadequate.…

Read More

Share this page: