UNGA

Survivors of COVID-19 from 37 countries are among almost 1,000 people who have signed an open letter to pharmaceutical industry leaders calling for a ‘people's vaccine’ and treatments that are available to all – free from patents. The letter comes on the eve of a high-level side event about the pandemic at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The richest one percent of the world’s population are responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of humanity during a critical 25-year period of unprecedented emissions growth.

Despite being largely virtual, this year’s UN General Assembly opening week will remain a vital convening space where leaders and civil society can jointly discuss and tackle some of the gravest issues we face today.

Indigenous people must first be protected from those who want them out of their lands and that have been killing them for generations.

Leaders must heed climate strikes and give vulnerable people the tools to survive.

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.

Oxfam welcomes the support shown for the world’s refugees at President Obama's Leader’s Summit today - but what is needed now is to see governments pay up. 

The ongoing conflict with Boko Haram in West Africa has pushed the number of people facing the threat of severe hunger to more than 6 million according to the latest assessments, say 15 humanitarian organizations. 

Monday's UN summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York is likely to fall far short of what is needed to address the global displacement crisis or protect people on the move.