Oxfam logo
The Future is Equal
Oxfam logo in green

poverty

Escalation of conflict in South Sudan threatens to push a million into extreme food crisis

Families in South Sudan are once again having to flee for their lives due to escalating conflict at a time when hunger is already at catastrophic levels, Oxfam warned.

Renewed fighting, which has spread across Jonglei and into the neighbouring area of Walgak, 100 kilometres from the capital Juba, is deepening an already dire situation, cutting families off from food, clean water and urgent humanitarian support.

Multiple health facilities and aid agencies including Oxfam were looted and staff beaten and forced to flee leading to service suspension and humanitarian staff displacement. Prior to the suspension of life-saving assistance, Oxfam was supporting more than 400,000 people in Jonglei through food security and resilience programmes.

Since December, more than 280,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and are now sheltering in bushes, overcrowded schools and churches where services are minimal to nothing. 75% of those displaced are women and children.

Families who were already severely food insecure, malnourished and dependent upon aid are now reducing their meals even further in order to feed their displaced relatives. Many have had to leave all of their belongings, food and livestock behind.

Even before the latest fighting, more than 700,000 people in Jonglei counties were facing crisis or emergency hunger, including over 11,000 living in catastrophic conditions.

“Families are being forcibly displaced into areas where conditions are already dire,” said Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s South Sudan Country Director.

“Some are injured and barely able to move. Many are at risk of starvation and having to drink water from contaminated rivers and swamps. The situation is beyond desperate.”

Population displacement and contaminated water coupled with lack of hygiene supplies is adding another deadly layer to the crisis. Oxfam assessments found that, in some areas, 100% of the population are having to rely on unsafe water, with many forced into open defecation, creating a breeding ground for diseases. In January alone there were more than 400 cases of cholera and the situation is only set to get worse as more people are forced to move.

With the rainy approaching in March, humanitarian access would shrink even further as road access become impassable pushing an already affected communities to the edge.

Shabnam Baloch said: “A frightening number of people in South Sudan are already severely hungry as conflict intensifies; families have abandoned farms at harvest and their cattle are either looted or lost while the fishing grounds remain inaccessible preventing them from planting food crops and feeding their families.

“The people of South Sudan desperately need an immediate end to this conflict so that they can get food. We strongly appeal to all parties to the conflict to allow people to safely reach humanitarian assistance.”

In the 2026 humanitarian response plan for South Sudan, over 10 million people – two-thirds of the population – are projected to require some humanitarian assistance including 7.5 million people who are at risk of starvation. Oxfam is also warning that worsening insecurity is exposing women and girls to violence and driving some families to resort to early and forced marriage as an economic survival strategy.

Women escaping conflict are disproportionately vulnerable to profound traumas, many of which remain hidden beneath the surface of their survival. One group of women, who had to walk for 3 days with their children to Akobo, told Oxfam: “There is a silence that walks beside us on these long roads – a heavy, wordless grief for the things we saw, the things we endured, and the parts of ourselves we had to leave behind just to keep our children moving.

“We live in a state of constant fear, not for our own lives, but for the small ones who look to us for a safety we are still trying to find for ourselves.”

Ends

Notes to editor

Before the suspension of its operations, Oxfam was responding in the worst-affected areas of Jonglei and Lakes states, where nearly 80% of displacement is concentrated, with Rapid Response Teams ready to scale up. The response focused on cholera prevention through clean water and sanitation, emergency cash assistance for food and essentials, safe learning spaces for children, and protection services addressing gender-based violence.

According to UNOCHA, more than 280,000 people have been displaced since 29 December 2025. Among the overall displaced individuals, it was estimated that 75% are women and children.

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

IPC Alert: Famine Spreads in Sudan

Responding to today’s Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) alert Oxfam’s Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said:   

“It is deeply alarming that famine-level malnutrition has been confirmed in two additional areas of North Darfur that were previously not at risk. This is in addition to the extreme hunger levels already being experienced by communities who have suffered nearly three years of brutal war. 

“We express solidarity with the people of Sudan and remain committed to supporting those seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. The consequences of the conflict are now being felt heavily in South Sudan, where renewed violence and deepening hunger are colliding, stretching an already fragile country to breaking point – a direct result of global failure to act.  

 “Oxfam is supporting refugees and returnees in Chad and South Sudan providing life-saving assistance such as water, food, cash and hygiene support but deep funding cuts to humanitarian action are stripping away lifelines, leaving families with nothing and driving millions closer to the edge.” 

Notes to editors

IPC alert available here.

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz | Head of Communication, Media & Advocacy, Oxfam Aotearoa

Email: [email protected], Mobile: +64 (0)27 959 5555

Nearly 80 percent of millionaires think super-rich buy political influence

  • New poll of 3900 millionaires in G20 countries also finds six in ten think President Trump has had negative impact on global economic stability

  • Nearly 400 millionaires from 24 countries – including Mark Ruffalo, Brian Eno, and Abigail Disney – sign open letter to world leaders at Davos calling on them to tax the super-rich

As political leaders gather for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, millionaires from around the world say elected representatives must tackle the existential global crisis posed by extreme wealth, by taxing the super-rich.

Polling on behalf of Patriotic Millionaires has found that 77 percent of millionaires polled from G20 countries think extremely wealthy individuals buy political influence, with 71 percent believing that those with extreme amounts of wealth can use it to significantly influence election outcomes.

Donald Trump’s presidency was also critiqued by the millionaires: six in ten polled believe it has had both a negative impact on global economic stability, and a negative impact on affordability for everyday people. But while his presidency has sent a clear warning sign to the rest of the world about the power of the super-rich, this is not solely a U.S. phenomenon. The danger of extreme wealth is undermining societies worldwide

The polling also found:

  • 82 percent think there should be a limit to how much money politicians and political parties can receive from individuals

  • 62 percent think that extreme wealth is a threat to democracy

  • Six in ten think that extreme wealth prevents ordinary people from living a decent life and is damaging social trust

  • 69 percent think the influence of the superrich over politicians is preventing action on tackling inequality

  • Only 17 percent oppose higher taxes on the very richest to invest in public services and tackle the cost of living crisis, with 65 percent supporting higher taxes on the super-rich

The survey comes as nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries, including Mark Ruffalo, Brian Cox, Brian Eno and Abigail Disney, have signed an open letter, Time To Win. It calls on global leaders attending the conference in Davos to win back our futures by taxing the super-rich.

The letter, coordinated by Patriotic Millionaires, Millionaires for Humanity and Oxfam International, states: “When even millionaires, like us, recognise that extreme wealth has cost everyone else everything else, there can be no doubt that society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice. We are worn out watching this happen. We want our democracies back. We want our communities back. We want our future back.”

Mark Ruffalo, award-winning American actor and director, said: “Americans are confronted with the challenge of a lawless president who believes that the only limit to his power is his own morality and mind. But Donald Trump and the unique threat that he poses to American democracy did not come about overnight. Extreme wealth inequality enabled his every step, and is the root cause of the trend towards authoritarianism we’re witnessing in the U.S. and around the world. If leaders at Davos are serious about the threat to democracy and the rule of law, they must get serious about combatting extreme wealth concentration. That includes taxing wealthy people like me too. If we are to have democracy, not oligarchy, taxing the rich is essential to giving power back to the people.”

New figures from Oxfam International show just how vast the public to private wealth transfer has been over the last 50 years. The richest 1% now own three times more wealth than the world’s total public wealth. In 1975 the gap between public and private wealth was around $36 trillion, by 2024 the difference was $435 trillion and if this growth continues on the same trajectory, by 2075, private wealth will have surged ahead of public wealth by almost $900 trillion.

Public wealth includes assets owned by society, like public land and parks, hospitals, schools, road networks, barracks, social housing and law courts.

Brian Eno, musician, artist and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “It is impossible to ignore the brutal levels of economic inequality people are living with, and it’s only getting worse. Over the past few years we have felt the full force of extreme wealth stripping us of our political power, our economic security, and the public wealth we share as a country. The super- rich have been winning for long enough, now it’s time for everyone else to win. We want our security back, our communities back, the wealth of our countries back – and we want our democracies back. It’s time to tax the super-rich.”

Claire Trottier, philanthropist, business owner and chair of the Board of Patriotic Millionaires Canada, said: “It should be obvious to anyone, no matter how wealthy, that extreme wealth inequality is destabilizing democracies, economies, and societies around the world. You don’t need a crystal ball. It’s happening right now, and governments need to act with urgency before it’s too late. Taxation is the best tool the government has to constrain dangerous levels of wealth inequality, but as it stands, the tax code is only helping to make things worse.”

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International Executive Director said: “Last year the rise in billionaire wealth was unprecedented. The super-rich are being given complete free rein, it is beyond comprehension that the richest 1% now own three times more than the world’s total public wealth combined. It’s a stark indictment that illustrates just how nonsensical the gulf now is between oligarchs and the rest of humanity. Governments must implement taxes on the super-rich now and prioritize reducing inequality, the world cannot continue on this obscene trajectory.”

Ends

Notes to editor

Time to Win letter and full list of signatories

Summary of G20 millionaires survey on attitudes towards extreme wealth – 3,900 people with more than $1 million in assets, excluding their homes, were surveyed by Survation between December 2025 and January 2026 across G20 countries.

Key results of polling conducted by Survation

●      62 percent of millionaires polled think that extreme wealth is a threat to democracy

●      81 percent of millionaires polled think extremely wealthy individuals can access politicians via their wealth

●      77 percent think that extremely wealthy individuals buy political influence

●      82 percent think there should be a limit to how much money politicians and political parties can receive from individuals

●      61 percent think our political leaders should do more to tackle extreme wealth

●      6 in ten think extreme wealth is harmful to democracy, factual media and social trust

●      6 in ten think extreme wealth prevents ordinary people from living a decent life and is damaging social trust

●      65 percent support higher taxes on the very richest to invest in public services and tackle the cost of living crisis

●      Only 17 percent oppose higher taxes on the very richest to invest in public services and tackle the cost of living crisis

●      71 percent think that extremely wealthy individuals can use their wealth to  significantly influence election outcomes

●      69 percent think the influence of the superrich over politicians is preventing action on tackling inequality

●      Six in ten think that Donald Trump has had a negative impact both on global economic stability and on affordability for everyday people

Contact information:

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

Harry Stanbridge, Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

Billionaire wealth jumps three times faster in 2025 to highest peak ever, sparking dangerous political inequality says Oxfam

Billionaires 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people

Billionaire wealth jumped by over 16 per cent in 2025, three times faster than the past five-year average, to $18.3 trillion – its highest level in history, according to a new Oxfam report today as the World Economic Forum opens in Davos.

Billionaire wealth has increased by 81 per cent since 2020. This comes as one in four people don’t regularly have enough to eat and nearly half the world’s population live in poverty.

The report “Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Defending Freedom Against Billionaire Power” analyses how the super-rich are securing political power to shape the rules of our economies and societies for their own gain and to the detriment of the rights and freedoms of people around the world.

The surge in billionaire wealth coincides with the US Trump administration pursuing a pro-billionaire agenda. It has slashed taxes for the super-rich, undermined global efforts to tax large corporations, reversed attempts to address monopoly power and contributed to the growth of AI-related stocks that have provided a boon to super-rich investors world-wide.

His presidency has sent a clear warning sign to the rest of the world about the power of the ultra-rich. Rather than solely a US phenomenon Oxfam’s paper demonstrates that rising oligarchy is undermining societies worldwide. Oxfam’s report finds:

  • The collective wealth of billionaires last year surged by $2.5 trillion, almost equivalent to the total wealth held by the bottom half of humanity – 4.1 billion people.

  • The number of billionaires topped 3,000 last year for the first time, while the richest, Elon Musk, became the first ever to surpass half a trillion dollars.

  • Billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people.

  • The $2.5 trillion rise in billionaires’ wealth would be enough to eradicate extreme poverty 26 times over.

New Zealand has four people with over a billion US dollars of wealth. These four billionaires together own more wealth than a third of New Zealanders, over 1.8 million people combined. At the same time, more than 900,000 people in Aotearoa suffer from food insecurity, over 17% of the population.  

“It’s obscene to see such a massive accumulation of wealth by so few individuals, while nearly a million people in Aotearoa can’t afford enough to eat” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“No-one should be going hungry in a society that produces so much wealth. We need our political leaders to stand up to the billionaires and multi-millionaires and say we’re going to tax this extreme wealth so that every Kiwi family can have a decent quality of life.”

“The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable.” said Oxfam Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

Oxfam estimates that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens. A World Values Survey of 66 countries found that almost half of all people polled say that the rich often buy elections in their country.

“Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable,” Behar said.

Billions of people are being left facing avoidable hardships of poverty, hunger and death from preventable diseases because the system is rigged against them. Worldwide one in four people face food insecurity, having to regularly skip meals.

The rate of poverty reduction has stagnated with levels broadly where they were in 2019. Extreme poverty is rising again in Africa. Political decisions made by governments across the world last year to slash aid budgets have directly hit people living in poverty and could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.

Civil liberties and political rights are being rolled back and suppressed; 2024 was the nineteenth successive year of decline with a quarter of all countries curtailing freedoms of expression. Last year there were more than 142 significant anti-government protests across 68 countries which authorities typically met with violence.

“Being economically poor creates hunger. Being politically poor creates anger.” said Behar.

The chances of democratic backsliding through, for example, the erosion of the rule of law or the undermining of elections is seven times more likely in highly unequal countries. “No country can afford to be complacent. The pace that economic and political inequality can hasten the erosion of people’s rights and safety can be frighteningly fast,” he said.

Governments are allowing the super-rich to dominate media and social media companies. Billionaires own more than half the world’s largest media companies and all the main social media companies.

The report cites Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Washington Post, Elon Musk with Twitter/X, Patrick Soon-Shiong with the Los Angeles Times and a billionaire consortium buying large shares of The Economist. In France, far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré now controls CNews, rebranding it as the French equivalent of Fox News. In the UK, three-quarters of newspaper circulation is controlled by four super-rich families.  

The report cites evidence that only 27% of top editors globally are female and just 23% belong to racialized groups respectively. This has seen their voices marginalized, while minorities like immigrants and people of colour are often stigmatized and scapegoated and critics silenced.

Authorities in Kenya have used X to track, punish and even abduct and torture government critics. A study by the University of California meanwhile found that in the months following Elon Musk’s acquisition of X the rates of hate speech increased by about 500 per cent.

“Our societies feel more toxic today because they demonstrably are, but not always for the reasons we’re being told. The outsized influence that the super-rich have over our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty. Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality healthcare, action on climate change and tax fairness,” Behar said.

Oxfam is calling on governments to prioritise:

  • Realistic and time-bound National Inequality Reduction Plans, with well-established benchmarks and regular monitoring of progress.

  • Effectively taxing the super-rich to reduce their power, including with broad-base taxes on income and wealth at high enough rates to reduce massive levels of inequality.

  • Stronger firewalls between wealth and politics including by tougher regulations against lobbying and campaign financing by the rich, ensuring more media independence, and banning hate speech.

  • Accountability for the political empowerment of ordinary citizens, including stronger protection for people’s freedoms of association, assembly and expression and for civil society organisations and trade unions.

Ends

Notes to Editor:

Contact information:

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

Harry Stanbridge, Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]

Millions stranded as conflict and aid cuts in South Sudan drive surge in suffering – Oxfam

Donors provided lowest aid funding ever in 2025, since country created in 2011 

Almost 6 million people – nearly half of the population – in South Sudan are experiencing acute hunger, with little access to clean water or sanitation as funding cuts have stripped away vital humanitarian support just as it is needed the most, Oxfam warned today. 

Massive reductions in funding from governments, including huge cuts across USAID (United States Agency of International Development), have forced humanitarian programmes to significantly scale down, while the number of people in need of support has soared. More than 2 million people are currently displaced due to conflict across the country and widespread flooding; with over a million people fleeing the civil war in neighbouring Sudan.   

This year, South Sudan has seen the least amount of funding ever provided by institutional donors since the country was created in 2011. With only a month of the year left, the country’s $1.7 billion emergency Humanitarian Need and Response Plan for 2025 is less than 41 per cent funded.  

In Renk, one of the country’s most densely populated and vulnerable towns where up to 1,000 people are arriving at transit centres every day, Oxfam is being forced to scale down its operations there by 70 per cent over the next month. Unless new funding is secured by February, Oxfam will have to shut down its operations there entirely.  

Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s South Sudan Country Director, said: “These aid cuts are catastrophic for the millions of people already grappling with extreme hunger and disease. We are now confronted with the heartbreaking reality of having to scale back our humanitarian response and in Renk, potentially have to close entirely in less than three months. It is as though the world is turning its back on those who need help the most, at the very moment when their survival hangs in the balance.”  

Many people who have fled the deadly conflict and hunger in Sudan are living in the border town of Renk, where communities are grappling with multiple health crises. Currently, there is only one clean water tap for every 433 people in one transit centre – almost half the accepted humanitarian standard. 

New cases of cholera, acute watery diarrhoea and Hepatitis E continue to be reported, with 450 (35 per cent) hospitals or health clinics either closed or severely disrupted.  

A recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for South Sudan found that nearly 6 million people are experiencing acute hunger; this includes nearly 1.3 million people with very high acute malnutrition and an increased mortality rate. The report forecasts that these figures will worsen, reaching 7.5 million people in crisis by April next year. 

Oxfam warns there is a significant risk of many more being tipped into catastrophic levels of hunger as support continues to be removed. 

Maria, a returnee from Sudan said: “Few organizations are now operating, unlike before when there were many. Now there is poor sanitation and hygiene, many water taps no longer work. We fear for the fact we no longer see the help we had before. Households are now minimising the amount of water they use, and we could see a worse situation where there is little or no water at all. Yet water is life.” 

Oxfam is also concerned that the huge cuts to humanitarian assistance are directly translating into increased vulnerability and heightened protection risks for women and girls.   

Baloch said: “Desperate families will be forced to turn to harmful coping mechanisms if they are unable to get any support. Awful consequences, such as child marriage or sending women and girls to forage for resources in unsafe areas, where they risk exposure to sexual violence and exploitation. 

“We urge International donors not to forget what is happening in Sudan and the knock-on impact on South Sudan, where millions of vulnerable people could be left to starve or face a rapid spread in disease if the vital lifeline of aid is not urgently restored.” 

Notes to editor: 

UN OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service shows the Humanitarian Need and Response plan (HNRP) for South Sudan, with requirements and funding gaps each year since 2011 (Please see table below) 

The World Food Programme announced last week a near $400m funding shortfall for the next six months and the impact of cuts 

Oxfam is currently supporting 44,000 refugees and returnees in Renk with clean water, and sanitation services. Among them are more than 9,000 people residing in Transit Centre 2 (TC2), where water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions are already critically overstretched. UNHCR and IOM data shows the number of people arriving each day. 

The IPC analysis on South Sudan was published on 4 November 2025  

The humanitarian standard for the number of people per tap of clean water is generally set at a maximum of 250 people per tap. In the transit centres in Renk, there are just 30 functioning clean water taps for 13,000 people.

Table showing Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan vs Actual $USD funded each year

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

G20: South Africa defies geopolitical bullying and puts inequality emergency on global agenda, says Oxfam

In reaction to the G20 communique, Oxfam International Head of Inequality Policy and Advocacy, Max Lawson said:

“This is the first ever meeting of world leaders, in history, where the inequality emergency was put at the centre of the agenda. This is testament to South Africa’s leadership – one that put the billions before the billionaires.” 

“South Africa has set an example to the world in ensuring the G20 stood firm and collectively agreed on a leader’s declaration – defending multilateralism – despite U.S. strong-arming.  

“Nevertheless, it is disappointing that rich countries and their allies watered down the communique, clearly spooked by the ghost of President Trump. The communique does not reflect the clear momentum worldwide for taxing the super-rich. 

“As the U.S. takes the helm of the G20, never has the choice between a world of global oligarchy or equality been clearer. Inequality is a political choice. Taxing the ultra-rich, addressing the debt and climate crises and investing in a fairer future are choices that can and must be made by countries – irrespective of who is in charge of the G20. 

“An immediate step that all countries must take is to support the creation of a new global Independent Panel on Inequality – a plan that South Africa, Spain and multiple countries now champion.” 

Notes to editors

Oxfam experts are available for comment.

See here for photos and footage of our G20 Big Heads stunt. 

Read Oxfam’s curtain raiser ahead of the G20 with the headline statistic: G20 billionaires’ fortunes rise by $2.2 trillion in just one year, more than enough to lift everyone above the global poverty line.

Oxfam is calling for G20 countries to:

  • Fairly tax the super-rich. G20 leaders must continue the legacy from the previous G20 and tax extreme wealth.

  • Support the creation of a panel on inequality to provide scientific evidence and recommendations on how to tackle inequality. 

  • Tackle the spiralling debt crisis. More than half of low-income countries are facing or at risk of defaulting on their debt. The G20’s plan to tackle debt has failed. 

The G20 is a meeting bringing together the 20 largest economies to address pressing global challenges and foster economic cooperation. South Africa, the host country, held the G20 in Johannesburg and made tackling inequality a core theme. 

South Africa has commissioned the first ever G20 analysis of inequality to advise leaders. The “G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality”, led by Professor Joseph Stiglitz, identifies an “inequality emergency”. 

Read op-ed in Financial Times by Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. In the op-ed, they support the creation of an International Panel on Inequality. 

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]