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Reactive statement on the publication of the Acute Food Insecurity Analysis on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Reacting to the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) published today on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which shows that 26.5 million people are experiencing hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above), including nearly 3.6 million  in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4), Oxfam’s Country Director Dr, Manenji Mangundu said: 

“These latest figures show that conflict–driven hunger gripping the country continues to deteriorate with 1.7 million more people without enough food compared to the end of last year.  While the numbers are slightly lower than earlier projections, too many people are facing severe hunger. 

“The eastern side of the country – the epicentre of the conflict – remains one of the area worst affected by hunger, with nearly half a million people already in desperate need of life-saving assistance, such as food, clean water and shelter.  

“The impact of aid cuts to life-saving programmes continue to have a catastrophic impact. USAID was the leading donor in the country and most aid agencies relied on its funding to help people survive and rebuild their lives.  Without it, agencies have been forced to make terrible triage decisions including who gets to live and who might needlessly die. 

“The world cannot continue to look the other way, the situation is dire. Oxfam is calling on international partners to urgently scale up funding, to both alleviate immediate suffering and address the long-term food security needs.” 

Notes to editors:

  • Oxfam is helping over 670 000 people in eastern DRC with food, clean water, sanitation, cash assistance as well as hygiene kits for women and girls.
  • The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was the leading humanitarian donor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2024, USAID report indicated that it provided over $838 million in Fiscal Year 2024 alone, which includes $414 million specifically for humanitarian needs resulting from ongoing conflict and displacement   

Contact information:

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Top CEO pay increased 20 times faster than workers’ pay in 2025

  • Global real worker pay fell 12 percent while real CEO pay surged 54 percent between 2019 and 2025.

  • At least four CEOs of major corporations each pocketed over $100 million in pay and bonuses last year. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan led the pack at over $205 million.

  • Billionaires were paid $2,500 per second in dividends in 2025.

  • The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Oxfam are calling for urgent action to rein in extreme wealth, including higher, fairer taxes on the richest and binding limits on CEO pay.

‘Workers’ wages have fallen behind the cost of living in Aotearoa, as they have around the world, at the same time as the bosses of our biggest companies gave themselves huge raises’ said Nick Henry, Advocacy and Policy Lead at Oxfam Aotearoa.

“The economy is being rigged against working people and it’s about time we tilted the balance back toward fair pay.”

Across Aotearoa, Workers’ pay declined by 1.3% in real terms from 2024 to 2025, while the top CEOs increased their pay by 45%.

Chief executives of the world’s largest corporations enjoyed a 11 percent real-terms pay hike last year, while the average global worker saw real wages increase by just 0.5 percent, reveals new analysis by the ITUC and Oxfam ahead of International Workers’ Day (1 May).

The analysis covers the top-paying 1,500 corporations across 33 countries which have reported CEO pay for 2025. The average CEO pocketed $8.4 million in pay and bonuses last year, up from $7.6 million in 2024. It would take the average global worker 490 years to earn the same amount.

So far, four corporations, including Blackstone, Broadcom and Goldman Sachs, have reported paying their CEO more than $100 million in 2025. The top 10 highest-paid CEOs collectively made over $1 billion.

The gender pay gap for the workforce across these 1,500 corporations averages 16 percent, meaning that these women workers effectively work for free from 4 November each year.

The growing chasm between CEO compensation and average worker pay is part of a long-term trend in which executives and shareholders are capturing an ever-larger slice of the global economic pie.

Global real wages for workers have fallen by 12 percent since 2019. This means they have effectively worked 108 days for free between 2019 and 2025 (31 days for free last year alone). Meanwhile, CEO pay has skyrocketed ―from an average of $5.5 million in 2019 to $8.4 million in 2025, a 54 percent increase in real terms.

The ITUC and Oxfam’s analysis of shareholdings reveals that the super-rich are receiving significant payouts from the corporations they control. Nearly 1,000 billionaires whose investment portfolios were identified collectively received $79 billion in dividends in 2025 —equivalent to $2,500 per second.

The average billionaire made more in dividends in less than two hours than the average worker earned in pay in an entire year.

Some of the largest payouts in 2025 went to Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury brand LVMH, who pocketed $3.8 billion and Amancio Ortega, owner of Inditex (Zara), who received $3.7 billion.

Payouts from corporations are often funneled into undermining workers’ rights and democracy.

  • Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, has used his wealth to become a major stakeholder in Paramount, which was purchased by his son’s company and includes major broadcast networks CBS.

  • In France, far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré now controls CNews, and has rebranded it as the French equivalent of Fox News.

  • In 2024, Oxfam filed a formal UN complaint against Amazon and Walmart’s systematic human rights violations. Amazon and Walmart’s outsized wealth and power in the economy have enabled them to clamp down on unionization efforts and collective organizing.

Billionaires are also leveraging their wealth to buy political influence. A global survey found that half of people believe “the rich often buy elections” in their countries. Oxfam estimates that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people. Many super-rich politicians have sought to erode workers’ rights, cut public services, and deliver tax cuts to the richest.

“This analysis exposes the billionaire coup against democracy, and its costs for working people. Companies promise us a virtuous cycle, but what we see is a vicious cycle led by mega corporations —they undermine collective bargaining and social dialogue while billionaire CEOs capture the wealth created by productivity gains. The super-rich then use enormous resources to fund anti-democratic political projects,” said ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle.

“These projects shift the blame for growing inequality onto marginalized groups, such as migrants, women and minorities in order to distract from the true culprits: their rich benefactors. They divide working people while dismantling and undermining democratic institutions and promoting policies that allow the super-rich to become even richer, at the expense of workers’ rights, safety and livelihoods. They attack democratic organizations like unions and block any avenues for popular reform, ensuring that the vicious anti-worker cycle continues.”

Billionaire wealth has reached record highs in 2026. In just 12 months, they have gained $4 trillion —bringing their wealth to $1.5 trillion more than that of the poorest 4.1 billion people combined. There are 400 more billionaires compared to last year, and 45 of these new billionaires have made their fortunes in artificial intelligence.

“We can’t continue to let a handful of super-rich people siphon off the rewards of work that belong to millions. Governments must cap CEO pay, fairly tax the super-rich and ensure minimum wages at the very least keep pace with inflation and ensure a dignified living. And workers must be able to exercise, without fear or obstruction, their rights to organize, to strike, and to bargain collectively. They are the ones who generate society’s wealth; they should be able to claim, as a matter of justice, what they are due,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“These measures can do far more than redistribute income; they can create economies that reward work, invest in communities, and hold powerful interests accountable. This is how we turn a system rigged for the few into one that works for everyone.”

Notes to editors:

New Zealand CEO pay increased 45% in real terms in the year to December 2025 (for the 21 CEOs in the NZX50 for whom data was available).

New Zealand Workers’ pay declined 1.3% in real terms in the year to December 2025 (comparing Labour Cost Index to Consumer Price Index).

Download the ITUC and Oxfam’s media briefing and methodology note for more information, tables and graphs.

In 2024, Oxfam submitted a formal complaint against Amazon and Walmart to the United Nations. Read more about surveillance and suffering at Amazon and Walmart warehouses.

The World Values Survey Wave 7 found that half of people believe “the rich often buy elections” in their countries.

Oxfam’s estimates that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.

Download the ITUC’s report “Corporate Underminers of Democracy 2025.”

Contact information:

For more information or to arrange an interview, please reach out to:

[email protected]

Record number of people displaced into neighbouring countries as Sudan conflict marks three years – Oxfam

As Sudan’s gruelling conflict enters its fourth year, a record number of people have now been displaced by the world’s worst humanitarian and displacement crisis, accelerating hunger and suffering.

More than 30 million people – over half the population – in Sudan urgently need humanitarian support. Nearly 14 million people have been forced from their homes since the conflict began in April 2023. Almost a third – 4.5 million – fled to neighbouring countries Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and South Sudan; countries already struggling with under-funded emergencies.

The crisis is compounded by the decimation of lifesaving support from the UN and humanitarian agencies, including Oxfam, who have been forced to either stop or scale back programmes across the region due to funding cuts. Some aid agencies have closed entirely, while those still operating are now only able to assist only a fraction of those in need.

More than 1.3 million people have crossed the border to South Sudan, a country already grappling with hunger and insecurity with over 300,000 displaced by renewed fighting in Jonglei state. In Renk, the main transit centre is now operating at more than four times its capacity.

Oxfam staff in Renk have reported that, families are having to sleep out in the open areas as spaces run out. Water and food rations have significantly reduced with families receiving less than half of their monthly food rations while access to clean water has dropped leaving thousands to rely on unsafe water sources. 26 deaths were also reported since January linked to severe malnutrition and shortages of medical supplies.

Oxfam in Africa Director, Ms Fati N’Zi-Hassane said:

“This is a damning political failure. It is devastating that millions of people are in desperate need across so many countries, at a time when aid cuts have drastically reduced support. It’s completely unacceptable.

“In Renk, before the funding cuts, Oxfam was supporting over 40,000 people with lifesaving assistance, including water, food and cash assistance. That number has dropped to just over 7,000 people and no longer includes food support. Families are having to survive on five litres of water a day and a latrine that once supported 28 people is now used by over 70, more than double the maximum standard.”

Hamdi, a mother of three who recently arrived in Renk said to Oxfam staff:

“I lost most of my family to the conflict in Sudan. I walked for days to get to South Sudan but until now I have not managed to get a space for my three children in the transit center, we had to set up a makeshift home in the open area which is not safe for us all. The food we are getting is not enough but at least we are safe from the war for now.”

Chad alone has taken in over one million refugees from Sudan – more than in the previous two decades combined – while an estimated 3 million people in the country will need food assistance at the peak of the upcoming lean season from July to September with Sudanese refugees in the eastern province being the hardest hit.

Yet funding to Chad continue to drop. U.S. contributions to the refugee crisis dropped from $87.5 million in 2024 to $39.9 million in 2025 – covering only 9.8% of requirements in 2025 even as the number of refugees continues to increase, stretching the response.

Germany and the African Union have confirmed plans to co-host the third international Sudan conference in Berlin on 15 April. The meeting aims to support peace efforts and mobilize humanitarian aid amid ongoing conflict.

Ms N’Zi-Hassane said:

“As leaders gather In Berlin, they must go beyond boardroom discussions and ensure real progress towards both peace and an urgent funding increase for the crisis. Sudanese people and their neighbours have suffered long enough. They cannot afford more meetings that do nothing to both end the conflict and the misery millions are being forced to endure.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

  • Oxfam is supporting refugee response in Chad and South Sudan with clean water and hygiene facilities, food, cash assistance and protection services.

  • In 2025, Sudan Regional Refugee Response plan was only 25% funded, leaving critical gaps in lifesaving support.

  • 4.5 million people fled to neighbouring countries according to UNHCR

  • FEWS NET estimates that nearly 3 million people will need food assistance at the height of the lean season in Chad

  • Food Insecurity and malnutrition in South Sudan remain extremely high according to the IPC with 7.5 million people –53% projected to experience high level of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above)

  • US contribution to UNHCR Chad Refugee Response

  • Emergency standards recommend no more than 50 people per latrine at the onset of a crisis, improving to 20 over time. In Renk, South Sudan that has risen to 70 or more per latrine—pushing facilities beyond safe limits and increasing the risk of outbreaks such as cholera and dysentery.

  • For water, Sphere standards set a minimum of 7.5 litres per person per day in water-scarce emergency contexts, with an ideal target of 20 litres

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

Death by aid cuts: Oxfam reaction to OECD preliminary data on aid spending in 2025

In response to the publication today of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) preliminary data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) for 2025, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead Nick Henry said:

“This report shows New Zealand aid fell by 12.8% in 2025. This is a huge problem for our Pacific neighbours who face an accelerating climate crisis.

Now more than ever, New Zealand should be standing with our Pacific neighbours with support for climate adaptation and sustainable development. But the New Zealand Government has not renewed our climate funding commitment for the Pacific and has not increased other aid enough to make up for the shortfall.

Unfortunately, this means New Zealand is now part of the problem.

Oxfam has previously praised the good work done through New Zealand’s support for climate action in the Pacific. We call on the New Zealand Government to restore and extend that support to our Pacific neighbours in this year’s budget.”

Meanwhile Oxfam’s Development Finance Lead Didier Jacobs said:

“Wealthy governments are turning their backs on the lives of millions of women, men and children in the Global South with these severe aid cuts. They collectively slashed aid by 23% in 2025. Based on aid’s crucial role in combating diseases like HIV-AIDS and malaria, the Institute of Global Health of Barcelona estimated that global aid cuts of such magnitude would kill hundreds of thousands of people in 2025 alone. If this trend continues, aid cuts could kill over 9 million people by 2030.

At a time where aid cuts are already driving instability and fostering greater inequality, government donors are cutting life-saving aid budgets while financing conflict and militarization. Cuts from donors including Germany, France and the UK will be felt by the world’s poorest. The United States shut down USAID and recklessly cut aid by $37 billion in 2025, and the Trump administration has been preparing to ask Congress for tens of billions in additional funding for bombs, ammunition, and other military equipment relating to its unlawful war against Iran.

Governments must restore their aid budgets and shore up the global humanitarian system that faces its most serious crisis in decades. There are other ways to find tens of billions of dollars, such as by taxing the $2.84 trillions of dollars that the super-rich hide in tax havens.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

The OECD preliminary data shows the DAC countries’ aid spending for 2025 was $174.3 billion, a cut of 23% from 2024.

The Institute of Global Health in Barcelona released a study in Lancet Journal (February 2026) that evaluated the impact of ODA on mortality rates around the world. It estimates that aid cuts in 2025 alone, assuming a 21% aid cut, would be responsible for 695,238 excess deaths, and that, if the aid cut trend continued, it could kill 9,416,417 by 2030.

The US Administration is reportedly planning to seek a war appropriation of $80-$100 billion from Congress.

Oxfam estimates that the top 0.1% richest people worldwide hide $2.84 trillion in tax havens. Even a small tax on that wealth would yield much more than the amount of aid cuts.

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

REACTION: Peace talks only successful if ceasefire encompasses the region, as Israel launches deadliest strikes yet on Lebanon

Reacting to news today of a two-week ceasefire between US/Israel and Iran, Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar said:

“We share in the widespread relief that the world has avoided the atrocities President Trump threatened yesterday and that the war between the US and Iran has paused while diplomatic talks commence. The ceasefire comes after weeks of escalating threats and unlawful attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, as well as retaliation from Iran, that have killed, injured, and displaced civilians across the region. However, until there is an end to all hostilities, across the entire region, no one will feel truly safe.

“This pause must become a stepping stone for wider peace. Israel’s ongoing invasion in Lebanon, its destructive occupation of Palestinian Territory, ground incursion and airstrikes in Syria, its continued attacks in Gaza, and violent attacks and territorial expansion in the West Bank are still continuing despite the provisional cessation of violence with Iran. This deadly toll across the Middle East is intolerable and must stop.

“Israel’s attacks on Lebanon continued with huge strikes today, reportedly killing at least 80 people. Another 1,500 people have been killed and 4,500 injured since last month. Israeli massive forced displacement orders cover more than 20 per cent of the population and humanitarian agencies cannot access critical projects to assist people in the most need.

“Any peace agreement must include the unconditional withdrawal of Israel’s forces in Lebanon and Syria, an end to its unlawful occupation of Gaza and the Syria Golan, and its annexation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

-Ends-

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

Humanitarian organisations call for New Zealand Government support for humanitarian access in Middle East

Statement by the Council for International Development, Oxfam, Save the Children, Anglican Missions, Tear Fund and Child Fund

The conflict across the Middle East and its impact on global energy supplies continues to dominate the airwaves. While a ceasefire for Iran is welcome, we are deeply concerned at ongoing strikes in Lebanon and the continued restrictions on humanitarian aid and supplies to civilians in the region. We call on the New Zealand Government to support and enable the critical work of humanitarians through all diplomatic means available.

During the latest escalation, thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Strikes on civilian areas, schools, hospitals and airports have created enormous suffering. A whole generation of children will be scarred for life.

New Zealanders have shown enormous care and generosity to communities in the region, including through millions of dollars donated to humanitarian organisations which provide lifesaving support in Gaza and Lebanon. But new restrictions on humanitarian access are making it incredibly difficult to deliver that support.

In December 2025, the Government of Israel denied more than 30 international NGOs working in Gaza and the West Bank their re-registration, threatening their ability to continue essential hygiene, healthcare, food, and social support programs.

The Government of Israel subsequently closed crossings and aid corridors into Gaza following the escalation of the conflict in Iran. As of today, crossings remain severely restricted, disrupting the flow of essential food, medical supplies and fuel to people in dire need.

These decisions combined are deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where many people cannot access enough food to feed their families, and women are being discharged into unsafe environments hours after giving birth. Ongoing strikes in Lebanon have killed hundreds of children and threaten to compound an already devastating humanitarian situation.

New Zealand has a proud history of standing up for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians during conflicts. We call on the Government to continue in this tradition by using diplomatic means to call for a ceasefire from all parties to the conflict in the Middle East, and for all parties to fully observe International Humanitarian Law.

This must include the active protection of humanitarian workers and all other civilians, as well as the freedom of humanitarian organisations to operate, travel and transport supplies into and across the territories and crossings under their control.

-Ends-

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]