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Not Everyone Is In The Same Boat

Oxfam has published a new report: “Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat: Climate Change and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa”

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. But while the impacts of climate change are widespread, they’re not felt equally. The richest individuals and fossil fuel economies are driving emissions at staggering rates, while the poorest communities are left to face the worst consequences with the fewest resources to adapt.

Oxfam’s new report lays bare the scale of inequality across MENA. It shows how climate breakdown is deepening poverty, straining public services, and hitting women, refugees, and low-income workers hardest. Meanwhile, decades of austerity have left governments unable to invest in the kind of climate action that builds resilience and protects lives.

The report also highlights how the ultra-rich in MENA are not just high emitters. They also hold disproportionate power over climate and economic policy. Their wealth and influence allow them to shield themselves from the worst impacts while continuing to profit from polluting industries. In contrast, those with the least are left exposed, with little say in decisions that affect their futures.

Climate finance is another major concern. Despite growing needs, funding is often inaccessible, poorly tracked, and rarely prioritises gender equality or grassroots resilience. Without urgent reform, climate finance risks reinforcing the very inequalities it should be addressing.

Oxfam is calling for bold action: tax the wealthiest, end austerity, and invest in public services and climate solutions that put people first. The report also urges international donors and institutions to take responsibility, not just by increasing climate finance, but by ensuring it reaches those most affected and supports locally led solutions.

This is not just a regional issue. The climate crisis in MENA reflects a global pattern where those who contribute the least suffer the most. If wealthy governments and institutions continue to look the other way, they risk enabling a system that rewards pollution and punishes poverty.

Climate justice in MENA is not only about reducing emissions. It is about fairness, accountability, and making sure no one is left behind.

Read the report here

Gaza: Starvation or gunfire — not a humanitarian response

 JOINT STATEMENT

Oxfam and over 100 other NGOs operating in Gaza call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies.

Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023. 

In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured just trying to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups – some reportedly operating with backing from Israeli authorities – now routinely open fire on desperate civilians risking everything just to survive.

The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favour of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs. These measures are designed to sustain a cycle of desperation, danger, and death. Experienced humanitarian actors remain ready to deliver life-saving assistance at scale. Yet more than 100 days since Israeli authorities reimposed a near-total blockade on aid and commercial goods, Gaza’s humanitarian conditions are collapsing faster than at any point in the past 20 months.

Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point. There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites. With Gaza’s healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care. 

Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations. Those who do manage to obtain food often return with only a few basic items – nearly impossible to prepare without clean water or fuel to cook with. Fuel is nearly depleted, bringing critical lifesaving services – including bakeries, water systems, ambulances, and hospitals – to a standstill. Families are sheltering under plastic sheets, operating makeshift kitchens amid the rubble, without fuel, clean water, sanitation, or electricity. 

This is not a humanitarian response.

Concentrating more than two million people into further confined areas for a chance to feed their families is not a plan to save lives. For 20 months, more than two million people have been subjected to relentless bombardment, the weaponization of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanization – all under the watch of the international community. The Sphere Association, which sets minimum standards for quality humanitarian aid, has warned that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s approach does not adhere to core humanitarian standards and principles.

This normalization of suffering must not be allowed to stand. States must reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid. States must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and obstruction of humanitarian aid. States must ensure accountability for grave violations of international law. 

We, the undersigned organizations, once again call on all third states to:

  • Take concrete measures to end the suffocating siege and uphold the right of civilians in Gaza to safely access aid and receive protection. 

  • Urge donors not to fund militarized aid schemes that violate international law, do not adhere to humanitarian principles, deepen harm, and risk complicity in atrocities. 

  • Support the restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination mechanism—grounded in international humanitarian law and inclusive of UNRWA, Palestinian civil society, and the wider humanitarian community—to meet people’s needs.

We reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the pervasive impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity. 

The signatories include:

1.     American Friends Service Committee

2.     Amnesty International

3.     Anera 

4.     Bisan Center for Research and Development 

5.     Fund for Global Human Rights

6.     Islamic Relief Worldwide

7.     Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation

8.     Médecins du Monde

9.     Médecins Sans Frontières

10. MedGlobal 

11. Medical Aid for Palestinians 

12. Mennonite Central Committee 

13. Middle East Children’s Alliance

14. Norwegian People’s Aid

15. Norwegian Refugee Council 

16. Oxfam International 

17. Pax Christi International 

18. Saferworld  

19. Save the Children

20. Terres des Hommes Italia

21. War Child 

Notes to editors

  • Please see the full list of signatories here 

  • On 15 June, the Red Cross field hospital in Al Mawasi received at least 170 patients injured while trying to reach a food distribution site. The following day, 16 June, more than 200 patients arrived at the same facility – the highest number recorded in a single mass casualty incident in Gaza. Of that number, 28 Palestinians were declared dead. A WHO official underscored the deadly pattern: “The recent food distribution initiatives by non-UN actors every time result in mass casualty incidents.”

  • These deaths add to the broader toll: since October 2023, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children.
     

Contact information

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, not Oligarchy

Oxfam has published a new briefing paper: “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy”

Wealthy governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving development aid since aid records began in 1960. Oxfam analysis finds that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28% for 2026 compared to 2024. Whilst critical aid is cut, the debt crisis is bankrupting governments – 60% of low-income countries are at the edge of a debt crisis – with the poorest countries paying out far more to repay their rich creditors than they are able to spend on classrooms or clinics. Only 16% of the targets for the Global Goals are on track for 2030. 

Oxfam’s new analysis examines the failures of a private investor-focused approach to funding development. A decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission as one of supporting powerful Global North financial actors has led in fact to a host of harms and at the same time only mobilized paltry sums. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors, who now outpace bilateral lenders by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low- and middle-income countries, in exacerbating the debt crisis with their refusal to negotiate and their punitive terms. 

Read report here. 

New wealth of top 1% surges by over $33.9 trillion since 2015 – enough to end poverty 22 times over, says Oxfam

 

  • Oxfam condemns “private finance takeover” of development efforts, as over 3.7 billion people remain in poverty ten years after the Sustainable Development Goals were agreed. 

  • New Oxfam analysis unveils “astronomical rise in private wealth”. Between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion – 8 times more than public wealth,  

  • Oxfam analysis also shows governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving aid since aid records began. Aid cuts could cause 2.9 million more children and adults to die by 2030, from HIV/AIDS causes alone. 

  • Results of a new global survey show 9 out of 10 people support paying for public services and climate action through taxing the super-rich. 

  • Oxfam urges new strategic alliances to address inequality; urgently revitalize aid and tax the super-rich; and assert new “public-first” approach over private finance. 

The world’s richest 1% increased their wealth by more than $33.9 trillion in real terms since 2015, reveals new Oxfam analysis ahead of the world’s largest development financing talks in a decade, in Seville, Spain. This is more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 a day. The wealth of just 3,000 billionaires has surged $6.5 trillion in real terms since 2015, and now comprises the equivalent of 14.6% of global GDP.

Oxfam’s new briefing paper, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy”, launches today ahead of the June 30 fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, hosted by Spain and joined by over 190 countries.  

Wealthy governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving development aid since aid records began in 1960. Oxfam analysis finds that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28% for 2026 compared to 2024. Whilst critical aid is cut, the debt crisis is bankrupting governments – 60% of low-income countries are at the edge of a debt crisis – with the poorest countries paying out far more to repay their rich creditors than they are able to spend on classrooms or clinics. Only 16% of the targets for the Global Goals are on track for 2030. 

Oxfam’s new analysis examines the failures of a private investor-focused approach to funding development. A decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission as one of supporting powerful Global North financial actors has led in fact to a host of harms and at the same time only mobilized paltry sums. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors, who now outpace bilateral lenders by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low- and middle-income countries, in exacerbating the debt crisis with their refusal to negotiate and their punitive terms. 

“Seville is the first major gathering of countries worldwide at a time that life-saving aid is being decimated, a trade war has started, and multilateralism being fractured – all in the backdrop of the second Trump administration. There is glaring evidence that global development is desperately failing because – as the last decade shows – the interests of a very wealthy few are put over those of everyone else,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. 

What the World Bank described as a “billions to trillions” paradigm shift has been a boon for wealthy investors – the richest 1% own 43% of global assets – but now faces overwhelming evidence of failure, even according to former champions. Alarmingly, there is new momentum behind the idea of diverting the little aid that remains to private financial actors. 

“Rich countries have put Wall Street in the driver’s seat of global development. It’s a global private finance takeover which has overrun the evidence-backed ways to tackle poverty through public investments and fair taxation. It is no wonder governments are abysmally off track, be it on fostering decent jobs, gender equality, or ending hunger. This much wealth concentration is choking efforts to end poverty”, said Behar. 

New Oxfam analysis shows that between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion – 8 times more than global public wealth, which grew by just $44 trillion. Global public wealth – as a share of total wealth – actually fell between 1995 and 2023.  

Oxfam is urging governments to rally behind policy and political proposals that offer a change in course by tackling extreme inequality and transforming the development financing system:  

  • New strategic alliances against inequality. Governments must band together in new coalitions to oppose extreme inequality. Countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Spain are offering leadership to do so internationally. A new ‘Global Alliance Against Inequality’ supported by Germany, Norway, Sierra Leone and others sets an example for nations to back.  
  • Public-first approach – reject the Wall Street Consensus. Governments should reject private finance as the silver bullet to funding development. Instead, governments should invest in state-led development – to ensure universal high-quality healthcare, education and care services, and explore publicly-delivered goods in sectors from energy to transportation.  
  • Total rethink of development financing – tax the ultra-rich, revitalize aid, reform debt architecture, and move beyond GDP indicators. Global North donors must urgently reverse catastrophic cuts to lifesaving aid and meet the 0.7% ODA target as minimum. Governments must back efforts for a new UN debt convention, and support the UN tax convention, building on Brazil’s G20 effort to tax high-net-worth-individuals.   

“Trillions of dollars exist to meet the global goals, but they’re locked away in private accounts of the ultra-wealthy. It’s time we rejected the Wall Street Consensus and instead put the public in the driving seat. Governments should heed widespread demands to tax the rich – and match it with a vision to build public goods from healthcare to energy. It’s a hopeful sign that some governments are banding together to fight inequality – more should follow their lead, starting in Seville”, said Behar. 

Notes to editors

Oxfam’s media briefing note, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy” can be downloaded here.  

Oxfam’s analysis of the historic cuts to development aid and their impact on the poorest can be found here. The modelling on HIV/AIDS deaths was published in the Lancet HIV. 

The study that surveyed global opinion on taxing the super-rich was commissioned by Greenpeace and Oxfam International. The research was conducted by first party data company Dynata in May-June 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US. The survey had approximately 1200 respondents per country, with a margin of error of +-2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. See the results here. 

The cost of ending poverty is based on the annual cost of ending poverty in 2024 for one year, for the over 3.7 billion people living below the $8.30 a day poverty line, according to World Bank data. The increase in wealth of the 1% since 2015 would be more than enough to meet this cost 22 times over. Another way of expressing this is that the total amount is more than enough to completely end poverty for 22 years. This is only indicative, as the cost of ending poverty would likely fall over the next 22 years anyway as the numbers living in poverty reduce, and the value of the wealth would increase as it would not be spent all at once. But nevertheless this comparison indicates the extent to which more wealth, which is being greatly concentrated in the hands of a few, could be directed to ending poverty instead of further inflating the fortunes of the richest. For further information on the calculations see the media briefing paper. 

Contact information

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

Oxfam reaction to announcement that Israel will allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza

 

Reacting to the announcement that Israel will allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza, Wassem Mushtaha, Oxfam’s Gaza Response Lead, said:

“While some aid was allowed into Gaza today, it will only be a trickle amongst a sea of need. 

“The limited entry of aid into Gaza cannot be mistaken for meaningful progress, especially alongside the expansion of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign across the Gaza Strip. It is not a turning point, but at best a narrow concession that seems to reflect mounting international pressure.

“Oxfam is also concerned about Israel’s plan to take over aid operations. Instead of restoring access, this emerging system centres on restrictive border crossings, military-controlled corridors, and opaque conditions that exclude local and experienced humanitarian organisations and hinder the impartial delivery of aid.”

New Zealand has joined with the European Union and several other countries insisting that the Israeli military allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza immediately. The statement was signed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK..

Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s Policy lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Gaza, said:

“What is urgently needed is not new obstacles on the ground, but for all crossings to be opened to allow a full and proper humanitarian response, that allows real access, with safe corridors and respect for international humanitarian law, a call mirrored by 22 donor countries and the EU, in a joint statement released earlier today. We must also see an end to the relentless bombing and attacks on Palestinian people, with an urgent and permanent ceasefire, alongside justice and accountability for all.”

Notes to editors

Joint donor statement from 25 aid partners published yesterday.

Contact information

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

Reaction to Global Report on Food Crises 2025: Oxfam warns of “a world veering off course, starving by design”

Today’s “2025 Global Report on Food Crises” (GRFC), led by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN), says that 295 million people around the world are now experiencing acute hunger – twice as many as in 2020 and marking the sixth consecutive annual increase. 

Reacting to the report, Oxfam Global Food and Economic Security Lead, Emily Farr, said:   

“This evidence presents an unflinching picture of a world veering off course. Hunger is no longer just a tragic byproduct of conflict—it is increasingly being wielded as its very weapon. In Gaza, Israel’s bombing campaign, forced displacement, and siege have engineered the conditions for famine, while in Sudan, food stockpiles spoil at the borders while communities starve. These are not failures of logistics or capacity. They are calculated assaults on civilians through starvation by design, in flagrant violation of international law. 

“Across the globe, we see the rise of three “lethal Cs”: Cuts, Conflict, and Climate. Together, they’ve fuelled the highest number ever recorded of people experiencing the most severe level of food insecurity. Yet major donor governments continue to gut aid budgets while ramping up military spending and handing tax breaks to billionaires. The world is spending more on bombs than on bread, more on walls than on welfare. The richest grow richer while the poorest are left to starve. 

“This is not a resource crisis—it’s a political and moral one. And it can be undone. Donor governments must restore life-saving aid, and all States must unequivocally hold those using starvation as a weapon to account. International Humanitarian Law is not optional. This is a test of global leadership and collective conscience.”  

Notes to the Editors: 

  • According to the 2025 GRFC, 95% of population in IPC Phase 5 are in Gaza and Sudan.  
  • In 2023, global military expenditure reached a record $2.443 trillion, marking the highest annual increase since 2009, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In contrast, the global bread market was valued at approximately $227.4 billion in 2023. This means global military spending was over ten times greater than the global bread market value in 2023. 

Contact information

Media at Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]