Blogs

It is the time of the year again, where festive decorations are filling the streets of the Netherlands. The joy of end of year celebrations can also be felt in Dutch supermarkets. Coming into December, all snacks, candies and chocolates are wrapped and shaped in colorful festive packaging. Since I moved to the Netherlands, I always followed the Dutch Sinterklaas culture of buying chocolate shaped letters to celebrate. But this year, I feel differently about the chocolates in front of me. This now reminds me of my trip to Ghana, back in September. Chocolate has a bitter aftertaste, somethings which leaves me very uncomfortable.

In past years, Oxfam was able to provide Dignity Kits to women refugees. These include soap and other hygiene items, as well as underwear and menstrual pads. Row notes that refugees are missing this support, discontinued due to budget cuts. “We have no money to buy this in the market,” Row says. “And, as we are women, we need Dignity Kits."

The European Union has adopted a new approach to foreign policy dubbed the “Global Gateway,” supported by a new European Financial Architecture for Development (EFAD). These policies are a direct response to the state of permacrises that the world finds itself in. It seeks to inject 180-300 billion euros over a period of six years into the EU’s partner countries in the form of infrastructure projects, a green transition and digitalisation. 

Women are at the heart of the food production systems. Yet, women food producers are held back by barriers that prevent them from feeding their families and reinvesting in their livelihoods. Oxfam together with indigenous women, farmers and women food producers convened and create a space to exchange knowledge, wisdom and a vision for a better, just and feminist food system. We demand a fair #feministfoodsystem that empower women food producers, indigenous people and small-scale farmers! #FeministPower  

In the months after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Oxfam warned that huge and dangerous increases in inequality across the MENA region were likely. Almost two years on, the wealth of elites has only climbed, lining their pockets at the expense of everybody else. Inequality will continue to kill until we switch the game.

Why is it taken for granted that a person is “successful” because they are a self-made millionaire? Who decides what is a success, and what is a failure? These questions help us understand what dominant narratives are, how they are shaped, and how they affect our lives. It’s time for them to be contested. With the right tools, change movements can start to tell a new story.

Covid-19 has supercharged inequalities: while billionaire´s wealth rises dramatically, austerity is imposed on health, education, and social protection systems across the world. The Festival to Fight Inequality, a space for the growing inequality movement to reconnect and recharge around these struggles and solutions, has never been more crucial.

The coronavirus pandemic saw people in Europe band together, regardless of where they were born, to pull through this difficult time. From the healthcare professionals saving lives in hospitals, to agricultural workers putting food on our tables, and researchers finding a vaccine so we can go back to our normal lives.   

$101 billion to 81 countries. That's how much COVID-19 financing the International Monetary Fund has lent to countries so far. And it has committed to deploy an overall $1 trillion in lending to countries in need. But what’s behind those numbers? Over the past few months, we’ve been combing through thousands of pages, extracting and collating data from 91 IMF COVID-19 loans to help us get answers to these questions.

Since March 2020, schools in Uganda have been closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Bidibidi refugee settlement, one of the largest in the world hosting over 280,000 refugees mainly from the Equatoria region in South Sudan, more than 80,000 children have been affected.

Young people ages 15-24 account for a sixth of the global population, 1.2 billion people whose lives, educations, careers and communities will be forever transformed by Covid-19. So why are they not being included in policymaking decisions that will continue to affect their lives for generations to come?

In a country with an exhausted economy and its healthcare facilities decimated, it’s not only about fighting the virus itself but about withstanding its aftershocks. As a result of the lockdown, many people, who already live hand-to-mouth, have been unable to make a living. A crisis within a crisis.

In Iraq, as elsewhere, the coronavirus pandemic is having severe impacts on the population. But according to research conducted by Oxfam, women are disproportionately affected. They are facing an increase in the burden of domestic work and caring responsibilities, a heightened risk of domestic violence as well as loss of economic livelihoods.

Big Pharma — long-blasted for gouging prices, avoiding taxes, and rigging the political process to maximize profits — has emerged as key players in the race to bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis. Who gets access to lifesaving medicines and vaccines — and when — will determine who lives and who dies.

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic to our Pacific shores once again brought to light the weakness of public health systems in our region. The reality is that our health systems are not ready for this crisis.

This isn’t the time to remain silent, silent ally, this is the time you should reach out to your neighbors, friends, colleagues of color and learn and educate yourself on their lived experiences in your country, because the truth of the matter is that racism is everywhere.

The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis for everyone. All around us people are affected — our loved ones, our neighbours, our colleagues, our communities.