Advocacy in Canada – Oxfam Canada https://www.oxfam.ca Ending global poverty begins with women’s rights Wed, 03 Apr 2024 15:16:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.oxfam.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/cropped-oxfam_ico-32x32.png Advocacy in Canada – Oxfam Canada https://www.oxfam.ca 32 32 IWD 2024: Standing Together for Women’s Rights https://www.oxfam.ca/story/iwd-2024-standing-together-for-womens-rights/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 18:44:58 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43317

IWD 2024: Standing Together for Women’s Rights

On International Women's Day, Lauren Ravon reflects on her recent travels to South Sudan and Malawi, where she met the incredible women on the front lines fighting for women's rights.

by Lauren Ravon | March 7, 2024

Background media: A young black woman holds a microphone and speaks to a crowd.
A young woman speaks at a Her Future, Her Choice event in Malawi. Photo: Daud Kayisi/Oxfam

As I sit down to write my thoughts on International Women's Day, I can’t help but think about the current humanitarian crises rippling across the globe and how there’s an undeniable link between theses crises and women’s rights.

Women are the world’s powerhouses: they produce most of the world's food, are over-represented in precarious jobs that drive economic growth and do the vast majority of unpaid care work in their homes. Yet they make up the majority of the world’s poor, have fewer rights and have less control over decisions that shape their lives.

But things can be different. Poverty is not inevitable. It is caused by deep rooted social norms and unfair social, economic and political structures that are stacked against women.

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting South Sudan and Malawi where I met with Oxfam colleagues and partners. Every day, I was struck by the stories of the incredible women who are defying the odds and standing tall on the front lines fighting for women’s rights every day.  Here are their stories.

Lauren Ravon, Oxfam Canada Executive Director, visits Oxfam colleague and partners in Malawi. Photo: Daud Kayisi/Oxfam.

Access to Clean Water: a Gender Equality Issue

The first stop on my journey takes me to Renk, a small border town in South Sudan, where I met Rose, a water engineer working tirelessly with Oxfam.

"Every drop of clean water is a victory, a step towards a safer future," Rose proudly tells me as we stand by the newly established water sources in the displacement transit camps. Rose has been heading up efforts to set up access to clean water and latrines in these camps, with a particular focus on responding to the specific needs of women and children. It may seem simple, but designing latrines that are actually accessible to small children can go a long way in helping families feel safe – and prevent the spread of diseases. Rose would be an inspiration in any context, but in a country where less than 10% of women can read, Rose stands out as a beacon of hope and an incredible source of inspiration.  "These camps may have been temporary in the beginning, but the needs are evolving. We’re pivoting plans to ensure the safety and well-being of these vulnerable women and children," she tells me.

In emergencies, Oxfam meets urgent needs to save lives, but also looks at long-term solutions to restoring women's livelihoods, health, safety and leadership. Women are often left out of critical decisions that affect them, like how food, water, and medicine are distributed, and like in this case, even how to build the toilets. Oxfam and partners work to address that.

"It's more than infrastructure," Rose adds. "It's about dignity and creating an environment where families, especially women, feel safe."

Lauren Ravon, Oxfam Canada Executive Director, visits the Chitedze Youth-Friendly Clinic in Malawi. Photo: Daud Kayisi/Oxfam

Standing Up for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

I then headed to Malawi, where I visited a rural health clinic supported by Oxfam. Here, I met Gloria, the clinic's dedicated physician, committed to providing sexual and reproductive health services to women and youth.

"Education is key," Gloria asserts with a smile. "When women are informed about their bodies and have access to healthcare, they can make choices that empower them and break the cycle of inequality." Gloria's passion for her work is contagious, and she shares success stories of young women taking charge of their destinies.

As our conversation unfolds, Gloria opens up about the challenges she faces. "Changing deeply ingrained societal norms is no easy feat," she admits, "But every healthy birth and every decline in HIV rates is a step towards proving that change is possible."

Oxfam in Malawi Country Director Linga Mihowa and MP Grace Kwelepeta at a community event. Photo: Daud Kayisi/Oxfam

I was honored to meet both Rose and Gloria who work day in and day out to make a difference in the lives of women. It is women like them who are paving the way for a more equal future. This is why this International Women’s Day, I’m thinking about Rose, Gloria and all the strong and determined women who are fighting for their communities and making a real difference. Women who find themselves in conflict zones or climate disasters that are not of their making – and yet who are committed to improving the lives of those around them. Women who are speaking up, shifting power, promoting peace and changing lives.

If you’re inspired by this story and want to support projects, activities and communities like these, please donate here. 

]]> Where’s childcare? https://www.oxfam.ca/landing-page/wheres-childcare/ Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:32:49 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=landing-page&p=43281
childcare updated logo

Finding child care shouldn’t be like a tricky game of search and find—it’s time to make things much, much better.

Canadian families must have accessible, high-quality, inclusive, and affordable child care.

Good news. Child care is now much more affordable.

The Canadian federal government has made big strides in reducing child care costs for families. Thanks to the 2021 Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement (CWELCC), all provinces and territories have slashed parent fees, some down to $10 a day. In a cost-of-living crisis, this has been a huge relief for those who are able to access licensed child care.

Increased demand shows families need this program

The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that Canada needed a better system for child care. Canadian families no longer accept a model for child care where fees, quality, and availability are determined by the market rather than by governments accountable to citizens.
Publicly-funded child care is already making a significant impact on families. As of 2023, more families are using licensed child care services, and there's an increase in sign-ups for waiting lists, indicating a growing demand for licensed child care.

0%

children aged 0 to 5 now access center-based child care facilities, a significant jump from 31% in 2019.

0%

of parents with children aged 0 to 5 years report their kids are on waiting lists, up from 19% in 2019.

Yet there’s more to be done to achieve equitable access

Many families are still struggling to find child care. As the demand for child care increases, there simply aren’t enough high-quality, low-fee, licensed not-for-profit and public child care spaces.

0

children not yet in kindergarten live in a child care desert. This means that at least three kids compete for one licensed child care spot in a single postal code.

0%

of Indigenous parents report not using child care due to a shortage of spaces or long waiting lists, compared to 7.7% of all other parents.

The child care shortage affects many families, and it is even more challenging for specific groups in society such as those living in rural and remote areas, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, and low- and modest-income families.
There are several reasons for this, including limited access to nearby child care facilities or easily accessible by public transportation, lack of knowledge or resources to navigate the system, lack of child care outside of standard hours, among others.

the solution: Expand the supply of high-quality not-for-profit and public child care

We urge the government to allocate sufficient funding and develop a strategic plan to expand not-for-profit and public early learning and child care. Provinces and territories, hand-in-hand with communities and local governments, should spearhead child care expansion by setting clear growth targets and criteria that prioritize access for underserved communities.

High-quality child care isn’t possible without the ability to attract and retain qualified early childhood educators and staff. We stress the importance of adequate funding to implement competitive wage grids, enhance benefits, and improve working conditions for early childhood educators and staff to ensure the sustainability of the child care system.

Help solve the Where’s Child Care Challenge!

Are you ready to help solve the child care shortage?

Sign the Open Letter

Ask Ministers Sudds and Freeland, where's child care? and DEMAND MORE.

Social Media Takeover

Use our social media toolkit! Share our graphics and video with your friends using #WheresChildCare and tag @OxfamCanada.

We appreciate the support of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada and the generous Canadian public.

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Women and Gender Equality Canada's Signature

Our Partners

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]]> Senator Paulette Senior on Taking Up Space https://www.oxfam.ca/story/senator-paulette-senior-on/ Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:45:06 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43275

If her legacy wasn’t already assured by the years of work disrupting barriers to gender justice and equity as CEO of YWCA Canada and then as CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Paulette Senior has now guaranteed herself a place in our nation’s history. Representing Ontario, Senator Senior was welcomed to the Red Chamber on February 6, 2024.  

“I know who I am. I know what I’m passionate about and I certainly want and intend to bring that as part of the work I do in the Senate,” says Senator Senior.  

Reducing women’s poverty. Shrinking the wage gap. Addressing gender-based violence - these are some of the social justice issues at the forefront of her work. For Senior, taking a leap into Canada’s legislative branch of government ensures that the voices of people in the margins, herself included, are involved in the decision-making. How does it feel to leave the charitable sector and cross to the other side?  

“If not us, then who?” she answers with a confident smile.  

I'm thinking of the fact that we're still here and we weren't meant to be here. And when I say here, I mean here physically, but also here successfully. Surviving what was meant to suppress us and throw us away like we didn't matter, and daring to be in spaces where we weren't intended to be. We’re still here.
Senator Paulette Senior
photo of a black woman wearing a red blazer
Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam

We're Still Here

For Senior, advocacy has always been a passion - a way of life. Raised within a Jamaican immigrant family in 1970’s Toronto, it’s her life experiences as a racialized woman that led her to a career in social justice and consequentially, the Canadian Senate. Senior has led, managed, and operated shelters, employment programs and housing services, where she supported women, children, and youth in some of Toronto's most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. She went on to lead major national women’s organizations and sat on the board of directors of several organizations, including the Women’s College Hospital and most recently, Oxfam Canada.  

But there wasn’t a particular ah-ha moment that pushed her to walk on the Senate’s signature red carpet.  

“For some populations more than others, political decisions impact our lives. They matter, whether it’s funding, criminal justice, housing or poverty. All of these things touch our lives – and I’m part of those populations,” says Senior.  

She shares a story of how, despite being in this country for almost 50 years and leading national organizations for a long time, people still ask her – how did you get here? The word here, whether in the physical or metaphysical sense , comes with a double-edged sword. “There’s clearly genuine curiosity,” explains Senior, “but there’s also a I-wouldn’t-expect-you-to-be-here kind of thing,”.  

And that is precisely why it’s essential for racialized women like Senior to step into these roles of leadership in all sectors, and in all levels of government.  

“It’s to demonstrate that there isn’t a space where we don’t belong,” Senior adds, “demonstration is part of the struggle, and so is insistence.”  

TIRELESS 

Does Senator Senior ever get tired? “Of course!” she laughs, “if we don’t get tired, then something is wrong.”  

For advocates and activists, it can be easy to fall into a culture of martyrdom, fearing being seen as uncommitted to a cause. During a TED Talk at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Senior told the crowd that when it comes to social change, “it’s about seeing it as a relay, rather than an individual event.”  

This is echoed in Tireless, a campaign launched by the Canadian Women’s Foundation during Senior’s tenure as CEO and President. The message is clear – to fight tirelessly doesn’t mean one can’t get tired. Rather, to fight tirelessly is to support each other to continue on.  

“It’s only together that we are extraordinarily powerful. That’s where the power comes from.”   

]]> Five Things to Know about Safe and Unsafe Abortion https://www.oxfam.ca/story/five-things-to-know-about-safe-and-unsafe-abortion/ Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:16:29 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43248

Our readers have great interest in reproductive rights as this feature on access to abortion in the Philippines and Canada has been one of our top reads since its publication in 2019. However, many misconceptions about this healthcare procedure exist, so we present five facts everyone should know to be better informed.

1. What are the barriers to safe abortion care?

Abortion rights are recognized in over 60 countries. However, different legal restrictions prevail, limiting access to safe abortion care based on circumstances like cases of rape or incest, protecting the pregnant person's life or health, or requiring parental consent. Beyond the legal realm, other hurdles include stigma, costs, distances, and the lack of knowledge or a non-judgmental approach from certain healthcare providers.

These challenges disproportionately impact adolescent girls, people living in poverty, in rural or remote areas, and women and girls in conflicts and crises. For instance, an adolescent girl who has an abortion, in addition to navigating healthcare decisions, might be expelled from her parents' home, dismissed from school, and shunned by her community. 

Although abortion has been decriminalized in Canada since 1988, many people continue to experience barriers to access, like affordability and wait times. Depending on a person's location, accessing safe abortion services might entail leaving communities, even provinces or territories. 

None of these challenges stop abortions. Instead, they prevent people from having safe abortions. 

2. What's an unsafe abortion?

An unsafe abortion occurs when a person lacking access to safe abortion care turns to dangerous or invasive methods or seeks help from someone who lacks the skills to perform it or doesn't comply with medical standards. This type of abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. 

When people face barriers to accessing quality abortion care, desperation may drive them to resort to dangerous and ineffective methods that may result in lasting damage. These methods could include inserting sharp objects through the vagina and cervix into the uterus, ingesting toxic substances, or consuming or inserting herbal preparations into the vagina.

3. What are the consequences of unsafe abortion?

Unsafe abortions pose grave risks to people's health and lives. Some health risks include blood loss, infection, cervical tears, uterine perforations, and infertility. In certain instances, the dire outcome of unsafe abortions may even be death.

Despite being entirely preventable, unsafe abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Approximately 7 million people every year are treated in hospitals for complications of unsafe abortion. Close to 40,000 women die every year because of it. A staggering 97 per cent of unsafe abortions take place in developing countries.

LEARN MORE: How Sharing Information On Safe Abortion Is Transforming Lives In Rural Mozambique

4. What's safe abortion care?

Abortion care is considered safe when it's provided by a trained person with the skills to perform the procedure following best medical practices, like giving the proper medication or practicing outpatient procedures in a hygienic environment. 

However, with accurate and evidence-based information and non-judgmental support, people can also safely and effectively use medication to terminate their pregnancy at home.

5. Oxfam and safe abortion care: What are we doing?

Oxfam is committed to upholding safe, legal abortion care as a crucial component of reproductive healthcare. We work in partnership with civil society, women's rights and youth-led organizations to advocate for access to safe, legal abortion through three strategies:

With our partners, we use creative initiatives to improve information about abortion and counteract stigma. Radio shows serve as a platform for community leaders, teenagers, parents, and nurses to engage in open and safe discussions about safe and legal abortion. Through theatre, we educate communities about the dangers of unsafe abortion methods, all while sharing accurate information about available and safe abortion services.

It's crucial to train healthcare providers in understanding abortion laws, fostering respectful and non-judgmental attitudes, and ensuring safe abortion provision with the proper medication or procedures. The training encourages reflection on personal values, separating personal beliefs from professional roles, addressing the impact of stigma, and considering the consequences of limited abortion access. Essential to this work is equipping health facilities with necessary medication and equipment. 

In Canada, Oxfam works with partners offering emotional and practical support to those navigating abortion in Toronto, Hamilton, and Yellowknife.

Oxfam actively advocates for laws and policies that promote access to safe and legal abortion. 

 

  • In Mozambique, our campaign efforts are centred around changing the age of consent to safeguard the rights of pregnant adolescents, resulting in the development of a guide for activists on safe abortion. 
  • In Zambia, we collaborated with the country's Association of Gynecologists, advocating for legal and policy reforms to tackle unsafe abortion. 
  • Meanwhile, in Malawi, we support a coalition of women's rights and youth-led organizations dedicated to increasing awareness about the consequences of unsafe abortion. They've engaged with parliamentarians, urging them to endorse progressive laws and policies promoting safe abortion. 
  • In Canada, our partnership with Action Canada focuses on ensuring that no new federal law is deemed necessary concerning abortion.

Our commitment

Access to safe and legal abortion care is a fundamental human right that should not be denied to anyone.

Oxfam is dedicated to advocating for the rights of all people to make their own choices about their bodies, promoting their autonomy and agency, and ensuring that everyone has access to quality reproductive healthcare. We're committed to breaking down barriers to safe abortion care and improving healthcare access for all.

Elena Sosa Lerín is a knowledge translation and communications officer at Oxfam Canada.

We're grateful to Colleen Dockerty, Fabián Pacheco, and Alex Wilson from the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights unit at Oxfam Canada's International Programs Department for their valuable contributions to this piece.

]]> Bitter roots and reproductive rights: Access to abortion services in Canada and the Philippines https://www.oxfam.ca/story/bitter-roots-and-reproductive-rights-access-to-abortion-services-in-canada-and-the-philippines/ Thu, 15 Feb 2024 13:15:25 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43247

Editorial note: This feature was first published on September 28, 2019, and updated in 2024 with the latest abortion-related numbers.

Around the world, sexual and reproductive health services fall short of women's needs. Women and others, including trans people, face ongoing obstacles when exercising their reproductive rights, particularly when it comes to the right to safe abortion and post-abortion care.

As an SRHR program officer working with women's rights organizations and service providers in the Philippines, I'm often struck by women's challenges in accessing basic services and making safe and free decisions about their bodies. And while many Canadians can exercise sexual and reproductive rights, myself included, I'm also reminded that similar challenges exist here and that equal access is far from guaranteed.

A snapshot of the situation in the Philippines

I walk past colourful cellphone covers, flip-flop kiosks, and aromatic fish stands in a bustling Manila market. Eventually, I approach a few small stalls brimming with roots, herbs and bottles filled with dark liquids. A fellow women's rights advocate has brought me here, and she immediately strikes up a conversation with one of the women selling these herbal concoctions.

As they fan themselves to fight off the midday heat, they hold up various roots and leaves, discussing their respective medicinal properties. Some soothe arthritic pain; others help with eczema. The conversation is hushed as my colleague asks if she sells pampa regla, roughly translating from Tagalog to "to get your period." The vendor subtly points to a bottle of amber liquid.

This liquid herbal concoction has bitter roots, including a thorny tuber called makabuhay. It's used when a woman's period is up to two weeks late. For centuries, Filipinas have been using this as a substance that induces an abortion. It pre-dates the Spanish colonial times when abortion was first banned. 

There's not enough scientific evidence to show that these plants and herbs work to cause an abortion or are safe to use to end a pregnancy. Using herbs, plants, or other untested chemicals can put people at significant risk for things like poisoning, an allergic reaction, or an incomplete abortion.

"And when the period is more than two weeks late?" asks my colleague.

In these cases, the vendor suggests Cytotec, a misoprostol brand initially developed to treat ulcers. It's commonly used for medical abortions in restrictive settings. Even though the vendor can arrange for the purchase of Cytotec, the cost of misoprostol is out of reach for most Filipinas — 10 pills are needed and cost 2,500 Filipino pesos or roughly C$65. My colleague suggests another option. Ordering pills online from the Chinese black market. However, those are also expensive and out of reach for most women in the country.

Restrictive settings and unsafe abortions in numbers

Despite these critical obstacles, women in the Philippines want control over their bodies and the power to decide things most of us take for granted in Canada — whether to have children, how many children to have, and when. However, without legal or safe options, many Filipinas resort to folk remedies, expensive black-market pills and unsafe procedures, especially if they're poor or marginalized.

Of the 73 million induced abortions taking place every year worldwide across restrictive and less restrictive settings, 45 per cent are unsafe. Restrictions don't stop people from having abortions. They stop people from accessing safe abortions — and the more prohibitive the laws, the higher the rates of complications and death.

The impact of this is undeniable. Globally, over 13 per cent of all maternal deaths are caused by unsafe abortions. 

Background media: A nurse wearing a black hijab puts on surgical gloves.
A nurse prepares to insert a contraceptive implant. Photo: Yummie Dingding/Oxfam

Challenges to abortion access are all the more pronounced in countries like the Philippines, where abortion is completely criminalized. There are no exceptions allowing abortion, not in cases to protect the life or health of the pregnant person, or in cases of rape or incest, or simply not wanting to be pregnant. 

Women, especially if they're from lower-income groups, are pushed to the margins of society where no legal or regulated options exist and often must resort to unsafe means. While those with the financial means can access Cytotec or travel to access safer options elsewhere, most are forced to undergo unsafe procedures that include many risks.

Women can face unsanitary conditions, lack of anesthesia, and absence of post-abortion care. They undergo these problematic experiences to avoid more barbaric methods that many women without access to information about safer medical abortion options are forced to resort to. Some of these include abdominal manipulation or massage, physical self-harm, or the insertion of sharp objects to terminate pregnancies. The consequences of these brutal methods result in death from hemorrhage, sepsis, genital trauma or bowel necrosis. Many survivors suffer long-term complications like infertility and incontinence.

Despite the Philippine's restrictive laws against abortion, more than a million unsafe abortions take place annually, a number that increased by almost 15 per cent in 2020. A thousand women die each year from post-abortion complications.

In 2016, the Philippines' Department of Health issued an order to prevent and manage abortion complications and some post-abortion services are allowed in the country. However, even those few who seek post-abortion care when experiencing complications face human rights violations and inhumane treatment, including denying women anesthesia, in turn deterring others from seeking the urgent medical care they may need.

DON'T MISS: Five Things To Know About Safe And Unsafe Abortion

The situation in Canada

While abortion is decriminalized in Canada, various barriers remain — from financial costs and travel distance to health facilities to varying provincial laws. Each barrier results in making abortion inaccessible to many women.

Ironically, Canada was one of the last industrialized countries to make medical abortion or Mifegymiso, known as the "abortion pill," available. This safe alternative to surgical abortion has been legal in countries like France and China for more than 35 years but was only introduced in Canada in 2017. Since then, it has remained out of reach for many Canadians outside urban centres. And while primary care physicians nationwide can prescribe Mifegymiso, most are reluctant to do so.

And so, despite decriminalization and a wide range of options on paper, in practice, abortion remains out of reach to many Canadians — particularly for those who are low-income, live in rural areas, or are Indigenous.

However, where there are violations or barriers to reproductive rights, there are also champions and advocates fighting for a woman's right to her bodily autonomy and access to safe abortion.

I think of my friends on Prince Edward Island, who fundraised and organized hotels and rides to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia for abortion services because their province didn't have adequate facilities. Or of my neighbours in Ontario becoming abortion doulas to support those facing stigma and bureaucratic obstacles. Or of my northern colleagues raising awareness and providing services for women travelling hundreds of kilometres to access abortion services.

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Unsafe abortion is the only option for many young, low-income, and rural women. Studies from the Guttmacher Institute report that 75 per cent of Filipino women seeking abortions are financially unable to raise another child. Photo: Bernice Beltran/Oxfam

Agency, resilience and reproductive rights

Working in women's health and sexual and reproductive rights has taught me innumerable lessons. Lessons about the mutable but slow-to-change laws and institutions that govern women's bodies, about religious groups that claim a moral authority to make decisions on others' behalf, and about conservative movements that are rolling back hard-earned gains made by reproductive rights advocates.

While we all exercise agency, I'm repeatedly reminded that many are still limited in their self-determination and ability to make decisions freely and safely.

But mostly, I've learned lessons about women's infinite resilience and enduring strength to fight for services and rights, including their right to bodily autonomy. For millennia, women have tracked their periods and ovulation, brewed herbal remedies to induce miscarriages, and shared information with fellow women to access the services they need. Modern medicine now affords us more reliable contraceptive methods and safer abortion options. 

However, we're far from having equitable and far-reaching access.

Almost 30 years ago, September 28 was first marked by feminist movements in Latin America to campaign for the decriminalization of abortion, a cause that activists worldwide have since taken on. Today, this fight continues, and advocates continue to step up for women where governments have failed as duty bearers.

In Canada, we must close the gaps in access. Around the world, we must continue to support feminist and women's movements fighting for sexual and reproductive health and rights because having equitable access to safe abortion services is, first and foremost, a human right.

Alex Wilson is a women's rights advocate and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) program manager at Oxfam Canada. When she wrote this piece in 2019, she was an SRHR program officer.

]]> Paige Galette: Confronting racism from the workplace to the campground https://www.oxfam.ca/blog/paige-galette-confronting-racism-from-the-workplace-to-the-campground Thu, 01 Feb 2024 11:00:12 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=36990

Paige Galette: Confronting racism from the workplace to the campground

by Caroline Leal | Oxfam Canada | February 1, 2024

Oxfam's mission is to fight inequality to end poverty and injustice, no matter where it takes place on the planet. Our feminist approach means that we tackle all the drivers of inequality to advance gender justice - which inherently means we must fight racism to achieve equality. 

This year, Oxfam Canada is celebrating Black History Month in Canada by featuring the stories and reflections of Black Canadian women who are creating change in their communities by leading the fight against racism and oppression, each in different ways. 

"It’s always the people whose lived experiences are forgotten that need the loudest megaphone. We need to hear from them and we need to support them however we can."

Paige Galette is an activist, community organizer and co-founder of Northern Voices Rising. She has been spreading her message of anti-racism for years, notably through her work within the Canadian labour movement. Born in Montréal and raised in London, Ontario, Paige now lives and works North of 60 in Whitehorse, Yukon, on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch'än Council.

We spoke with Paige about her passion for activism, the difference between education and change (spoiler: it’s not the same), racialized life in Yukon and all about that one tattoo she regrets.

Listen to the full interview here: 

You say that you live and breathe activism. How did it all begin?

I am from a lineage of very strong women and that was very obvious to me at a very young age. I was told to take my space and to say no, and when I said no, people needed to understand that. I was told that I had a voice. The more I grow and the more I have wisdom, the more I learn where that comes from.

As for activism, I like to say that it started when I was seven, when my mom brought me to the picket lines in the good old Mike Harris days. Fast-forward to when I was in university and I was part of the student movement which then led me to the labour movement. 

But as much as I love being involved in the labour movement, I am very critical of the labour movement in Canada.

How so?

When you look at the make-up of the labour movement, when you look at the people in positions of power, you always see the same people and often, they are white men. As racialized workers, as women, within the labour movement, we are put on these pedestals for being the representatives of these groups. But when it comes to speaking our truth and really advocating for our needs and the request for respect and dignity in the workplace, we get into these roadblocks. I have to acknowledge that the labour movement itself is recognizing and many unions are recognizing this gap of who is in power and who are the activists on the ground. But again, we have to push and do more.

What does change look like?

Often it looks like people who are in these positions of power of letting go of that power. That is the hardest one, right? When people are willing to be educated but don't want to let go of their positions of power, at the end of the day, what work and what change are you really doing? You have to start by the recognition and saying OK, I am willing to see change, and then recognizing your limitations. If I am somebody in a position of power, what am I able to do?

What are ways that everyone can practice anti-oppression and anti-racism in their own lives? 

Whenever I get that question I stop saying 'Educate Yourself' because I feel like, there is more than you can do than educate yourself. I feel like educating yourself is so 2014. You should have educated yourself a long time ago. It shouldn't require one of us to die or something so traumatic to happen for you to educate yourself. Instead, I will say being willing, able, and committed to change.

I think the COVID perspective has brought a lot of reflection for people. Look how fast we were able to change for COVID. At some point I started laughing because suddenly everybody is seen as essential workers, we were supporting them, the CERB was out, we were all out there supporting each other! When we make things our priority, change can happen. And change can happen quite rapidly. For anybody who wants to get involved in the anti-racist movement and says I don't know how, I don't know why, I'd say think of COVID! Ask yourself are you really willing and able and ready to make it your priority? If so, you can make that change and you can make it within a couple of months.

What about global solidarity on the work to build more anti-racist communities? What does it look like to you? 

I think it's important to know the history and the struggles that have happened and that continue to happen. Whether these struggles have different faces or different names, there's a root. And when you know the root cause, you're able to name it, you're able to dismantle it.

In terms of solidarity, it starts with grassroot work. In my experience, I find that it's always the people who are on the ground, people whose lived experiences are often forgotten that need the loudest megaphone. We need to hear from them and we need to support them however we can.

We also need to make a connection between the anti-racism work and the other work that has happened before the term 'anti-racist' became hot and in fashion. I'm talking about the anti-capitalist movement, the anti-homophobia movement, the anti-transphobia movement ... we can't forget them! We need to recognize that we wouldn't be where we are today without their work, their solidarity and without all the sacrifices they made.

We need to make sure that we continue to tell their stories when we do work for our futures.

Does gender play into your experience of being Black in Canada?

Absolutely! When I am talking about the change in leadership roles, we have to recognize that right now white men are very much the focus, and I think the feminist movement has done a really good job in making sure that women get into positions of power. We see a lot of conferences for women, we see a lot of dialogue for women in leadership, but ... those conferences and dialogues have been very exclusionary. They haven't included Black women. And more specifically, they haven't included trans women and racialized and Black trans women.

Gender plays a huge role when we're talking about change. It's (about) being willing, able, and committed to making sure that when we're talking about space for people, we mean every person.

Has this impacted your relationship with feminism?

Oh gosh, I remember when I was a student ... I got a tattoo that says 'Feminist'! I was so proud of my feminism! It wasn't until I moved to Toronto, and Black Lives Matter Toronto started bumpin', that I was like Oh, wait a second, my feminism was actually very exclusionary of my people. I had to rethink of what feminism looks like for me, and that was hard … especially when you have a tattoo (laughs)!

It was a moment of self-reflection and you know, when I talk about letting go of your power, of your privilege and being willing and able and committed to change, that was the moment for me where I was like, am I really associated to this movement or am I more associated to the Black feminist movement? What does my feminism look like? Who does my feminism involve?

Tell us about living up North and the connection between your identity, community and place.

The fact that I live in Whitehorse is quite surprising! I came here to search for community that I didn't necessarily have in Toronto. As much as I had Black community in Toronto, it's a busy city which means we were always busy, we were always rushing, there was always something going on. I needed space to breathe and to acknowledge who is around me, and that is what I found in Whitehorse.

I actually had a conversation with a friend of mine recently where we talked about how as racialized people, especially in Canada, we're not encouraged to embrace winter or embrace the outdoors, which is fascinating because often, we are people who are outdoorsy people. You know,  we talked about generations who were farmers who did touch and grow earth, who know spices who were outdoors, who had survival, and it's fascinating how colonization takes these things from us. So, for me being outdoors was kind of a way of decolonizing my mind frame, decolonizing my education around Canada.

I always follow Instagram accounts that  are  about  being  outdoors  while  being  Black,  skiing  while  Black,  or  even  racialized  voices doing outdoor things because for me, it's exciting! We have different fears. Sometimes, our fears, especially here in Yukon are grizzly bears, and wolves and whatnot. But, our fear is also being on a terrain where people might not see us belonging. I have that fear of going camping somewhere and having to confront racism!

Even with Northern Voices Rising being created, I found a community that I never thought I would find and that is my queer community, my racialized community and specifically being able to talk about our issues, being 'a minority' in the North. Across Canada we never talk about the North and very rarely do you hear the BIPOC voices of the North. And that was really exciting for me. I actually, surprisingly, found my Haitian community in Whitehorse! You would think I would find that in Ottawa or in Toronto but no, I found my Haitian siblings North of 60, who knew!

This line of work can be quite challenging. What keeps you going? 

I'm someone who is very positive, and for me, the future is bright because we are having these conversations. But I also think of this summer when we co-created  Northern Voices Rising. Following the deaths of George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, we decided to do a rally in Dawson City and in Whitehorse - on the same day that camping season begins in Yukon, which is a really big deal.

Well, in Whitehorse, we had over 900 people show up. This was on the first day that people were able to go camping! That says a lot.

I have never seen so many people come out in support of racialized voices and especially of Black and Indigenous voices. From there we realized that if people are willing and able to come out and rally, we can do more work. We can be the change we want to see.

]]> Stop Arms Sales to Israel, Now! https://www.oxfam.ca/story/suspend-arms-transfers-to-israel-now/ Fri, 26 Jan 2024 20:10:01 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43176 For over three months, the world has witnessed one of the most devastating conflicts in modern history unfold in Gaza. The world’s leading humanitarian experts have called it an “unprecedented crisis,” a “catastrophe,” and later, an “apocalypse.” Then they ran out of words, and new ones had to be invented.

The numbers are so staggering they are hard to comprehend: 25,700 people killed, thousands more unidentified, buried by the rubble. 1.9 million people displaced, 60% of buildings destroyed. Entire families, neighborhoods, places of worship and study, wiped out.

Arms Sales to Israel

What you may not know is that Canada has continued to transfer military weapons to Israel throughout this brutal war. This revelation is alarming, especially given the clear risk that these weapons could be used to commit war crimes. Amidst a conflict where the equivalent of two nuclear bombs’ worth of explosives have been dropped on the Gaza Strip, Canada’s ongoing military support to Israel raises serious ethical and legal concerns.

As a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, Canada is legally responsible for ensuring that its arms exports do not contribute to serious violations of international law or harm women and children. The current situation in Gaza demands an immediate reassessment of Canada’s arms transfers, as they appear to violate the principles outlined in the treaty.

What is more, the International Court of Justice has found that South Africa has a substantial basis to bring a case against Israel for genocide. This underscores the gravity of the accusations against Israel and emphasizes the need for immediate action to halt any support that may contribute to such crimes.

In the face of our leaders’ failure to act responsibly, the responsibility of holding them to account falls on us—the concerned citizens. We cannot stand idly by while Canada continues to contribute to the devastation in Gaza. We urgently call upon Minister Mélanie Joly to exercise her powers and stop arms sales to Israel immediately.

Remember how you and thousands of others influenced Canada to call for a ceasefire? Let’s do it again.

Send a letter to Minister Mélanie Joly TODAY!

]]> Why Gender Justice is Critical to Climate Justice https://www.oxfam.ca/story/why-gender-justice-is-critical-to-climate-justice Wed, 20 Dec 2023 16:30:44 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43073

A student in Manawai Bay, East Are'are on Malaita Island, the most populous of the 900 Solomon Islands, has to travel to school by canoe. The area's coastal footpaths are now submerged due to the rising sea levels caused by the climate crisis, making it impossible for children to walk to school.

The Case for Feminist International Climate Finance

The climate crisis has worsened the frequency and severity of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts. However, not everyone is equally affected by these destructive events. Women, girls, and gender-diverse people, particularly those living in poverty, face the most severe consequences.

Unfortunately, they have limited access to resources and are often excluded from decision-making processes essential to their well-being. Their voices and rights are often disregarded in developing policies related to the climate crisis. And the current state of climate finance isn't benefiting them either.

Only a third of international climate finance for low- and middle-income countries goes to projects designed with gender equality outcomes, as Oxfam's Climate Finance Shadow Report 2023 highlights. A mere 2.9 per cent of this funding is allocated to projects primarily focused on gender equality.

We need feminist international climate finance because it's clear that most climate action initiatives aren't tailored to meet the particular needs and priorities of women, girls, and gender-diverse people. They also ignore the crucial role of women's leadership in climate solutions, which ends up reinforcing gender inequalities.

Below, we explain what this type of finance means and why it matters.

What's a feminist approach to climate?

A feminist approach to climate justice challenges the economic, social, and political systems that have created the climate crisis and hold countries, companies, and individuals accountable for their climate commitments. This approach also applies an intersectional gender analysis to understand better how the climate crisis affects people across genders and diverse identities to tailor solutions that address these differences. 

Why is feminist international climate finance necessary?

When we talk about climate finance, we're talking about the funds that support actions to address climate change. This type of finance rests on the principle of international environmental law known as common but differentiated responsibilities. This principle states that all countries have a duty to take climate action. However, their actions will depend on their differing national circumstances, as some countries are less economically developed than others.

Low-income countries have contributed the least to the climate crisis and yet absorb its most severe impacts. This is why rich countries should take the lead in providing financial assistance to developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Adopting and implementing a feminist climate finance would enable women and other vulnerable people to:

Climate change affects different communities in diverse ways. Understanding and respecting different groups' unique challenges and circumstances is critical to building partnerships and supporting organizations advancing climate justice in their communities.

It is essential to ensure that solutions work for everyone. Therefore, it's crucial to have equity-seeking groups in leadership positions and involved in decision-making processes. This will increase respect and value for different groups' unique perspectives, knowledge, and life experiences. By doing this, we can build a deeper understanding of the challenges of the climate crisis and develop practical solutions that support inclusion and equity.

A feminist approach to gender and climate justice is grounded on collaborative work, respect, and a shared drive to create positive and transformative change.

Background media: A young woman wearing a blue t-shirt smiles while looking directly at the camera. Behind her is a lake with boats and people picking up garbage from the shore.
Hilda Flavia Nakabuye lives in Uganda's capital, Kampala. She founded Fridays for Future, a group that aims to educate students on climate issues and organizes clean-ups in Lake Victoria. Photo: Emmanuel Museruka/Oxfam

DON'T MISS: Can We Really Save Only Half Of All People On The Planet? Without A Gender Focus, Climate Solutions Are Bound To Fail

What has Canada done so far to support gender and climate justice?

Canada increased its focus on gender equality in its 2021-2026 climate pledge. However, less than one per cent of the country's plans specifically address initiatives that support gender equality and women's rights, which are crucial for making a real impact in advancing gender justice in the fight against climate change.

What's the situation globally?

Despite public commitments, donors, multilateral development banks, and United Nations agencies are failing to prioritize locally-led climate action. On the other hand, women's rights organizations, especially those at the grassroots level in low-income countries, understand which climate solutions can be gender transformative and lead to equitable outcomes for everyone in their communities. However, they lack the power and resources to implement them, even though they know what works and have the ingenuity, commitment, and resolve to generate change.

Placing women's rights and gender justice at the heart of climate initiatives will make solutions more equitable, lasting, and successful.

Potential Solutions

To effectively address gender inequality and climate change, we must tackle the unequal and patriarchal systems that have historically dominated climate financing. Governments, financial institutions, and private actors should take these simple yet powerful measures:

  • Direct climate financing to initiatives that support women and gender-diverse people.
  • Ensure funding mechanisms include gender analysis and that initiatives lead to gender equality and climate justice outcomes.
  • Provide leadership opportunities and space for Indigenous peoples, civil society, and women's organizations to lead the charge in climate initiatives. 

Governments, financial institutions, and businesses should recognize the significant contributions made by women and gender-diverse people in coping with climate disasters. They should be at the centre of all adaptation and mitigation efforts; otherwise, these initiatives will fail or have limited impact.

Resources to learn more about climate and gender justice
]]> Humanitarian organizations welcome Canada’s vote in favour of a ceasefire https://www.oxfam.ca/news/humanitarian-organizations-welcome-canadas-vote-in-favour-of-a-ceasefire/ Tue, 12 Dec 2023 23:58:31 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=43051 For immediate release

Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto, December 12, 2023 –  Canada’s position on a ceasefire in Gaza is finally moving forward. In addition to calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages, Justin Trudeau today expressed Canada’s support for a ceasefire, heeding the calls of millions of Canadians.

We welcome this change in Canada’s position in favour of a ceasefire, both in the Prime Minister’s statement released today, together with Australia and New Zealand, and through the vote at the United Nations General Assembly in support of an immediate ceasefire. Humanitarian organizations have been calling for a ceasefire for weeks while witnessing the unimaginable death and destruction in Gaza.  It is now urgent to make the resolution a reality as quickly as possible for the people of Gaza, including our teams on the ground, who are living in “apocalyptic” conditions according to the United Nations. We are ready to operate and eager to scale up our work to respond to the urgent needs of the entire population of Gaza.

We are pleased to see Canada take the opportunity to make a difference on the international stage and help alleviate the suffering of 2.3 million people in Gaza by complementing its funding of the emergency response with diplomatic efforts to halt the violence and enable the delivery of aid.

The diplomatic efforts undertaken with Australia and New Zealand must continue with other countries, particularly the United States, in order to continue to make progress towards the achievement of a permanent ceasefire, the single most important humanitarian response that Gaza needs now.

While our 10 humanitarian agencies are able to support our local teams and partner organizations who are still managing – against all odds – to deliver some life-saving aid, it is impossible for agencies to provide the full-scale humanitarian response that is desperately needed in the face of hostilities and ongoing closure of access points into Gaza.

“We welcome this change in Canada’s position in favor of a ceasefire at the UN vote, which we have been calling for for weeks. I would like to thank all those who have signed our petition and mobilized for the respect of international humanitarian law. We now need to make this resolution tangible as soon as possible for the people of Gaza, who are living in agony. Humanitarians organizations such as Oxfam-Québec are now ready to support civilians now. When can we start our work and alleviate the suffering of the people?” said Béatrice Vaugrante, Executive Director of Oxfam-Québec.

Doctors of the World Canada welcomes Canada’s vote in favour of this resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. With this vote, Canada joins a growing number of states in recognizing that the indiscriminate violence against civilians in Gaza must end now. Without such a ceasefire, we cannot rescue, care and save lives. ”
— Nadja Pollaert, Executive Director, Doctors of the World Canada. 

“Mennonite Central Committee Canada is encouraged by and grateful for this step by the Canadian government. We recognize that government officials listened and responded to the voices of Canadians, including many MCC supporters, in expressing support for a clear and sustainable ceasefire. As a faith-based body with decades of peacebuilding experience, MCC continues to believe that peace is possible and encourages the Canadian government to continue to use all our diplomatic capacities to work for a sustainable ceasefire and lasting, just peace. Despite ongoing violence, MCC partners in Gaza continue to attempt to deliver humanitarian assistance and are positioned to continue once a ceasefire is achieved and into the future.”
— Rick Cober Bauman, Executive Director Mennonite Central Committee Canada 

“It’s high time that Canada takes a stand in support of a ceasefire in Gaza. After weeks of watching the devastation and violence in Gaza and witnessing tens of thousands of deaths, we are finally seeing a shift in Canada’s position. Millions of people in Canada have been waiting for this moment following weeks of rallies across the country. We are pleased the government heeded these calls. We now need to see this resolution turned into reality so that humanitarian organizations including Oxfam Canada can finally mount the kind of humanitarian response needed. Our teams stand ready to scale up our response and address the urgent needs of the entire 2.3 million people in Gaza.” 
— Lauren Ravon, Executive Director, Oxfam Canada

“In addition to calling for the immediate and definitive ceasefire, Canada must maintain its continued call for immediate, safe, and unfettered humanitarian access and respect for International Humanitarian Law to allow for a massive scale-up in aid supplies into Gaza and the personnel needed to reach civilians with life-saving support. With limited or no humanitarian support, children and families are just as likely to die of starvation, dehydration and communicable illness as they are of bombing. Safe humanitarian access is critical to saving lives.” 

— Danny Glenwright, President and CEO, Save the Children Canada 

“”Human Concern International welcomes the recent vote by Canada in favor of Ceasefire. We hoped we didn’t have to witness 20,000 lives being lost before this step from our Government. HCI, alongside its partners, and thanks to the unwavering support of Canadian donors, has been actively involved in responding to the crisis in Gaza. The current state of affairs necessitates an immediate and sustained international response to prevent further loss of life and alleviate the suffering of the innocent civilians caught in this conflict. We are very hopeful from here onwards Canada will be on the right side of history.“ 
— Mahmuda Khan, Executive Director, Human Concern International

Action Against Hunger Canada

CARE Canada

HelpAge Canada

Human Concern International

Humanity & Inclusion Canada

Doctors of the World Canada

Mennonite Central Committee Canada

Oxfam Canada

Oxfam-Québec

Save the Children Canada.

 

]]> (Mis)Using Digital Technology to Silence Advocates of Reproductive Health and Rights https://www.oxfam.ca/story/misusing-digital-technology-to-silence-advocates-of-reproductive-health-and-rights/ Sun, 10 Dec 2023 07:08:21 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43038

Fighting gender-based violence includes protecting the intersection between digital rights, the right to information, and sexual and reproductive rights.

"Getting homophobic, transphobic comments or even death threats is pretty common in this line of work. We're used to it," says Rae Jardine, founder and executive director of SRHR Hubs, a Toronto-based grassroots organization. "But we had never experienced nor heard of anything like this before."

In October 2022, Oxfam Canada awarded Rae a grant to support SRHR Hubs' development of an open-source interactive digital map that would provide a comprehensive directory of services relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The SRHR Map allows users to filter results by service type, location, costs, waitlist times, and accessibility. The map largely focuses on Toronto for now, but there are plans to expand it across Canada.

To ensure the map met the community's needs, SRHR Hubs released a beta version for testing before its official launch. They used the grant to fund community consultations and focus groups. They also set up an online feedback system for the public to provide suggestions to improve the map's information and functionality.

However, the map’s progress stalled during this phase.

For over six months, bots from an unknown source attacked the SRHR Hubs website. They initially bombarded its community consultation signup forms and meeting polls. Then, they moved to the map's feedback system, causing it to crash multiple times every day. Also, SRHR Hubs' inboxes were flooded with hundreds of daily spam emails.

A Sophisticated Cyber Attack Aimed to Cause Havoc

"The stuff we were getting wasn't explicitly malicious towards our work," says Rae. "But it certainly wreaked havoc as we sought to collect data on community insights about our resource.

The bots weren't sending threats, insults, or violent anti-abortion messages commonly received by staff working in reproductive health. Instead, Rae explains they filled the feedback form with what looked like real comments. Although the feedback software had robust security, Rae notes the bot mirrored human behaviour to trick the security features.

These continuous attacks drowned SRHR Hubs in useless data.

The organization's main inbox was also targeted, and the attackers flooded it with hundreds of emails daily. They weren't typical spam, and it became an enormous challenge for the staff to differentiate between genuine and spammy emails. Eventually, this inbox became impossible to manage.

Not an Isolated Incident

Looking for a solution, SRHR Hubs sought the advice of cybersecurity experts who informed them it was a highly sophisticated attack to disrupt their work. Recently, the Black Birth Project, a research initiative based in Ontario, also faced a similar cyber-attack. They were flooded with fake registration forms, leading to the cancellation of their events for the time being. Some SRHR researchers shared with SRHR Hubs they have heard from other experts who have faced similar situations while gathering data and information from the public.

"As a result of these attacks, we’re eight months, maybe even a year behind where we wanted to be with this project," says Rae. It weighs on her that legitimate map feedback drowned in bogus information while genuine emails went unanswered.

Background media: A screenshot of the SRHR Hubs' website homepage featuring the map.
For now, the SRHR Map mainly focuses on Toronto. "As a result of these attacks, we're eight months, maybe even a year behind where we wanted to be with this project," says Rae Jardine, SRHR Hubs executive director.

The Cost of Silencing SRHR Information on the Internet

Having access to accurate information about SRHR is crucial for reproductive autonomy. For many, the internet has become the main — if not the only — source of education and information on SRHR resources and services. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to digital platforms, with many turning online to learn more about SRHR when visits to health facilities were widely discouraged.

The internet has given SRHR organizations a powerful platform to connect, share, and spread information far and wide. However, it has also made them more susceptible to digital attacks. Spamming web forms or chats, online surveillance, censorship, and repression, as well as sophisticated hacking methods such as infecting SRHR advocates' phones and computers with spyware, are all potential threats.

Canadian SRHR Organizations Lack Funding for Digital Security

Rae adds that SRHR organizations in the United States, Uganda, South Africa, and some European Union countries already have activities and strategies to strengthen digital security. They have access to funding for security software, digital literacy and safety training, and guidance and support from cybersecurity experts.

"In many countries, there are regular conversations about digital security and SRHR," explains Rae. "But that's not happening in Canada."

SRHR Hubs lacked the financial resources to deal with the attacks against its map or email inboxes. Rae says the cybersecurity companies they contacted quoted them thousands of dollars to consult on the issue only — solving it carried an extra and heftier cost.

SRHR Hubs would have officially launched its map in 2022 if these cyber-attacks hadn't happened. It'd be growing its database and expanding to other provinces.

"As a small nonprofit, despite having negligible funding, we managed to bring to life a massive project that included far more features than any comparable Canadian SRHR resource," says Rae. "These attacks not just delayed our work, they also added stress, frustration and burnout," she adds. "We had to reprioritize tasks and take on extra work."

The SRHR map is now working. But its feedback forms aren't available. Users have to fill out and email a PDF form to submit information. To address this, SRHR Hubs are adding more volunteers to help them sort out these submissions and add the relevant data to the map.

Despite all these challenges, SRHR Hubs is determined to make the official launch of the SRHR Map a reality in 2024.

Fighting Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence

When the information void is filled with inaccurate and misinformed content by groups opposing inclusive SRHR, women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals are disproportionately affected as they're more likely not to have access to the information and tools to learn more about their rights or options and are susceptible to misinformation or dangerous practices on family planning, sexual health, and gender identity.

Restricting access to accurate and evidence-based SRHR information violates people's right to information and freedom of expression. Efforts to intimidate and silence SRHR organizations are a manifestation of tech-facilitated gender-based violence.

The cyber-attacks SRHR Hubs experienced forced them to rethink how and what information they share. "We are more mindful about what we make public online," says Rae. "The experience has made us distrustful." For instance, when they receive event signups, Rae meticulously scrutinizes names and email addresses to verify their authenticity.

The protection of digital rights, the right to information, and sexual and reproductive rights is essential to fight gender-based violence. While most Canadian SRHR organizations have yet to face digital threats or attacks that their peers in other countries have been fending off for years, they should start investing in digital safety to protect and uphold gender equality in the digital era. To support these efforts, donors in Canada need to understand the importance of digital security and be willing to invest in it.

As digital technology becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, it's crucial to have accurate SRHR online information for people to make informed choices that allow them to enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and well-being fully.

 

Elena Sosa Lerín is a knowledge translation and communications officer at Oxfam Canada.

What You Can Do
  • Amplify these voices: Share this blog post with your friends and network on social media, newsletter, or by email.
  • Visit the SRHR Hubs website to learn more about their mission and activities and check out the SRHR Map.
  • Donate to support their work.

Rae Jardin was a financial support recipient from the Her Future, Her Choice project in 2022. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, it aims to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Canada, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. In Canada, the project provides financial assistance to youth-led and women's rights organizations to carry out public engagement activities to advance SRHR across the country. 

]]> The Fight Against Gender-Based Violence Includes Supporting the Dignity of Sex Workers https://www.oxfam.ca/story/the-fight-against-gender-based-violence-includes-supporting-the-dignity-of-sex-workers/ Thu, 07 Dec 2023 12:00:53 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43022

Laurel Cassels is the s.h.a.r.e. program coordinator. 

s.h.a.r.e. (Sex-workers Have Access to Resources Equitably) received financial support from the Her Future, Her Choice project in 2022. Funded by Global Affairs Canada, it aims to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Canada, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. In Canada, the project provides financial assistance to youth-led and women's rights organizations to carry out public engagement activities to advance SRHR across the country. 

What's at stake when a Winnipeg program that goes beyond conventional approaches to safeguard the dignity, safety, and well-being of sex workers is in danger of shutting down?

We Had an Idea

"I need a place where I can be with people like me, people who have experienced stigma without support."

The Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition (SWWAC) rallied in the winter of 2021 to secure funding for an initiative that would be community-informed and cater to current and former sex workers. We envisioned a program housed in a central location and staffed entirely by individuals with lived experience. Previously, we launched the first five editions of Sex Workers Claiming Agency, Resilience and Safety (S.C.A.R.S.), a zine "conceived, composed, compiled and constructed" by Winnipeg sex workers "and the folks who love them." We were excited to produce more editions and hoped to have the new drop-in center up and running soon enough to maintain the small community we had built.

By the spring of 2022, we achieved our goal.

We received two grants from a couple of different organizations to support basic program expenses. One was from Oxfam Canada, whose funding made the publication of two additional S.C.A.R.S. issues possible. It also allowed us to provide warm winter clothing to our participants and have bus tokens, blankets, and first aid supplies readily available.

We named the program "Sex-workers Have Access to Resources Equitably" (s.h.a.r.e.) to reflect our goal of reducing the barriers faced by community members. We rented a fully equipped facility and opened our doors on July 8, 2022. Since then, we have been open every Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Background media: Mixed media collage.
S.C.A.R.S. zine cover courtesy of Laurel Cassels.

We Made It a Reality

"At s.h.a.r.e., I was given the opportunity to use my own voice for good."

s.h.a.r.e. is led by its participants instead of a steering committee of programmers and professionals. However, having a few members to guide program activities frequently proved inconvenient for people who work irregular hours, live a transient life, or struggle to keep their most important appointments. Instead, we survey participants every quarter, asking our most frequent guests for feedback on how things are going. To incentivize participation, we split the money initially allocated for steering committee meetings into honoraria for all those who complete the surveys. This gives the participants a sense of ownership, knowing their suggestions shape s.h.a.r.e.

In each survey, we make it clear to respondents that we're willing to consider any suggestions they might have as long as they aren't hindered by financial, physical, ethical, or legal constraints. This practice has helped us come up with different initiatives such as "Clothing s.h.a.r.e." We collect donated garments over some time and then organize a shopping-style experience where everything is free. This idea has been a huge success compared to giving out donations as they trickle in. By doing this, we accumulate various styles and sizes that cater to everyone, not just those who can fit into the sizes of one particular donor.

Due to social stigma, many participants hesitate to seek medical attention until their concerns become emergencies. To address this situation, we partnered with Mino Pimatisiwin – Sexual Healing Lodge, a project of Ka Ni Kanichihk, an Indigenous-led organization, to have a nurse visit our facility on the last Friday of every month. Since July of this year, she's been available to answer questions, attend to minor wounds and injection site concerns, and provide rapid testing for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), pregnancy, and flu vaccines.

Background media: mixed media collage. featuring a stone heart
S.C.A.R.S. zine back cover courtesy of Laurel Cassels.

The People Who Make s.h.a.r.e.

"Everyone here is SO HONEST, and when they trust me, I want to trust them, too."

In our first year of operation, our community experienced significant growth. We initially planned to serve around 50 guests. But in a year, we've successfully assisted over 360 people. On average, we have 15 to 25 visits each time we open our doors.

Many hear the term gender-based violence and think almost exclusively about rape and domestic abuse. But at s.h.a.r.e., we've learned about insidious violence that permeates nearly every aspect of some participants' lives. This violence, rooted in stigma, is not confined to systems. It trickles down to everyday challenges faced by our community members. It threatens their safety in housing, employment, child-rearing, access to all supports and services, and regular social interactions.

In our latest survey, we're asking participants what they think about s.h.a.r.e.'s potential closure due to insufficient funding and its impact on their lives. A transgender community member shared her thoughts verbally and permitted me to share them:

I don't know how much longer I will be around. I mean it, and I'm not asking for pity or even action on your part. I just want you to promise me one thing: When people cry and say 'Oh, no, what could we have done? How could we have prevented this from happening?' Tell them! Tell them I heard it, every time they called me a guy in a dress, every time they misgendered me behind my back and even to my face. Tell them I knew why they excluded me so often. Tell them that I felt it, each time they swore their support for me and then ignored my calls when I needed to talk. I'm not stupid… please tell them that.

This participant also shared she attends s.h.a.r.e. because it's the only program for women where, as a transgender person, she feels welcome and safe because she knows the space doesn't tolerate transphobia. She's not alone in this sentiment, as around 10 per cent of our regular participants are transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary, and several of them have expressed similar feelings to varying degrees. At s.h.a.r.e., we value and respect all women. We've had one program assistant and two Friday night cooks who are trans women.

We're committed to addressing all forms of gender-based violence and modelling an equitable approach for anyone who's watching.

Background media: mixed media collage
S.C.A.R.S. zine cover courtesy of Laurel Cassels.

The Prospect of Losing s.h.a.r.e.

"People come because of the special way you meet us here. We can't afford to lose this."

Since the end of our first year, s.h.a.r.e. has been limping along. We're grateful for the small grants and private donations we've received, mostly from our community members and allies, but they haven't been enough to sustain us. We have sought support from every foundation, level of government and any other source we can identify. Unfortunately, in November, we were unable to pay our rent. Currently, staff is working without compensation.

We're not giving up.

Everyone involved in this initiative deserves better. The s.h.a.r.e. staff deserve support and remuneration. Participants also deserve access to services that provide them comfort and dignity. We'll continue to persevere until we've exhausted all possible options. We can't afford to lose such an important community space where we offer critical services, dignity, and safety. A space that supports women to claim their resilience.

 

What You Can Do
  • Amplify these voices: Share this blog post with your friends and network on social media, newsletter, or by email.
  • Follow s.h.a.r.e. on Instagram to learn more about their activities.
  • Donate to support their work through the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.
]]> Introducing Oxfam’s Tax Calculator https://www.oxfam.ca/story/introducing-oxfams-tax-calculator/ Fri, 01 Dec 2023 14:52:40 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=43056

Introducing Oxfam’s Tax Calculator

by Oxfam Canada | December 1, 2023
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Photo: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels

Accessible philanthropy at your fingertips

Oxfam Canada is taking a bold step toward transforming the landscape of charitable giving: Introducing the Oxfam Tax Calculator! This powerful tool is designed to provide supporters with a straightforward way to understand the tax benefits of your donation so you can supercharge your giving and have a bigger impact on vital humanitarian aid.

The Tax Calculator embodies Oxfam's commitment to transparency and its mission to eradicate poverty and injustice, one empowered supporter at a time. The calculator is a user-friendly tool that helps you plan your giving more effectively and adjust your donations to achieve the maximum tax benefit. Simply put, we’re making philanthropy more accessible.

All you need to do is enter your donation amount and tax details, and just like that, you'll get an estimate of the tax credit you'll receive, giving you a clearer picture of what you can afford to give.

We're thrilled to launch the Oxfam Tax Calculator as part of our commitment to transparency and supporting our amazing donors. This innovative tool aims to bridge the knowledge gap, ensuring that every dollar you donate goes the extra mile in backing Oxfam's crucial programs worldwide.

Start using the Tax Calculator today and see how your generosity can make a lasting difference.

Launch Tax Calculator
]]> The Gift of Giving Tuesday https://www.oxfam.ca/story/the-gift-of-giving-tuesday/ Fri, 24 Nov 2023 18:01:49 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42929

Giving Tuesday is a Chance to Give Back

As the holiday season approaches, so does an opportunity to give back. This Giving Tuesday, November 28, you’re invited to join a global movement that seeks to dismantle the systems that keep people in poverty.

Your gift to Oxfam this Giving Tuesday will bring lasting change to individuals and communities in need. Let’s explore the origins of Giving Tuesday and how this special day connects with the true spirit of the holidays — love, togetherness and giving.

Donate Now

A Small Group of People Can Change the World

And that's exactly what happened when a group of thoughtful individuals decided to change the narrative and create something truly amazing - Giving Tuesday: a day where we can all come together to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.

Giving Tuesday was created out of a desire to bring back a value we all share: generosity. When your plate is full, you make one for someone in need. Being charitable, making donations, and offering what you can to someone in need is at the core of our communities. It’s a global call for all of us to dig deep into our humanity and discover the possibility and power of our individual generosity.

One of the best things about Giving Tuesday is that it's not about any single organization or non-profit — it's a movement that encompasses the entire charitable sector. We’re not in competition; we're all rowing in the same direction.  It’s one powerful idea and hashtag that spreads the message further than any person or organization could.  And that's the secret to its success.

At Oxfam Canada, we know we can’t change the world alone. If only we posted about #GivingTuesday, it wouldn’t work. It is precisely because we come together — just like we’re asking our supporters to do — that Giving Tuesday has become what it is today.

With the alarming surge of violence in Gaza and Israel, ongoing conflicts in East Africa and Sudan, and climate-related displacement around the world, the need for urgent action is higher than ever. We know that 2024 will be a year that asks more from us, and we are ready to deliver.

#GivingTuesday creates possibilities for the year ahead. It's an opportunity to set our budgets, determine what we can accomplish, and, most importantly, show the world that our beating generous human hearts are alive and well. So, let’s make this year’s #GivingTuesday the most powerful one yet.

Feeling inspired to support our work? Please give today.
]]> Childcare for all. How do we get there? https://www.oxfam.ca/story/childcare-for-all-how-do-we-get-there/ Fri, 24 Nov 2023 14:10:56 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42967

Childcare for all. How do we get there?

by Gabriela Cervantes | November 24, 2023
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Unlocking the potential of our future generation begins with ensuring that every child, irrespective of their background, has access to high-quality early learning and childcare (ELCC) services. It shouldn’t be a privilege limited by socioeconomic status, culture, gender, race, ethnicity, abilities, or geographical location. In Canada, there is a growing movement to establish a universal and inclusive ELCC system that benefits all children, regardless of their background. This article explores the progress made so far and the challenges in achieving this goal. 

The Journey Towards Universal Early Learning and Childcare 

The call for a universal public system of early learning and child care in Canada has been a resounding demand for over five decades. However, it wasn't until 2021 that significant progress was made, as the Canadian government committed $30 billion over five years to develop a comprehensive ELCC system. This collaborative effort involves cooperation with provinces and territories to build an equitable and inclusive system. 

The recognition of child care as an essential element of Canada's post-COVID-19 economic recovery, children's development, and women's economic justice marked a significant turning point. The objectives of this initiative include: 

  • Reducing fees for regulated early learning and childcare to $10 a day by 2026. 
  • Creating more licensed not-for-profit and public childcare spaces. 
  • Improving access to services for vulnerable families and communities. 
  • Enhancing quality and inclusivity. 
  • Recruiting and retaining qualified early childhood educators. 
  • Supporting the implementation of the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework. 

Progress Made and Persisting Challenges 

Since 2021, there have been noticeable improvements in the affordability of regulated child care, with parent fees in some areas reduced to $10 a day. New childcare spaces have been created, and there is a parliamentary commitment to enshrine ELCC in legislation. However, access disparities persist and, in some cases, are worsening. 

One critical issue is that governments still rely on market-based solutions and individual initiatives to expand child care programs across Canada. This uncoordinated approach fails to meet the growing demand from those who need childcare most. At the same time, early childhood educators and staff are leaving the sector due to low wages and impossible working conditions. Building a universally accessible and equitable system requires governments to take responsibility for implementing and sufficiently funding child care programs and fair wages for educators. 

Ensuring No One is Left Behind 

We must ensure that no one is left behind as we work towards a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system. The experiences of individuals like Mireille, a childcare advocate, highlight the urgent need to break down barriers to equitable access and guarantee that every child has an equal opportunity to succeed. Watch Mireille's story. [Building a Childcare System that Works for Immigrant and Refugee Women Series] 

Challenges to Universal Public Early Learning and Childcare 

The current market-based approach is one of Canada's most significant obstacles to achieving universal public ELCC. This approach disproportionately affects marginalized communities, including Indigenous, Black, people with disabilities, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+, and newcomer families. These communities face multiple barriers, including limited social networks for finding suitable child care, discriminatory experiences, difficulty finding programs that meet language and cultural needs, lack of flexible child care options, and limited access to regulated and high-quality public services in their neighbourhoods or via public transit. 

Solutions to Achieve Universal Public ELCC 

To overcome these challenges and move closer to a universally accessible childcare system we propose three critical solutions:

1. Transition from Subsidies to Funding ELCC Operators

Canada aims to achieve $10 day child care by March 2026. Provinces and territories are working towards this goal, but the approach varies. One strategy is to direct public funds to parents through subsidies rather than directly supporting ELCC operators. However, subsidies are not accessible to everyone, and eligibility restrictions prevent many families from accessing them. 

The goal of $10 a day child care can be better achieved by directly funding regulated non-profit and public ELCC operators. This approach ensures that public funds are allocated to improve quality, increase staff compensation, enhance program availability, and capping parent fees at $10 per day for full-day program. This approach will benefit all families, regardless of income.

2. Enhance Public Funding, Planning, and Management for Child Care Expansion

Research shows 48 per cent of younger children in Canada--not yet in kindergarten-- live in a child care desert. This means a postal code in which there are at least three children competing for a licensed child care space. 

As parent fees decrease and demand grows, increasing public funding for childcare services is crucial. Provinces and territories should lead in planning and managing the expansion of programs, addressing the issue of childcare deserts, and ensuring that every child has access to affordable and high-quality child care.

3. Build a Strong ELCC Workforce Strategy

The quality and expansion of $10 a day childcare heavily depends on the educators and staff. Currently, child care operators struggle to attract and retain qualified professionals due to poor working conditions and low pay. 

According to the Early Childhood Education Report, in 2021, the average hourly wage for staff working in licensed child care was $20, one-third of the licensed child care workforce didn’t receive health benefits, 41 per cent received no paid personal leave, and only 17.7 per cent had access to RRSPs or private pension plans through their employer. 

 To attract and retain qualified professionals, federal, provincial, and territorial governments must implement a multilateral workforce strategy that guarantees decent salary grids, benefits, opportunities for professional growth, and clear implementation timelines.  

Join the Movement 

These solutions are part of the advocacy toolkit developed under the Inclusive Child Care for All project and represent a crucial step towards achieving universal and inclusive early learning and child care in Canada. Join the movement and support inclusive child care for all. 

 

Gabriela Cervantes is a program officer at Oxfam Canada's Canadian programs team.

]]> Feminist Organizations Joint Appeal for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza https://www.oxfam.ca/news/feminist-organizations-joint-appeal-for-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza/ Fri, 17 Nov 2023 17:55:27 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42934  

November 17, 2023

Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Subject: Feminist Organizations Joint Appeal for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

We, the undersigned, a coalition of feminist, gender justice, and human rights organizations, come together to add our collective voice, echoing the concerns of Canadians and advocates worldwide. The escalating death toll in the Palestine and Israel region demands immediate attention and action. We implore the Canadian Government to wield its influence forcefully, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel. We call on our government to join the international effort to monitor the ceasefire. The time for decisive action is now. Peace, human rights, and gender equality are imperatives that must inform the Canadian response to these current events, consistent with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. The path of militarization leads to heightened violence, especially gender-based violence, and obstructs access to critical resources, including healthcare. Women, children, and LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately vulnerable in times of conflict. As unwavering advocates for human rights and gender equality across diverse communities, we call on Canada to prioritize the well-being of affected communities. It’s time to champion peace, equality, and the safeguarding of human rights.

The call for “pauses” does not adequately address the urgent need to save lives and alleviate the immediate and critical humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.

Reports of civilian casualties, widespread trauma and injuries, individuals left without adequate medical care, and the dire conditions faced by vulnerable populations, including infants in incubators, children, pregnant women, those about to give birth or immediately post-partum, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people, compel us to appeal for immediate and decisive action to bring about a ceasefire. As the world witnesses the widespread suffering, injuries, and loss of lives among civilians, including thousands of children, it is our responsibility as feminist, gender justice, and human rights organizations to call on you to take a clear and decisive stance.

Furthermore, we request that Canada actively makes every possible effort to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the affected areas in Gaza and support the safe return of hostages to their families. The urgency of the situation demands swift and decisive action to ensure that medical facilities receive the necessary support to treat the injured and that essential supplies such as food, water, fuel, medical supplies, reach those in need.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. As advocates committed to the principles of gender equality and to the protection of human rights, we earnestly implore our government, which proudly identifies itself as feminist, to align its actions with these professed values. We trust that you will consider this joint appeal with the gravity it deserves.

Sincerely,

  • Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
  • AGIR Outaouais
  • AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia
  • Amnesty International Canada English Speaking Section
  • Avalon Sexual Assault Centre
  • Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
  • Birth Mark
  • Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity
  • Canadian Council of Muslim Women
  • Canadian Women’s Foundation
  • Cape Breton Centre for Sexual Health
  • Child Care Now (Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada)
  • Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice
  • DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada||Réseau d’action des femmes handicapées du Canada
  • Ending Violence Association of Canada
  • Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances
  • FemDev Consulting
  • Grounded Doula Services
  • Halifax Sexual Health Centre
  • Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak
  • National Right to Housing Network
  • New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity
  • Niagara Reproductive Justice
  • Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)
  • Oxfam Canada
  • Planned Parenthood NL Sexual Health Centre
  • Planned Parenthood Regina
  • Planned Parenthood Toronto
  • Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan
  • Sexual Health Nova Scotia
  • South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
  • The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS)
  • The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women/ L’Institut canadien de recherches sur les femmes (CRIAW-ICREF)
  • The Obstetric Justice Project
  • Women’s Centre for Social Justice (WomenatthecentrE)
  • Women’s Shelters Canada
  • YWCA Halifax
  • CC Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly
  • Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, Marci Ien
]]> Gaza Needs a Ceasefire, Now https://www.oxfam.ca/story/gaza-needs-a-ceasefire-now/ Fri, 20 Oct 2023 17:24:29 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42861

Gaza Needs a Ceasefire, Now

The alarming surge in violence in Gaza and Israel has taken a terrible toll on civilians, plunging Gaza's population into a state of dire desperation. More than two million people are under siege, with little to no food, water, fuel or electricity. Hundreds of families have been killed. People have lost loved ones, houses and income. At least a million have had to flee their homes, but finding safety is nearly impossible. This is now a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

by Vita Sgardello | Oct 20, 2023

“Never in Oxfam’s history have we seen a humanitarian crisis like the one in Gaza,” said Oxfam GB Chief Executive Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah in the Guardian.

“Usually, when there is a crisis, we have a way to deliver aid – perhaps we have to overcome logistical challenges, fix a road, or a truck. This time, we are ready to deliver aid, but there is no way for us to reach the people who need it,” said Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns.

“Never in Oxfam’s history have we seen a humanitarian crisis like the one in Gaza,” said Oxfam GB Chief Executive Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah in the Guardian.

“Usually, when there is a crisis, we have a way to deliver aid – perhaps we have to overcome logistical challenges, fix a road, or a truck. This time, we are ready to deliver aid, but there is no way for us to reach the people who need it,” said Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is rapidly deteriorating over more than ten days of bombing and the blocking of basic humanitarian assistance. Food, safe shelter, and medical care are already out of reach for hundreds of thousands of people.

“There is no power, no food, and now no water in Gaza. It risks becoming a breeding ground for cholera and other diseases,” says Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s executive director. “The situation for civilians is already intolerable. Humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza now.”

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Photo: Marwan Sawwaf/Alef Multimedia/Oxfam

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is rapidly deteriorating over more than ten days of bombing and the blocking of basic humanitarian assistance. Food, safe shelter, and medical care are already out of reach for hundreds of thousands of people.

“There is no power, no food, and now no water in Gaza. It risks becoming a breeding ground for cholera and other diseases,” says Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s executive director. “The situation for civilians is already intolerable. Humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza now.”

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Photo Credit: Marwan Sawwaf/ Alef Multimedia/ Oxfam

All five of Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants and most of its 65 sewage pumping stations have been forced to close. Untreated sewage is now being discharged into the sea, and, in some areas, solid waste is accumulating in the streets.

Clean water has now virtually run out. Some people are being forced to drink unsafe water from farm wells. A UN group focused on water and sanitation—of which Oxfam is a member—says that only three liters of water a day are now available per person in Gaza.

Despite the incredible difficulties, two local organizations Oxfam supports in Gaza have put together a plan to help people now crammed into shelters with hygiene kits (containing soaps, shampoo, sanitary pads and toothpaste) and cash for food from one of the few supermarkets still open.

The commitment of our partners to help is inspiring. But no meaningful humanitarian response can happen without a stop to the violence
Behar Photo: Savvy Soumya Misra/Oxfam

“We have no water, no food, no Internet,” says Wassem Mushtaha, Oxfam’s manager in Gaza, who fled with his family and traveled for three days to a relative’s house in Khan Younis. They are now living in two apartments housing 120 people, where they have had no water for two days. He says his son told him, “My dream is to have a shower.”

Civilians trapped in Gaza are running out of time. We urgently need a ceasefire today to ensure vital humanitarian aid can reach those who need it the most. This is the only possible option to prevent an even greater humanitarian catastrophe.

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Photo: Saed Fadel/Oxfam

We need your voice now more than ever

Time is of the essence, and we need your solidarity today. Lives depend on it.

Please sign the petition
]]> Four Things You Should Know About Our Funding for SRHR Initiatives in Canada https://www.oxfam.ca/story/four-things-you-should-know-about-our-funding-for-srhr-initiatives-in-canada/ Fri, 04 Aug 2023 11:59:25 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42711

Learn everything you need about applying for our financial support for initiatives promoting sexual health and reproductive rights.

1. What is this funding?

This financial support bolsters Canadian community-based initiatives elevating the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). It's part of the Stand Up project, funded by Global Affairs Canada, which aims to advance awareness and knowledge of SRHR in Canada, Mozambique, and Uganda.

2. How does this funding work?

There are two different funding streams: 

  1. Between $1,000 to $5,000 for initiatives from individuals aged 18 to 29.
  2. $20,000 for initiatives from two self-identified women's rights organizations (WROs) or youth-led organizations (YLOs).

The selected activities need to consider and accept diversity in all its forms, including gender, sexual orientation, identity, ability, race, language, religion, country of origin and political perspective.

3. Why should you apply?

If you feel strongly about raising awareness and moving forward SRHR issues in your community, now is the perfect time to take action and make a difference! Whether through a film screening, a workshop, a radio debate, a discussion panel, or an art installation, there are countless opportunities to engage with the public and create positive change. 

You should consider applying if you're part of a women's rights organization or a youth-led organization that promotes sustained community mobilization on SRHR.

So why wait? Start planning your public engagement initiative today and inspire others to join you in advocating for the enjoyment of SRHR.

Some inspiring examples of how people have used this funding

Produced and hosted by Rebecca, Because of Her brought together the voices of health professionals, patients and advocates changing SRHR policies and improving the current healthcare landscape in British Columbia.

Tess ran the Sex and Self Book Club. This exciting sex-positive online space explored literature on sexuality, gender, and race. Canadian youth engaged in riveting discussions led by local authors and educators. 

s.h.a.r.e provides a safe and welcoming space for sex workers in Winnipeg to receive support without any judgment. Its doors are open for eight hours weekly and are easily accessible to everyone. On average, about 20 individuals visit the space each time it's open. Visitors can find harm reduction supplies for safer sex, drug use, and overdose management. Additionally, s.h.a.r.e uses art to foster a sense of community and trust. It produced two editions of the zine Sex-workers Claiming Agency, Resilience and Safety (SCARS), where sex workers shared their experiences through artistic expressions.

Topaza delivered and distributed a hundred care packages containing ethically made menstrual products across the University of Saskatchewan. Each package included a menstrual cup, a box of tampons, pads, panty liners, and a comprehensive booklet on SRHR. The booklet included helpful tips on basic contraceptive care and websites offering youth-friendly SRHR resources.

The ASP offered free doula support through self-referral or community partners in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario. It focused on reaching BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ youth, under-housed and newcomer populations. The ASP created a comprehensive virtual Abortion Doula Training to train new doulas across Canada. It also led virtual abortion workshops for youth workers that aimed to mobilize them as advocates for abortion access through increased awareness, comfort and knowledge. These workshops explored personal values, avoiding stigmatizing language, abortion access, youth rights, resources, and doula support. Birthmark also delivered thoughtfully curated care packages for people having an abortion with helpful items and information to support them throughout this healthcare procedure.

4. I want to know more and apply, where can I find more information?

For more information and to start your application, go to this page. The best part? You can save your progress along the way and submit it when you're ready. 

We welcome and encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, including women, 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, BIPOC, and people with disabilities.

🔺 Remember to submit your application by midnight ET on Tuesday, September 5th, 2023. 

Want to stay in the loop and find out who the final recipients are? Follow us for updates on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (the new brand name isn't growing on us).

📤 If you've still got questions, don't hesitate to reach out to our program officer, Lisa Gunn, at lisa.gunn@oxfam.org

We can't wait to see your application!

READ MORE

Meet the recipients from the first, second and third rounds of the community-based SRHR funding initiative, part of the Her Future Her Choice project.

Thanks to Our Supporters!

The funding for these initiatives is possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.

New logo from government of Canada that reads, in partnership with Canada.

]]> ‘Deep-rooted’ crisis in care systems in Canada need major paradigm shift: Oxfam report https://www.oxfam.ca/news/deep-rooted-crisis-in-care-systems-in-canada-need-major-paradigm-shift-oxfam-report/ Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:00:58 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42502 Decades of underfunded care services, inadequate compensation for care workers, and an unequal distribution of care responsibilities have left communities across the country with little to lean on when it comes to care, according to a new report released today by Oxfam Canada.

The report, How Much Do We Care? An Assessment of the Canadian Paid and Unpaid Care Policy Landscape, is a comprehensive assessment of the current state of care-related policies in Canada, highlighting the urgent need for a paradigm shift in how care work is valued and care systems are strengthened to ensure quality care for those who need it.

Using Oxfam’s Care Policy Scorecard Tool, the report was prepared by Vivic Research and examines 21 indicators across eight policy areas to evaluate the federal government’s care policies. The assessment not only considers health care and child care policy, but other areas such as employment protections, immigration policy, and infrastructure investments, as they influence who provides care, how it is delivered, and who has access to care services.

“The report’s findings underscore the need for a holistic approach to provide an enabling environment for a wide spectrum of care services, ensuring that care work and workers are valued, and care responsibilities are more equally shared within households and between families and the state,” Amar Nijhawan, Oxfam Canada’s Women’s Rights and Policy Specialist, said.

While the report acknowledges recent federal investments in child care, public transportation, and long-term care as steps in the right direction, it also identifies significant gaps in federal care policies, which include:

  • The failure to guarantee and provide access to clean drinking water on-reserve increases care work for women in many First Nations communities.
  • The absence of federal initiatives to shift social norms around paid and unpaid care work.
  • Migrant workers in care sectors facing poor working conditions and lacking labour rights protections.
  • Equitable access to care for marginalized groups requires far more progress, as systemic discrimination remains embedded in Canada’s policy landscape and care delivery systems.

To address these issues, the report lays out a series of recommendations aimed at building care-enabling systems that promote equitable access to care, reduce and redistribute women’s care responsibilities, and ensure care workers receive fair compensation and dignified working conditions. Some of the recommendations include: increasing federal funding for non-profit and publicly managed early learning and child care, establishing national standards for long-term care, expanding Canadian Medicare to cover essential services, and developing a national strategy to recruit and retain care workers.

While many care systems are delivered at the provincial or municipal levels, this report underscores the need for federal action to set the foundation for comprehensive and equitable care policies across the country. The report also advocates for the application of the Care Policy Scorecard Tool at the provincial and municipal levels to gain a more complete understanding of care policy in Canada.

“This report is a wake-up call for Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the crisis in care that has long plagued our nation. We must seize this unique opportunity to reimagine care systems, value care work, and ensure quality care for all those who need it. Federal leadership is critical in driving the necessary changes and establishing care policies that are equitable, just, and responsive to the diverse needs of our communities,” Nijhawan said.

– 30 –

Notes to the editor:
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

 

 

]]> G7 owes huge $13 trillion debt to Global South https://www.oxfam.ca/news/g7-owes-huge-13-trillion-debt-to-global-south/ Fri, 19 May 2023 10:00:15 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42417 Wealthy Group of Seven (G7) countries owe low and middle-income countries $13.3 trillion in unpaid aid and climate action funding, reveals new analysis from Oxfam ahead of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Despite failing to pay what they owe, G7 countries and their rich bankers demand that Global South countries pay $232 million daily in debt repayments through 2028. This money could otherwise be spent on healthcare, education, gender equality and social protection, as well as addressing the impacts of climate change.

“Wealthy G7 countries like to cast themselves as saviours, but what they are is operating a deadly double standard —they play by one set of rules while their former colonies are forced to play by another. It’s do as I say, not as I do,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s interim executive director.

“It’s the rich world that owes the Global South. The aid they promised decades ago but never gave. The huge costs of climate damage are caused by their reckless burning of fossil fuels. The immense wealth built on colonialism and slavery.”

“Each and every day, the Global South pays hundreds of millions of dollars to the G7 and their rich bankers. This has to stop. It’s time to call the G7’s hypocrisy for what it is: an attempt to dodge responsibility and maintain the neo-colonial status quo,” said Behar.

The G7 leaders are meeting at a moment where billions of workers face real-term pay cuts and impossible rises in the prices of basics like food. Global hunger has risen for a fifth consecutive year, while extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years.

Despite a commitment last month from the G7 to phase out fossil fuels faster, Germany is now pushing for G7 leaders to endorse public investment in gas. It has been estimated that the G7 owes low and middle-income countries $8.7 trillion for the devastating losses and damages their excessive carbon emissions have caused, especially in the Global South. After 30 years of deadlock, rich countries agreed at COP26 to establish a loss and damage fund. But huge questions remain about how it will work.

G7 governments are also collectively failing to meet a longstanding promise by rich countries to provide $100 billion per year from 2020 to 2025 to help poorer countries cope with climate change.

In 1970, rich countries agreed to provide 0.7 per cent of their gross national income (GNI) in aid. Since then, G7 countries have left unpaid a total of $4.49 trillion to the world’s poorest countries—more than half of what was promised.

“This money could have been transformational,” said Behar. “It could have paid for children to go to school, hospitals and life-saving medicines, improving access to water, better roads, agriculture and food security, and so much more. The G7 must pay its due. This isn’t about benevolence or charity—it’s a moral obligation.”

Currently, 258 million people across 58 countries are experiencing acute hunger, up 34 per cent over the last year. In East Africa alone, drought and conflict have left a record 36 million people facing extreme hunger, nearly equivalent to the population of Canada. Oxfam estimates that up to two people are likely dying from hunger every minute in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.

The fortunes of the world’s 260 food billionaires have increased by $381 billion since 2020. Synthetic fertilizer corporations increased their profits by ten times on average in 2022. According to the IMF, the 48 countries most affected by the global food crisis face an additional $9 billion in import bills in 2022 and 2023.

The G7 is home to 1,123 billionaires with a combined wealth of $6.5 trillion. Their wealth has grown by 45 per cent over the past ten years. A wealth tax on the G7’s millionaires, starting at just 2 per cent, and 5 per cent on billionaires, could generate $900 billion a year. This money could be used to help ordinary people in G7 countries and the Global South who are facing rising prices and falling wages.

Oxfam is calling on G7 governments to immediately:

  • Cancel debts of low and middle-income countries that need it.
  • Return to the 0.7 per cent of GNI aid target, pay off aid arrears, and meet their commitment to providing $100 billion annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change.
  • Bring in new taxes on rich individuals and corporations.
  • Expedite the reallocation of at least $100 billion of the existing Special Drawing Rights (SDR) issuance to low and middle-income countries and commit to at least two new $650 billion issuances by 2030.

– 30 –

Notes to Editors
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Elena Sosa Lerín
Communications Officer
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
elena.sosa.lerin@oxfam.org

]]> Oxfam Canada calling for ‘fair and equitable’ legislation on forced and child labour in Canadian supply chains https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-canada-calling-for-fair-and-equitable-legislation-on-forced-and-child-labour-in-canadian-supply-chains/ Wed, 03 May 2023 20:48:09 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42346 In response to the vote on May 3 against a private member’s bill (S-211) to fight forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains, Nirvana Mujtaba, Oxfam Canada’s Women’s Rights Policy and Advocacy Specialist said the following:

“Bill S-211 won’t curb human rights abuses or incentivize action.

We need robust mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation to uphold Canada’s feminist foreign policy goals and hold Canadian companies accountable. Unfair purchasing practices by companies disproportionately impact women and girls.

It is time to prioritize fair and equitable legislation, meet our obligations, and address the accountability gap. Oxfam Canada is calling on MPs to vote ‘no’ to Bill S-211 and demand mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.”

– 30 –

 

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Statement Of Solidarity With Wet’suwet’en Nation Land Defenders https://www.oxfam.ca/news/statement-of-solidarity-with-wetsuweten-nation-land-defenders/ Fri, 31 Mar 2023 13:22:56 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42304 Oxfam Canada stands in solidarity with the First Nations peoples of the unceded, unsurrendered Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan territories, who are standing up for their rights and sovereignty in the face of the largest fracking project in Canadian history, the Coastal Gas Link pipeline.  

On the morning of March 29, 2023, RCMP forces raided a Gidimt’en village site and arrested five land and water defenders, mostly Indigenous women, using a search warrant for a theft under $5000 with no relation to the site. These arrests follow a period of surveillance and harassment and continued deployment of the RCMP by the governments of Canada and British Columbia to intimidate and forcefully remove peaceful protestors from their lands.  

With Indigenous women on the frontlines of land defense and water protection movements, we are deeply concerned by continued state-sanctioned violence against land defenders and activists which criminalize Indigenous people, especially Indigenous women.  

This use of force is not limited to Wet;suwet’en territory. In 2020, a group of Haudenosaunee women published a statement regarding the use of injunctions at 1492 Land Back Lane in Ontario. In their statement, they referred to the ways in which Canadian legal systems violate and criminalize the rights and responsibility of Indigenous women by preventing them from fulfilling their responsibilities to the land and future generations in accordance with Haudenosaunee Law. That is in contradiction to article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.” 

Oxfam Canada calls on the federal and provincial governments to live up to their human rights obligations – including the recommendations from the UN CERD – and their commitments to respect and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is now enshrined in law both federally and provincially. Moreover, we call on federal and provincial governments and police forces to speed up the implementation of the 231 Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Recognizing Indigenous women’s roles as leaders and stewards of the land is crucial to developing lasting solutions that will ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples are upheld.  

 

]]> SDIR subcommittee Study on the Rights and Freedoms of Women Globally, and of Women in Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia https://www.oxfam.ca/story/sdir-subcommittee-study-on-the-rights-and-freedoms-of-women-globally-and-of-women-in-afghanistan-iran-and-saudi-arabia/ Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:35:12 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42270

Oxfam Canada was invited to testify at the Parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights on their study on women’s rights globally. The study will provide recommendations to the Government of Canada on actions they can take to support women human rights defenders worldwide.

At a time when we witness women's rights activists increasingly under attack and hard-won rights being rolled back, this study is urgent. Our executive director, Lauren Ravon, has shared significant recommendations for the government to act upon based on our experience in supporting women's rights organizations worldwide.

The progress we have made to achieve gender equality has been set back by generations. Canada needs to step up its commitments and actions.

Oxfam Canada's Testimony

Thank you for inviting us to appear before the committee today. My name is Lauren Ravon and I am the executive director of Oxfam Canada. I am here with my colleague, Léa Pelletier-Marcotte, policy analyst at Oxfam-Québec. We are both joining you from the traditional territory of the Mohawk peoples and are grateful to our host nation for the privilege of living on their lands.

As I speak to you today, the world is experiencing a time of crisis. Extreme inequality, climate change and unprecedented food and energy price inflation – all accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine – are creating the perfect storm for the world’s most vulnerable people, the majority of whom are women and girls. According to the United Nations, 339 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian aid – the highest number in history – and acute food insecurity is escalating with 45 million people at risk of starvation.

All of these crises have profound implications for women – restricting access to sexual and reproductive health services, exacerbating gender-based violence, and increasing women’s unpaid care work. The progress we have made to achieve gender equality has been set back by generations. It is now estimated that it will take close to 300 years to close the global gender gap.

For example in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and other external actors have been fueling armed conflict for close to eight years now, women’s rights have faced setback after setback. Gender-based violence has increased by at least 66 per cent since the beginning of the conflict. We know that physical and emotional abuse and domestic violence are linked to the deep economic crisis that households are experiencing, and that families are resorting to harmful coping strategies, like child marriage, to survive.

The conflict in Yemen has created one of the worst displacement crises in the world. One in three households that have been forced to flee are headed by women, and this puts them at an increased risk of violence. Despite the critical frontline role that Yemeni women have been playing to respond to the crisis, their political participation has declined sharply, especially since 2015. In fact, there are no women in the Cabinet of the recently formed Yemeni government – a sad first in over 20 years. Women are also facing risks of arbitrary detention and forced disappearance, and we know that many women activists and artists are currently jailed.

In the North of Yemen, women are required by the authorities to be accompanied by a male guardian when traveling. This restriction primarily targets female humanitarian workers, including our colleagues in Oxfam and in the Yemeni organizations we work with. This not only hampers our ability to deliver life-saving humanitarian aid, it threatens the very existence of many women-led organizations in the country. Pressure on Yemeni authorities and regional actors by donor countries like Canada can be effective, and we saw this result in a relaxing of restrictions last year. However, it is crucial that external pressure be paired with increased support to local civil society, including women-led organizations.

Looking beyond Yemen, we are witnessing the rise of interconnected anti-rights movements around the world – anti-women, anti-trans, anti-abortion, anti-feminist, anti-democratic, anti-free press. Attacks on women’s rights defenders and LGBTQ activists are on the rise. Women politicians and journalists are being harassed, threatened and attacked both in person and online. All of this violence and intimidation is a form of backlash against women’s rights. It is intended to silence women and gender diverse people, and keep them from holding positions of power. This is not only a threat to women’s rights, it’s a threat to democracy and to all of our freedom.

I would like to end by sharing five of Oxfam’s recommendations for the committee’s consideration.

  1. First, the government should finally launch Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy, speak up for women’s rights in multilateral spaces, and use diplomatic channels to protect women human rights defenders.
  2. Second, Canada should increase humanitarian aid to meet record needs, building up to $1.8 billion dollars of new and additional funding by 2025, starting with a $600 million increase in international assistance in the upcoming budget.
  3. Third, Global Affairs Canada should launch the second phase of the Women’s Voice and Leadership program. In countries like Yemen, Canada should provide women-led organizations flexible humanitarian funding and invest in strengthening their capacity to engage in peace building and conflict resolution.
  4. Fourth, Canada should implement a refugee protection and resettlement system that is based on equity and fair access for all, and that allows more people to seek safety in Canada more quickly, no matter where they are coming from.
  5. And finally, establish an emergency evacuation program and accelerated visa process for human rights defenders, prioritizing those facing heightened risk, including women activists, journalists and LGBTQ defenders.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear here today, on behalf of Oxfam.

]]> Federal action still falling short on gender equality: Oxfam Feminist Scorecard https://www.oxfam.ca/news/federal-action-still-falling-short-on-gender-equality-oxfam-feminist-scorecard/ Wed, 08 Mar 2023 14:00:34 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=42240 (Ottawa) – Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the deteriorating global situation – climate change, spiking food and energy price inflation and worsening conflict – has set progress towards achieving gender equality back by more than a generation globally. While the federal government’s feminist response put forward several worthy initiatives this past year, gaps still remain – particularly for the most marginalized women and gender-diverse people, according to a new report released by Oxfam Canada today.

On International Women’s Day, Oxfam Canada’s seventh annual Feminist Scorecard, Feminist Action In A World Of Crises, grades the federal government’s actions on its progress between March 2022 until February 2023 in 12 policy areas. Oxfam uses a traffic light approach (red, yellow and green), indicating little, some, or significant progress.

The government received a green rating indicating significant progress in three areas this year: investing in the care sector; upholding sexual and reproductive health and rights; and taking leadership on global development.

“The government had some important wins this past year with its ambitious child care agenda and historic public investment to provide affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care across Canada. And they also moved forward key initiatives that will benefit low-income women, racialized women, women with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ people. But gaps remain, particularly for the most marginalized women and gender-diverse people who have been sliding deeper into poverty as a result of the pandemic,” said Lauren Ravon, Oxfam Canada’s Executive Director.

One key policy area scored red this year – upholding the rights of Indigenous women. Over the past 12 months, the federal government has made little progress on addressing the inequalities and discrimination faced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, girls and Two-Spirit people.

“The cracks in our society and economy that were exposed by COVID-19 have now widened into fault lines, and the goal of eliminating inequality seems further out of reach. Women and gender-diverse people living in poverty, who have contributed least to these crises, are among the worst impacted. At the same time, levels of division, anger and hatred are growing globally. We are witnessing the rise of anti-rights movements – anti-women, anti-trans, anti-abortion, anti-feminist, anti-democratic – and attacks on women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ rights and gender equality,” Ravon said.

The scorecard also highlights a number of policy areas where more can be done to accelerate a feminist response and ensure the most marginalized do not fall through the cracks, including migrant and refugee rights; conflict and crisis; climate change; ending poverty; representation and leadership; gender-based violence; fair taxation and women’s work and labour rights.

“The world needs Canada’s feminist leadership in this time of global crises that are wreaking havoc on the world’s most vulnerable people. Now more than ever, we need the Canadian government to be ambitious and feminist – and we need a strong women’s rights movement to hold it accountable,” Ravon said.

– 30 –

 Notes to the editor:
  • Oxfam Canada’s Feminist Scorecard is available for download here.
  • The scorecard does not rate the government’s overall performance in each policy area. It presents an assessment of actions between March 2022 and February 2023 that have, or have not, been taken by the government in these 12 policy areas to advance women’s rights and gender equality.
 For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Oxfam Canada’s Feminism is Trans Inclusive https://www.oxfam.ca/story/oxfam-canadas-feminism-is-trans-inclusive Fri, 03 Mar 2023 19:54:10 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42186

Oxfam Canada stands firmly with transgender, non-binary, and gender diverse communities in Canada and across the world. Our feminism is unequivocally and unapologetically inclusive of trans rights, and we are proud to stand in solidarity with trans activists everywhere. We condemn the targeted hate, harassment, and prejudice that transgender and gender diverse folks recieve when advocating for their rights and simply living their lives.

According to Statistic Canada (2020), trans folk in Canada are more likely to experience violence since age 15, and are also more likely to experience inappropriate behaviour in public, online, and at work than cisgender Canadians. A survey report from TRANS Pulse Canada (2020) outlined that racialized trans folk overwhelmingly face higher levels of discrimination and violence – harassment, with almost three quarters reporting they fear and experience harassment or scrutiny from police forces and within legal systems.

Globally, with anti-rights movements on the rise, attacks against trans folk continue to grow, with 2022 having seen a record number of deadly attacks. In too many contexts, trans folks lack legal protection and attacks, including by governments, are met with impunity.

We recognize and celebrate the diversity of all identities, and will not tolerate any hate and bigotry.

]]> How Oxfam Responds to Emergencies and How You Can Help https://www.oxfam.ca/story/how-oxfam-responds-to-emergencies-and-how-you-can-help/ Fri, 10 Feb 2023 10:30:56 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42092

Damaged buildings by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Syria on February 6 in the Al-Helwanieh neighbourhood in Aleppo's eastern sector.

Whether responding to conflict, natural disasters like earthquakes or supporting people experiencing a hunger crisis, there are four things you should know about how we support communities when they need it most and how you can help.

When disaster strikes, we work with local humanitarian partners to immediately provide people with the assistance they need to survive, like food, clean water, sanitation facilities, hygiene products, shelter and protection. We stay in the long term and turn our efforts into the recovery and rehabilitation of communities.

Our key focus is ensuring that women’s perspectives and needs inform our humanitarian responses. We also advocate for local leadership in emergencies and work to shift power in the humanitarian system to local leaders, who often are women. Local leaders are best placed to respond to emergencies and rebuild their communities over the long term.

GIVE TO OUR EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUND

Your donation enables us to provide effective responses wherever and whenever it's most needed, without delay.

Give now

The Four Ways We Provide Support During Emergency and Humanitarian Situations

We recognize that local responders are often the best placed to help in emergencies. We work with governments, local organizations, and communities so that they are ready to respond to emergencies and able to cope when a crisis hits.

Our aid workers make sure people can get clean water and decent sanitation, like access to toilets, washing facilities, and adequate sewage disposal. They provide hygiene supplies like soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and feminine products. They also help people in crisis get food and other essentials they need to survive.

Our humanitarian responses prioritize the needs of women and girls, as they're often discriminated against or have fewer resources to cope and recover from emergencies. We promote women and girls' safe and accessible use of our humanitarian programs. We also support women's organizations to lead in emergency preparedness, risk reduction and response. 

Through long-term development, Oxfam and local partners stay well after the dust has settled to help rebuild communities to come back stronger from disaster. We support them in being better prepared to cope with shocks and uncertainties.

We also use our position on the global stage to call for long-term peaceful resolutions to hostilities that are ravaging lives. We advocate for meaningful change in policy and legislation, and call on governments to contribute to emergency appeals. 

What Emergencies are We Responding to Now?

The Humanitarian Crisis in Türkiye and Syria After the Earthquakes

The scale of [the earthquake's aftermath] is daunting. The number of survivors who may be left now with absolutely nothing is likely to be huge.
Meryam Aslan Oxfam spokesperson in Ankara

In the early hours of February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and several aftershocks hit southern Türkiye and northern Syria. The death toll has surpassed 21,000 at the time of publication. The Turkish government reports at least 17,674 people have been killed, while at least 3,377 are known to have died in Syria. The toll could keep rising in the following days. Meanwhile, thousands of others are severely injured or trapped under the rubble.

Southern Türkiye has been heavily affected, especially areas around the cities of Gaziantep and Hatay/Antakya. These are major hubs for organizations supporting humanitarian operations in Syria.

In Syria, the cities of Aleppo, Latakia, Hama, and Idlib have been badly hit by the earthquake and continuous, severe aftershocks that have driven people into wintery streets, fearing further collapses of buildings. Survivors need shelter, food, water, fuel, and medical care.

This earthquake hits at a time when humanitarian needs in Syria are at its highest.

After 12 years of conflict, more than 90 per cent of Syrians live in poverty. More than 14 million people, out of a total population of 21.7 million, require humanitarian assistance. The UN's Humanitarian Response Plan for Syria, which aims to provide critical assistance to people in need, received US$6.7 billion. It was less than half of the total funding requirement for 2022.

Our Response

Oxfam and partner organizations are working tirelessly to support the people affected by these devastating earthquakes in the immediate and eventually in the longer-term.

Oxfam's affiliate in Türkiye, Oxfam KEDV, is working with local partners — around 80 women's cooperatives in 10 Turkish provinces most affected by the quake. An Oxfam team travelled on Tuesday, February 7, to affected areas to conduct assessments as part of Türkiye's official National Disaster Response Platform.

The short-term response will include water, sanitation services, shelter, and food delivery. Oxfam and local partners are looking ahead to support rehabilitation and reconstruction in the long-term.

Oxfam has been working in Syria for more than 30 years. Since the civil war erupted in 2011, the needs haven't changed — people need shelter, water, non-food items, medical support. But the earthquakes have changed the scale dramatically.

LEARN MORE: Humanitarian needs around the world are at an all-time high, but woeful underfunding is hindering humanitarian action

The Hunger Crisis in East Africa

In the 21st century, hunger should not exist. Famine does not happen unexpectedly. It comes after months of ignored warnings. We cannot afford acting with too little too late.
Fatuma Shideh Manager, Humanitarian unit, Oxfam Canada

The countries least responsible for the climate crisis suffer most from its impact. Case in point are countries in East Africa. This region is experiencing several climate-fueled weather hazards simultaneously.

Large portions of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are suffering their worst drought in four decades, resulting in one person likely dying of hunger every 36 seconds. On the other hand, South Sudan is experiencing a fifth consecutive year of record floods, submerging around 70 per cent of the country and displacing 350,000 people.

Forecasters predicted in 2022, the lack of rain in the region will persist for a fifth consecutive season. Last year humanitarian aid funding fell short of what was needed. Food, fuel, and fertilizer prices continue to increase due partly to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On top of it all, with Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan dealing with internal violence, East Africa is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.

Our Response

Oxfam and regional partners are relentlessly working to reach around two million people across these four countries. We provide communities with cash transfers to buy essential food items. We also offer agricultural training on climate-resistant production and tools and seeds to strengthen farmers' resilience to climate change.

Since the hunger crisis in many East African countries is the result of prolonged drought, we're transporting water to remote communities and drilling wells to get clean water flowing. Many families rely on livestock for food, so we support livestock treatment and vaccination campaigns.

At camps where displaced people live, we train volunteers on protection issues related to gender-based violence. We also distribute solar lamps to protect women and girls at night.

LEARN MORE: What's Causing the Hunger Crisis in East Africa?

How You Can Help

Oxfam responds to multiple emergencies worldwide at any given time. Although the humanitarian challenges continue growing, so does our determination to live up to our commitment to save and improve lives and contribute to an equal future.

Actions You Can Take

  • Support the people of southern Türkiye and northern Syria in the aftermath of the deadly earthquakes: We're collaborating with the Humanitarian Coalition to respond to the urgent call for international assistance, donate now.
  • Support the people of East Africa: Stop extreme hunger, donate now.
  • Give to our Emergency Support Fund: It enables us to provide quick and effective responses wherever and whenever the need is greatest. Assistance shouldn't be dependent on media coverage.
  • Spread the word: You can support our emergency and humanitarian work by sharing this blog post with your friends and network on social media.
  • Read our stories: Learn more about our efforts and the issues we work on.

Elena Sosa Lerín is a knowledge translation and communications officer at Oxfam Canada.

Support the people of Türkiye, Syria and East Africa. Give now to continue funding this life-saving work. Please donate what you can today.

]]> Quiz: Find Out Your Level of Devspeak Expertise https://www.oxfam.ca/story/quiz-find-out-your-level-of-devspeak-expertise/ Wed, 08 Feb 2023 11:00:30 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42043

It's International Development Week, Time to Find Out Your Level of Devspeak Expertise

Answer these five questions and see if you're a master or a work in progress.

International development jargon and buzzwords, known as devspeak, can hurt readers' heads. But hear us out; devspeak has its advantages.

In the international development sector, jargon and buzzwords can reveal priorities, goals, and sector trends set by development agencies, organizations and research centres. They become unifying factors. People working in the sector understand the meaning of a shared concept. We instinctively know what we mean when we use "sustainability" or "service delivery." In contrast, if a military commander, a coder, and a mechanical engineer talk about "deployment," the first would think the discussion is about the movement of armed forces, the second would say it's when a website or app is ready to go live, and the third one would talk about a vehicle's airbags inflating due to a crash.

Using jargon and buzzwords may be helpful on a professional level, but general audiences might find some of these terms less helpful. At Oxfam, we do our best to write as plainly as possible, but sometimes, some of these terms might sneak up on our texts. 

So, let's untangle some devspeak! This quiz will help you make sense of what some of these words mean.

]]> SDG16: How Oxfam’s Work with Civil Society Contributes to Just and Inclusive Societies https://www.oxfam.ca/story/how-oxfam-work-with-civil-society-contributes-to-sdg16/ Mon, 06 Feb 2023 11:00:35 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=42044

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, provides a global framework for peace, justice, and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They represent calls to action that everyone – private citizens, companies, organizations, and government bodies – would do their part to realize.

It's an ambitious agenda that national governments alone can't deliver. The participation of different entities, including civil society organizations, plays a critical role in achieving the SDGs.

Why SDG 16 Matters

SDG 16 focus on peaceful, just, and inclusive societies has been recognized by the United Nations and other international bodies as a fundamental enabler of progress for the entire 2030 Agenda. This goal aims to improve people's lives by reducing violence, improving access to justice, and promoting effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.

Achieving SDG 16's targets require conversations, consultations, and engagement with civil society in decision-making processes and policies. Civil society can hold governments and institutions accountable. They can demand transparency and challenge government decisions and policies that perpetuate systemic obstacles to a group of people or society as a whole.

How Oxfam's Civil Society Partnerships Contribute to SDG 16

A cornerstone of Oxfam's work in fighting inequality and patriarchy to end the injustice of poverty is the solid partnerships and close alliances we've established with civil society in the countries we work in, especially with women's rights organizations. We do so because we know they have a better understanding of local contexts and challenges and are, therefore, best placed to advance their human rights and equality.

Our efforts focus on the strengthening and growth of our partners' skills and capacities to enable them to hold governments – national, regional or local entities – accountable for delivering services, promoting participation and inclusive-decision making at all levels, and recognizing, protecting, and upholding the rights of women, girls, boys and men, in all their diversity, living in poverty and injustice.

This approach in our work makes the most profound and sustainable progress toward SDG 16's targets. The following are a few examples on how this looks like.

Background media: A woman wearing a bright yellow and red headscarf holds a microphone.
Photo: Red Orange/Oxfam
Our Securing Rights project partners have supported the creation of over 200 groups to educate domestic workers about their rights in Bangladesh. These groups also participate in round table discussions with local government officials and the private sector to advocate for their rights.

TARGET 16.B: Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development

Oxfam's Contribution: Championing Labour Rights for Domestic Workers in Bangladesh

Through our Securing Rights project, we've been working with local partners to improve domestic workers' ability to organize and advocate for their rights and influence policymakers to legally recognize domestic work as a formal occupation in Bangladesh.

Due to relentless advocacy efforts, Securing Rights has brought together a wide range of civil society organizations and government officials to discuss the inclusion of domestic workers in national labour legislation. Currently, the country's Ministry of Labour and Employment is assessing an action plan created by our partners to implement labour protection policies for domestic workers.

The project has also advanced the recognition of domestic work as a formal occupation.

Our partners developed an occupational skills training curriculum for domestic workers. It's being accredited for the first time in Bangladesh's history by the National Skills Development Authority. Close to 8,500 women domestic workers have completed this training through Securing Rights. Due to its official recognition, skill training institutes outside the project will soon be able to offer this training and certification nationally.

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Domestic workers in Bangladesh are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and violence due to the occupation's informal and therefore unregulated status.

Of the 10.5 million domestic workers in the country, a staggering 90 per cent are women.

Background media: A giant screen features the phrase "ceremonial signing," and below it are two rows. The first one features the logos of nine different Philippino organizations, while the second one shows six logos from various UN organizations, Oxfam and the government of Canada. Below the screen is a group of women and women holding sheets of paper and smiling.
Photo: Geraldine Grace Hoggang/Oxfam
Members of the Girl Defenders' alliance, Oxfam Pilipinas, other government entities, and civil society organizations attended the ceremonial signing of implementing rules and regulations prohibiting child and forced marriage in December 2022. The country's Department of Social Welfare and Development will lead the law's implementation.

TARGET 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere

Oxfam's Contribution: Influencing Legislation to Bolster Women and Girls' Rights in the Philippines by Outlawing Child Marriage

From 2016 to 2021, through our Creating Spaces project, we worked with partners in the Philippines and across five other Asian countries supporting movements advocating for laws and legislation that protect women and girls from violence and child, early and forced marriage.

Years of tenacious advocacy from the #GirlsDefenders alliance, a social change movement championed by our Creating Spaces partners and allies, led to the outlawing of marriage below the age of 19 through the Girls Not Brides Act, which finally became law in December 2021.

Though the passing of this legislation is historic, a hard turn away from an entrenched societal norm will take more time and action. Yet, the journey to reach this legislative milestone shows the power of collective action and how persistent advocacy and engagement with institutions and government can shape public policies to fight and end harmful practices.

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The Philippines ranks tenth in the world for the number of girls married or in a union before the age of 18.

Background media: Portrait of an Indigenous woman smiling directly at the camera while standing in a sugar cane field, wearing a blouse and skirt of vibrant orange, red, yellow and black colours made with traditional Mayan textiles.
Photo: Cristina Chiquín/Oxfam
Camino Verde focuses on tapping into local community dynamics and value chains, promoting economic empowerment for women and youth in Alta Verapaz communities. These efforts support Indigenous women like María Elena Maquín, leader of the sugar cane juice economic initiative, Todas somos una ("We're all one"), to play a bigger role in the region's economy.

TARGET 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

Oxfam's Contribution: Advancing the Participation of Indigenous Women and Youth in Municipal Affairs in Guatemala

Through the Camino Verde project, we've been working with local partners in Alta Verapaz, a district in north central Guatemala, supporting the development of sustainable business practices for small-scale enterprises headed by Indigenous women and youth.

To ensure these community initiatives thrive in the long term, Indigenous women and young people also need the knowledge, skills, and confidence to advocate for policy and community changes in favour of their rights. That's why rights education is a central aspect of the project, and it's already contributing to greater participation of Indigenous women and youth in local institutional affairs.

In all the six municipalities where Camino Verde takes place, our partners have established direct alliances with municipal institutions, opening spaces for Indigenous women and youth to engage in the review, update, and design of policies and initiatives to ensure they uphold women's rights in areas such as municipal budget allocation and social development programs.

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Four out of five Indigenous women in Guatemala live in poverty.

Indigenous women are three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than non-Indigenous women.

Supporting SDG 16 Means Supporting All SDGs

Oxfam's contributions to SDG 16 embrace inclusive dialogues and collaborations between civil society groups and institutional entities to achieve progress on the rest of the SDGs. Our partnerships exemplify our commitment to supporting communities to assert their rights and build better lives.

Without continuous efforts toward peace, equality, justice, and inclusion at all levels, none of the SDGs can be achieved fully.

 

Elena Sosa Lerín is a knowledge translation and communications officer at Oxfam Canada.

We thank Rotbah Nitia, Program Impact manager from Oxfam Canada's International Programs department, for contributing to this piece.

Thanks to Our Supporters!

All projects mentioned in this post are undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.

New logo from government of Canada that reads, in partnership with Canada.

]]> Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years https://www.oxfam.ca/news/richest-1-bag-nearly-twice-as-much-wealth-as-the-rest-of-the-world-put-together-over-the-past-two-years/ Sun, 15 Jan 2023 22:01:26 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41973 The richest one per cent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth created since 2020, worth $42 trillion, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 per cent of the world’s population, according to a new Oxfam report.

“Survival of the Richest” is being released as political and business elites gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week. These elites are gathering in the Swiss ski resort as extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years.

In Canada, billionaires have seen their wealth grow by a staggering 51 per cent since the pandemic began. This accelerated a trend that was already driving wealth inequality in Canada over the past decade. For every $100 of wealth created in the last 10 years, $34 has gone to the richest 1 per cent and only $5 to the bottom 50 per cent. This means that the richest 1 per cent have gained nearly seven times more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent in the last 10 years.

“Canadians are making daily sacrifices on essentials like food and utility bills, while the super-rich have outdone even their wildest dreams. Just two years in, this decade is shaping up to be the best yet for billionaires,” said Lauren Ravon, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada.

“Taxing the super-rich and big corporations is the door out of today’s overlapping crises. It’s time we demolish the convenient myth that tax cuts for the richest result in their wealth somehow ‘trickling down’ to everyone else. Forty years of tax cuts for the super-rich have shown that a rising tide doesn’t lift all ships — just the superyachts.”

Billionaires have seen extraordinary increases in their wealth. During the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis years since 2020, $26 trillion (63 per cent) of all new wealth was captured by the richest one per cent, while $16 trillion (37 per cent) went to the rest of the world put together. A billionaire gained roughly $1.7 million for every $1 of new global wealth earned by a person in the bottom 90 per cent. Billionaire fortunes have increased by $2.7 billion a day. This comes on top of a decade of historic gains — the number and wealth of billionaires having doubled over the last ten years.

Billionaire wealth surged in 2022 with rapidly rising food and energy profits. The Oxfam report shows that 95 food and energy corporations have more than doubled their profits in 2022. They made $306 billion in windfall profits, and paid out $257 billion (84 per cent) of that to rich shareholders.

At the same time, at least 1.7 billion workers now live in countries where inflation is outpacing wages, including Canada, and over 820 million people — roughly one in 10 people on Earth — are going hungry. Women and girls often eat least and last, and make up nearly 60 per cent of the world’s hungry population. The World Bank says we are likely seeing the biggest increase in global inequality and poverty since the Second World War. Entire countries are facing bankruptcy, with the poorest countries now spending four times more repaying debts to rich creditors than on healthcare. Three-quarters of the world’s governments are planning austerity-driven public sector spending cuts — including on healthcare and education — by $7.8 trillion over the next five years.

Oxfam is calling for a systemic and wide-ranging increase in taxation of the super-rich to claw back crisis gains. Decades of tax cuts for the richest and corporations have fueled inequality, with the poorest people in many countries paying higher tax rates than billionaires.

Worldwide, only four cents of every tax dollar now comes from taxes on wealth. Half of the world’s billionaires live in countries with no inheritance tax for direct descendants. They will pass on a $5 trillion tax-free treasure chest to their heirs, more than the GDP of Africa, which will drive a future generation of aristocratic elites. Rich people’s income is mostly unearned, derived from returns on their assets, yet it is taxed on average at 18 per cent, just over half as much as the average top tax rate on wages and salaries.

The report shows that taxes on the wealthiest used to be much higher. Over the last 40 years, governments across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas have slashed the income tax rates on the richest. At the same time, they have upped taxes on goods and services, which fall disproportionately on the poorest people and exacerbate gender inequality.

“Taxing the super-rich is the missing ingredient for reducing inequality and strengthening our democracy. We need to do this to create equal opportunities for all. For stronger public services. For happier and healthier societies. And to tackle the climate crisis, by investing in the solutions that counter the insane emissions of the very richest,” said Ravon.

According to new analysis by the Fight Inequality Alliance, Institute for Policy Studies, Oxfam and the Patriotic Millionaires, an annual wealth tax of up to five per cent on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to lift two billion people out of poverty, fully fund the shortfalls on existing humanitarian appeals, deliver a 10-year plan to end hunger, support poorer countries being ravaged by climate impacts, and deliver universal healthcare and social protection for everyone living in low- and lower middle-income countries.

Oxfam is calling on governments to:

  • Introduce one-off solidarity wealth taxes and windfall taxes to end crisis profiteering.
  • Permanently increase taxes on the richest one per cent, for example to at least 60 per cent of their income from labour and capital, with higher rates for multi-millionaires and billionaires. Governments must especially raise taxes on capital gains, which are subject to lower tax rates than other forms of income.
  • Tax the wealth of the richest one per cent at rates high enough to significantly reduce the numbers and wealth of the richest people, and redistribute these resources. This includes implementing inheritance, property and land taxes, as well as net wealth taxes.

– 30 –

 

Notes to editors:

  • Download “Survival of the Richest”, executive summary and/or methodology documents outlining how Oxfam calculated the statistics in the report.
  • Oxfam’s calculations are based on the most up-to-date and comprehensive data sources available. Figures on the very richest in society come from the Forbes billionaire list.
  • All amounts are expressed in US dollars and, where relevant, have been adjusted for inflation using the US consumer price index.
  • According to the World Bank, extreme poverty increased in 2020 for the first time in 25 years. At the same time, extreme wealth has risen dramatically since the pandemic began.
  • The report shows that while the richest one per cent captured 54 per cent of new global wealth over the past decade, this has accelerated to 63 per cent in the past two years. $42 trillion of new wealth was created between December 2019 and December 2021. $26 trillion (63 per cent) was captured by the richest one per cent, while $16 trillion (37 per cent) went to the bottom 99 per cent. According to Credit Suisse, individuals with more than $1 million in wealth sit in the top one per cent bracket.
  • The billionaire class is $2.6 trillion richer than before the pandemic, even if billionaire fortunes slightly fell in 2022 after their record-smashing peak in 2021. The world’s richest are now seeing their wealth climb again.
  • In the US, the UK and Australia, studies have found that 54 per cent, 59 per cent and 60 per cent of inflation, respectively, was driven by increased corporate profits. In Spain, the CCOO (one of the country’s largest trade unions) found that corporate profits are responsible for 83.4 per cent of price increases during the first quarter of 2022.
  • The World Bank announced that the world has almost certainly lost its goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and that “global progress in reducing extreme poverty has grind[ed] to a halt” amid what the Bank says was likely to be the largest increase in global inequality and the largest setback in global poverty since WW2. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $2.15 per day.
  • Elon Musk paid a “true tax rate” of just 3.27 per cent from 2014 to 2018, according to ProPublica.
  • The $6.85 poverty line was used to calculate how many people (2 billion) an annual wealth tax of up to 5 per cent on the world’s multi-millionaires and billionaires could lift out of poverty.
  • Polling consistently finds that most people across countries support raising taxes on the richest. For example, the majority of people in the US, 80 per cent of Indians, 85 per cent of Brazilians and 69 per cent of people polled across 34 countries in Africa support increasing taxes on the rich.
  • Oxfam’s research shows that the ultra-rich are the biggest individual contributors to the climate crisis. The richest billionaires, through their polluting investments, are emitting a million times more carbon than the average person. The wealthiest 1 per cent of humanity are responsible for twice as many emissions as the poorest 50 per cent and that by 2030, their carbon footprints are set to be 30 times greater than the level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Joint Statement in solidarity with Indigenous families mourning the murder of four Indigenous women https://www.oxfam.ca/news/joint-statement-in-solidarity-with-indigenous-families-mourning-the-murder-of-four-indigenous-women/ Tue, 06 Dec 2022 16:37:03 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41900 As we observe the 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the announcement of charges in the murder of four Indigenous women at the hands of an alleged serial killer linked to white supremacist ideology is a tragic indication that the urgent action long called for by Indigenous women, families, and communities to address the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirt, and gender-diverse people has not been taken.

As organizations and advocates working to end violence against women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people, we stand in solidarity with the families, friends, and loved ones of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, both of Long Plain First Nation, of Rebecca Contois of Crane River First Nation, and of Buffalo Woman, and we extend our condolences to all those mourning their loss in Winnipeg, Treaty No. 1 Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and Homeland of the Métis Nation. We echo the calls of Indigenous advocates and organizations for immediate and concrete action to better implement the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+’s 231 Calls for Justice and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. We commit to reflecting this urgent need for action that centres the lives of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people in our own work.

Indications that the alleged killer held white supremacist, misogynistic, and antisemitic beliefs are reminders that the pressing and very real violence with which Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people have contended continues. We join with others in pressing for a full investigation of racism and hate as motivations for these murders. To do so would be to honour and respect the truths many families shared during the National Inquiry about the ongoing and increasingly hostile and extreme forms of intersecting gender and race-based hate and violence they are regularly subjected to, and in keeping with the Calls for Justice.

As the Final Report of the National Inquiry makes clear all levels of government, as well as all sectors, institutions, organizations, and the general public, particularly those operating from a colonial framework who deliver services to Indigenous women and gender-diverse people, must be actively involved in the implementation of the Calls for Justice. In particular, we want to highlight the clear directions put forward in the Calls for Justice that action and funding must prioritize access to the basic necessities for safety (Calls for Justice, 4.1, 4.2), including affordable food, housing (4.6), and transportation (4.8), shelters (4.7), and transfer of control and resources for the delivery of Indigenous-led services (e.g. 2.5, 3.2). The continued and active exclusion of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people from such basic human rights and services that many Canadians take for granted enables both individual and systemic violence against them.

The National Inquiry’s Calls for Justice, along with countless other reports and recommendations put forward over many years, clearly outline the steps that need to be taken to not only commit in principle but to take action and dedicate resources necessary to dismantling colonial systems, policies, practices, and relationships that continue to devalue the lives of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. As the families of the four women have expressed over the past months, with their loss also comes the loss of the possibilities the women’s lives held and the contributions they would bring to their families and communities. We grieve these losses, and we commit to doing the difficult and pressing work required to build relationships that prevent violence from continuing to diminish and rob Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people of realizing these possibilities.

Signed,

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes

Amnesty International Canadian Section (English Speaking)

Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

Battered Women’s Support Services

Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty

Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness

Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies

Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Canadian Council of Muslim Women

Canadian Labour Congress

Canadian Women’s Foundation

Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice

Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic

Child Care Now | Un enfant Une place

Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW)

DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada

Ending Violence Association of Canada

Feminist Alliance for International Action

Girls Action Foundation

Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS)

Keepers of the Circle

Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak / Women of the Métis Nation

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre

Montreal Council of Women

National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL)

National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC)

National Right to Housing Network

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

Oxfam Canada

PREVNet (Promoting Relationships & Eliminating Violence Network)

Prince Albert Council of Women

Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS)

Provincial Council of Women of Ontario

Provincial Council of Women of Manitoba

Provincial Council of Women Saskatchewan

Québec contre les violences sexuelles

Rise Women’s Legal Centre

South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO)

Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre

Unifor

West Coast LEAF

Wisdom2Action

WomenatthecentrE

Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)

Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network

Women’s Shelters Canada

Yukon Status of Women Council

YWCA Canada

YWCA Metro Vancouver

If you or a loved one needs support:

The KUU-US Crisis Line Society provides a First Nations and Indigenous-specific crisis line available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, toll-free from anywhere in British Columbia. The KUU-US Crisis Line can be reached toll-free at 1 800 588-8717. Alternatively, call direct into the Youth Line at 250 723-2040 or the Adult Line at 250 723-4050, or online: kuu-uscrisisline.com.

]]> Has your favourite Canadian fashion brand been Naughty or Nice this year? https://www.oxfam.ca/news/has-your-favourite-canadian-fashion-brand-been-naughty-or-nice-this-year/ Mon, 21 Nov 2022 12:00:27 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41920 Major Canadian fashion brands – like lululemon, Joe Fresh, Aritzia, Herschel Supply Co and Roots – all need to pay living wages to the women who make our clothes.

As Canadians hit the Black Friday sales and start their holiday shopping, Oxfam Canada has released its first ever Naughty or Nice list, which calls out popular brands that have failed to make credible commitments around living wages and continue to hide where their clothes are made by not publishing the names and locations of their global supplier factories. None of the five brands assessed made it onto the Nice list this year.

“Two major clothing companies in Canada – Herschel Supply Co. and Roots – ended up on the Naughty list since they failed to make a public commitment to a living wage or take the basic step of publishing key information about where they manufacture their clothes. They’ve offered zero transparency on their supply chains,” Dana Stefov, women’s rights policy specialist at Oxfam Canada, said.

“Canada is one of the world’s major apparel markets, with retail sales totaling US$34.93bn in 2022.  With most clothing sold in Canada imported from lower-income countries, all Canadian brands need to ensure the women who make our clothes are paid a living wage.”

A living wage means enough money is earned in a 48-hour work week to cover basic essentials for a family including food, housing, healthcare, clothing, transport, education and some money for unexpected events.

“A living wage is not a luxury, but is a minimum that all working people should be paid if they are to escape the cycle of poverty,” Stefov said. “With the cost of living rising everywhere, we know that not all workers are being paid enough to afford a decent life for themselves and their families. Brands’ failure to ensure a living wage is paid in their supply chains means hundreds of thousands of women who make clothes destined for Canadian stores live in poverty.”

While those two companies have found themselves on the Naughty list, both Joe Fresh and Aritzia are ‘A Bit Naughty’ with the brands still not committing to a living wage and their supply chain transparency still somewhat opaque.

The one company that landed on the ‘Almost Nice’ list was lululemon. The athletic leisurewear company based in Vancouver received top marks for supply chain transparency and came the closest to making a public commitment to a living wage but fell short by not providing a clear timeline with verifiable milestones.

Currently, a very small amount of the retail price we pay for our clothes actually goes to the women who make them. While labour costs may vary by apparel product, wages for production scarcely exceeds three per cent of the price that is paid for a product in a shop. This equates to just 30 cents for a $10 t-shirt.

“Canadian brands make big profits, and they must leverage their buying power to change the system and stop the exploitation of workers,” Stefov said.

“They can be part of lifting women out of poverty while still producing affordable, good quality products. Brands have the power and the responsibility to ensure the workers who make their clothes can live with dignity.

”In this most profitable time of year for retailers, Canadians are demanding the big clothing brands they know and love to ensure the payment of living wages, so the workers making their clothes can earn enough to live on.”

– 30 –

 Notes to the editor:
  •  In 2021, Oxfam Canada launched the What She Makes campaign to galvanize Canadian fashion brands around labour rights and improving the working conditions of the millions of garment workers who toil in factories to meet their clothing orders.  More than 44,000 Canadians have pledged their support for the campaign to date.
  • On November 20, Oxfam Canada and supporters of the What She Makes campaign staged a public rally and information picket at the Joe Fresh location (589 Queen Street West) in downtown Toronto.  Holiday shoppers got to learn about the working conditions of the women who make our clothes through a pop-up shop set up on the sidewalk outside a Joe Fresh store. Photos are available on request.
  • All brands featured in this year’s Naughty or Nice list were provided an opportunity to comment on the findings prior to launch.
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Five Facts About Climate Change and Inequality https://www.oxfam.ca/story/five-facts-about-climate-change-and-inequality/ Wed, 09 Nov 2022 18:49:18 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41724

Masada stands outside what used to be her home in the city of Macomia in northern Mozambique. Tropical Cyclone Kenneth, the strongest and most catastrophic storm to ever hit the country, was the second cyclone Mozambique suffered in six weeks in 2019. It was the first time in recorded history two powerful tropical cyclones hit the country in the same season.

Climate change affects the most vulnerable first and worst. That's why Oxfam is making sure that climate action is central to our fight against inequality.

The climate emergency is one of the most critical issues we face today. It's an existential threat affecting people in every country on every continent, deepening poverty, conflict, and hunger. Our elected officials must give it the necessary urgency, attention, and investment.

People's lives depend on it.

Here are five things to know about inequality and the climate crisis:

Climate change disproportionally impacts women.

Whether walking further to collect water, being last to eat during droughts, or assuming more household care responsibilities in the wake of extreme weather, the climate crisis leaves women increasingly vulnerable to gender-based violence, the effects of future disasters, health threats and other gender inequalities.

Women are also more likely to live in poverty than men, have less access to basic human rights, and face systematic violence exacerbated in times of instability.

The people who contribute the least to climate change are on the frontlines facing its worst impacts. 

For example, in the first quarter of 2022, an estimated 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia were displaced by climate-induced droughts and forced to abandon their homes in search of water and pasture, despite having done little to cause the climate crisis. The African continent accounts for just four per cent of global gas emissions, the smallest share among all the world's regions. 

Indigenous people living in Canada's North face some of the worst effects of climate change.

Even if global emissions are stabilized below the Paris Agreement goal of 2°C, research shows that Inuit communities across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, northern Quebec, and northern Labrador are locked into the impacts of past and current emissions for at least the next 30 years. The region, representing one-third of Canada's landmass and half of its coastline, has already lost 40 per cent of its sea ice cover. Extreme weather events, storm surges, and severe coastal erosion are causing loss and damage to people's housing and community infrastructure.

Loss and Damage

It's a term used in UN climate negotiations to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to, or when options exist, but a community doesn't have the resources to access or use them.

Climate change impacts include loss of lives and livelihoods and degradation of territory, farmland, cultural heritage, Indigenous knowledge, societal and cultural identity, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

Loss and damage is a matter of climate justice because the consequences of climate change impact vulnerable communities the most.

Background media: Women carrying buckets on top of their heads walk in a flooded street after hurricane Idai hit Mozambique.
Photo: Sergio Zimba/Oxfam

SOURCE: The Loss and Damage Collaboration

The fossil fuel industry is the biggest barrier to transformative action to tackle the climate emergency.

The oil and gas sector is Canada's largest and fastest-rising emission source. Emissions have doubled since 1990 and now represent nearly 30 per cent of the country's total release of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Research from Environmental Defense Canada shows how the industry pays lip service to climate action while secretly lobbying against it and reaping great financial benefits from doing so. These companies have successfully lobbied for lower tax payments and against environmental regulations. Oil and gas production has soared in the past twenty years. But between 2000 and 2017, corporate taxes paid on drilling and refining declined by more than 50 per cent. Canada's environmental laws include significant exemptions and special treatment for this sector to the detriment of people and the environment.

As the industry expands and reaps substantial corporate profits, job opportunities dwindle as the sector moves increasingly towards automation. Meanwhile, Canadian oil and gas CEOs rake in salaries of more than $10 million annually.

The super-rich are super polluters.

Over the past 25 years, the richest one percent of the world's population has been responsible for more than twice as much carbon pollution as the three billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. 

A billionaire emits a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person.

In Canada, the richest 10 per cent of Canadians were responsible for about a quarter of the national cumulative carbon emissions between 1990 and 2015, nearly as much as the poorest 50 per cent of Canadians. Today, if you take one person from the richest five per cent of Canadians, their carbon footprint is equal, on average, to that of 470 people living in poverty in the poorest five per cent of humanity.

The Time for Action is Now

The time for climate action is now. Oxfam is dedicated to fighting climate change and supporting the communities most impacted by it. Together we can fight climate change and build a more equal and sustainable future. Stand with us for climate justice. Elizabeth Wathuti and other climate activists from the Global South are calling on leaders at COP27 to get frontline communities the support they need by delivering loss and damage finance.

Add your voice to Elizabeth's letter:

DEMAND CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW

Elena Sosa Lerín is a knowledge translation and communications officer at Oxfam Canada.

We're grateful to Ian Thomson, Policy and Advocacy manager at Oxfam Canada's Policy, Campaigns and Communications Department, for his valuable contributions to this piece.

]]> Meet the Final Recipients of Our 2022 Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative https://www.oxfam.ca/story/meet-the-recipients-third-community-based-srhr-funding/ Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:00:13 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41512
Her Future Her Choice final youth funding recipients from left to right: Tess Vardy, Zeba Khan, Simran Jawanda, Gift Igbin, Salma Mohamed, and Rae Jardine.

Oxfam Canada is pleased to announce the third and final round of the Her Future Her Choice Financial Support for Community-Based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Initiative recipients, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada. This initiative is part of the five-year Her Future Her Choice program which aims to strengthen SRHR in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Canada, directly reaching over 240,000 people, particularly young women and girls. 

The Her Future, Her Choice program aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights across Canada by supporting community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth (aged 18 to 29) and women's rights or youth-led organizations.

We are thrilled to announce this community-based initiative's six final projects and recipients.

Youth Recipients

Gift Igbin (she/her) – New Westminster, British Columbia

Gift and the Odihi Foundation are producing the Agape Initiative, a podcast highlighting BIPOC women going through fertility issues. The podcast aims to spark conversations around these and other topics, like the struggles of new mothers and how the pandemic has impacted sexual and reproductive health. By creating a safe space for BIPOC women to talk about their experiences, the podcast seeks to enable solidarity in the community and raise awareness of the stigma surrounding these matters.

Fun Fact: Gift has been an actor and business owner since the age of 16.

Rae Jardine (she/they) – Toronto, Ontario

Rae will work on the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Map. It'll be an open-source, free, interactive website with physical materials to chart sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) resources and services in Ontario. Initially, its focus will be primarily on Toronto, but eventually, it'll cover all of Canada.

The map's digital component will include a comprehensive multimedia directory with detailed information on all services and resources relating to SRHR. Users will be able to filter by criteria or service type, location, cost, waitlist times, and accessibility. This project builds on the work already being done by the grassroots organization SRHR Hubs. Specifically, this grant will be used to host a series of community consultations, meetings, and focus groups to ensure the map responds to community needs and provides systems for immediate reporting of grievances and feedback.

Fun Fact: Rae is a New Brunswicker living in Tkaronto.

Salma Mohamed (she/her) – Victoria, British Columbia

With her involvement in the Medical Herstory project, Salma will host "Storytelling to Undo Stigma." This event series will facilitate a brave space for individuals of diverse experiences to share their lived experiences relating to sexual and reproductive health. Each event will focus on a specific health experience relating to protecting bodily autonomy, addressing medical harm, improving medical education, and developing self-advocacy skills. Topics to be covered include experiences of and access to abortion, living with HIV, trans and non-binary healthcare, and sex and disability.

Fun Fact: Salma learned to ride a bike last year at the age of 23.

Simran Jawanda (she/her) – Brampton, Ontario 

Simran will support the research initiative, 'Our Bodies Our Voices:' Reimagining Reproductive Justice in 'Punjabi Canada,' by doctoral candidate Amrita Kumar-Ratta.

This research aims to understand and give voice to the reproductive experiences of Punjabi women in Canada. This is in response to policy and media interventions around issues of marriage, family planning, and family violence that tend to frame Punjabi communities as perpetrators of "culturally-rooted" violence against women. Simran will work on a series of community-based storytelling workshops exploring the participants' reproductive experiences. These workshops will allow the researchers to understand better what constitutes reproductive well-being for Punjabi women and how they negotiate reproductive agency and advocacy for reproductive justice.

Fun Fact: Simran considers herself a professional Spotify playlist creator.

Tess Vardy (they/she) – Guelph, Ontario

Tess will run the monthly Sex & Self Book Club. It's a virtual sex-positive space where Canadian youth can engage in dialogue and (un)learn sexual narratives and perspectives. The book club will focus on sex-positive texts about sexuality, gender, and race. Local authors and educators will facilitate the conversations and lead each session. Tess believes providing young people with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services rooted in science allows people to make educated and objective decisions about their bodies, especially as comprehensive sex education in Canada isn't widely available in schools.

Fun Fact: Tess loves photography and dreams of working as a travel photographer in the future.

Zeba Khan (she/her) – Vancouver, British Columbia 

Zeba will create a social media campaign on contraception and care options for youth living in Canada. Targeting youth 16 to 24, she'll share videos on Instagram and TikTok, answering frequently asked questions on sexual and reproductive health and rights in celebration of Sexual Health Month.

Fun Fact: Zeba has been spending her summers in a small town in Newfoundland since 2020. She loves the serenity and contrast it provides to her city life in Vancouver.

 

LEARN MORE: Meet the recipients of the HFHC community-based SRHR funding initiative from the first and second rounds.

Lisa Gunn is a SRHR program officer in Oxfam Canada's Canadian program.

Thanks to Our Supporters!

This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.

New logo from government of Canada that reads, in partnership with Canada.

]]> Why Supply Chain Legislation is a Feminist Issue for Canadian Fashion https://www.oxfam.ca/story/why-supply-chain-legislation-is-a-feminist-issue-for-canadian-fashion/ Mon, 03 Oct 2022 09:00:27 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41472

Five reasons we need a law that requires Canadian fashion brands to end human rights abuses abroad.

Since the pandemic's start in early 2020, the supply chains of major companies have garnered increased public attention, including for their less-than-feminist approach to doing business with their supplier factories. However, the need to build solidarity with women working in global supply chains has been on the agenda of women's and human rights advocates for decades. 

Leading jurisdictions like France and Norway already have mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws.  

So why is mandatory human rights due diligence legislation a feminist issue? 

TAKE ACTION

Call on Canada to enact robust and mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation now.

SIGN THE PETITION

1. It's mostly young women who make our clothes

Women make up 80 per cent of the world's 75 million garment workers.

They work long hours, and often, their overtime goes unpaid. They also work late during busy shipment times or when brands push for tighter deadlines and lower prices. Many don't see their families much as they commute long distances or live far from home.   

The women who do manufacturing work in their own homes are more vulnerable than those working in factories. They don’t have fixed contracts and work for piece rates. Generally, they earn even less than factory workers and often significantly less than the national minimum wage.   

It's estimated that  five million homeworkers are engaged in production for garment and textile supply chains in India alone. 


Learn what's a living wage in the first episode of our three-part series featuring journalist Sushmita Preetha and labour activist Kalpona Akter.

2. Clothing companies pay poverty wages to women workers 

A living wage—what's needed for a decent standard of living—is a fundamental human right recognized by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. It's calculated based on a basket of essential goods and services earned in no more than 48 hours per week—food, utilities, housing, healthcare, education, clothing, transport, child care, and savings. 

Companies are responsible for ensuring workers in their supply chain receive a living wage, especially when sourcing from countries whose minimum wage falls below living wage standards.  

Most clothing imported into Canada comes from China, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam. However, most fashion brands don't pay suppliers enough to cover their workers' basic needs. Too many women workers live in extreme poverty, spiral into debt to feed their families, and can't afford healthcare or education for their kids. 

3. Gender discrimination and exploitation are rife in the garment industry

The clothing sector is one of the most important employers of women in the formal economy of low-income countries. But systemic and widespread sexual and gender-based violence is rife in factories due to a lack of regulation, patriarchal social norms and exploitation. This violence has escalated since the start of the pandemic. 

A feminist approach would tackle labour exploitation as a systemic problem, seeking worker-driven mechanisms and putting women's voices and power at the heart of the industry. 

Without due diligence to prevent and remedy abuses, measures like anti-harassment and abuse policies, proactive gender equity policies, and grievance mechanisms where workers can seek remedy and defend their rights are up to a brand's goodwill.  

Improving working conditions and respecting women's rights is good for business. Factories that invest in improved working conditions and gender equality have seen up to a 25 per cent increase in productivity. Investments in women's health, education and child care have yielded a return on investment of 4:1 for employers. Unfortunately, these investments are the exception rather than the rule, more often seen as additional costs to doing business. 


Learn about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the women making our clothes in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in the second episode of our three-part series featuring journalist Sushmita Preetha and labour activist Kalpona Akter.

4. Feminists are tired of protesting this stuff

Remember when child labourers were found at a Nike supplier factory in the 1990s? Well, decades later, companies are still breaking the rules. Low wages, poor working conditions, and child labour are still rampant. 

Social auditing schemes haven’t worked. Nor have voluntary measures of corporate responsibility. Weak regulations that only ask companies to publish reports have failed to make an impact, as demonstrated in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom.  

Some brands have made commitments and efforts, but no significant evidence exists that large global brands are paying a living wage.  

A new approach is needed.  

Young Gen Z and Millenial consumers, largely women, are calling out brands to get their house in order. With each generation comes greater concern for human rights and the environment, transparency and even a willingness to pay more for ethical production. 

5. Adopting human rights due diligence legislation would help to advance Canada's feminist foreign policy goals

It's high time for Canada to ensure that its feminist approach to foreign policy includes accountability for Canadian garment companies sourcing abroad.

Canada's foreign policy isn't limited to the actions of state institutions, such as its embassies and armed forces. It also includes our trading relationships and how Canadian businesses behave around the world.

Unethical business practices by Canadian companies harm women and risk damaging Canada's diplomatic relationships with key trading partners. They also risk setting back its feminist foreign policy objectives. Robust legislation would level the playing field for brands by making it mandatory for any company selling clothing in Canada to respect human rights throughout their supply chains.

Parliament should pass a law that satisfies what's known as the three A's: 

  • Effectively prevents abuse
  • Helps affected people access remedy
  • Applies to all human rights

The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability compared the different bills before Parliament. It concluded that prevention, remedy and the indivisibility of human rights are the only effective ways forward.

Adopting a reporting-only law will not end women's rights violations or eliminate forced labour. In fact, it would distract us from doing something meaningful, crushing momentum until we conclude that we have developed yet another inadequate mechanism for holding Canadian businesses accountable. 


The third and final episode of our series looks at how the women who make our clothes wind up with such low wages while fashion brands continue profiting.

 

Take Action: Demand a Corporate Accountability Law

Call on Canada to enact robust and mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation now.

SIGN THE PETITION

Other Things You Can Do

The fashion industry is built upon a system of competition, exploitation, harassment and poor wages. That's not feminist and we can do better.

These are some ways to push towards a fairer Canadian fashion industry:  

 

Dana Stefov is a Women's Rights policy and advocacy specialist at Oxfam Canada.

Learn more
]]> Yemen: Joint INGO statement on the UN-led truce https://www.oxfam.ca/news/yemen-joint-ingo-statement-on-the-un-led-truce/ Tue, 02 Aug 2022 18:33:43 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41286 Ahead of the end of the current UN-led truce agreement on August 2, 2022, humanitarian organizations in Yemen urge all parties to the conflict to adhere to and extend the agreement to protect civilians across the country and allow them to rebuild and recover their lives.

As organizations working in Yemen, we recognize and applaud the important steps taken by all parties to the conflict to uphold the truce. During the past four months, ordinary Yemenis have experienced the longest period of calm in the country in over seven years. Since the truce entered into force on April 2, reports of civilian casualties have dropped significantly.

Commercial flights between Sana’a, Amman and Cairo have allowed over 8,000 Yemenis to access lifesaving medical care, pursue education and business opportunities and reunite with loved ones. In the past four months of the truce, more fuel ships have entered Hudaydah port than in the whole year of 2021, allowing hospitals and businesses greater access to fuel, helping to maintain proper functionality of and access to public services.

However, unless the truce is adhered to and extended, these important gains will be lost, risking the lives of people across Yemen. Further steps are urgently needed to protect Yemen’s people and future.

Civilian lives continue to be threatened by violations of the truce in some areas, with a recent uptick in casualties in the past month. We urge all parties to the conflict to extend the truce for a longer term of six months or more, adhere to its terms, and uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians and deliver on all elements of the agreement, including the reopening of roads in Taiz.

The past four months have offered a moment of respite and hope for people in Yemen. We cannot afford to lose this progress now. An extension of the truce, adhered to by all parties, would support further fuel shipments into the country, allow more people to benefit from commercial flights from Sana’a, and support humanitarian actors to reach those most in need. It would enable parties to invest more in helping people overcome ongoing economic deterioration and soaring prices which further restrict people from accessing food, as well as agreeing on effective mechanisms to pay salaries. A renewed truce would also allow more time to begin urgently needed clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance from which people across the country remain at risk. Most importantly, it would protect the lives of ordinary Yemenis and open the door to longer-term peace.

We, the undersigned agencies, urge all parties to the conflict to adhere to and extend the truce agreement, build further on the gains made over the past four months, and work towards peace.

The people of Yemen deserve nothing less.

Abn’a Saddah Association
ACTED
Action Against Hunger
Action for Humanity
ADRA
Afaq Shbabia Foundation
CARE
Coalition of Humanitarian Relief
Direct Aid Society
Danish Refugee Council
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Global Communities
Handicap International | Humanity & Inclusion
International Medica Corps
International Rescue Committee
Islamic Relief
Intersos
Marib Girls Foundation
Medair
Medecins du Monde
Mercy Corps
Norwegian People’s Aid
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam
Premiere Urgence Internationale
Qatar Charity
Save the Children
Tamdeen Youth Foundation
Yemen Peace School
ZOA

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Meet the Recipients of our 2022 Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative https://www.oxfam.ca/story/meet-the-recipients-second-community-based-srhr-funding/ Tue, 02 Aug 2022 14:43:42 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41234
The second round of Her Future Her Choice youth funding recipients from left to right: Anna Balagtas, Hani Rukh-E-Qamar, Delilah Kalahunda, Kathryn LeBlanc, and Rebecca Baron.

Oxfam Canada is pleased to announce the second round of recipients of the Her Future Her Choice Financial Support for Community-Based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Initiative, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada. This initiative is part of the five-year Her Future Her Choice program, which aims to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Canada, directly reaching more than 240,000 people, particularly young women and girls.

The Her Future Her Choice program aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights across Canada by supporting community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth (aged 18 to 29) and women's rights or youth-led organizations.

We are thrilled to announce the second round of recipients of this community-based funding initiative.

Youth Recipients

Anna Balagtas (she/they) – Toronto, Ontario

Anna will run a Radical Birthwork Training, which will train 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPGM (Black, Indigenous, and People of the Global Majority) to participate in doula trainings with a decolonial, anti-hierarchical and anti-racist foundation. This opportunity will allow these communities to access reproductive support and knowledge from their own kin and will make birthwork training more accessible for racialized queer folk who will in turn be able to further support others in this work.

Delilah Kalahunda (she/they) [Saskatoon Sexual Health] – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Delilah, in partnership with Saskatoon Sexual Health, will host a solidarity event for abortion access and reproductive justice that will be a catalyst for a renewed energy and commitment to work on SRHR. This event will be hosted in partnership with community allies and provide the opportunity for participants to write postcards to government representatives stating what they want to see change in SRHR in Saskatchewan, along with a documentary viewing and discussion on reproductive justice. An online interactive portal with resources will also be produced to record the demands being made and to share the realities of accessing reproductive care and the stories of resilience and dedication of the reproductive justice community.

Hani Rukh-E-Qamar (she/her) [The Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants] – Regina, Saskatchewan

Hani, in partnership with the Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants, will work on a Community-Based SRH Campaign and Curriculum that builds on the recently finished qualitative study on the “experiences of immigrant women and girls with the SRH curriculums in Canada.” This project will develop two workshops and a toolkit utilizing the research done in the qualitative study. An online symposium on SRH will take place to update attendees on the progress being made on the research project, along with curriculum updates, conversations on the importance of comprehensive sexual education and the importance of this research and project overall. An online workshop will also be held to discuss the experiences of gender-diverse immigrants with mainstream SRH curriculums, and how to approach these conversations with a culturally-sensitive lens.

Kathryn LeBlanc (she/her) – Ottawa, Ontario

Kathryn will be launching Our Bodies, Our Narratives: Best Practices on Campaigning for Sexual & Reproductive Rights. This project will document the best practices and lessons learned from campaigners and activists fighting for sexual health and reproductive rights. An event will also be held to disseminate findings and share the profiles of the campaigners and activists interviewed for the project, alongside the social media posts made to circulate the interview findings.

Rebecca Baron (she/her) [Beyond Boundaries Foundation] – Vancouver, British Columbia

Rebecca will be producing and hosting the Beyond Boundaries Foundation Podcast, of which there will be six episodes. The podcast will share the voices of health professionals, patients and advocates changing SRHR policies and improving the current healthcare landscape in British Columbia. Each episode will examine three overarching themes: (1) making sexual and reproductive health care trans- and gender-inclusive; (2) understanding the lived experiences of barriers and facilitators to healthcare; and (3) describing inequities and determinants of their engagement with SRH services in Canada.

Organizational Recipients

Northern Birthwork Collective – Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Northern Birthwork Collective will be launching the Northern Reproductive Justice Project that will focus on improving access to and provision of Indigenous-focused midwifery programs. As there are currently only two communities in Northwest Territories that offer midwifery services, this work will help ensure Indigenous people do not have to evacuate their homes for reproductive care, like abortions and birthing. This project will consult with communities in various regional hubs to hear the needs and hopes for birthwork midwifery care, including delivering the following activities:

  • Run a government relations and advocacy campaign calling for the creation of a territorial Indigenous focused midwifery education program
  • Run an advocacy campaign calling for more culturally-appropriate supports for people who are evacuated for birth or abortion from remote Indigenous communities
  • Host workshops and sharing circles for people who are evacuated to educate them on informed consent, their options and their rights
  • Develop an escort program to accompany pregnant people to their prenatal appointments to support their interactions with care providers
  • Further develop an abortion support program in partnership with the local abortion clinic in Yellowknife

Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition – Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition will start their project called S.H.A.R.E. (Sex-workers Have Access to Resources Equitably) that will provide a weekly drop-in space for sex workers in Winnipeg. These weekly drop-ins will address and centre the needs and experiences of street-based sex workers, many of whom are disproportionately female, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, low income, people who use substances, people with HIV/AIDS, survivors of intergenerational trauma and violence and people who are underhoused. This project will allow for Winnipeg-based sex workers to access requested and necessary supports in a low-barrier, accessible environment that can meet them where they are without judgment and with a lens of harm reduction. S.H.A.R.E. will also produce and distribute two zines that will be made by sex workers who attend the weekly drop-in sessions.

 

READ MORE: Meet the First Round of Recipients of Our Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative

 

Lisa Gunn is a SRHR program officer in Oxfam Canada's Canadian program.

Thanks to Our Supporters!

This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.

New logo from government of Canada that reads, in partnership with Canada.

]]> Inclusive Child Care For All https://www.oxfam.ca/project/inclusive-child-care-for-all/ Thu, 28 Jul 2022 19:23:25 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=project&p=41278

Advocacy Project

Inclusive Child Care For All

The Inclusive Childcare for All project supports increased engagement in policy conversations from diverse communities and helps grow Canada's child care movement into a diverse and feminist network.

Donate Now

The Situation

Canada's care economy has been pushed to its limit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Decades of underspending have left essential care sectors, including child care, in disarray. Caregivers are overwhelmed, and more people than ever require quality care. The repeated lockdowns had a profound impact on families, disproportionately burdening women with heavy unpaid household care responsibilities. Even before the pandemic, 42 per cent of working-age women globally reported being unable to do paid work because of their unpaid care and domestic work responsibilities—in stark contrast to only 6 per cent of men.

 

Investing in affordable, accessible, high-quality and inclusive child care is crucial for a just pandemic recovery.

 

In 2021, following persistent advocacy by the child care movement, the Federal Government committed $30 billion to build a Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care system (ELCC). Provinces and territories now have agreements to transfer federal funding, with goals set to reduce child care fees to $10 a day, increase the availability of public and not-for-profit child care, and grow a qualified ELCC workforce. 

 

Large gaps in data analyzing the particular challenges faced by racialized women in accessing child care both before and during COVID, along with the intricacies of how policies impact individuals differently, create a high risk of the most marginalized women being overlooked in this new child care system.

 

The Inclusive Child Care for All project aims to bring the voices of underrepresented women and gender-diverse people to the forefront of policy discussions. By supporting the growth of the child care movement as a diverse and feminist network, the project will help advance policy solutions that address barriers to equitable access to early learning and care. 

DETAILS

LOCATION
Canada

DURATION
2 years (2022-2024)

OUR PARTNERS
-Child Care Resource and Research Unit
-Child Care Now

OUR SUPPORTERS
We appreciate the support of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada and the generous Canadian public.

Women and Gender Equality Canada's Signature

Issues At A Glance

2X
Women spend twice as much time on care work than men in Canada.
Monthly
$1600
It's the average cost of child care in Ontario — the highest in the country.
Average hourly wage
$16.05
Early childhood educators are severely underpaid and still earn the lowest wages in the country.
1/2
Just over half of immigrant and non-permanent resident parents report using child care, compared to 69% of Canadian-born parents.

What are we doing?

Policy Ideas

We will build policy proposals to address barriers to inclusive access to licensed child care programs.

Intersectional Research

We will publish research that identifies and unpacks the barriers to equitable and inclusive access to child care.

Community Advocacy

We will support communities and child care champions to move the needle on the policy changes needed in early learning systems.

Donate Now

What have we achieved?

Community Advocacy

We support communities and child care champions to move the needle on the policy changes needed in early learning and child care. In May 2023, we organized the Inclusive Child Care Summit, which brought together over 90 parents, advocates, educators, and equity-seeking organizations. The summit promoted underrepresented women's engagement in advocacy networks. To learn more about the summit and its findings, you can read the Inclusive Child Care for All Summit Report. (FR version)

We have also launched the Where’s Child Care Campaign to mobilize and engage new advocates for early learning and child care.

Intersectional research

We publish research that unpacks the barriers to equitable and inclusive access to child care. The "Child Care for Whom?" paper identifies the challenges underrepresented groups of women experience in accessing early learning and child care, and proposes a framework for equitable access. It recommends a roadmap for building a universal child care system in Canada.

Policy ideas

We propose policies to address barriers to inclusive access to licensed child care programs and make them accessible to advocates. The Early Learning and Child Care for All Toolkit is available to support seasoned and new advocates in promoting policy solutions for inclusive access to child care.

]]> Leader or Laggard? Canada is at the Crossroads of Corporate Accountability https://www.oxfam.ca/story/leader-or-laggard-canada-is-at-the-crossroads-of-corporate-accountability/ Thu, 30 Jun 2022 11:01:09 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41169

Adopting human rights and environmental due diligence legislation would help to advance Canada’s feminist foreign policy goals and gender equality measures in aid, trade, diplomacy, and defence.

Canada is facing a major test of its human rights and feminist credentials. Will the government put effective safeguards in place to ensure Canadian companies proactively respect human rights and the environment abroad?

Our friend and colleague Kalpona Akter, a lifelong labour activist in the Bangladesh garment sector, has told us, “If my mum had received a wage we could live on, I wouldn’t have had to toil in a factory from the age of 12.”

Akter’s story is not unique, and living-wage violations are not the only human rights violations to occur in the fashion world. When the women who make our clothes try to form a union or ask for a raise, their jobs are at risk. Nine out of 10 workers in Bangladesh don’t make enough money to live on or afford food for their families. The women who make our clothes make poverty wages while profits of Canadian fashion brands soar.

It’s promising that Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan’s mandate letter commits to “introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains and ensure that Canadian businesses operating abroad do not contribute to human rights abuses.” The minister has made supply chain legislation his priority and is currently studying existing private members bills tabled in Parliament.

The question is: what kind of legislation will stop the abuse? Learning from other jurisdictions provides some insights.

Robust and comprehensive legislation must include the full range of human rights and have clear consequences for bad behaviour. Effective due diligence is not achieved through voluntary measures, reporting-only laws, or box-ticking compliance exercises. Canadian companies operating or sourcing abroad must be legally obligated to identify, prevent, mitigate, and provide remedy for all human rights violations and environmental damage caused by their operations.

Bill C-262, the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights Act, currently before Parliament, meets global standards on mandatory human rights due diligence. It would ensure Canadian companies across economic sectors proactively respect human rights and would help create a level playing field for business.

Another bill is Senate public bill S-211 on modern slavery reporting, which just passed second reading in the House with government support. Forced and child labour are deplorable and evidence has shown that progress on their elimination has stalled. This modern slavery reporting bill taps into the abhorrence Canadians have for such exploitation, but unfortunately does not create the legislative framework or tools to combat it.

Incredulously, S-211 requires companies to report on whether forced or child labour exist in their supply chains, but does not actually create a legal obligation on companies to stop the practice or to remedy the situation if found. S-211 is modelled on a similar law in the U.K. The experience of other jurisdictions shows that legislation centred on reporting has proven ineffective in addressing egregious labour abuses in global supply chains.

Some might suggest to “not let perfect be the enemy of good.” But is S-211 good? Modern slavery acts and their reporting-only requirements have not brought the change they promised to bring. Adopting S-211 would be like buying a train ticket to nowhere and expecting to arrive at your destination.

If the government is serious on stopping human rights abuses, a bill must include all human rights, robust accountability, and pathways to remedy. As Akter demonstrated in the introduction, her rights as a child were intimately connected to the labour rights of her mother. We will not protect children and eliminate forced labour by ignoring the indivisibility of human rights or adopting measures that do not enforce accountability.

A country’s foreign policy is not limited to the actions of state institutions, such as its embassies and armed forces, but also includes the international operations and business dealings of the private sector. Adopting human rights and environmental due diligence legislation would help to advance Canada’s feminist foreign policy goals and gender equality measures in aid, trade, diplomacy, and defence.

Canada’s mining sector is active in at least 100 countries and Canadian retailers import apparel from every continent, depending on a workforce largely dominated by women. Without oversight of the private sector, the Canadian government risks harming some of its bilateral relationships and setting back its feminist foreign policy objectives.

We are entering a critical moment for corporate accountability in Canada. After years of failed half measures, it is high time we deal meaningfully with the conduct of Canadian business abroad. Let this be Canada’s coming of age and let us learn from the European Union, France, Germany, and Norway with ambition, urgency, and pride.

Our organizations and global partners, representing millions of workers and feminists, believe Canada can and must do the right thing. We need mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation in Canada. The time is now.

Human rights and accountability are non-negotiable.

This op-ed was originally published in The Hill Times on June 15, 2022.

Lauren Ravon is the executive director of Oxfam Canada. Marty Warren is the Canadian national director of the United Steelworkers.

]]> G7 failure to tackle hunger crisis will leave millions to starve https://www.oxfam.ca/news/g7-failure-to-tackle-hunger-crisis-will-leave-millions-to-starve/ Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:00:38 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41195

Responding to news of the $4.5 billion pledge made by the G7 leaders to tackle global hunger, Max Lawson, Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam said:

“Faced with the worst hunger crisis in a generation, the G7 have simply failed to take the action that is needed. Many millions will face terrible hunger and starvation as a result.”

“Instead of doing what is needed, the G7 are leaving millions to starve and cooking the planet.”

“The G7 say themselves that 323 million people are on the brink of starvation, because of the current crisis, a new record high. Nearly a billion people, 950 million are projected to be hungry in 2022. We need at least $28.5 billion more from the G7 to finance food and agriculture investments to end hunger and fill the huge gap in UN humanitarian appeals. The $4.5 billion announced is a fraction of what is needed. The G7 could have done so much more here in Germany to end the food crisis and prevent hunger and starvation worldwide.”

“The G7 weakening of their commitment to stop public money subsidising planet killing fossil fuels is appalling and makes climate breakdown ever more real. This is further exacerbated by their lack of progress in delivering promised finance to support climate action in developing countries.”

“The G7 refusal to heed the call of last year’s UN climate summit to strengthen their weak targets to cut emissions sends out a terrible signal to the rest of the World, especially to vulnerable communities already suffering the impacts of the worsening climate crisis.”

Food and hunger

“Pledging more money is just part of what the G7 could do to end hunger. They could ban biofuels. They could cancel debts of poor nations. They could tax the excess profits of food and energy corporates. Most importantly they could have tackled the economic inequality and climate breakdown that is driving this hunger. They failed to do any of this, despite having the power to do so.”

‘‘For every dollar in aid given, poor countries have to pay back $2 dollars to their creditors, often banks in New York or London making huge profits. The G7 should have cancelled those debts to enable countries to spend money instead on feeding their people.”

“The G7 was held in the same location in Germany in 2015, where a commitment was made to lift 500 million people out of hunger. Seven years later and in fact there are as many as 335 million more hungry people in the world. We urgently need new approaches to addressing hunger that start with addressing underlying drivers such as economic inequality and climate breakdown. Current efforts are woefully inadequate.”

“Corporate profits have soared during COVID-19 and the number of billionaires has increased more in 24 months than it did in 23 years. This food crisis is big business.”

“The G7 had the opportunity to tax the big winners from the crises. The energy and food corporations are making huge profits, creating 62 new food billionaires. They could have agreed to coordinated windfall taxes to fight this crisis and missed a huge opportunity to do so.”

“What we need to see a clear action plan with a new funding not just from traditional donors, but from companies and others that have profited from the current spike in energy and food prices to address the underlying causes of global food insecurity and hunger. It should be clear that the recently launched Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) will complement, rather than undermine existing institutions responsible for global coordination of food and agriculture, including the Committee on World Food Security which plays a key role in policy setting. There is a need to clarify what concrete measures will be proposed under this initiative, and ensure sufficient funding is attached to it to ensure it can deliver.”

“In addition, G7 need to fund the $46 billion global humanitarian appeal which, despite increasing five-fold in the last decade, is only 20% funded today. They should agree to fill this funding gap of $37 billion immediately.”

Climate

The G7 commitments to largely decarbonise their power sectors by 2035 and their road sector by 2030 point into the right direction but should have been stronger, and a much-needed 2030 coal phase out date is missing.

We welcome the initial steps towards Just Transition Energy Partnerships with Indonesia, India, Senegal and Vietnam as such partnerships can create predictability and reliability. Yet, those partnerships need to be backed up by financial commitments to make them effective, and the design and implementation of such partnerships must involve local communities and vulnerable populations from the beginning, based on truly participatory, inclusive and gender just approaches.

COVID-19

Despite the growing danger of new COVID-19 variants, and the failure to deliver even half of the vaccines they promised a year ago at the Carbis Bay Summit in the UK a year ago. Only 18% of the poorest countries are fully vaccinated. The G7 continue to defend the monopolies and intellectual property of their pharmaceutical corporations over supporting developing countries to make their own, generic vaccines.

‘What a difference a year makes. The G7 want us to think COVID-19 is over, and the ongoing global health crisis doesn’t exist. Tell that to the many millions yet to have a single vaccine, and the many still dying from this cruel disease.’

Notes to editors

West Africa is currently facing its worst food crisis in a decade, with 27 million people going hungry. This number could rise to 38 million – an unprecedented level – unless urgent action is taken.

In East Africa, one person is estimated to be dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, as actions have remained too slow and too limited to prevent the hunger crisis from escalating. The rainfall deficit in the most recent rainy season in these three countries has been the most severe in at least 70 years.

In Yemen and Syria, protracted conflicts have shattered people’s livelihoods. In Yemen, more than 17 million people – over half of the population – don’t have enough food, and pockets of the country are experiencing famine-like conditions. In Syria, six out of 10 Syrians – 12.4 million people – are struggling to put food on the table. This means many families are resorting to extreme measures to cope: going into debt to buy food, taking children out of school to work, and reducing the number of meals they have each day. Marrying off young daughters so there is one less mouth to feed has become another negative coping strategy.

The FAO State of the World’s Food Security report 2021 (page  10) shows that 615 million people were hungry in 2015. The WFP are now talking about as many as 950 million in hunger this year, 2022.  The difference between these two is 335 million.  When they last met in Germany in 2015, the G7 made the following declaration in their communique:

“As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the Post 2015 Development Agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.”

According to the UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service there is a $37bn funding shortfall in humanitarian appeals. According to the Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger report, which sets out a 10-year plan to eradicate hunger, an additional $330 billion is needed over 10 years and that the donor funding gap over this period is $140 bn, so $14 billion per year. Adding $37 billion and $14 billion gives us a total of $51 billion each year.

The G7 share of total aid is around 65%, so the G7 share of this figure is $33 billion.  They promised $4.5 billion, leaving a shortfall of $28.5 billion.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> What Does It Mean to Live in a Post-Roe v. Wade World? https://www.oxfam.ca/story/what-does-it-mean-to-live-in-a-post-roe-v-wade-world/ Mon, 27 Jun 2022 21:14:30 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41159

My heart sank when I heard about the leaked U.S. Supreme Court's draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade. The news didn't come as a surprise. Since Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, women's rights advocates have known this was a threatening possibility.    

Still, to think of the blood, sweat and tears of countless activists, friends and colleagues who worked first to achieve and then protect Roe v. Wade, only to witness the reversal of abortion rights legislation that’s almost 50 years old – the heartache is real. To think of the women, adolescent girls, lower-income, undocumented, BIPOC, trans and non-binary pregnant people in the U.S. who will bear the brunt of this decision, who will have fewer rights than those who came before them – the heartbreak makes it hard to breathe.

The Roe v. Wade reversal will have harmful ripple effects beyond U.S. borders. Anti-democratic and anti-gender actors, already well-resourced and mobilized, will be further emboldened to push through their anti-rights agendas. Abortion misinformation campaigns, already prevalent, will continue to percolate. Many people wonder what the chances are of a similar legislative rollback happening in Canada. While abortion is decriminalized in the country – creating the grounds for it to be treated like any other healthcare procedure – in practice, accessing safe and timely abortion care continues to be incredibly difficult for many Canadians.

Abortion in Canada 

Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and services in Canada has been underfunded for decades. The pandemic has only exacerbated this situation. There are significant disparities between rural and urban access to abortion. In provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, abortion is only available in urban centres, despite 35 to 40 per cent of the population living in rural or remote communities. This results in logistical, geographical and financial barriers to many people accessing timely and safe abortion services.

Anti-abortion movements, moreover, are all too active in Canada. There are more anti-abortion organizations or “crisis pregnancy centers” that provide misinformation about abortion or pregnancy options than abortion clinics in the country.   

These trends can understandably fuel feelings of pessimism and despair. Yet, those working on the frontlines of reproductive justice know that this work requires going up against entrenched social norms and patriarchal structures. The work is never really done. There’s always the risk of pushback or rollback.  

READ MORE: What Keeps Me Up at Night: COVID-19, Abortion and Protecting Women’s Rights

To our left a woman holds a megaphone, covering her face while to our right, a group conformed by gender diverse people and women extend their arms and appear to be shouting and smiling while outside, in front of a brown brick building.
Reproductive rights campaigners in Buenos Aires, Argentina, wearing green handkerchiefs that have become a trademark of the abortion movement, erupt in celebration outside the country's congress after the government announced the legalization of abortion in December 2020. Photo: Fotomovimiento/Creative Commons

Advancing Reproductive Rights Around the World 

While these risks are real, there have also been tremendous opportunities and wins thanks to the work of feminist and women's rights organizations worldwide. These are but a few instances of real, tangible gains:

Achieving sexual and reproductive rights, especially in terms of protecting or expanding access to safe abortion, requires ongoing work, diligence and persistence from feminist activists on the ground, making it fundamental to support women’s rights organizations and their gender justice work.  

We see important inroads being made through our programming. Through funding from the Her Future Choice (HFHC) program, in Canada Birth Mark is training new abortion doulas across the country to help facilitate safe abortion access. HFHC partners in Malawi, despite resistance and roadblocks at the parliamentary level, continue to expand legislative grounds for abortion by advocating for the Termination of Pregnancy Bill. And in Mozambique, community health workers, like Domingas, have been working to raise awareness about how to access abortion services. Although the country liberalized its abortion law in 2014, many people still don't know about these legislative changes, including most people in Domingas' community, Milange.

Domingas learned about Mozambique expanding its laws to guarantee free and safe abortion when she attended an HFHC training session.

“In the training I took, not only I learnt about the circumstances and period in which you can have an abortion,” Domingas says, “but I also learnt that we don’t have to pay for it and that our health facilities in the countryside also provide safe abortion.”

She has started telling others in her community about sexual and reproductive health services and getting them up to date on the country’s abortion law. This includes 16-year-old Jacinta, who was able to have a free and safe abortion in a health facility near her home. Domingas' work is already paying off: "Today, I feel happy supporting many other women."

It’s hard to believe we are in a post-Roe v. Wade world. It’s painful. More than ever, abortion rights activists, mobilizers and service providers need our support. This is how we keep breathing through the heartache, this is how we honour the work and efforts of women’s rights advocates past and present. This is how we move forward.   

Lara Cousins is a Women's Rights Knowledge specialist at Oxfam Canada.

]]> G7 must pursue windfall taxes on excess corporate ‘pandemic profits’ and cancel poor country debts to fund fight against hunger https://www.oxfam.ca/news/g7-must-pursue-windfall-taxes-on-excess-corporate-pandemic-profits-and-cancel-poor-country-debts-to-fund-fight-against-hunger/ Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:35:41 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=41146 The G7 must pursue windfall taxes on excess corporate profits including from those making huge returns from surging food and energy prices. The revenues can be used to fund an end to global hunger and to tackle climate change, says Oxfam.

The G7 meets this week in Germany with the world in deep crisis. Developing countries, still reeling from the impact of COVID-19 with their populations not yet fully vaccinated, are now being bankrupted by rapidly rising food and energy prices. Billions of people are struggling to buy food and millions are now facing acute hunger and famine-like conditions. 

Oxfam is calling on G7 leaders to set out a properly funded plan to tackle the global food crisis. They should also address their failure to get the whole world vaccinated against COVID-19, despite promising to do so a year ago.

Rising interest rates in rich nations are fueling the debt crisis, with many countries facing default or crippling repayments. In 2022 the debt servicing for the world’s poorest countries is estimated at $43 billion. In 2021, debt represented 171 percent of all spending on healthcare, education and social protection combined for low-income countries. Oxfam is calling on the G7 to immediately cancel 2022 and 2023 debt payments for all the low and middle-income countries that require it. 

New Oxfam research shows that a 90 percent windfall tax on the excess profits made by G7’s largest corporations during the pandemic could generate almost $430 billion. This could fully fund the shortfalls on all existing humanitarian appeals and a 10-year plan to end hunger, while also raising enough for a one-off payment of over $3,000 to the poorest 10 percent of the population of the G7 countries, to help cover the rising cost of living.

The G7 are proposing a new initiative called the ‘Global Alliance for Food Security’ to be launched at the leaders’ summit. Although the plan is promising, they launched a similar plan in Germany in 2015 to reduce the level of hungry people by 500 million, by 2030, but have so far failed to deliver the funding promised for it. 

“This global hunger crisis, coming on top of the pandemic, is catastrophic. The G7 have a chance to show ordinary people that they are on their side, and not that of the corporates and creditors making huge excessive profits from these multiple crises. The G7 must implement a coordinated initiative of windfall taxes and debt cancellation to fully fund an action plan to end world hunger,” said Oxfam International Executive Director, Gabriela Bucher.

The G7 need to double the amount of aid they provide for agriculture, food security and nutrition, amounting to $15bn per year. At the same time, they need to fully fund the $46 billion United Nations global humanitarian appeal, which is only 21 per cent funded today.  

Oxfam research shows that corporations in the energy, food and pharmaceutical sectors – where monopolies are especially common – are posting record-high profits, even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices and COVID-19. The fortunes of food and energy billionaires have risen by $453 billion in the last two years, equivalent to $1 billion every two days. Five of the largest energy companies (BP, Shell, Total Energies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second. There are now 62 new food billionaires.

The Ukraine crisis has had a huge impact on food prices but these are fueled by long-standing inequalities and failures in the global food system. Equally the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis have deeply harmed the ability of poor people and poor nations to cope. Between April 2020 and December 2021, wheat prices had increased by 80 percent.

“Hunger thrives on inequality and inaction. Across all countries – as food and energy costs spiral – it is the poorest and most marginalized people who are faced with the most desperate choices. In the poorest countries, the cost-of-living crisis has become a test-of-survival. The G7 must react to the most fundamental of asks we can ever make of our political leaders – help to feed people and stop them dying,” Bucher said.

Agencies like Oxfam have been sounding the alarm about East Africa – where one person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds and the rains have recently failed again – but also in West Africa, which has been hit by its worst food crisis in a decade and where 27 million people are now going hungry. Hunger is stalking other countries too in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America – driven by inequality, climate change, the effects of COVID-19, conflict, poverty, and underinvestment in agriculture, aid and other essential services. 

The G7 also needs to confront its failure to do its part in vaccinating the world against COVID-19. Just 18 percent of people in the poorest countries are fully vaccinated while the G7 have defended the monopolies of pharmaceutical corporations against allowing developing countries to manufacture their own vaccines. After years of delay, last week at the WTO ministerial, G7 nations forced through a deeply inadequate agreement on vaccines and intellectual property that will fail to support production in developing countries.

Vulnerable communities in lower-income countries are facing the worst consequences of the climate crisis. Emissions are rising, yet the targets offered by countries under the Paris Agreement to cut emissions to keep warming below the critical 1.5°C threshold are insufficient. Despite a call from last year’s UN climate summit to increase emission targets, the G7 have shown no willingness to heed the call. 

Developed countries, including the G7, continue to miss their 2009 promise to provide the annual $100 billion in climate finance for mitigation and adaptation for lower income countries. The G7 should commit to deliver on the goal set by COP26 to double their provision of adaptation financing by 2025 – to strengthen long-term resilience and address climate-induced hunger, and to make clear how they will do so.
 

Notes to editors

To calculate the excess profit tax, Oxfam looked at the profits of the companies listed on the Forbes 2000 list of the largest companies in the world based on sales, profits, assets, and market value. The database was accessed from an open dataset repository (2017-2021 and 2022), which was then spot checked and cleaned to the best of our ability, for example by standardizing naming conventions. The companies who are based in G7 countries, that have been on the list from 2017-2022, and made a profit for each of those years, were selected and the average profit between 2017-2020 (considered the pre-pandemic period as the data cut off is in April) were subtracted from the average 2021-2022 profits to give an excess profit total. Only those who increased their profit above 10 percent of their pre-pandemic average were included. In total there are 360 companies in the cohort.

The total excess profit is $477,226,450,000 which taxed at a 90 percent rate would create $429,503,805,000 in revenue. According to the UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service there is a $37bn funding shortfall in humanitarian appeals. According to the Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger report, which sets out a 10-year plan to eradicate hunger, an additional $330 billion is needed over 10 years and that the donor funding gap over this period is $140 bn. The population of G7 countries is 770 million, according to the UN. A one-off payment of $3,253 to the poorest 10% would cost $253bn.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.orgg

]]> Nearly 30,000 people have died every day from COVID-19 since WTO talks on vaccine intellectual property began https://www.oxfam.ca/news/nearly-30000-people-have-died-every-day-from-covid-19-since-wto-talks-on-vaccine-intellectual-property-began/ Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:01:54 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40891 Failure of the UK and EU countries to agree to TRIPS waiver costs lives and undermines credibility and future of WTO 

17.5 million people have died from COVID-19 in the 20 months since WTO talks about relaxing COVID-19 intellectual property (IP) rules began – the equivalent of nearly 30,000 people a day said campaigners from Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance today ahead of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial. Over half of deaths caused by COVID-19 have been in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The IP waiver, which India and South Africa proposed in October 2020 and is backed by over 100 countries, would allow low- and middle-income countries to produce their own cheaper generic COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments. However, a few countries – the UK, Switzerland, and those in the EU – have blocked WTO talks from reaching an agreement which could have saved countless lives.

Now, instead of focusing on the IP waiver, WTO negotiations are focused on a dangerous and limited alternative. Campaigners warn that the alternative proposal will not help producers in lower-income countries as it adds more hurdles preventing poorer countries from producing vaccines. In addition, it only covers vaccines, not tests or treatments, is not global in scope and does not cover all IP or technology transfer.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s health policy lead said: “Nearly 30,000 people around the world have died every day since South Africa and India first proposed the IP waiver back in October 2020. If the world had acted immediately then many of these people could still be alive today. Yet, the UK and EU countries have continually sought to delay and dilute any meaningful outcome at the WTO and have refused to listen to the concerns of poorer countries.

“This is outrageous hypocrisy from leaders who said vaccines should be a global public good yet have worked for 20 months to derail the very process that could have delivered that promise.

“With the world facing multiple crises on top of COVID-19, it is incomprehensible that we are still debating whether or not it’s a good idea for poorer countries to be able to produce their own vaccines, tests and treatments for this and any future pandemics.”

Currently, less than a fifth of people in African countries have been fully vaccinated. For more than a year, vaccines were not available and once supplies began, they were sporadic and too often delivered too close to expiry to be used in full. This has undermined the trust between the EU and countries in Africa, and countries’ ability to plan effective vaccine rollouts.

Despite this and the logistical challenges faced, the African continent has collectively administered 70 per cent of the doses it has received. This is higher than many European countries, such as Portugal (68 per cent), Austria (58 per cent) and Cyprus (69 per cent). These rollouts in African countries were also achieved with more limited health budgets, where per capita spending on health is on average 33 times lower than in high-income countries.

Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned that the deadlock at the WTO on an IP waiver risks ongoing trade negotiations and undermines the credibility of the organization, especially as the global economy is facing the prospect of a recession coupled with rising food and fuel prices.

Julia Kosgei, policy advisor at the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “The EU says they are listening to their African partners, but in reality, they are turning a deaf ear to their calls for a real vaccine waiver and are instead in bed with Big Pharma.

“EU countries should finally show some flexibility and good faith needed to secure a genuine IP waiver and rebuild trust with the world at this critical moment.”

Campaigners warn that the current vaccine apartheid is likely to be repeated with the next generation vaccines as well as for COVID treatments. Putting up new barriers to making vaccines could set a dangerous precedent for future pandemics, they warn.

Kosgei added: “‘Why should people in lower-income countries be forced to face today’s COVID-19 variants with yesterday’s vaccines, while rich countries once again monopolize the supply of new vaccines made to protect against new variants?

“We don’t want charity; we want solidarity, and we want our rights! We call on all governments to finally do the right thing and back the waiving of IP for COVID vaccines, tests and treatments, for this and any future pandemics”.

 – 30 –

Notes to editors:
  • The number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic is based on the central estimates from the Economist’s excess death model. South Africa and India proposed an IP waiver at the WTO on October 15, 2020. In the 597 days since the waiver was proposed (up to June 4, 2022), 17,543,563 people are estimated to have died.
  • The administered percentage for Portugal, Austria and Cyprus is based on the total doses administered according to Our World in Data divided by total deliveries (minus doses that were then donated) according to the EU’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The African CDC reports that 70.4 per cent of doses have been administered.
  • According to the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database, African countries spend on average $68 US per capita on health compared to high-income countries that spend $2,239 US. This is based on Government spending and capital expenditure in 2019 using current US dollars.
  • The new proposal was tabled by the WTO secretariat after discussions between the so-called Quad countries, comprised of the European Union, the United States, South Africa, and India. Only the EU has agreed to the text. It focuses only on COVID-19 vaccines and not on treatments. It includes new barriers to vaccine production, such as an impossible requirement to identify and list every patent relating to a vaccine before using flexibilities that are already in the TRIPS agreement. There are also measures to prevent low-income countries from sharing unused doses with one another.
  • Oxfam’s Pandemic of Greed briefing note: over half (54 per cent) of all deaths caused by COVID-19 have been in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Do you know where your clothes come from? Learn how 5 of your favourite companies stack up https://www.oxfam.ca/story/do-you-know-where-your-clothes-come-from-learn-how-5-of-your-favourite-companies-stack-up/ Tue, 07 Jun 2022 20:48:25 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40897

Supply chain transparency is a growing trend in the clothing industry, in part, because consumers are demanding it. A study from the MIT Sloan School of Management found that consumers would be willing to pay 2 to 10 per cent more for products from companies that provide greater supply chain transparency, including full disclosure of where their products are coming from, under what conditions they are being made and what components and materials were used.

Work done by transparency advocates has paved the way for greater supply chain disclosure, with the level of information publicly available having increased significantly over the past decade. Twenty-five years ago, no major garment company disclosed their suppliers, having considered their supplier list to be sensitive business information, which could put them at a competitive disadvantage if disclosed. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, major apparel brands, like Nike and Adidas, began disclosing the names and addresses of their factories in response to a campaign led by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).

Supply chain transparency is a powerful tool to defend workers’ rights, improve ethical business practices and build trust with consumers and other stakeholders – so then why is the fashion industry keeping consumers in the dark?

Transparency is a key ingredient in implementing an ethical business model and a critical precursor to paying living wages to the women who make our clothes across the supply chain. Brands have a clear responsibility to be transparent as a first step towards identifying, mitigating, and remediating human rights and environmental risks. It enables prevention or mitigation of human rights abuse by allowing workers and worker rights-based organizations know which companies to alert about abuses at a factory, so the companies can take action to resolve the issue, and monitoring can reveal if a company is moving away from a given production site due to increases in wages or stronger labour rights legislation.

Read our Brand Tracker Backgrounder to learn why being transparent is important to improving labour practices in the fashion industry.

In 2016, several human and labour rights organizations together with global unions formed a coalition to improve supply chain transparency in the fashion industry. They created the Transparency Pledge as a common minimum standard for supply chain disclosure and as a tool to influence brands to disclose. Several companies have aligned with the Pledge4 and disclose their suppliers. Some companies have gone further and begun to disclose their fabric, accessories, and raw material suppliers – moving further down the supply chain and leading the way amongst their industry peers.

It is exciting that transparency is becoming a common trend within many European and US companies – it’s time for more Canadian companies to follow suit and keep up with global trends, international standards, and consumer demand.

Oxfam Canada’s What She Makes campaign is asking companies to be transparent to enable consumers, human and labour rights organizations, investors, and regulators to monitor where a company sources from.

With so many global brands having embraced supply chain transparency, Oxfam Canada has scored five leading Canadian fashion companies on their commitment to being transparent in our What She Makes brand tracker.

Using our brand tracker, you can take to social media and tell companies that you want to know where their products are made so workers’ rights are respected, and poverty is not sewn into the clothes that you wear!

Aritzia

White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.Artizia reports publicly on their website the countries from which they source both finished goods and fabrics. However, Aritzia does not disclose factory names, locations or addresses. There is also no public information on the types of products being sourced from each factory, nor the number of workers or gender breakdown of the workforce by factory. Aritzia reports that they conduct onboarding assessments for each new factory, which includes a review of employment practices, labour rights protections, working hours, wages, freedom of association and health and safety – among other areas. They also have third-party audits on supplier performance based on their supplier code of conduct. They usually announce when their audits will take place as they believe it builds relationships based on transparency and trust. However, if needed, they can conduct unannounced audits of their suppliers.

Herschel

White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.Herschel does not disclose the names, locations or addresses of their supplier factories, nor any other essential details required for supply chain transparency. However, Herschel claims to be committed to respecting human rights and have a high level of transparency from their factories and suppliers. They report that they conduct annual social compliance audit and regular site visits of factories in its supply chain to verify compliance with Herschel’s supplier code of conduct and other requirements. Their sustainability reporting appears to be driven largely by legal requirements to do so under California’s Supply Chain Transparency Act and the UK Modern Slavery Act.

Joe Fresh (Loblaw)

White exclaimation mark in a yellow circle icon that says "Some Action Taken" below.

Loblaw has taken significant steps to improve safety and transparency within their supply chain, specifically related to Joe Fresh’s apparel manufacturing and materials procurement. Joe Fresh sources primarily from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Korea and Thailand. They also disclose the list of factories that they source their products from. This is an essential step towards supply chain transparency. However, we encourage them to disclose publicly the types of products made, number of workers, breakdown by gender in each factory and the sourcing channel.

lululemon

According to their most recently updated supplier list, lululemon works with approximately 90 suppliers, 18 finished goods subcontractors and 19 raw material suppliers. According to their recently updated factory list, they source primarily from Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan. They require all their manufacturers to adhere to their vendor code of ethics. Their product quality and sustainability team partners with leading inspection and verification firms to closely monitor each supplier’s compliance with applicable laws and lululemon’s vendor code of ethics. lululemon has done excellent work disclosing their supply chain by providing factory names, locations, addresses and types of products made, number of workers and the breakdown of workers by gender in each factory. Their list includes active facilities, subcontractors and their top raw material suppliers.

Roots

White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.Roots’ investor disclosures (Annual Information Form 2022, SEDAR filings) state that most of their apparel products are sourced outside of North America. They source fabrics and other materials and selected finished merchandise from third-party suppliers, and work with third-party manufacturers to produce most of their apparel products. Roots does not disclose their list of factories or other information required for supply chain transparency. Suppliers and manufacturers are subject to their supplier code of conduct and manufacturing standards. They also conduct third-party social audits for compliance with local laws and global standards. However, their code of conduct is not publicly available, nor are any details on what labour standards are evaluated in the auditing process.

]]> Oxfam Canada Land Acknowledgement https://www.oxfam.ca/landing-page/oxfam-canada-land-acknowledgement/ Mon, 06 Jun 2022 20:07:02 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=landing-page&p=40890

Oxfam Land Acknowledgement

Oxfam Canada acknowledges the historical and ongoing oppression and colonization of all Indigenous Peoples, cultures and lands in the place we now know as Canada.

Our office is located on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin First Nation. We recognize the longstanding relationship the Algonquin have with this territory that has been nurtured since time immemorial.

We also pay respect to all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit on the lands that we now know as Canada. We acknowledge the historical and ongoing oppression and colonization of the people and the loss of culture and land.

We recognize the valuable past, present, and future contributions of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit as customary keepers and defenders of this territory. We honour their culture, knowledge, leadership, and courage. As settlers, we recognize this first step in a long journey toward decolonization and move towards reconciliation.

]]> Queer Joy: What Is It? Why We Need More of It? https://www.oxfam.ca/story/queer-joy-what-is-it-why-we-need-more-of-it Thu, 02 Jun 2022 04:03:34 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40851

June is widely marked worldwide as a Pride month – a celebration of the LGBTQI+ community and commemoration of their struggle for equal rights and justice. We say “widely” and not “universally” because although LGBTQI+ people live in every country and are part of different religious, ethnic and cultural communities, their existence and equal rights are not universally recognized. In a world experiencing wars, famines and other crises, it’s easy to not keep in mind things that propel justice and equality.

As a global movement fighting for an equal and just world for everyone, Oxfam celebrates Pride month to express gratitude to our LGBTQI+ partner organizations and activists for contributing to social progress, human rights and equality. This year we’ve teamed up with artists, LGBTQI+ activists and their allies to celebrate queer joy.

Here’s our take on what queer joy is and why we need more of it.

Queer Joy is a Positive Feeling 

Queer joy is an idea everyone can understand, even if you’re not an LGBTQI+ person. You may have experienced queer joy while eating a cake at a same-sex wedding, when our same-sex friends celebrate an anniversary, or when your company hires a transgender colleague. Queer joy is even more critical for LGBTQI+ people. It sustains the fight for being recognized as equals before the law and in the eyes of society. It is even more precious for LGBTQI+ people in contexts where progress on gender justice is minimal.

Queer joy is a positive feeling we get from encountering signs of progress in gender equality and gender diversity.

Queer Joy is Powerful

Research proves that a robust feminist movement is the most powerful factor for progress in eliminating gender-based violence and moving closer toward gender equality.

LGBTQI+ movements are a significant and integral part of it.

Queer activism and scholarship help expand our understanding of gender and sexuality and champion the messages of diversity, acceptance and inclusion in our societies. As of 2022, marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 30 countries - Chile and Switzerland are the most recent additions. It is inspiring and empowering to see LGBTQI+ rights recognized as inalienable human rights by more states. That’s how we’ll win!

Queer Joy is Empowering

Queer joy helps sustain the struggle for social justice. Dealing with issues like gender-based violence and conversion therapy and constantly facing backlash and hate is exhausting. Pride Month gives us a welcome break to balance the fight with a well-deserved celebration. And the experience of Queer joy is not only felt during Pride. The LGBTIQ+ community supports its members 365 days a year. It’s now up to our governments and us to support the LGBTQI+ community in creating a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, irrespective of their gender identity and sexual orientation.

Text reads: Queer Joy Manifesto: Blossoming outside or rigid gender norms and roles. Seeing LGTBQI+ people in leadership roles. Knowing I can be myself without fear of violence. Expressing myself freely through my look and clothes. Being surrounded by a diverse and powerful community.

Queer Joy is Bittersweet

Despite the progress made in recent decades across the globe, we are still miles away from full gender equality. LGBTQI+ people are disproportionately affected by every crisis that hits the world – from climate emergencies to wars. They experience adverse effects of the “ignored pandemic” of gender-based violence and the social and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Queer joy is bittersweet: even amidst the celebration, we never forget those who fall victim to these crises due to their gender identity and expression or sexual orientation.

Queer Joy is Resilient

Sometimes the progress feels like two steps back and one step forward. However, LGBTQI+ activism continues to result in positive change. The message of gender equality is winning the hearts and minds of people worldwide. Strong people uplift queer joy despite the struggle. They take that step forward, no matter how small.

Queer Joy is for Everyone

Everyone has a role in bringing together a just and equal world for all. Together with different teams, campaigns and partners working on advancing gender justice, we’ve developed a Queer Joy Manifesto to express how such a world may look like for LGBTQI+ people. We hope that this vision will inspire more people – queer or not, to join hands in bringing it one step closer every day.

 Happy Pride Month, and may queer joy be with you!

We've Got More For You

Follow us on social media to find out more about each line of the Manifesto, and what we and our partners do to make this vision come true.

]]> Pandemic creates new billionaire every 30 hours — now a million people could fall into extreme poverty at same rate in 2022 https://www.oxfam.ca/news/pandemic-creates-new-billionaire-every-30-hours-now-a-million-people-could-fall-into-extreme-poverty-at-same-rate-in-2022/ Mon, 23 May 2022 00:01:59 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40833 As the cost of essential goods rises faster than it has in decades, billionaires in the food and energy sectors are increasing their fortunes by $1 billion dollars every two days

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief today.

“Profiting from Pain” is published as the World Economic Forum in Davos takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes.

In Canada, the wealth of billionaires has increased by 57.1 per cent since the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020. The 41 richest billionaires own as much as the poorest 40 per cent of Canadians.

“Billionaires gathered in Davos have enjoyed an obscene surge in their fortunes over the last two years. The pandemic and now the steep rise in food and energy prices have been a bonanza for the wealthiest, while millions of people face hunger and poverty as the cost living shoots up,” said Ian Thomson, manager of policy for Oxfam Canada.

The brief shows that 573 people became new billionaires during the pandemic, at the rate of one every 30 hours. We expect this year that 263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours.

Billionaires’ wealth has risen more in the first 24 months of COVID-19 than in 23 years combined. The total wealth of the world’s billionaires is now equivalent to 13.9 per cent of global GDP. This is a three-fold increase (up from 4.4 per cent) in 2000.

“Billionaire wealth is growing because the super-rich have rigged the system for decades and are now reaping the benefits. The wealthiest — most of whom are men — are benefiting from privatization, pharmaceutical monopolies, fossil fuel subsidies and rollbacks of workers’ rights. Meanwhile, low-income people are working harder and earning less in pay,” said Thomson. “Inequality risks tearing apart our societies if we don’t stop it.”

Oxfam’s new research also reveals that corporations in the energy, food and pharmaceutical sectors — where monopolies are especially common — are posting record-high profits, even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices amid COVID-19. The fortunes of food and energy billionaires have risen by $453 billion in the last two years, equivalent to $1 billion every two days. Five of the world’s largest energy companies (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires.

From Sri Lanka to Sudan, record-high global food prices are sparking social and political upheaval. Sixty per cent of low-income countries are on the brink of debt distress. While inflation is rising everywhere, price hikes are particularly devastating for low-wage workers whose health and livelihoods were already most vulnerable to COVID-19, particularly women, racialized and marginalized people. People in poorer countries spend more than twice as much of their income on food than those in rich countries.

  • Today, 2,668 billionaires — 573 more than in 2020 — own $12.7 trillion, an increase of $3.78 trillion.
  • The world’s 10 richest men own more wealth than the bottom 40 per cent of humanity, 3.1 billion people.
  • The richest 20 billionaires are worth more than the entire GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • A worker in the bottom 50 per cent would have to work for 112 years to earn what a person in the top one per cent gets in a single year.

The pandemic has created 40 new pharma billionaires. Pharmaceutical corporations like Moderna and Pfizer are making $1,000 profit every second just from their monopoly control of the COVID-19 vaccine, despite its development having been supported by billions of dollars in public investments. They are charging governments up to 24 times more than the potential cost of generic production. Eighty-seven per cent of people in low-income countries have still not been fully vaccinated.

“The extremely rich and powerful are profiting from pain and suffering. This is unconscionable. Some have grown rich by denying billions of people access to vaccines, others by exploiting rising food and energy prices. They are paying out massive bonuses and dividends while paying as little tax as possible. This rising wealth and rising poverty are two sides of the same coin, proof that our economic system is functioning exactly how the rich and powerful designed it to do,” said Thomson.

“The Canadian government talks a good game about taxing extreme wealth inequality but we need to see more action. In the last two federal budgets, new taxes on luxury goods and increased tax rates on big banks have been announced but not implemented. The true test will be if Canada and other major economies find the political will to finally tax billionaire wealth.”

Oxfam recommends that governments urgently:

  • Introduce one-off solidarity taxes on billionaires’ pandemic windfalls to fund support for people facing rising food and energy costs and a fair and sustainable recovery from COVID-19. Argentina adopted a one-off special levy dubbed the ‘millionaire’s tax’ and is now considering introducing a windfall tax on energy profits as well as a tax on undeclared assets held overseas to repay IMF debt. The super-rich have stashed nearly $8 trillion in tax havens.
  • End crisis profiteering by introducing a temporary excess profit tax of 90 per cent to capture the windfall profits of big corporations across all industries. Oxfam estimated that such a tax on just 32 super-profitable multinational companies could have generated $104 billion in revenue in 2020.
  • Introduce permanent wealth taxes to rein in extreme wealth and monopoly power, as well as the outsized carbon emissions of the super-rich. An annual wealth tax on millionaires starting at just  two per cent, and five per cent on billionaires, could generate $2.52 trillion a year — enough to lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty, make enough vaccines for the world, and deliver universal healthcare and social protection for everyone living in low- and lower middle-income countries.

– 30 –

Notes to editors:
  • Download “Profiting from Pain” and the methodology document outlining how Oxfam calculated the statistics in the brief.
  • All currency are in USD.
  • Oxfam’s calculations are based on the most up-to-date and comprehensive data sources available.
  • Figures on the very richest in society come from the Forbes billionaire list. All amounts are expressed in US dollars and, where relevant, have been adjusted for inflation using the US consumer price index.
  • The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per day. One person is likely dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to estimates by Oxfam and Save the Children.
  • Half of working women of color in the US earn less than $15 an hour. This not enough to cover cost-of-living for most households, and leaves millions of families in the US below the poverty line.
  • According to Gabriel Zucman, the super-rich have stashed nearly $8 trillion in tax havens.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Feminism and the rise of white supremacy in Canada https://www.oxfam.ca/story/feminism-and-the-rise-of-white-supremacy-in-canada/ Tue, 17 May 2022 22:06:01 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40812

Special to Oxfam Canada: Written by Erica Ifill, who is an economist, journalist, founder of Not In My Colour – an equity and inclusion consultancy that builds inclusive workplaces – and co-host of the Bad + Bitchy – a podcast on politics and pop culture from an intersectional feminist perspective. Views expressed in this post are those of the author. Cannot be reproduced without permission of the author.

The threat of far-right extremism is growing in Canada. Ideas and rhetoric that were once seen as the outliers of society have been normalized through the election of Donald Trump in 2016, and social media is the glue that brings these organizations together and spreads their propaganda. However, what may surprise some is the increase in women’s participation in far-right movements. Most recent examples include Marie Le Pen, who was in the running for the presidency of France, and Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the Ottawa Convoy that occupied the nation’s capital for three weeks.

The misogyny of the far-right is well-documented. They are staunchly anti-feminist and feel that feminism has ruined women and removed them from the traditional familial roles of the 1950s. The far-right movement's projections on women are contradictory, “oscillating between benevolent and hostile sexism,” as astute analysis in Project Syndicate revealed, “women are either weak vessels who need to be protected, or sly aggressors destroying Western nation-states in the name of gender equality.” The former highlights and champions male dominance, the latter positions men as the victims of wily she-devils who are entitled to react to the aggression of others. As usual, women can’t win.

Immigration and identity are used as wedge issues to create a tension with non-white workers.

For the far right, the recruitment of white women is necessary to grow their movement. As more far-right personalities try to go mainstream, the idea of shared family values will require women’s input or subordination. More white women also mean the birth of more white babies to counteract a conspiracy theory on the systematic replacement of white people, known as the Great Replacement Theory. These women put a kinder, gentler face on aggressively harmful rhetoric and can attract other women, mostly through social media – far-right influencers have gained prominence on YouTube and Instagram.

How could such a misogynistic movement attract women?

Let’s be honest: life is hard. And it’s gotten harder primarily for women in the working class. Around the world, women earn less than men, overall. Cross-country data compiled by the University of Oxford on the gender wage gap shows that women are economically disadvantaged due to over-representation in lower-paying jobs, are less likely to own land and are less likely to make the household decisions, while carrying the greatest household burdens. Add in government austerity policies that reduce social spending, and what is left is a cauldron of suffering for women.

In addition, the pandemic has hit women harder than men in Canada. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report that looked at the impact of COVID-19 on the economic security of women in Canada. They found that women were hit on multiple levels during this pandemic. From frontline workers to caregiving sectors, women represented the hardest hit workers by the provincial lockdowns in the first and second waves of the pandemic.

It is based on these lived realities that the far right is organizing and increasing their appeal to white women. And they’ve gotten quite clever at it. They have re-framed their anti-feminist and anti-women rhetoric by focusing on social benefits. Called “welfare chauvinism”, the European Centre for Populism Studies explains that this approach to attracting women combines white nationalist principles with left-wing social policies, such as family and child benefits.

A light-skinned woman stands in front of a stone wall. She is holding a Canadian flag in her right hand and a sign that reads Fight for Freedom in her left hand. She is wearing a red jacket and a red, white and black tuque with the word Canada on it. She appears to be smiling for the camera.

They rebrand slogans such as "my body, my choice", used by feminists to champion bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion, to make right-wing politics more palatable to women.

Immigration and identity are used as wedge issues to create a tension with non-white workers. For working-class white women, who often are in direct competition with immigrants or migrants – who are most likely of colour – for jobs, the tension between the disappearing welfare state (state benefits) and the increased migration of displaced persons have resulted in women who are vulnerable to the far right. The Observer Research Foundation explains: “Since women have traditionally held dispensable part-time positions or worked in the informal sector wherein job security is low and competition with immigrants for limited resources is high, their grievances against immigration found takers within the far-right.”

Another tactic of far-right actors to attract women into their midst is to co-opt feminist language while actively promoting harm. They rebrand slogans such as “my body, my choice”, used by feminists to champion bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion, to be more palatable to women. This tactic has another purpose: to confuse women as to the slogan’s meaning, which disarms progressive movements.

A middle-aged light-skinned woman with dark, round sunglasses and a white sweater on gives the peace sign out of the window of the car she is riding in, which is an old red camaro painted to look like the Canadian flag. There is a crowd of protesters behind the car, and one sign is more visible than the others. It reads No Vaccine Mandate.

Finally, there is a growing overlap between New Age practices, or the wellness industry, and white supremacy. Even the Nazis were into yoga. Known as the wellness-to-white supremacy pipeline, these spaces have become breeding grounds for misinformation and white supremacy and are often hostile to Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC). The wellness space tends to be suspicious of Western medicine, so it’s no surprise it became an important conduit for anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. And that’s what the far-right does: it uses anger or frustration from one issue as a direct channel to their particular brand of nationalist and white supremacist propaganda.

Recent developments in public policy, such as the impending reversal of Roe v Wade in the United States, are cause for concern. This is feminism’s raison d’être, and we are outsized and outmatched by the onslaught of restrictive public policies that roll back the gains feminism has made in the last sixty years. The perfect storm of an affordability crisis, curtailing of public services, employment precarity and a global pandemic affords the far right openings for engagement and organizing.

Feminism must do the same before it’s too late.

We must form communities of resistance with each other, and other progressive movements, to combat the increasing recruitment of women to the far right in Canada. If we don’t, the alternative could look like the Handmaid’s Tale.

Dozens of activists of varying genders and skin tones are gathered together. Most of them are wearing face masks and some are carrying signs. One of the most visible signs is being carried by a dark-skinned person in a spaghetti-strapped tank top, and the sign reads women's rights shouldn't be a fight.
]]> Governments falling woefully short on goal to vaccinate 70 per cent in each country by September https://www.oxfam.ca/news/governments-falling-woefully-short-on-goal-to-vaccinate-70-per-cent-in-each-country-by-september/ Thu, 12 May 2022 11:00:39 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40801 Vaccine Access Still a Concern as President Biden Hosts Second COVID Summit

World leaders have not done enough to achieve their goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of people in each country by September, campaigners with the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned ahead of the second virtual summit on COVID-19 hosted by US President Biden along with Belize, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal. The World Health Organization’s target of reaching 70 per cent by mid-year is even further out of reach.

More than a year after vaccines were introduced, only 52 countries have met the 70 per cent vaccination target so far, 69 have yet to achieve 40 per cent coverage, and 21 countries have not yet achieved even 10 per cent coverage. While more than 11 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, only 11 per cent of people in low-income countries are vaccinated, compared with 73 per cent of those in high-income countries, as of last month. At the current rate, it will take another two and a half years for low-income countries to be able to vaccinate 70 per cent of their populations with an initial two doses.

Campaigners said progress had been too slow since the first COVID-19 summit in September last year and called on governments to do more to ensure doses are getting to people in countries behind target. Too many still haven’t received enough supply, have had unpredictable access, and have faced other challenges delivering doses to people in need. Campaigners have also called for urgent action to redress the spiraling COVID-19 treatment access divide caused by the same rich country hoarding and profit-driven Big Pharma business model that excludes people living in poverty throughout the world.

Julia Kosgei, Policy Advisor to the People’s Vaccine Alliance said: “The donation model has failed to deliver vaccines, has thwarted effective vaccine roll out plans, and is completely unsustainable. More than two years into the pandemic, millions have yet to have the initial doses needed to protect them from this deadly disease.”

“How is it that my elderly grandma in rural Kenya is still unprotected from COVID, yet pharmaceutical companies are hitting unheard of profits and say the world is ‘swimming’ in doses? These corporations have repeatedly demonstrated that they are not willing to do the right thing for humanity. Governments must step in and ensure everyone, everywhere has the vaccines they need.”

The Alliance, a coalition of over 90 organizations including the African Alliance, Oxfam, and UNAIDS says that transferring technology to boost local manufacturing will help address ongoing concerns including on-the-ground distribution challenges, vaccine hesitancy, and an overall shortfall in doses.

For the past year and a half, countries have been discussing a widely supported waiver of intellectual property for COVID-19 vaccines (so-called TRIPS waiver) at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which would remove barriers to developing countries being able to produce their own doses of COVID-19 medical tools.

Despite President Biden’s declared backing of the waiver for vaccines, there has been little progress. In fact, the initiative is still being blocked by the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Instead, the EU has backed an alternative proposal, which is not a waiver and would not deliver the goals of the original proposal by excluding testing and treatments, leaving out many countries. Worse, it adds even more barriers to countries hoping to produce generic versions of the vaccines.

The Alliance is calling on President Biden to use his influence to ensure all world leaders back the full TRIPS waiver not only for vaccines, but also for test and treatments to give countries the protection and dignity of being able to produce COVID-19 medical tools themselves, rather than relying on a handful of Western pharmaceutical companies. The Alliance is also calling on increased funding for manufacturing and vaccine delivery.

Meanwhile, more than 100 qualified manufacturers in Asia, Africa and Latin America could be producing doses of the mRNA COVID vaccines, but this capacity is going unused without the cooperation and technology transfer from Pfizer, Moderna and BioNTech. At the Annual General Meetings of Pfizer and Moderna, the companies opposed shareholder proposals by Oxfam for each to study the feasibility of transferring vaccine technology to qualified manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries.

Brittany Lambert, Oxfam Canada’s policy specialist, said: “At this second COVID Summit, we should be acting urgently on the key thing low- and middle-income countries are asking for: the ability to make their own vaccines for their own people.”

“The unwillingness to share the vaccine technology and funding shortfalls are stunting our global response to COVID-19. Governments must step up funding for immediate vaccine roll out and for the mRNA hub and the manufacturing capacity needed to build a production network in the global South. This would reduce dependence on a failing charity model and allow the world to pull out of this pandemic once and for all.”

The Alliance also says the scale of the pandemic in developing nations has been massively underestimated due to the lack of testing available. Last week the World Health Organization estimated the true global death toll from the COVID pandemic to be almost 15 million lives lost, with a death toll in lower income countries four times higher than in high income countries.

Lambert continued: “Voluntary measures from companies have delivered wild profits but also persistent vaccine inequity, new waves and new variants, unreliable and insufficient donations, and billions of people still waiting for their tests, treatments and vaccines.”

“Enough is enough. It’s time for governments to take bolder action to put people before profits.”

– 30 –

Notes to editors:

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Oxfam Canada’s 2022 Federal Budget Analysis https://www.oxfam.ca/story/oxfam-canadas-2022-federal-budget-analysis/ Thu, 14 Apr 2022 22:54:42 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40716

Women, gender diverse people and other equity-deserving groups have been hard hit by the COVID-19 recession, the increased cost of living, and the rise of violence, racism and hate in Canada. Hopes were running high for Federal Budget 2022 to help address these multiple crises, especially after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had demonstrated such strong feminist leadership in her first budget last year.

Oxfam Canada has prepared this budget overview to highlight the gain in this year’s federal budget and what is missing. Our analysis reveals that this year’s budget falls short of delivering a strong feminist economic recovery. In fact, the government’s gender analysis of its budget admits that men will benefit significantly more than women, with 42 per cent of spending expected to directly or indirectly benefit men and only 14 per cent to directly or indirectly benefit women.

Much work remains to address increasing inequality in Canada and globally. However, there were several significant steps forward this year, with historic investments in ending gender-based violence, implementing a federal action plan on 2SLGBTQ+ rights, supporting Indigenous communities and building a nationwide early learning and child care system.

Representation and Leadership

It is telling that Budget 2022 only mentioned gender 18 times, compared to over 200 times in 2021. This is stunning considering the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on women, especially Black, Indigenous and racialized women, women living with disabilities and gender diverse people. Yet, there were few measures to advance gender equality or support women’s leadership and representation in decision-making.

Oxfam Canada had hoped to see a continuation of the Taskforce on Women in the Economy as a permanent body that would provide the government with expertise and insights to living up to its promise of an intersectional feminist recovery. The budget does contemplate the creation of a new Council of Economic Advisors, which, if inclusive and diverse in its makeup, could have the potential to strengthen the government’s gender-based analysis plus and advise on the most critical policies to address immediate needs.

For years, women’s rights movements have advocated for long-term, flexible and sustainable funding. Current funding mechanisms inhibit the sector’s ability to provide decent work to its employees and meet the demand for services in the communities they serve. Budget 2022 fails to deliver, but one promising initiative is $50 million over two years towards Supporting Black Canadian Communities, which aims to empower Black-led and Black-serving community organizations. It is hoped that at least 50 per cent of that funding is made available to Black women-led and women-serving organizations.

The budget once again contained a Statement on Gender and Diversity in Canada. Still, a lot of the data was either old or not broken down by gender. Also, details provided on the initiatives highlighted were vague when explaining how exactly the measure would advance gender equality. It was promising to see that Budget 2022 allocated $172 million over five years to enhance the government’s ability to collect disaggregated data – crucial to understanding how intersecting factors shape women’s lived reality. However, the main shortcoming remains that the gender budgeting framework is not applied to its full potential in identifying specific needs of women and gender diverse people and building initiatives around it.

Overall, it is clear the government must engage more deliberately and meaningfully with the women’s rights and feminist sector better to understand the needs of women and gender diverse people and build solutions collaboratively.

Reducing Poverty for the Most Marginalized Women

Housing was a key priority of Budget 2022, allocating over $14 billion in new and advanced housing spending. This included a $1.5 billion expansion of the Rapid Housing Initiative and $562 million over two years of funding for Reaching Home, and $4 billion for a Housing Accelerator Fund.

The size of these commitments demonstrates an understanding of the severity of the housing crisis experienced by people living in Canada. However, it falls short in understanding the gendered nature of the housing crisis. Low-income women-led households experience the most significant housing need in Canada, especially Indigenous, Black and racialized women and women living with disabilities. Affordable housing remains a crucial challenge for them. Affordability needs to be tied to income, not the market, to meet low-income women's needs. Only the Rapid Housing initiative announced a gender-specific commitment, but such a commitment should apply across all housing initiatives.

Women living with disabilities had their eyes on the budget, hoping for an announcement of the promised Disability Benefit, but Budget 2022 did not deliver. It allocated $272.6 million over five years to implement an employment strategy for persons with disabilities through the Opportunities Fund. While welcome, the benefits of these investments won't be immediate, and women with disabilities need income security and employment equity now.

Racism shapes the daily lives of black, Indigenous and racialized women and determines their access to opportunities, jobs and benefits. The budget provides $85 million over four years to support the launch of the new Anti-racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate and $50 million over two years for the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiatives. Advocates had hoped to see bolder action to address the scale and severity of the problem and to ensure deep-seated transformation in institutions and policies affecting racialized women. What is needed is anti-racism legislation and a fully resourced secretariat that would roll out a National Anti-racism Action Plan.

Upholding the rights of Indigenous women

Over the next six years, the budget will invest $11 billion to support Indigenous communities. This represents roughly 19 per cent of total federal spending, although substantially less than the $18 billion in last year's budget. Much of this year's funding was targeted to housing in Indigenous communities and critical infrastructure on reserves, including water and wastewater systems. In addition, First Nations children and families will be supported with an additional $4 billion over six years to improve service delivery by implementing Jordan's Principle.

There were limited new initiatives targeted at First Nations, Metis and Inuit women. One national Indigenous women's organization told Oxfam that the budget limited references to taking a distinctions-based approach and tended to frame initiatives and funding in a pan-Indigenous manner.

Work and Pay Equity

The high inflation rate in Canada makes the cost of living even more unaffordable. Wages are not keeping up, despite increases in job vacancies. A study in Ontario found that racialized women, Indigenous women, single mothers, low-income women, immigrant women, women with disabilities and those living in rural areas experienced the highest income loss from COVID-19 shutdowns. These women are stuck in the most precarious and low-paid jobs in a labour market that continues to discriminate against them and have slid further into poverty due to the pandemic. It was a missed opportunity that the budget failed to address the systemic gendered impacts facing women concentrated in low-wage and precarious work.

Despite human rights legislation, employment equity remains a tremendous challenge in Canada, with marginalized groups experiencing systemic discrimination and racism in the labour market. This year’s budget allocates $1.9 million to complete the Employment Equity Act Review. The review should be delivered as soon as possible, and women’s rights organizations should be meaningfully consulted in the process.

More targeted actions are needed to address the racial gender wage gap, lack of access to employment insurance for marginalized women, and discrimination in the labour market. 

The budget had notable omissions for low-income communities and workers. While the budget commits to amending the Employment Insurance Act to increase access to training for workers before they become unemployed, significant changes like higher EI benefit levels and EI coverage for the self-employed were missing. 

The budget included no meaningful spending to support migrant care workers and temporary foreign workers in Canada. Most of the resources and initiatives allocated focused on regulatory measures for industries and employers who hire temporary foreign workers in Canada. There were no substantial investments in providing safer working conditions, ending exploitation, or creating concrete pathways to citizenship and status for the country's nearly 1.6 million migrant workers.

Care Work

The federal government remains committed to building a Canada-wide early learning and childcare system. The budget includes $625 million for a new federal Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund, essential for growing not-for-profit and public child care spaces across the country. Investments in dental care are also important and will benefit many Canadians, especially children. Unfortunately, support for long-term care was not mentioned, despite the attention it gained during the worst moments of the pandemic.

The budget does not go far enough to address the critical needs in the care economy. Major issues, such as labour shortages, recruitment and retention, low wages and poor working conditions, and burnout of the care workforce, have not been addressed.

The budget's Gender and Diversity Statement identifies that women, especially racialized and immigrant women, are overwhelmingly employed in care sectors in Canada. Women make up 91 per cent of nurses, 86 per cent of health services support and 86 per cent of workers in the legal, social, community and education sectors.

The child care sector is experiencing an acute shortage of qualified early childhood educators because of very low recruitment and retention rates. It will be impossible to hire the 62,200 educators required to staff the anticipated growth in spaces without raising the sector's very low levels of compensation.

Upholding 2SLGBTQ+ Rights

In recent years, queer and trans communities in Canada have seen unprecedented federal engagement and support for their movements, organizations and front-line services.

The budget continues on that path with a historic investment of $100 million over five years to implement the LGBTQ2 Action Plan – the first of its kind. Advocates want to ensure the funding is accessible to rural, Two-Spirit, trans and intersex organizations and organizations serving Black and racialized 2SLGBTQ+ communities. This announcement builds on the $15 million over three years announced in 2021 for the new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund.

Canadian organizations working in solidarity with 2SLGBTQ+ rights movements globally, including Oxfam Canada, have been calling on Canada to increase investments to support movements for people of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sexual characteristics (SOGIESC). The first-ever investment of $30 million over five years was announced in 2019. While the overall increase in Canada’s international assistance budget this year is positive, it is unclear whether SOGIESC funding will increase to $20 million a year, including humanitarian aid and LGBTQ+ human rights defenders.

Ending Gender-Based Violence

Over the last several years, the government has shown an unprecedented commitment to addressing violence against women and girls and gender-based violence, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This budget provides $539.3 million over five years to support the provinces and territories in preventing gender-based violence and providing services to support survivors. Unfortunately, details are sparse. There was no fixed timeline for the promised 10-year National Action Plan nor any additional funding to address the ongoing genocide against missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Upholding Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

There were a few positive announcements in Budget 2022 on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The $25 million over two years for a national pilot Menstrual Equity Fund to ensure all Canadians in need can access menstrual products is laudable, as was the announcement of labour code amendments to support federally regulated employees who experience stillbirths or miscarriages.

Given the limited new announcements this year, it is more crucial than ever to see progress on the commitments in Budget 2021 for funding to sexual and reproductive health and rights organizations of $45 million over three years and $7.6 million over five years for implementation of a sexual health survey to address data gaps on sexual and reproductive health indicators.

Regrettably, Budget 2022 made no mention of pharmacare and its need to include comprehensive contraceptive care.

For decades, access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and services has been underfunded in Canada. The pandemic exacerbated it. Nine provinces are experiencing rising rates of sexually transmitted infections. Access to abortion in remote areas continues to be challenging. The state of sexual education lags far behind international and Canadian standards. The state of comprehensive sexuality education in Canada is inexcusable, particularly with evidence demonstrating that it plays a significant role in promoting equality and consent, decreasing violence and facilitating youth empowerment and acceptance.

Global Development

The increase in Canada’s international assistance envelope, from $7.6 billion in 2020-2021 to just over $8 billion in 2022-2023, will save lives worldwide and help advance gender equality. 

Canada boosted its international assistance funding significantly in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 crisis. It is encouraging that this increase has become the new baseline to build upon. However, the increase in foreign aid still fell short of the $9 billion that experts say is needed to adequately tackle global challenges such as COVID-19, climate change, and conflict – all of which exacerbate gender inequality. 

New investments this year focus on fighting COVID-19 and promoting global health. The ACT-Accelerator, a global partnership to give people equal and affordable access to COVID-19 health products, received a renewed investment of $732 million, representing roughly 93 per cent of Canada’s fair share for 2022.

The budget also includes an amendment to the Income Tax Act that will allow international development organizations to work in more feminist ways. Despite the FIAP’s commitment to support and empower local women’s rights groups, Canadian law currently forces organizations like Oxfam to micromanage their local civil society partners in developing countries and treat them like an extension of their agency. These changes will make it easier for international charities to provide their partners with core funding and greater autonomy.

Conflict and Crisis

The budget’s foreign policy section focuses strongly on the Ukraine crisis. It committed $500 million in lethal and non-lethal military aid to Ukraine this year. Over five years, it will invest $8 billion in Canada’s armed forces and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance. 

Despite Canada’s talk about feminism being a core principle in its international affairs, there appears to be no attempt to articulate its investments along these lines. Instead of an exclusive focus on militarization, Canada could have announced investments in conflict prevention, women’s participation in peace talks, support for women and LGBTQ+ rights defenders, or prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence. The values and principles of a feminist foreign policy are needed now more than ever in this time of global crisis.

Budget 2022 lays out an ambitious immigration plan for the coming year, which will help meet labour needs and reunite families. However, it does not do enough for protected persons in Canada and their dependents abroad. 

The target for this category is set at 24,500. Currently, there are 43,335 people with pending applications. This means that tens of thousands of people who have been accepted as refugees will need to wait until next year to become permanent residents or reunite with family members waiting overseas. Long family separations have a particularly harsh impact on women, who generally keep the children - and have difficulty building their lives without childcare or emotional support.

Climate Change

This budget framed climate action as one of its main priorities. Most federal support for climate action comes as industry subsidies, even for the fossil fuel industry. The government’s new 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan includes $9.1 billion in federal spending to lower greenhouse gas emissions over the next eight years. The budget also creates a $15 billion Canada Growth Fund to leverage private sector investment for decarbonization and clean technology projects.

The carbon capture, utilization and storage tax credit for oil and gas companies, expected to cost $2.6 billion over the next five years, was panned by several environmental groups. Instead, these groups say this support would have been better directed towards renewable energy investments rather than expanding fossil fuel infrastructure.

There was no clear plan on how women, racialized people, migrants and other marginalized groups would benefit from the billions in climate action funding. A mere $29.6 million was earmarked for Indigenous climate leadership initiatives over the next three years.

The government’s gender analysis accompanying the budget acknowledges that “men are overrepresented in certain sectors benefitting from many of the climate and infrastructure related measures in this budget.”

On the international front, Canada has doubled its climate finance for developing countries to $5.3 billion over the next five years, with at least 80 per cent of this funding being allocated for projects that advance gender equality. No equivalent commitment appears in Budget 2022 for climate actions in Canada.

Taxes

The budget shows some progress on tax fairness. While feminist tax reform would involve a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system to curb growing inequality and generate more public revenue for equity measures, this budget represents a small step in the right direction.

The Trudeau government introduced its first-ever increase to the corporate income tax rate, from 15 per cent to 16.5 per cent, although it only applies to banks and insurance companies. The corporate income tax rate has been locked at 15 per cent for decades – an all-time low and less than half the rate of what it was in the 1980s. It should be restored to 21 per cent for all large companies.

Implementing a public registry on beneficial ownership had been promised by the federal government. It was highlighted as a priority action in the recent supply and confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP. In this budget, the government commits to establishing a searchable registry of the beneficial owners of companies and trusts by early 2023, a critical tool to curb tax evasion and illicit financial flows.

The accelerated timetable for implementing the registry – including penalties, data verification and validation – has been celebrated by tax and transparency experts. It could end Canada’s reputation for lax transparency rules that enable tax dodging and money laundering.

The government promised to impose a 15 per cent effective minimum personal income tax rate on the highest income earners in Canada. However, this promise did not materialize in this budget. Yet, the government promised to examine it and report back in the fall of 2022.

The finance minister also fell short of introducing a wealth tax in Canada, nor was there any mention of closing major tax loopholes, such as the preferential treatment of capital gains.

]]> Growing as a Feminist, Anti-Racist and Inclusive Organization https://www.oxfam.ca/growing-as-a-feminist-anti-racist-and-inclusive-organization Fri, 08 Apr 2022 18:34:09 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40692

Growing as a Feminist, Anti-Racist and Inclusive Organization

by Oxfam Canada | April 8, 2022

This is our second annual update on Oxfam Canada’s commitment to growing as a feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization, as stated in our 2021-2025 Strategic Framework. In February 2021, we developed our first organization-wide Plan of Action on Anti-Racism and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI). It outlines the initial steps we are taking on a complex journey that will require ongoing sustained commitment.

Progress in 2021-2022

Below are highlights of this work over the past year:

  • We worked with the team at Ubuntu Consulting to review our organizational policies and conduct a listening and reflection process with current and past staff to explore ways in which oppression shows up at Oxfam Canada and shed light on policies and practices that do not create access, opportunities and equitable outcomes for all Oxfam Canada employees and the communities we serve. Overall, the consultants found a strong commitment to JEDI, anti-oppression, feminist values and decolonial practice at Oxfam Canada. However, the listening process also helped surface experiences of racism and discriminatory behaviour within our organization. It provided a blueprint of recommendations, proposed actions and opportunities for growth.
  • We created a new Deputy Executive Director position to provide leadership to advance Oxfam Canada’s commitment to growing as a feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization. It includes thought leadership and operational support for Oxfam Canada’s work on JEDI, reconciliation and Indigenous rights, feminist principles, and the decolonization of aid. The new Deputy Executive Director will work with all staff to maximize Oxfam Canada’s impact and influence and ensure a highly engaged, values-driven, diverse, and inclusive workplace.
  • Our Board of Directors adopted a new Board Composition and Nomination Policy, recognizing that Oxfam Canada’s approach to governance must be consistent with its commitment to grow as a feminist, anti-racist and inclusive organization; to build more and deeper relationships with Indigenous and Black women’s organizations, and to take steps forward in reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Our twelve-member Board of Directors will now comprise no less than fifty per cent of members who identify as women and individuals who are genderqueer, non-binary or hold other expressions of gender diversity; and fifty per cent of members who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color.
  • After signing on to the Cooperation Canada sector-wide anti-racism framework, we continued to engage in the task force. We completed an organizational survey to assess progress made by Oxfam Canada against the commitments outlined in the framework. We also conducted an initial analysis of Oxfam Canada against the Center for Global Inclusion’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks, to achieve a “progressive” or higher ranking in all categories by 2025.
  • Our staff-led working group on Indigenous rights and justice has been instrumental in pushing forward our work to support Indigenous rights and reconciliation. It organized a week of learning and reflection for all staff during National Indigenous History Month to further our collective learning and thinking on how Oxfam Canada must transform itself to better work alongside and support Indigenous struggles. The working group also finalized a Plan of action supporting Indigenous rights, which provides the vision and a roadmap for how Oxfam Canada will advance this work.
  • We continued to prioritize building relationships with organizations led by and in support of BIPOC communities as part of our advocacy and public engagement activities. The annual Oxfam Summit brought together a diverse group of activists from coast to coast; our SRHR community support fund supports BIPOC initiatives this year. We provided funding support to Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change. We also started a new project which aims to make childcare policies more reflective of the needs of BIPOC communities in Canada.
  • We continued to provide learning and training opportunities for our staff and leadership on anti-oppression and anti-racism, unconscious bias and white supremacy, and safeguarding.

This journey to transform our culture is a long and challenging one. It requires time to build trust and create safe spaces for dialogue. It also requires shared accountability for growing into the organization we aspire to be. Each new step we take on this path strengthens our resolve and commitment to a transformation that honours each other, our partners and the communities we work with. Over the following months, we will collectively develop the second iteration of our Pan of Action on Anti-racism and JEDI. We will also engage in deep conversations around decolonizing our organization and work.

READ MORE: Our first annual update on becoming an actively anti-racist organization

]]> Oxfam Feminist Scorecard exposes key gaps in federal action on gender equality https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-feminist-scorecard-exposes-key-gaps-in-federal-action-on-gender-equality/ Tue, 08 Mar 2022 12:00:33 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40611 The federal government’s progress in delivering on their feminist commitments during a prolonged pandemic has been bumpy but is making some headway. Historic investments in the care sector are helping advance women’s economic equality, but the government failed to deliver on fairer and more equitable taxation and has a mixed record on tackling gender-based violence, climate action, Indigenous women’s rights, poverty, work and pay equity, global development, and conflict and crisis, according to a new report released by Oxfam Canada today.

On International Women’s Day, Oxfam Canada’s sixth annual Feminist Scorecard, Closing the Gaps Towards a Feminist Green COVID-19 Recovery, grades the federal government’s actions to help Canada and the world respond and recover from the pandemic, focusing on actions between March 2021 until February 2022 in 10 policy areas. Oxfam uses a traffic light approach (red, yellow and green), indicating little, some, or significant progress.

Two categories received a green rating for significant progress this year: the care sector, and representation and leadership.

“While COVID-19 ran its course for a second year, inequality exploded. The pandemic has set back gender parity by an entire generation. In Canada, the pandemic knocked women’s participation in the workforce down from a historic high to its lowest level in 30 years – dipping to 55 per cent for the first time since the early 1980s.This has been another challenging year for women and gender diverse people living on the margins. Billions of dollars in federal investments for a national child care system are helping to close some of the economic inequality gaps,” said Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns.

However, one key policy scored red this year – taxation, with the government having shown little appetite for tax reforms to reduce inequality. Wealth inequality has grown during the pandemic, with the wealthiest Canadians, who are mostly men, and corporations benefiting from tax loopholes and not paying their fair share.

”Canada saw another year where 15 new billionaires were minted and the fortunes of the country’s 59 billionaires increased by $111 billion since March 2020. That’s despite government promises to tax extreme wealth inequality and stop policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and help corporations avoid paying their fair share of taxes. A feminist recovery will rely on investments in much needed public services funded by a progressive tax system,” Sarosi said.

The scorecard also highlights a number of policy gaps, particularly for the most marginalized women and gender diverse people, who have been sliding deeper into poverty because of the pandemic. Other areas identified where more can be done to accelerate a feminist recovery include affordable housing; disability rights; racial inequality; humanitarian crises; decent work and pay equity; climate action; and upholding the rights of Indigenous women.

“As the world continues to recover from the pandemic, it is clear that more has to be done to ensure no one is left behind,” Sarosi said. “The government has made a lot of effort to take an inclusive approach to policy-making by setting up various advisory bodies and consultation processes. The government should collaborate directly with the feminist movement as it drives forward huge public policy initiatives on housing, jobs, climate and child care, among others.”

– 30 –

 Notes to Editors:
  • Oxfam Canada’s Feminist Scorecard is available for download here.
  • The scorecard does not rate the government’s overall performance in each policy area. It presents an assessment of actions between March 2021 and February 2022 that have, or have not, been taken by the government in these 10 policy areas to advance a feminist response and recovery to COVID-19.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

 

]]> Covid-19 death toll four times higher in lower-income countries than rich ones https://www.oxfam.ca/news/covid-19-death-toll-four-times-higher-in-lower-income-countries-than-rich-ones/ Thu, 03 Mar 2022 00:01:52 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40567 3 million people died since the Omicron variant emerged, shattering perceptions that the pandemic is over

The COVID-19 death toll has been four times higher in lower-income countries than in rich ones, according to a new report published today by Oxfam on behalf of the People’s Vaccine Alliance as the world marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic.

While the pandemic has been devastating for rich countries like Canada, the world’s poorest countries have been hardest hit, with women and children bearing a disproportionate burden. Lack of testing and reporting means that very large numbers of deaths due to COVID-19 go unreported, especially in the poorest countries.

Modelling using measures of excess deaths estimates that 19.6 million people have died because of COVID-19, over three times the official death toll. Based on this analysis, Oxfam calculated that for every death in a high-income country, an estimated four other people have died in a low or lower-middle income country. On a per capita basis, deaths in low and lower middle-income countries are 31 per cent higher than high-income countries.

Oxfam also calculated that three million COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the three months since the Omicron variant emerged. The figure shatters perceptions that Omicron’s milder illness means the pandemic is coming to an end, as the more contagious variant tears through unvaccinated populations. By some estimates, over half of humanity is set to have been infected with COVID-19 by the end of March 2022. While most cases will be mild, the sheer number of cases means that numbers of deaths remain high.

The report also outlines that:

  • Every minute, four children around the world have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID. In India alone, more than two million children lost a caregiver.
  • Women have been 1.4 times more likely to drop out of the labour force than men because of the pandemic.
  • 99 per cent of humanity is worse off because of COVID-19, 160 million people have been pushed into poverty, and 137 million people have lost their jobs.

However, not everyone has lost out due to the pandemic, with a new billionaire created every 26 hours. Of those new billionaires, 40 are COVID-19 billionaires, having made their billions profiting from vaccines, treatments, tests, and personal protective equipment (PPE). During the pandemic, the world’s 10 richest men have seen their fortunes double, rising at a rate of $1.3 billion a day, or $15,000 USD a second.

Brittany Lambert, Oxfam Canada’s Women’s Rights Policy Specialist, said:

“We all want this pandemic to be over, but we can’t ignore the billions of people in the global south still facing severe illness, death and the devastating economic fallouts of this pandemic. Women in low income countries are shouldering an especially heavy burden.

“Suggestions that we are entering a ‘post-COVID era’ is an insult to all the people across the world without fair access to vaccines. Until everyone, everywhere is protected, we risk being on a rollercoaster of lockdowns and variants.”

Oxfam is part of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a global coalition of nearly 100 organizations, campaigning for vaccine equity through support for a waiver of intellectual property rules on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, and by making pharmaceutical companies share their science and knowhow with qualified producers in developing countries, so they are able to make their own doses.

Maaza Seyoum, Global South Convenor for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said:

“Rich countries and corporations have tied up the global response to COVID-19 for their own benefit, leaving the global south to bear the brunt of this pandemic.

“As billions of people are still unable to access vaccines, some have the audacity to claim that the pandemic is over. That is an utter fallacy. Third and fourth doses in rich countries alone cannot erase the ever-rising death toll in lower-income countries.

“The charity approach to global vaccination has failed. Global south countries can and must manufacture vaccines and treatments for themselves – and they must maintain control of their own supplies. Rich countries must waive intellectual property rules on COVID-19 technologies and force big pharma to share the recipes.”

The report, Pandemic of Greed, warns that dangerous myths have fuelled the pandemic and excused a lack of bold and innovative policy action.

Gregg Gonsalves, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Yale University, said:

“While Omicron tends to lead to a milder illness in many, the variant’s higher transmissibility means it can cut a deadly swath through countries, particularly among the unvaccinated. We may all be done with the coronavirus, but the coronavirus is not done with all of us.

“There must be a better way out of the suffering of the past two years, a way where everyone had access to vaccines, and no one was disposable. Public health decisions must be based on comprehensive evidence, not political agendas.

“The ‘post-COVID’ narrative emerging from rich countries will only worsen the complacency that has plagued the global fight against COVID-19. The global south understandably wants to take things into their own hands – and rich countries should let them.”

– 30 –

Editors notes:
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Inequality Kills https://www.oxfam.ca/story/inequality-kills/ Sun, 23 Jan 2022 12:00:23 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40566

Inequality contributes to the death of at least one person every four seconds.

Ahead of the Davos Agenda — the World Economic Forum's virtual State of the World sessions — Oxfam released our annual inequality report, Inequality Kills.

It found that inequality is contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds.

Meanwhile, a new billionaire is created every 26 hours. One thing we know for sure is that inequality makes everything — from humanitarian crises to the impacts of climate change — worse. It's time to close the inequality gap.

Three Ways that Inequality Kills

1. The Impacts of Climate Change

The richest countries are responsible for 92 per cent of excess emissions, and richest one per cent are estimated to be producing more than double the emissions of the 3.1 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. Yet, while it’s the wealthiest who are doing the most damage, they can afford to avoid the worst impacts. It is the poorest people who have contributed the least to the problem who are suffering the most.

People living in poverty are more likely to live in areas vulnerable to extreme weather resulting in loss of home and livelihoods and have little to no access to support in crisis. Women and Black and indigenous people face the worst impacts of increased pollution and heat waves associated with climate change.

Systemic inequality means that as climate change worsens, it's the historically marginalized who will suffer the most.

A woman in a blue and grey hijab holds a yellow water jug on her shoulder as she stands in the dry countryside.

Halimo Mahamed Ali's family lost all of their our livestock due to the drought in Somalia. Collecting water has been difficult but water from Oxfam (trucks) is healthy and clean. Photo: Dustin Barter/Oxfam

2. The COVID-19 Health Crisis

The ongoing pandemic has shown how deadly inequality can be. Whether it’s the disproportionate death rates of people of colour, the inequitable global vaccine rollout, or the uneven economic impacts, it's clear that COVID-19 is an inequality issue.

As the new Omicron variant runs through communities all over the world, vaccine access remains a huge issue for low-income countries. So far, wealthy nations have delivered only 14 per cent of the 1.8 billion doses promised, and pharmaceutical companies have delivered only 12 per cent of the doses they pledged to help low-and middle-income countries.

Right now, a persons' ability to access a life-saving vaccine is often dependent on the country where they live.

A nurse dressed in a white paper suit is bending over a bed looking after a patient. There are 3 bed ends with white railings and light blue panels. There is a brown woman with long dark hair in the middle bed. She is sitting up and looking towards the nurse. In the background is a man with a red shirt and an oxygen tank.

A nurse attends to patients at a medical facility in New Delhi. Oxfam is providing medical and protective equipment to facilities like this one in five states in India. Photo: Roanna Rahma/Oxfam

3. The Threat to Women and Girls

Gender inequality means that women and girls often face the worst impacts of a crisis.

Gender-based violence results in a minimum of 67,000 deaths each year. In addition, it's estimated that 143 million women are missing globally because of female mortality rates and sex-selective abortions due to preference for a son.

When a crisis hits, violence against women and girls worsens.

Alarmingly, the pandemic has also set gender parity back from 99 years to 135 years. Thirteen million fewer women are at work now than in 2019. Women are also disproportionately underpaid and unprotected workers and perform the bulk of unpaid care work — work that Oxfam has calculated adds at least $10.8 trillion to the economy.

A mother sitting down next to a wooden crib, holds a baby on her lap, smiling a him surrounded by three little boys who are also smiling at the baby.

Ruth is a mother of seven in the Philippines. She is the first to wake up, feeding the kids and getting them ready for school, and the last to sleep after she cleans the house and washes everyone's clothes. If Ruth had more free time, she would want to run her own small business. Care work often takes up a lot of time for women and girls; leaving little to no time for work, study or leisure. Photo: Jed Regala/Oxfam

Closing the Inequality Gap

This inequality crisis is literally killing people. It's time for our leaders to take action and ensure that we are tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. That's why Oxfam is calling on the Canadian government to make sure billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.

In Canada, 15 new billionaires were minted. The fortunes of the country's 59 billionaires have increased by $111 billion since March 2020, roughly the same amount the Canadian government spent on COVID-19 income support to workers, including CERB and CRB — a total of $109 billion.

The average U.S. household paid 14 per cent in federal taxes, but the country's 25 richest billionaires paid only 3 per cent in income tax between 2014 and 2018. Not only that, but the world's 10 richest men more than doubled their fortunes in the first two years of the pandemic, while the incomes of 99 per cent of humanity fell.

Over 160 million more people were forced into poverty. This has gone on long enough.

Taxing Billionaires is Crucial to Closing the Inequality Gap

A wealth tax could:

  • Fund the child care industry
  • Create dignified, green jobs
  • Invest in communities most impacted by climate change
  • Support gender-based violence programs
  • Provide access to life-saving vaccines for millions of people
  • Begin to lift people out of poverty

It's time to close the inequality gap — people's lives literally depend on it.

]]> 10 richest men double their fortunes in pandemic while incomes of 99 per cent of humanity fall https://www.oxfam.ca/news/10-richest-men-double-their-fortunes-in-pandemic-while-incomes-of-99-per-cent-of-humanity-fall/ Mon, 17 Jan 2022 00:01:39 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40469 New billionaire minted every 26 hours, as inequality contributes to the death of one person every four seconds

The world’s 10 richest men more than doubled their fortunes from $875 billion to $1.9 trillion CAD — at a rate of $18,700 per second or $1.63 billion CAD a day — during the first two years of a pandemic that has seen the incomes of 99 per cent of humanity fall and over 160 million more people forced into poverty. They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people.

In a new briefing Inequality Kills, published today ahead of the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda, Oxfam says that inequality is contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds. This is a conservative finding based on deaths globally from lack of access to healthcare, gender-based violence, hunger, and climate breakdown.

“Inequality at such pace and scale is happening by choice, not chance,” said Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s director of policy and campaigns. “Not only have our economic structures made all of us less safe against this pandemic, they are actively enabling those who are already extremely rich and powerful to exploit this crisis for their own profit.”

In Canada, during a global pandemic, 15 new billionaires have been minted and the fortunes of the country’s 59 billionaires have increased by $111 billion since March 2020, roughly the same amount the Canadian government spent on COVID-19 income support to workers, including CERB and CRB ($109 billion).

“While those at the top are accruing excessive levels of wealth, governments around the world are struggling to provide much needed vaccines and social protection for billions of people who have nothing to fall back on. It has never been more important to start righting the violent wrongs of this obscene inequality. We must do this by clawing back elites’ power and extreme wealth, including through taxation, and getting money back into the real economy and invested in life-saving public services,” Sarosi said.

Billionaires’ wealth has risen more in the 22 months since COVID-19 began than it has in the last 14 years. At $6.25 trillion, this is the biggest surge in billionaire wealth since record keeping began. A one-off pandemic windfalls tax on the 10 richest men at a rate of 99 per cent, for example, could pay to make enough vaccines for the world, and provide universal healthcare and social protection, fund climate adaptation and reduce gender-based violence in over 80 countries. All this, while still leaving these men $10 billion better off than they were before the pandemic.

Extreme inequality is a form of economic violence, where policies and political decisions that perpetuate and protect the wealth and power of a privileged few result in direct harm to the vast majority of people across the world and to the planet itself. The world’s response to the pandemic has unleashed this economic violence particularly acutely across racialized, marginalized and gendered lines.

  • The pandemic has set back gender parity globally, which at current rates won’t be achieved now for 135 years (up from 99 years). Women collectively lost $876 billion in earnings in 2020, with 13 million fewer women working now than in 2019. The 252 richest men have more wealth than all one billion women and girls in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean combined.
  • The pandemic has hit racialized groups hardest. Black people in Brazil are 1.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than White people. In the US, 3.4 million Black Americans would be alive today if their life expectancy was the same as White people — a disparity further exacerbated by COVID-19 and directly linked to historical racism and colonialism.
  • Inequality between countries is expected to rise for the first time in a generation. Low and middle-income countries, denied access to sufficient vaccines because of rich country governments’ protection of pharmaceutical corporations’ monopolies, have been forced to slash social spending and face the prospect of austerity measures as their debt levels spiral. The proportion of people with COVID-19 who die from the virus in low and middle-income countries is roughly double that in rich countries.

Despite the huge cost of fighting the pandemic, in the past two years, governments in rich countries have failed to increase taxes on the wealth of the richest. Fair taxation is a key tool for governments to redistribute wealth and provide key public services that curb inequality.

Inequality goes to the heart of the climate crisis, as the richest one per cent emit more than twice as much CO2 as the bottom 50 per cent of the world’s population, driving climate change throughout 2020 and 2021 that has contributed to wildfires, floods, tornadoes, crop failures and hunger.

Oxfam recommends that governments urgently:

  • Claw back the gains made by billionaires by taxing this huge new wealth made since the start of the pandemic through wealth and capital taxes.
  • Invest the trillions that could be raised by these taxes toward progressive spending on universal healthcare and social protection, climate change adaptation, and gender-based violence prevention and programming.
  • Tackle sexist and racist laws that discriminate against women and racialized people and create new gender-equal laws to end violence and discrimination. Women, racialized and other oppressed groups should be represented meaningfully in all decision-making spaces.
  • Adopt and enforce laws to protect the rights of workers to unionize and strike.
  • Immediately waive intellectual property rules over COVID-19 vaccine technologies to allow more countries to produce safe and effective vaccines to usher in the end of the pandemic.

— 30 —

Notes to editors:
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Paula Baker
Media Relations
Oxfam Canada
(613) 240-3047
paula.baker@oxfam.org

]]> Six Ways Oxfam Goes Beyond Charity to End Inequality, Poverty and Injustice https://www.oxfam.ca/six-ways-oxfam-goes-beyond-charity-to-end-inequality-poverty-justice Mon, 27 Dec 2021 10:15:04 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40435

Six Ways Oxfam Goes Beyond Charity to End Inequality, Poverty and Injustice

by Oxfam Canada | December 27, 2021
Sofereti and Mkulila work at a solar-powered peanut butter cooperative, a food security project supported by Oxfam in Lilongwe, Malawi. 

At Oxfam, we know charity isn't enough.

Delivering food and essential supplies is critical and indeed lifesaving. But we know that to end poverty and injustice, we must tackle their complex root causes.

We also know that transformative change comes from understanding power and putting it in people's hands.

We work alongside community partners in cities, towns, and villages worldwide. With the support of our compassionate supporters, we strive to change attitudes, norms, and behaviours and influence the policies that affect people's lives.

How Does Oxfam Go Beyond Charity?

1. Tackling COVID-19 with a Community Approach

“Forty thousand people per square kilometer,” says Oxfam’s Enamul Hoque. “That’s twice the population density of Dhaka. You can’t imagine how crowded the camps are.” Hoque is Oxfam's coordinator for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. 

When thousands of refugees, fleeing unspeakable violence, arrived from Myanmar in 2017, he helped establish water tanks and taps, handwashing stations, latrines, and a fecal sludge processing plant. 

Refugees use contactless handwashing devices in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Photo: Fabeha Monir / Oxfam.

Though effective against diarrheal disease, existing handwashing facilities could be contagion vectors for the COVID-19 virus. So Hoque and his team set out to create a safer design.

Oxfam uses "social architecture" to design water and sanitation facilities, meaning local communities are part of the design process. 

"We installed a prototype of the handwashing station and then interviewed dozens of people after they used it," says Hoque. "Based on what they told us, we altered the design." Foot pedals replaced hand-cranked water fixtures.

Hoque is especially interested in what women and girls have to say "because they have so many responsibilities related to water and keeping their families clean." Girls suggested installing features in handwashing stations such as hooks to hang things and mirrors. 

"It's important that a handwashing station be something you like to use," says Hoque. "We invited girls to think like architects and design something that would benefit them and their families. This process helped them take charge of a piece of their lives." 

2. Changing Laws to End Violence Against Women and Girls

Youth leaders, Juanday Esmael and Farhana Ganoy, teach young people in their community about the impacts of child, early, and forced marriage in Guindulungan, Maguindanao, Philippines. Photo: Princess Taroza/Oxfam

Central to our Creating Spaces project is its support to movements demanding laws and legislation that protect women and girls from violence and early marriage. It also champions survivor-centred services, economic empowerment for women and girls, and movement building alongside influencers and local partners.

For instance, in Indonesia, Creating Spaces and its implementing partners were pivotal in ratifying the country's marriage law, which raised the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 19. And, in the Philippines, thanks to the tenacity of the Creating Spaces team and its allies — like the youth-led #GirlDefenders — the Girls Not Brides Act, outlawing marriage below the age of 19, has been approved by the Senate and the House. It will soon be presented to the President for approval.

3. Securing the Rights of Domestic and Garment Workers

Women and girls from Bangladesh's rural and coastal areas, pushed by factors like poverty, dowry, divorce, climate change, and family debts, move to cities seeking work and a better life. 

A young woman standing outside in what seems to be a street, holds a white garmen which label rads "Made in Bangladesh." The woman has a solemn expression and is wearing a bright blue headscarf.

The Bangladeshi women who make our clothes work their entire lives to earn what top fashion CEOs make in just four days. Photo: Fabeha Monir/Oxfam

However, they find few employment options, such as domestic work or garment factory work, which deny them decent working conditions, living wages, and legal protections.

We've been supporting women domestic workers to fight for their rights through our Securing Rights project. Last year, it created more than 200 domestic workers' groups, where women learn about advocacy for labour rights. Also, over a thousand women in Dhaka, the country's capital, received technical training to use an app that helps them secure employment with fairer pay and better working conditions.

On the other hand, Canadian fashion brands keep the Bangladeshi women who make our clothes in poverty by paying as little as 60 Canadian cents an hour. We're mobilizing supporters to hold Canadian brands accountable through our What She Makes campaign. 

4. Advocating for Climate Justice 

One of the most unjust aspects of climate change is that it impacts those countries that are the least responsible for creating it. That's why Oxfam Canada's experts press for solutions crafted by the people and communities most affected by the climate crisis. 

Two middle-aged women write on a piece of paper

Camino Verde project participants brainstorm together during a leadership workshop. Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam

A key priority is advocating for the Canadian government to meet its global climate financing commitments. Climate finance can be used to support farmers' transition to drought-resistant crops, establish early warning systems in communities prone to typhoons or cyclones, or install renewable energy sources so children can study and women can start businesses. It's critical to help vulnerable communities deal with the impacts of a crisis that they did little to create. 

With projects like Camino Verde — The Green Way — we support Indigenous women and youth in Guatemala to start socially and environmentally responsible small businesses. Working with five local partner organizations, we supply them with solar panels, commercial roasters, water collection equipment and greenhouses. Camino Verde also works with women's rights and other groups to influence policies and programs that support economic empowerment, human rights and climate justice for Indigenous women. 

5. Creating a World Where Her Future is Her Choice

Globally, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19. We support organizations to provide essential sexual and reproductive health services and advocate for changes in policy and social norms that women and girls to make decisions about their bodies. 

A young Black woman speaks into a microphone from a sitting position.

Working with our local partner, NAFEZA, in Mocuba, Mozambique, Gilda Jacinto speaks out on the importance of SRHR at a local radio station. She taps into her personal experience as a young mother in her activism. Photo: Caroline Leal/Oxfam

Our Sexual Health and Empowerment (SHE) project in the Philippines reaches people in Indigenous communities, conflict-affected, disaster-prone and rural areas. Through mobile clinics, women and girls receive dignity kits to support menstrual hygiene and family planning services. The project mentors local women's rights organizations to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Our Her Future Her Choice project in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia trains young people to be peer educators in their schools and youth clubs to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights. For example, one of our partners in Ethiopia, WE-Action, purchased airtime from local radio stations to broadcast weekly one-hour sexual and reproductive health and rights programs and COVID-19 safety measures in local languages.

6. Supporting Humanitarian Action with Cash 

Sometimes, when people are in crisis, the best support we can offer is financial. Emergency cash vouchers have the most impact on community members made vulnerable by environmental disasters, displaced by conflict and war, or experiencing gender-based violence.

A smiling woman standing inside a room holds a card.

Ananeth Garae used her e-voucher card to purchase materials to repair her severely damaged home after tropical cyclone Harold hit Vanuatu in early 2020. Photo: Arlene Bax/Oxfam

These vouchers place power and decision-making into people's own hands. They're also solid assets in disaster preparedness, as seen with Oxfam's Typhoon Rai response in the Philippines. Through digital cash transfers, humanitarian groups quickly and effectively distributed funds to over 2,500 families in the Philippines before Typhoon Rai hit.  

Oxfam Pilipinas Country Director, Maria Rosario Felizco, explains that communities can recover much sooner by shifting how and when aid organizations deliver cash aid. 

"To strengthen Filipinos' disaster resilience, we need to move from a post-disaster response mechanism," Felizco says. "Instead, we must anticipate disasters and support vulnerable groups such as low-income families, elderly people, single women with children, and people with disabilities."

When you support our Emergency Response Fund, you enable Oxfam to quickly and effectively respond to humanitarian crises even before they hit.

As you can see, at Oxfam, we don't just do charity.

We root our actions in community, advocacy and justice. Support our life-changing work.

 

]]> Rich countries have received more vaccines in run-up to Christmas than African countries have all year https://www.oxfam.ca/news/rich-countries-have-received-more-vaccines-in-run-up-to-christmas-than-african-countries-have-all-year/ Fri, 24 Dec 2021 00:01:22 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40433
  • The EU, UK and US have received more doses in the last six weeks than African countries have received all year.
  • Global rollout at speed of UK’s booster programme could vaccinate the world by February.
  • At current rates vaccine manufacturers will fail to deliver enough doses to fully vaccinate everyone in Africa by next Christmas.

    • More doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to the EU, the UK and the United States in the six-week run up to Christmas than African countries have received all year, new analysis from the People’s Vaccine Alliance reveals today.

    As COVID-19 clouds a second Christmas season in uncertainty and fear in many countries, campaigners warn that governments risk trapping the world in an endless cycle of variants, boosters, restrictions and even lockdowns, if low vaccination rates are allowed to persist in the global south.

    Low and middle-income countries must be allowed to manufacture vaccines themselves to end vaccine inequality and prevent variants from derailing future Christmases, campaigners warn.

    Between November 11 and December 21, 2021, the EU, UK and US have received 513 million doses of vaccines while countries in Africa received just 500 million throughout the whole of 2021.

    The UK government, facing a rapid surge in Omicron variant, has a target of administering one million booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines a day in response, equivalent to vaccinating 1.46 per cent of the population every day. If every country was able to vaccinate at the same rate as the UK target, it would take just 68 days to deliver a first dose to everyone who needs one, leaving no one unvaccinated by the end of February 2022.

    Just 8.6 per cent of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated to date and at the current rate of delivery by vaccine manufacturers, it won’t be until April 2023 that everyone will receive their first dose. Recent research found that 78 per cent of people in Africa are willing to get vaccinated, higher than in many rich countries.

    G7 countries will have 1.4 billion surplus doses by March 2022, even after giving all adults a booster but are failing to deliver on donation pledges. The US has delivered just a quarter of the vaccines it promised to donate while the UK and Germany have delivered 15 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

    Anna Marriott, Health Policy Manager, Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Make no mistake, rich country governments are to blame for the uncertainty and fear that is once again clouding Christmas. By blocking the real solutions to vaccine access in poorer countries they are prolonging the pandemic and all its suffering for every one of us. Rich countries are banking on boosters to keep them safe from Omicron and future variants of COVID-19. But boosters can never be more than a temporary and inadequate firewall. Extinguishing the threat of variants and ending this pandemic requires vaccinating the world. And that means sharing vaccine recipes and letting developing countries manufacture jabs for themselves.”

    Experts have raised concerns that low vaccine coverage in the global south created conditions where a variant like Omicron was likely to emerge. Nine months ago, a survey of leading epidemiologists warned that persistent low vaccine coverage in parts of the world increased the risk of vaccine resistant variants emerging within a year or less.

    Nick Dearden, Director of Global Justice Now, said: “If we ever want to have a normal Christmas again, we need to vaccinate the world. But right now, the UK and EU are holding back international efforts to use and expand manufacturing and distribution capacity in low and middle-income countries. It’s reckless and risks trapping us in an endless cycle of variants, boosters, restrictions and even lockdowns.”

    In October 2020, India and South Africa proposed a waiver of intellectual property rules on COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to allow low and middle-income countries to manufacture these life-saving tools. Despite most countries, including the United States, supporting a waiver, the UK, EU, and Switzerland have prevented progress.

    Maaza Seyoum from the African Alliance said: “Leaders in the global north have so far chosen the obscene profits of pharmaceutical companies over the lives of people in Africa. But the Omicron variant shows that vaccine inequality is a threat to everyone, everywhere. Boris Johnson, Olaf Scholz, and European leaders need to finally support an intellectual property waiver and let Africa and the global south unlock its capacity to manufacture and distribute vaccines. Otherwise, humanity will never beat the race against the next variant.”

    Human Rights Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières identified over 100 manufacturers that could produce mRNA vaccines if intellectual property barriers were removed and pharmaceutical companies transferred the technology and knowhow needed.

    Despite already making billions in profit, Pfizer and Moderna continue to refuse to share the new generation of vaccine technology with the WHO’s mRNA hub in South Africa. WHO scientists are now attempting to reverse engineer Moderna’s US-taxpayer-funded vaccine, a process that could take two years longer than if the company shared its vaccine recipe.

    Every major vaccine provider has boycotted the WHO’s COVID-19 technology access pool (C-TAP), a technology transfer programme established in May 2020 to share the recipe and knowhow needed to manufacture coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments.

    In a video marking World Aids Day, Prince Harry called on governments to break vaccine monopolies, joining over 170 former world leaders and Nobel Laureates, the Pope and more than 13 million people in their support for the waiver.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • Data on delivery from Airfinity, analyzed by People’s Vaccine Alliance.
    • In total the EU and UK and US have received over two billion vaccine doses, including boosters, as well as first and second doses.
    • Our World in Data was used to calculate how many doses were needed to vaccinate people in Africa.
    • Over the last 40 days, African countries are receiving on average enough doses to fully vaccinate three million a day (fully vaccinated is one dose of Johnson & Johnson and two doses for all other vaccines). At this rate, it will take 438 days for everyone currently unvaccinated in Africa to be fully vaccinated.
    • While rich countries have cut bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure dose, poorer countries have depended on Covax, the multilateral mechanism for equitably distributing COVID-19 vaccines, which has repeatedly cut delivery forecasts, as well as a trickle of donations from wealthy countries which are often close to their expiry dates.
    • Numbers of doses donated by rich countries (page 7).
    • Pharmaceutical monopolies will net Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna $34 billion this year in pre-tax profits.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]> Look What Our Advocacy Achieved in 2021! https://www.oxfam.ca/story/look-what-our-advocacy-achieved-in-2021/ Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:35:06 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40425

    In 2021, Oxfam Canada continued to speak truth to power, fight to close the gap between the rich and the rest, and make real progress on women’s rights and gender equality.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and amplified entrenched inequalities here in Canada and globally. That’s why we advocate and campaign for change at home and around the world.

    Connecting local and global struggles for social and economic justice helps our movement grow stronger and louder year after year.

    Here’s what our advocacy in Canada achieved in 2021

    We Advocated for Vaccine Equality

    We launched a major campaign putting public pressure on the Canadian government to improve vaccine access for developing countries, which included big wins like major funding to COVAX and dose sharing announcements. We testified at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health as well as the Trade Committee on behalf of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, and made sure Canadians heard our messages on vaccine equity by speaking with Canadian media, appearing on shows like CBC’s “The Current” and “As It Happens.”

    We Advocated for Climate Justice

    Working with allies, and engaging the public, we called for strong action on the climate crisis both in Canada and internationally. Our efforts contributed to successfully pressuring the Canadian government to double its climate finance contributions to $5.3 billion over the next five years, and cut public funding for international fossil fuel projects – freeing up funding to support the transition to a green economy.  We launched “Feminist Approaches to Climate Justice”, a toolkit for Canadian organizations and activists aimed at advancing inclusive, feminist approaches to climate justice and advocacy.

    We Advocated for a Feminist COVID-19 Recovery

    We made noise about the inequality impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided key recommendations to the government in our annual Feminist Scorecard. We brought together feminists from around the world to imagine what a feminist economic transformation would look like. In Canada, we organized a roundtable with Deputy Prime Minister Freeland as part of her federal budget consultations that provided an opportunity for 12 feminist leaders to share their recommendations for the budget at the highest levels. We brought feminist issues into the forefront of the federal election by publishing the Oxfam Canada Federal Election Guide and working with partners and allies on the ‘Up for Debate’ campaign.

    We Advocated for Investments in the Care Economy

    Years of supporting the child care movement in Canada culminated in a massive win in Federal Budget 2021 - the government announced $30 billion for the creation of a national, early learning and child-care system. We also saw a huge win on the international front. Following three years of targeted advocacy with Global Affairs Canada, Canada became the first donor country in the world to fund stand-alone care programming as part of its international assistance by announcing $100 million in new funding for paid and unpaid care programming at the UN’s Generation Equality Forum.  We also collaborated with Global Affairs Canada to host the only high-level official side event focused on gender equality at the World Bank / IMF 2021 Spring Meetings, titled “Investing in the Care Economy.”

    We Advocated for Dignified Wages for the Women who Make Our Clothes

    We launched the What She Makes campaign calling on Canadian fashion brands and retailers to pay living wages to the women who make our clothes. We engaged five of the most well known Canadian fashion brands to make a commitment to paying living wages and have seen progress as a result.

    We Advocated for Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

    We supported seven community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights in their communities.

    We Advocated for Canadian Leadership in Conflict and Crisis

    We worked with allies to encourage the government to show leadership on the Afghanistan crisis through open letters in partnership with our allies. We raised the alarm bells on how the effects of conflict, COVID-19 and climate change have intensified the global hunger crisis, calling on Canada to play a leadership role globally in providing life-saving aid.

    We Supported and Convened Advocates

    We brought together a cohort of 34 activists from nine provinces and territories for a three-day intensive online training where they shared lived experiences and advocacy skills from their communities and built knowledge on a range of global and domestic women’s rights and equality issues. We convened a group of 40+ intersectional feminist organizations in a strategy meeting ahead of the federal election to foster collaboration and solidarity and ensure the newly elected government prioritizes support for the feminist movement in Canada. We also surveyed women’s rights and feminist organizations domestically and globally to better understand the impact of the pandemic on the organizations.

    What a year! Our advocacy made a difference in the fight to end poverty, tackle inequality and support women’s rights in Canada and around the world.

    We sincerely thank our allies and supporters. It’s an honour to work alongside you all.

    We couldn’t do this work without you!

    ]]>         Holiday Unwrapped: Gifts that Do Good https://www.oxfam.ca/holiday-unwrapped-gifts-that-do-good Wed, 15 Dec 2021 15:56:06 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40397

    The holiday season is upon us!

    What better way to celebrate than by giving a meaningful gift that tackles poverty's root causes and advances women's rights? If you think this sounds like a win-win — it's because it is!

    Each gift in the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue represents activities and tools used in our vital programs around the world. You can help transform the lives of people living in poverty by providing skills training, clean water, livestock and other life-changing essentials through a meaningful gift during the holiday season — or any time of year.

    When you choose a gift for a special person in your life, you're making a donation of the same value that will advance Oxfam's mission to fight inequality and patriarchy to end poverty and injustice.

    Every gift comes with a card that you can personalize for your friend or loved one.

    So whether you choose a gift that supports emergency humanitarian responses or economic independence for women, you can feel good about this year's gift-giving.

    You can choose from these options:

    Radios

    Radios play a powerful role in some of our programs. They keep communities connected in regions where access to computers or city centres is limited. For many, listening to radio programs is their primary source of information.

    These battery-operated portable radios enable women to receive information about health services, sexual and reproductive rights and empowerment through Oxfam-supported radio broadcasts. Reaching a broad audience is essential to raising awareness and working toward equality.

    A woman, in the centre of the image, sits among some trees. On her lap she holds a radio while staring directly at the person who shot the image.

    Techlea didn't know Cyclone Idai would hit Zimbabwe in 2019. She decided to get a radio to keep her informed about future incidents and be prepared for potential emergencies. Photo: Cynthia Matonhodze/Oxfam

    Cash Vouchers

    Sometimes, when people are in crisis, the best support we can offer is financial. Emergency cash vouchers have the most impact on community members made vulnerable by environmental disasters, displaced by conflict and war, or experiencing gender-based violence.

    Cash vouchers place power and decision-making into people's own hands. They provide financial relief to survivors or households for up to six months. The money can be used for nutritious food, tools, clean water, medication or anything else people might need.

    A smiling woman standing inside a room holds a card.

    Ananeth Garae used her e-voucher card to purchase materials to repair her severely damaged home after tropical cyclone Harold hit Vanuatu in early 2020. Photo: Arlene Bax/Oxfam

    Hand Looms

    Oxfam's long-term development projects encourage women and households to improve their livelihoods and economic opportunities through training, grants, skills development and tools.

    Hand looms are used to teach women how to sew and weave cloth, enabling them to gain financial independence and access to markets.

    Women in Yemen learn to weave as part of Oxfam's training programs to support their financial independence. Photo: VFX ADEN/Oxfam

    Solar Panels

    In regions where electricity is unavailable, unreliable, or unaffordable, solar power is an invaluable solution for powering a home, a business, and in some cases, an entire community!

    The solar panels provided by Oxfam are simple, portable devices. Using a free power source — the sun — entire communities can use equipment like water pumps and filters to deliver water for irrigation.

    A woman is outside her home, smiling, while on her knees, next to a couple of solar panels that power the iron she's using to iron a pair of blue jeans.

    After receiving one of Oxfam's solar-powered irons, Ntandogenkosi stopped spending hours collecting wood to make coal to heat her old-fashioned charcoal iron in Zimbabwe. Photo: Aurélie Marrier d'Unienville/Oxfam

    All Unwrapped gifts are available to send as e-cards or print-at-home cards for all your last-minute needs.

    Are you thinking ahead to gift-giving for a birthday or a special occasion like a wedding or Valentine's Day? Don't wait. Browse our entire catalogue now! Our online store is open 24/7, all year round.

    How Unwrapped Works

    1. You choose your gift.
    2. You choose the card you want (e-card, print-at-home card, or physical greeting card) delivered to your recipient. You have the option to personalize its message.
    3. You will get a confirmation email after your purchase.
    4. Remember, your symbolic gift is a donation. It goes to those who need it most.

    Your gifts are considered charitable donations to Oxfam Canada. Therefore your purchases are tax-deductible. Once you've purchased a gift, we'll send you a tax receipt by email. Please note, we can only issue a charitable tax receipt in the name of the individual who has made the donation or gift.

    Spread the holiday cheer this month by purchasing a tax-deductible Oxfam Unwrapped gift that does good.

    ]]>         Failure to vaccinate the world created perfect breeding ground for Omicron, say campaigners https://www.oxfam.ca/news/failure-to-vaccinate-the-world-created-perfect-breeding-ground-for-omicron-say-campaigners/ Mon, 06 Dec 2021 00:00:25 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40385
    A year since first Pfizer vaccine given, Sub-Saharan Africa has only received enough doses to fully vaccinate 1 in 8 people

    Campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance say the refusal of pharmaceutical companies to openly share their vaccine science and technology and the lack of action from rich countries to ensure access to vaccines globally have created the perfect breeding ground for new variants such as Omicron.

    A year since a UK grandmother became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, great strides have been made to fully vaccinate over three billion people, but many poorer parts of the world have been left behind. While countries like the UK and Canada have had enough doses to fully vaccinate their entire populations, Sub-Saharan Africa has only received enough doses to vaccinate 1 in 8 people. The number of people in the UK who’ve had their third booster jab is almost the same as the total number of people fully vaccinated across all of the world’s poorest countries.

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance, which has over 80 members including the African Alliance, Oxfam and UNAIDS, are calling for pharmaceutical firms and rich nations to change course before it is too late. This must include:

    • Immediate approval of the waiving of intellectual property rules to end the monopoly control of pharmaceutical firms over COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. The World Trade Organization (WHO) General Council must urgently reconvene now, not next year, to finally get a waiver agreed.
    • All vaccines including new versions of vaccines designed to combat the Omicron variant to be declared global public goods, and vaccine recipes and know-how shared openly with producers worldwide via the WHO.

    Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS and Co-Chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Omicron is with us because we have failed to vaccinate the world. This should be a wake-up call.

    “Business as usual has led to huge profits for pharmaceutical firms, but many people left unvaccinated meaning that this virus continues to mutate. It is the definition of madness to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. We need to press reset.

    “We call on Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech and others to change course. You have made huge profits in the last year. We now have vaccine billionaires. You don’t need to make any more money. Changing your vaccines to meet the challenge of Omicron is no good if your vaccine recipes are once again locked up behind a wall of profit and monopoly.”

    The Alliance are also calling on rich nations to change course by using all their powers to insist on the open sharing of successful vaccine technology and know-how and to fund a huge expansion in vaccine production all over the world.

    Back in March, the Alliance along with 77 epidemiologists from some of the world’s leading academic institutions warned that unless we vaccinate the world, we’d be at risk of virus mutations that could render our current vaccines ineffective.

    Maaza Seyoum, of the African Alliance and People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa, said: “Fighting to buy up limited supplies of hugely expensive vaccines to protect your own citizens whilst ignoring the rest of the world will only lead to more variants, more mutations, more lockdowns and more lives lost. The same leaders, after failing the world repeatedly while allowing profiteering, are now laying the blame at the doorstep of the countries they have ignored.

    “Pharmaceutical monopolies and profiteering have prevented vaccination in Africa and the rest of the developing world. It is time that pharmaceutical companies and rich nations finally put protecting people and putting an end to this pandemic ahead of profits, monopolies and self-defeating attempts to protect themselves whilst allowing this disease to rampage across the rest of the world.”

    Oxfam Canada’s Women’s Rights Specialist Brittany Lambert said: “COVID19 is having a devastating impact on women in developing countries. Twice more women than men have lost work since they are overrepresented in precarious jobs. Many girls will not finish their education after long school closures. Lockdowns and family stress have seen domestic violence skyrocket.”

    “Now, with the new threat of the Omicron variant, it is clear that failing to vaccinate the world is not only morally reprehensible - but is a risk to us all.”

    “We hope that this wakeup call will prompt rich countries to find the political and courage to insist that pharmaceutical companies share their science and technology with qualified manufacturers around the world, so we can vaccinate everyone everywhere. Let’s end this pandemic once and for all.”

    In a statement sent to European Union negotiators and member states this week, the People’s Vaccine Alliance joined with more than 170 charities, NGOs, unions and campaign groups - including ONE campaign and the International Union of Food Workers - in criticizing the EU’s opposition to a waiver of intellectual property rules. The statement said that “the identification of the Omicron variant only heightens the urgency of a change in approach and is evidence of why the EU’s position is a threat to us all”. 

    Last week Norway was the latest of more than 100 countries to offer their support for the waiver. Meanwhile President Emmanuel Macron withdraw France’s earlier support, a decision the Alliance has called ludicrous and dangerous in the face of the new variant.

    John Mark Mwanika, ITF Urban Transport Chair, Uganda, said: “It’s not only shameful that six times more booster shots are being administered daily than primary doses in low-income countries, it’s an enormous risk to ending the pandemic globally.

    “It is no coincidence that the new Omicron variant was first discovered by scientists in countries which have been denied the right to produce their own vaccines. We are in a global emergency and workers are paying the price, particularly in the Global South.”

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance has created a virtual memorial wall to honour and remember those who have lost their lives to COVID-19, and to demand that leaders act to prevent more deaths.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • The People’s Vaccine Alliance has created a virtual memorial wall will be revealed at www.peoplesvaccine.org/memorial-wall on December 8, marking a year since the first vaccine was administered.
    • Sub-Saharan Africa countries have received enough doses to fully vaccinate 136,765,144 people, 12.8 per cent of the total population or 1 in 8, according to Airfinity data analyzed by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.
    • Figures for how many vaccines the UK and other Western countries have received are from Airfinity.
    • According to Our World in Data 19.9 million people in Low Income Countries are fully vaccinated. As of 2 December, the UK had administered booster doses to just over 19 million people, according to: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations
    • Information on the survey of epidemiologists carried out by the People’s Vaccine Alliance in March available here.
    • The full statement to the EU and list of signatories is available here.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Elena Sosa Lerín
    Communications Officer
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    elena.sosa.lerin@oxfam.ca

    ]]>         Famine action letter https://www.oxfam.ca/news/famine-action-letter/ Thu, 02 Dec 2021 15:00:26 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40374 Dear world leaders,

    It is over six months since the UN warned that famine risk is soaring globally. We – a group of 120 NGOs from around the world – are at a loss that since then the crisis has only worsened. There has been a 370 per cent rise in people experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger since April and now a staggering 45 million people are at extreme risk – on the brink of famine. These numbers do not tell the whole story. Behind them are people suffering immensely from a crisis that we can prevent. What will it take for this situation to change?

    The promises of the G7’s Famine Prevention Compact issued in May have not yet been met. It is clear that, since then, the situation has only deteriorated. Grand gestures do not fill empty stomachs. As the UN Secretary General has recently alerted, less than half the funding needed to stave off famine in six countries of highest concern (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Southern Madagascar, north-east Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen) has been received to date. Meanwhile, some Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs) are less than 20 per cent funded.

    The number of people at risk, and associated costs, are escalating, rising from $6.6bn needed to support 41 million people at risk of famine a few months ago, to $7bn needed to feed the 45 million people at risk across 43 countries, now. As basic food needs go unmet, humanitarian crises are escalating. One in 33 people worldwide are now in need of humanitarian assistance and one in ten people has malnutrition. The gap between needs and humanitarian funding is stark in some of the most vulnerable regions.

    Conflict, the climate crisis, economic shocks and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic are set to push more people into crisis level hunger and malnutrition in 2022. Conflict in particular is escalating globally, forcing families to flee their homes and lose their livelihoods. The hunger and malnutrition this is causing disproportionately affects women and girls putting them at increased risk of extreme hunger and gender-based violence.

    In conflict settings, supporting peacebuilding and conflict prevention is also crucial. Further, it is time that political commitments made to uphold international law, safeguard people’s human rights and secure access to aid are acted upon. All parties to a conflict must facilitate humanitarian access, protect civilians and desist from using starvation as a method of warfare. Obstacles, such as sanctions and access denial, to humanitarian action are severely compounding a crisis that cannot be healed with money alone.

    We have watched the number of people in need rise in 2021. We call on World Leaders to take the urgent action desperately needed now to reverse this trend in 2022.

    From

    International NGOs
    Action Against Hunger Global
    CARE International Global
    Christian Aid Global
    Concern Worldwide Global
    Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Global
    International Medical Corps Global
    International Rescue Committee (IRC) Global
    Islamic Relief Worldwide Global
    Mercy Corps Global
    Norwegian Refugee Council Global
    Oxfam International Global
    Plan International Global
    Save the Children Global
    World Vision International Global
    INTERSOS Global
    National and local NGOs
    Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA) Afghanistan
    Qatar Red Crescent Society  Afghanistan -Office Afghanistan
    Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA) Afghanistan
    La Chaîne de l’Espoir Afghanistan
    Organization for Community Coordination and Development Afghanistan
    Organization for people’s Health in action (OPHA) Afghanistan
    Shuhada Organization Afghanistan
    Aid Vision Country
    Caritas Développement Kalemie-Kirungu Democratic Republic of Congo
    Action Commune pour le Développement ONG ACD Democratic Republic of Congo
    Action pour l’Encadrement des filles mères désœuvrées Democratic Republic of Congo
    ADRA Democratic Republic of Congo
    Amour et Avenir du Congo Democratic Republic of Congo
    APPRONA (Appui aux Projets pour la Protection de la Nature) Democratic Republic of Congo
    Armee de Salut Democratic Republic of Congo
    Association des agriculteurs sans frontières Democratic Republic of Congo
    Association des Jeunes Cultivateurs et Eleveurs pour le développement au Kivu Democratic Republic of Congo
    AVSD Democratic Republic of Congo
    BUREAU OECUMENIQUE D’APPUI AU DEVELOPPEMENT “BOAD” Democratic Republic of Congo
    Bureau Œcuménique d’Appui au Développement “BOAD” Democratic Republic of Congo
    Caritas Développement Tshumbe Democratic Republic of Congo
    Caritas International Belgique Democratic Republic of Congo
    Carrefour des Agriculteurs, Pécheurs et Eleveurs “CAPE3 Democratic Republic of Congo
    Centre d’encadrement des personnes imprimeess Democratic Republic of Congo
    Centre Oecuménique pour la Promotion du Monde Rural Democratic Republic of Congo
    Comité pour le Développement et Assistance Humanitaire (CODEVAH) Democratic Republic of Congo
    Consortium des Organisations Humanitaires Pour la Paix du Sud Kivu Democratic Republic of Congo
    Cooperative Tunngana Democratic Republic of Congo
    Coordination Nationale des Conviviums de Slow Food en RD Congo Democratic Republic of Congo
    CS Savoir Vivre Democratic Republic of Congo
    Direction Hygiène et Salubrité Publique Democratic Republic of Congo
    Environnement Sans Frontières asbl Democratic Republic of Congo
    Espoir Plus Democratic Republic of Congo
    Food Security Cluster Democratic Republic of Congo
    Foyer de Lutte Contre la Malnutrition Democratic Republic of Congo
    Joseph NDAMBU Democratic Republic of Congo
    Lutte Nationalle Contre La Pauvrete (LUNACOP) Democratic Republic of Congo
    Paix et Développement de la Femme et de l’enfant Democratic Republic of Congo
    Prodecom  (projet de développement la communion fraternelle) Democratic Republic of Congo
    Regroupement des Acteurs pour le Développement de Base Democratic Republic of Congo
    Réseau d’Investissement pour le Développement Intégral (RIDI) Democratic Republic of Congo
    Solidarite Pour L’encadrement et Lutte Contre La Pauvrete Democratic Republic of Congo
    UADI ASBL Democratic Republic of Congo
    Union pour la Promotion/Protection, la Défense des Droits Humains et de l’Environnement-UPDDHE Democratic Republic of Congo
    Youth Engaged for Development and Social Progress Democratic Republic of Congo
    Youth for Development and Peace Democratic Republic of Congo
    Caritas Développement Uvira Democratic Republic of Congo
    ADSSE Democratic Republic of Congo
    UN OCHA Middle East and North Africa Egypt
    Finn Church Aid Finland
    Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo Finland
    Secours Islamique France France
    Solidarités International France
    ADRA Germany Germany
    COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale Italy
    Jordan Health Aid Society International Jordan
    Jordan paramedic society Jordan
    ADRA SOMALIA Kenya
    Refugee Consortium of Kenya Kenya
    slessor Kenya
    Cesvi Kenya/Somalia
    Middle East Council of churches Lebanon
    Conseil des Agriculteurs, des Pécheurs et des Eleveurs “CAPE Mbuji-Mayi/Kasaï Oriental
    FHI 360 Nigeria
    iMMAP Nigeria
    Jesuit Refugee Service Nigeria
    Norwegian Refugee Council Nigeria
    SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria
    Women for Women International Nigeria
    Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network Occupied Palestinian Territory
    New World Hope Organization (NWHO) Pakistan
    Society for Human Rights & Prisoners aid Pakistan
    Groupes des Jeunes pour le Developpement Communitaire République Démocratique du Congo
    ACtion In Semi Arid Lands ( ASAL) Somalia
    Actionaid international somaliland Somalia
    Development Action Network Somalia
    FCA Somalia Country Office Somalia
    Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO) Somalia
    Horn International Relief & Development Organization (HIRDO) Somalia
    Juba Foundation Somalia
    QRCS Somalia
    Shabelle Community Development Organization Somalia
    SOLO Somalia
    Somali NGO Consortium Somalia
    Sustainable Development & Peace-building Initiatives (SYPD) Somalia
    Trocaire Somalia
    Welthungerhilfe (WHH) Somalia
    World Concern Development Organisation Somalia
    Zamzam Foundation Somalia
    FAWE Somalia Somalia
    Humanitarian Translation for Somalia Somalia and Kenya
    Wasds Somalia/Kenya
    Mada Women Development SS South Sudan
    Al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation Turkey
    Hand in Hand for Aid and Development Turkey
    Horan Foundation Turkey
    Action For Humanity UK
    Hand in Hand for Aid and Development UK
    Church World Service USA
    ADO Yemen
    ADRA Yemen
    Bilding Foundation For Development Yemen
    Sustainable Development Foundation (SDF) Yemen
    Tamdeen Youth Foundation Yemen
    ZOA Yemen

    For more information:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Omicron, the Variant We All Saw Coming https://www.oxfam.ca/story/omicron-the-variant-we-all-saw-coming/ Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:14:57 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40341

    A new heavily mutated COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is causing global alarm − triggering travel bans and putting scientists on alert. This latest variant is now radically different from the original strand that was discovered in China, raising questions about whether vaccines will be as effective.

    It was entirely predictable that mutations would arise in Africa, the part of the world with the least access to COVID-19 vaccines. Only 6% of people in Africa are fully vaccinated. The contrast with high-income countries like Canada, which boasts a 76 per cent vaccination rate, is so stark that it has been called a "vaccine apartheid."

    Sadly, we still live in a world where economic inequality profoundly affects people’s right to health and life.

    In March, epidemiologists from some of the world's leading academic institutions warned of the risk the world was taking by failing to ensure all countries had sufficient vaccines. They predicted that if low vaccine coverage persisted in some parts of the world, we had less than a year before the virus mutated to the extent that existing vaccines were ineffective. It is not yet clear how well our vaccines will protect against Omicron. What is clear is that the world is failing to scale up vaccine supply fast enough.

    The global vaccine shortage is no accident.

    Intellectual property rules allow Western pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer-BioNTech to monopolize vaccine production. Yet, other capable manufacturers are ready and willing to make vaccines if intellectual property barriers are removed and if technology and know-how are shared. It makes no sense to leave the control of vaccine supply in the hands of pharmaceutical companies whose primary goal is to maximize their own profits.

    Big pharma companies have used their monopolies to prioritize the most profitable contracts with the richest governments, leaving low-income countries out in the cold. This strategy is working just as intended. The latest company reports for Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna reveal that these companies are making combined profits of $65,000 per minute.

    This situation has led to a split-screen reality of runaway pharma profits on one hand, and accelerating deaths in low-income countries on the other. While COVID-19 vaccines have created at least nine new billionaires, the pandemic continues to shatter the world's weakest economies. COVID-19 is destroying livelihoods and making global hunger skyrocket. Women are hardest hit since they are in the worst-paid, least secure jobs.

    In June, G7 countries pledged to use their vaccine surpluses to immunize the world. Half a year later, countries are falling embarrassingly short of their promises. A report last month showed that, of the 1.8 billion COVID vaccine donations promised by rich nations, only 14 per cent had been delivered to date. Meanwhile, every day, six times more boosters are administered in rich countries than first-time shots in low-income countries. It is clear that trickle-down vaccine charity is failing. Developing countries need the rights and formulae to make their own vaccines.

    For over a year now, countries have been unable to agree on a temporary suspension of intellectual property rules on COVID-19 products at the World Trade Organization (WTO). While over 100 countries have openly back the proposal – dubbed the "TRIPS waiver" – a few rich countries have blocked it or remained silent. Canada is among them.

    World Trade Organization members were set to meet next week to continue discussions. Friday, the meeting was postponed due to concerns over the spread of the new Omicron variant. It is deeply ironic that the vaccine apartheid that rich countries and the WTO have refused to address is ultimately responsible for the decision to postpone these talks.

    It's clearer than ever that there can be no more delays. Canada must urgently come out and openly support the TRIPS waiver. Putting pharmaceutical profits before human life is not only morally reprehensible, but is clearly a risk to us all.

    In addition to the ethical and public health imperatives for supporting the TRIPS waiver, Canada has legal obligations to do so – as suggested in an open letter signed this week by over 100 organizations and human rights experts.

    Canada, it's time to stand on the right side of history.

    Brittany Lambert is a policy specialist leading Oxfam Canada’s work on COVID-19 and vaccine equality.

    ]]>         Human rights advocates eye legal action against Canadian, German, Norwegian and UK governments over global COVID vaccine inequality https://www.oxfam.ca/news/human-rights-advocates-eye-legal-action-against-canadian-german-norwegian-and-uk-governments-over-global-covid-vaccine-inequality/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:39:56 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40330 Coordinated legal efforts call on “recalcitrant” governments to support proposed waiver of COVID-related intellectual property monopolies at the WTO

    Human rights lawyers have threatened legal action against the German, Norwegian, and Canadian governments today for obstructing global efforts to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines and other healthcare technologies.

    The move comes as state delegates from around the world prepare to negotiate the future rules governing the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and other healthcare technologies at next week’s Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

    A group of human rights advocates—the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (Germany), Professor Andenæs QC at the University of Oslo (Norway), and a coalition of organizations in Canada —today announced the development of prospective domestic lawsuits in each country should their governments fail to support the waiver of intellectual property over COVID healthcare technologies proposed by South Africa and India at the WTO last year in response to the pandemic. Meantime, Global Justice Now and Just Fair have written a letter of concern to the UK government setting out why the failure to support the waiver contravenes international human rights law.

    In letters and case materials released today, the organizations decry the immense global disparities in COVID vaccine and therapeutics access and affirm their governments’ obligations under international human rights law to take all steps within their power to ensure the human rights to life, health, equality, and benefit from scientific progress.

    The advocates say that these legal duties oblige governments to support the proposed waiver of intellectual property rules on COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments. They cite legal duties relating to international cooperation, good faith implementation of treaty obligations, and access to justice. At next week’s WTO conference, delegates will discuss a temporary waiver of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) in relation to COVID healthcare products.

    An urgent letter to Canada’s Minister of International Trade, signed by multiple organizations and human rights experts released today, warned that if Canada fails to support the TRIPS waiver, this decision could be challenged in domestic courts as a failure to implement Canada’s human rights obligations in good faith, through international cooperation. It stated that such a decision could also be challenged as a violation of rights to life, security of the person and equality in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because of its effect on the life and health of vulnerable groups in Canada, including women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, Black people, other racialized persons, and persons experiencing poverty.

    The letter noted that Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and its Chief Public Health Officer have repeatedly stated that an effective global strategy to limit the spread of COVID-19 is necessary to help prevent the emergence of more transmissible or deadly variants, and to protect life and health in all countries.

    On the letter of claim filed today in Germany on behalf of Ugandan citizens, Miriam Saage-Maaß of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights said:

     “It is important that the German government lives up to its extraterritorial human rights obligations and does everything within its power to enable equitable access to the most effective COVID19 vaccines. Germany can no longer defend a position that enforces vaccine apartheid and which unnecessarily prolongs the pandemic situation worldwide.”

    Germany has been a staunch supporter of the intellectual property monopolies that currently govern the supply of COVID healthcare technology, this despite a current surge in cases nationally in the wake of virus variants cropping up around the globe.

    Professor Mads Andenæs QC at the University of Oslo said, “court action against the Norwegian government is to commence, challenging the inadequate responses by the government to comply with its obligations under international and European human rights law and the Norwegian constitution.” Norway has so far failed to support the waiver. Norwegian Ambassador Dagfinn Sørli currently chairs the WTO TRIPS Council.

    On today’s letter in the United Kingdom, Nick Dearden of Global Justice Now said, “Throughout this pandemic, the UK government has put the interests of big pharmaceutical businesses ahead of the need to save lives around the world and defeat this pandemic. The epitome of this approach is that they have effectively blocked, repeatedly, the one measure the vast majority of the world has demanded – the waiver of intellectual property rules at the WTO. We hope our action today will send a clear message: they need to stop blocking action at the WTO.” The United Kingdom has so far refused to back the TRIPS waiver.

    These domestic efforts form part of a broader set of legal strategies being pursued before multiple mechanisms entrusted with the enforcement of human rights.

    Since May 2021, a group of human rights networks and their members and allied organizations have been convening to discuss how human rights legal mechanisms may be leveraged to achieve equitable global access to COVID-19 healthcare technologies and realize the right to health and other human rights of all people. These include: the Global Network of Movement Lawyers (at Movement Law Lab), ESCR-Net – International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations, members of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, including Oxfam International and Amnesty International, and Médecins Sans Frontières.

    Previous actions include petitioning the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and advocacy also led to 43 letters from United Nations human rights Special Procedures mandate holders to member states, pharmaceutical corporations and the WTO.  Dozens of jurists around the world also signed a legal brief on states’ human rights obligation to not impede a TRIPS waiver and other actions.

    These human rights groups are working collectively to surface the issues posed by states’ decision to privilege the intellectual property monopolies of corporations over the human rights to life, health, equality, and benefit from scientific progress of people across the global south and the global north.

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Elena Sosa Lerín
    Communications Officer
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    elena.sosa.lerin@oxfam.org

     

    ]]>         Statement of Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation Land Defenders https://www.oxfam.ca/story/statement-of-solidarity-wet-suwet-en-nation-land-defenders/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 00:53:11 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40326

    Oxfam expresses our solidarity with the First Nations peoples of the unceded, unsurrendered Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan territories, who are standing up for their rights and sovereignty in the face of major resource projects.

    We are deeply concerned by the recent heavy-handed actions taken last week by the Canadian and British Columbia governments in deploying the RCMP in Wet’suwet’en territory and the excessive use force against peaceful land defenders, particularly at a time when the province of British Columbia is in a state of emergency due to extreme weather events and flooding. This escalation is in contradiction with recommendations issued by the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in December 2019, which call on Canada to withdraw police and security forces from the area.

    Oxfam Canada calls on the federal and British Columbia governments to live up to their human rights obligations – including the recommendations from the UN CERD – and their commitments to respect and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is now enshrined in law both federally and provincially.

    Working in collaboration and partnership with Wet’suwet’en peoples, hereditary chiefs and land defenders is the only way forward, towards a just and lasting resolution of this crisis.

    ]]>         Find Out Where These 5 Fashion Brands Stand on Living Wages https://www.oxfam.ca/story/find-out-where-these-5-fashion-brands-stand-on-living-wages/ Tue, 23 Nov 2021 17:14:19 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40311

    Find Out Where These 5 Fashion Brands Stand on Living Wages

    by Kelly Bowden and Nirvana Mujtaba | November 23, 2021

    The fashion industry is huge and glamorous, but it is built on the backs of millions of women who live in poverty despite working countless hours making the clothes we wear. The women who make our clothes earn as little as 60 cents per hour in countries like Bangladesh, working their entire lives to earn what top fashion CEOs make in just four days.

    Low minimum wages prevail as countries that produce garments for export are caught in a 'race-to-bottom' on setting wages as they seek to attract more foreign buyers.

    Often minimum wages are less than half of what people really need to live.

    A living wage is a simple concept – that the lowest wage paid to a full-time worker must cover a basic and dignified standard of living. It's the minimum all working people should be paid if they are to escape poverty. A living wage should be earned in a standard work week (no more than 48 hours) and be sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for a worker and their family.

    A decent standard of living includes nutritious food, water, energy, housing, education, healthcare, childcare, clothing and transportation. It also includes savings for unexpected events.

    Canadian companies, like all global brands, have significant purchasing power and should use this as leverage to ensure the women who make our clothes can lift themselves out of poverty.

    TAKE ACTION NOW: Reach out on social media using our brand tracker to tell companies that you don’t want poverty woven into the fabric of your clothes.

    A credible commitment statement with clear time frames and milestones is critical to ensure brands develop strategies to start paying a living wage in their supply chain and turn these good words into actions. It also ensures that brands are transparent throughout their journey. We will be using a brand tracker to show where companies are at in their move towards living wages. The tracker is meant to be a tool to track progress and hold companies accountable to their commitments and international obligations.

    The brand tracker scores five Canadian companies on their commitment to a living wage:

    Aritzia

    White exclaimation mark in a yellow circle icon that says "Some Action Taken" below.Aritzia reports it is committed to ”collaboratively developing a roadmap towards economic security” with its suppliers. Over the past year, it has created a data collection methodology and framework to gather wage data across its supply chain and is planning to build wage ladders. (Note: A wage ladder is a tool to compare wage levels to recognized living wage benchmarks). While these are important steps, Aritzia has not explicitly published a commitment to paying living wages in their supply chains nor set any timeframes. Aritzia’s supplier code of conduct requires meeting local legal requirements or industry standards for wages and benefits, but not living wages. The code of conduct states that, at the minimum, wages should be “enough to cover basic needs and some discretionary income” but does not specify it should be earned during a regular 48-hour work week and ’basic needs’ should extend beyond the worker to include their families.

    Herschel Supply Co.

    White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.Herschel Supply Co. reports having a code of conduct for suppliers but does not make it publicly available on its website. The company does not disclose what wage provisions are included in the code, if any, but does assert the code “reflects the international standards set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and applicable ILO Conventions and federal legislation.”

     

    Joe Fresh (Loblaw)

    White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.According to Joe Fresh's (Loblaw) supplier code of conduct, suppliers are required to follow the applicable laws and regulations that apply to the regions in which they operate, applicable company policies, procedures, guidelines and standards and governing terms. Under their supplier code of conduct, they “encourage suppliers to commit to betterment of wages and benefits levels to address the basic needs of workers and their families and work towards closing the gap between current wages and objectively calculated living wages.”  However, Loblaw does not specify that a living wage should be earned during a regular 48-hour work week, nor how the company is supporting the betterment of wages and benefits in its supply chain.

    Lululemon

    White exclaimation mark in a yellow circle icon that says "Some Action Taken" below.

    Lululemon’s 2020 Impact Report notes that their recently updated vendor code of ethics expects their suppliers to move towards paying fair compensation, based on Fair Labor Association (FLA) and Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC) definitions. They have carried out research to create a landscape assessment and identify best practices. Their approach follows recommendations from the FLA workplace code of conduct and they aim to be accredited by the FLA by 2024. Their vendor code of ethics requires suppliers to progressively realize a level of compensation to meet workers’ basic needs and some discretionary income if current wages are insufficient to do so. This is an amazing commitment – but they still need a clear timeline and milestones. 

    Roots

    White X mark in a red circle icon that says "No Action Taken" below.Roots’ investor disclosures (Annual Information Form 2021, SEDAR filings) state that they have a code of conduct for suppliers and manufacturers, and ”perform due diligence on new suppliers to ensure sound working conditions and...require evidence of third-party compliance audits to ensure these standards are met”. However, as the code of conduct is not publicly available and no details around what standards for working conditions are evaluated in the auditing process are published, Roots’ wage provisions and other commitments on wages, compensation and working hours are not verifiable.

    While these companies have yet to take sufficient action, there are others showing leadership across the industry. Companies such as Gildan, H&M, Target and Kmart have all made credible public commitments to pay a living wage.

    Ask the companies you know and love to commit to paying a living wage.

    TAKE ACTION NOW: Reach out on social media using our brand tracker to tell companies that you don’t want poverty woven into the fabric of your clothes.

    ]]>         Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna making $1,000 profit every second while world’s poorest countries remain largely unvaccinated https://www.oxfam.ca/news/pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-making-1000-profit-every-second-while-worlds-poorest-countries-remain-largely-unvaccinated/ Tue, 16 Nov 2021 05:01:41 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40284 Demand grows for firms to share vaccine recipes and technology as billionaire pharma bosses convene for ‘Big Pharma Davos’

    New figures from the Peoples Vaccine Alliance reveal that the companies behind two of the most successful COVID-19 vaccines – Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna – are making combined profits of $65,000 every minute. The figures based on the latest company reports are released as CEOs from pharmaceutical industry meet for the annual STAT summit – the equivalent of a ‘Big Pharma Davos’ – from November 16 – 18.

    These companies have sold the majority of doses to rich countries, leaving low income countries out in the cold.  Pfizer and BioNTech have delivered less than one per cent of their total vaccine supplies to low-income countries, while Moderna has delivered just 0.2 per cent. Meanwhile 98 per cent of people in low income countries have not been fully vaccinated.

    Maaza Seyoum of the African Alliance and People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa said:  “It is obscene that just a few companies are making millions of dollars in profit every single hour, while just two percent of people in low-income countries have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

    “Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna have used their monopolies to prioritize the most profitable contracts with the richest governments, leaving low income countries out in the cold.”

    Despite receiving public funding of over $8 billion, the three corporations have refused calls to urgently transfer vaccine technology and know-how with capable producers in low- and middle-income countries via the World Health Organization (WHO), a move that could increase global supply, drive down prices and save millions of lives. In Moderna’s case, this is despite explicit pressure from the White House  and  requests from the WHO  that the company collaborate in and help accelerate its plan to replicate the Moderna vaccine for wider production at its mRNA hub in South Africa.

    While Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, described the call to share vaccine recipes ‘dangerous nonsense,’  the WHO  emergency use approval of the Indian vaccine Covaxin earlier this month is clear evidence that developing countries have the capacity and expertise.

    Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager said: “Contrary to what Pfizer’s CEO says, the real nonsense is claiming the experience and expertise to develop and manufacture life-saving medicines and vaccines does not exist in developing countries. This is just a false excuse that pharmaceutical companies are hiding behind to protect their astronomical profits.

    “It is also a complete failure of government to allow these companies to maintain monopoly control and artificially constrain supply in the midst of a pandemic while so many people in the world are yet to be vaccinated.”

    Based on company financial statements, the Alliance estimates that Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna will make pre-tax profits of $34 billion this year between them, which works out as over a thousand dollars a second, $65,000  a minute or $93.5 million a day. The monopolies these companies hold have produced five new billionaires during the pandemic, with a combined net wealth of $35.1 billion.

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance, which has 80 members including the African Alliance, Global Justice Now, Oxfam, and UNAIDS, is calling for the pharmaceutical corporations to immediately suspend intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines, tests, treatments, and other medical tools by agreeing to the proposed waiver of the TRIPS Agreement at the World Trade Organization.

    They are also calling on governments, including the United States, to use all their legal and policy tools to demand that pharmaceutical companies share COVID-19 data, know-how, and technology with the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool and South Africa mRNA Technology Transfer Hub.

    More than 100 nations, led by South Africa and India – with the support of the US – have been calling for the TRIPS waiver, which also has the support of over 100 past and present world leaders and Nobel laureates.

    Despite this, other rich nations, including the UK and Germany, are still blocking the proposal, putting the interest of pharmaceutical companies over what’s best for the world.  This issue is set to dominate the World Trade Organization Ministerial Summit to be held in Geneva from November 20 to December 3.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • A People’s Vaccine Alliance report from October 21 found that Moderna has only delivered 0.2 per cent of their total vaccine supply to low-income countries and Pfizer/BioNTech has delivered less than one.
    • In their Q3 financial statement, Pfizer forecast $36bn in vaccine revenue for 2021. Gross profit from the revenue is split 50/50 with BioNTech. Pfizer guidance for their income before tax (after splitting profit with BioNTech) is ‘High-20s as a Percentage of Revenues.’ A conservative 25 per cent margin would bring Pfizer’s profit before tax to $9bn in 2021 from the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine.
    • In BioNTech’s Q3 financial statement they forecast €16-17 billion in vaccine revenue for 2021. In the nine months ending September 30 the company made € 10.3bn profit before tax on €13.4bn, revenue giving a 77 per cent profit margin. Using a conservative €16bn forecasted revenue for the full year, we therefore estimate that at a 77 per cent profit margin, BioNTech will make €12.3bn in pre-tax profit in 2021 – or $14.7bn using the 2021 average exchange rate.
    • Moderna’s Q3 profit before tax for nine months ending September 30 is $7.8bn on $11.2bn revenue giving a pre-tax profit margin of 70 per cent. The company projects full year 2021 sales to be “between $15 billion and $18 billion”. Using the lower end of the estimate – 70 per cent of $15bn is $10.5bn in profit for 2021. The vaccine is Moderna’s only commercial product.
    • We therefore estimate the combined 2021 profit before tax for Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech as $34bn. There are 525600 minutes in a year giving $ 64,961 profit before tax per minute or $1,083 per second. Pre-tax, rather than net, profit is used as Pfizer only report the guidance for pre-tax profit margin.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Oxfam reaction to AstraZeneca’s plan to take profits from the COVID-19 vaccine https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-reaction-to-astrazenecas-plan-to-take-profits-from-the-covid-19-vaccine/ Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:00:27 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40282 In response to the announcement that AstraZeneca is to move away from the non-profit model for COVID-19 vaccines, Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager and spokesperson for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said:

    “AstraZeneca is breaking its repeated and celebrated public promises of a non-profit vaccine for all countries for the duration of this pandemic and to never to make a profit in any low- and middle-income country from this publicly funded vaccine. It is turning its back on these commitments at a time when the pandemic still rages and 98 per cent of people in the poorest countries are not yet fully vaccinated.

    “While AstraZeneca has said the vaccine will remain non-profit for developing nations, we understand that 75 middle-income countries including Indonesia, The Philippines, South Africa and Zimbabwe are excluded from their commitment. AstraZeneca must immediately and unequivocally confirm that it will not profit from any sales of the vaccine for any low or middle-income country whether via bilateral deals or COVAX.

    “With the number of people dying from COVID-19 rapidly rising above five million and given the development of this vaccine was 97 per cent funded by taxpayers and charities there can be no justification for this decision.

    “It is time for the Oxford University to partner with the World Health Organization so that this life-saving publicly funded vaccine technology can be shared as a global public good and produced by as many capable manufacturers around the world as possible.

    “Broken promises from pharmaceutical corporations and rich country governments have been an enduring theme of this pandemic when it comes to vaccine access.  This is a further example of why the UK government can no longer defend the pharmaceutical monopolies driving today’s vaccine apartheid. It must immediately join over 100 countries including President Biden in supporting a temporary suspension of intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments so that everybody can be protected.”

    – 30 –

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Campaigners petition UN to investigate racial and gender discriminations in global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out https://www.oxfam.ca/news/campaigners-petition-un-to-investigate-racial-and-gender-discriminations-in-global-covid-19-vaccine-roll-out/ Wed, 10 Nov 2021 10:00:43 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40241 US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland in violation of international human rights law in “prolonging the pandemic” ahead of vital World Trade Organization meeting 

    GENEVA – An international coalition of human rights law groups, public health experts, and civil society organizations is taking legal action against the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, on the grounds that these countries are in violation of international human rights law by failing to intervene on what has been an inequitable and racially discriminatory rollout of the vaccine and other COVID healthcare technologies.

    In an appeal to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the coalition charges that by failing to lift intellectual property barriers on all COVID-19 medical technologies through a TRIPS waiver (or to effectively implement it through technology transfers), the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland are in violation of the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a human rights convention ratified by nearly all countries in the world.

    Because the rich countries currently making and hoarding vaccines are majority white, and the formerly colonized countries suffering due to vaccines being withheld are majority Black, indigenous, or other people of colour, the current inequitable vaccine rollout is a textbook example of structural racial discrimination.

    The International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination requires that countries take effective measures “to review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws or regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists.” Countries have an obligation under the convention to “prevent, prohibit and eradicate” all practices of racial discrimination particularly “racial segregation and apartheid.”

    Yet the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland have opposed or willfully failed to take all available measures to increase global supply of and equitable access to vaccines and other COVID-19 medical technologies, a violation of their obligations under the human rights convention.

    Globally, 73 per cent of all COVID-19 vaccine doses have gone to just 10 countries. Rich countries have administered 61 times more doses per capita than poorer countries and delivered only 14 per cent of the 1.8 billion doses promised to poor countries. Just 5.8% of Africans have been vaccinated. The top 10 high-income countries will have hoarded 870 million excess doses of vaccines by the end of 2021. Countries in the Global South stand to lose $2.3 trillion from now until 2025 if they can’t vaccinate 60 per cent of their population by mid-2022.

    The appeal asks the CERD Committee to compel the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland to “respect, protect and fulfil their human rights obligations,” as well as to take several immediate actions, including:

    • Demand that the Respondent States immediately support, implement, and enforce a temporary waiver of the intellectual property barriers on COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments currently imposed by the World Trade Organization’s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), as requested by India and South Africa in October 2020, and
    • Mandate technology and knowledge transfers from the relevant pharmaceutical corporations to the many manufacturers around the world standing by to ramp up production of these lifesaving medical technologies.

    The CERD meets from November 15 in a weeks-long session coinciding with the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting on November 30. The WTO ministerial is a key opportunity to resolve the year-long impasse on the proposal to break the corporate monopoly control of COVID-19 healthcare technologies by granting the TRIPS waiver.

    Tian Johnson, Founder & Lead Strategist, African Alliance and member of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “As a consequence of neocolonial economic and social policies in Africa, fragile health systems impact communities’ access to health services in much of the continent. Africa will become known as the continent of COVID-19 – not because of vaccine hesitancy but because of the inequity, greed, and inaction of pharmaceutical companies and political leaders of the North. Having to rely only on the continent’s own capacity and resources will not be enough to save African lives. Nor should it be. African lives matter, just as much as lives in Berlin, Washington, Tel Aviv, Geneva, London, Toronto or Brussels. COVID-19 is a global crisis that requires global action, whose response all countries should be able to share equally.”

    Paula Litvachky, from the Center for Legal and Social Studies in Argentina, said: “Latin America has been extremely affected by the pandemic. It concentrates almost 25 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in a continent that is less than 10 percent of the world’s population. Although there is regional industrial capacity, many States have had problems accessing vaccines. Groups such as indigenous peoples, Afro descendants and racialized sectors are harder hit than others, both by the virus and by the dramatic social and economic crises it is provoking.”

    Anele Yawa, General Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign and a member of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Big Pharma has prioritized excessive profits over protecting people’s health for too long. Often they are aided and abetted by governments in the Global North through their inaction or opposition to a more just system. We have repeatedly seen this occur in many fights for access to affordable medicines, from the fight for HIV medicines in the early 2000s and more recently in our fight to Fix the Patent Laws to ensure more affordable medicines for cancer, TB, mental health and beyond. Yet again now with COVID-19, we are seeing Big Pharma greed being prioritized over people’s lives all over the world. Governments must fulfil their international obligations and help prioritize people over profits by ensuring vaccine equity for all, irrespective of where you were born, poverty, gender or immigration status.”

    Joshua Castellino, Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International, said: “COVID-19 has hit people of colour, women, indigenous people, and other minority and discriminated groups harder in terms of infections, deaths, lack of access to healthcare, resultant poverty, and even violence and emotional trauma. The discrimination of the virus is being revisited by vaccine discrimination, as rich nations deliberately withhold and deny these same groups of people equitable access to it.”

    Meena Jagannath, coordinator of the Global Network of Movement Lawyers at Movement Law Lab, said: “We have tabled an evidenced-based challenge to the UN, an institution meant to embody the spirit of multilateral cooperation. Our evidence points to specific actions by the named states in perpetuating structural divisions between the global north and the global south that are rooted in historical colonialism, all in the service of profit and the corporate capture of power. This contravenes their legal obligations under international covenants and agreements they’ve ratified. This is a test-of-our-times for the UN system to engage and correct. We are deadly serious in our resolve to seek justice and redress.”

    Mandivavarira Mudarikwa, Attorney, Women’s Legal Centre, South Africa, a member of ESCR-Net – International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said: “It is undeniable that women in their diversity, especially those of colour, have disproportionately been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including in shouldering the greatest burden of healthcare and unpaid care work. The inequitable availability of access to health care, personal protective equipment and the distribution of vaccines, and other lifesaving treatments has laid bare the ongoing discrimination that women face in their daily lives. Critical, transformative action is needed immediately if we are to substantively effect change and bring about just and equal access to the right to health. We therefore support the submission of the CERD urgent action appeal aimed at addressing the gender and racial injustice that persists and hope that others will join in this collective action.”

    The petition urges CERD to find that these countries must prioritize actions that will protect people’s lives instead of the corporate-controlled intellectual property of the vaccine. They should be supporting – rather than blocking – a proposal at the WTO to waive these intellectual property monopolies, so that more countries are able to make more and cheaper vaccines and other COVID healthcare technologies.

    Germany, the UK, Norway and Switzerland have actively opposed moves to waive intellectual property barriers on all COVID-19 vaccine technologies at the WTO. The US has declared support but only for a narrow waiver on the vaccine alone, while failing to use other mechanisms at its disposal e.g. mandating technology transfers through use of the Defense Production Act.

    The petition is also strengthened by a separate legal brief signed by jurists around the world which finds that these “blocking” states are also, by their actions, breaching a number of covenant and treaty obligations under international human rights law. The brief says these countries are violating both the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, along with a number of treaties they have signed as members of the WTO, including their legal obligations of international cooperation. A broad legal coalition is also advancing additional complaints in other forums, including a submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to surface the gender discrimination.

    The petitioning groups include African Alliance, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, Minority Rights Group, Oxfam International and Treatment Action Campaign. The petition was coordinated by Global Network of Movement Lawyers (of Movement Law Lab) and ESCR-Net, and is supported by SECTION27 and other organizations within the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

     – 30 –

    Notes to editors: 
    1. Members of the World Trade Organization will meet on 30 Nov to 3 Dec to discuss a proposal to waive the vaccine patent in order to allow the sharing of vaccine technology and know-how. This proposal was tabled by South Africa and India and is supported by over 100 countries.
    2. The petition to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) can be found here.
    3. The CERD meeting takes place on November 15 to December 3. The petition calls on CERD to invoke its “Early Warning and Early Action” procedure.
    4. The legal brief entitled “Legal Brief on States’ Human Rights Obligations regarding the proposed COVID-19 TRIPs Waiver” can be found here.
    5. The legal brief  was written by Sanya Samtani and Timothy Fish Hodgson, with contributions of members from the People’s Vaccine Alliance; the Global Network of Movement Lawyers (of Movement Law lab); ESCR-Net – International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Women Legal Centre; the South Centre; the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights; the Center for Economic and Social Rights; the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations; Minority Rights Group International; el Proyecto de derechos Económicos Sociales y Culturales; Dejusticia; Minbyun; Amnesty International; Oxfam UK; Médecins Sans Frontières; and with the support of the Oxford-Bonavero Institute.
    6. An inconvenient truth: The real reason why Africa is not getting vaccinated & (2) A confusing COVID caseload – Why Africa’s missing numbers show a different side to the pandemic
    7. While a CEDAW submission on grave and systemic violations is forthcoming, the Feminists for a People’s Vaccine has already submitted a shadow report to CEDAW in Sweden’s treaty body review process, asking for an IP waiver.

      Contact information: 

     

    ]]>         Alberta’s Oil Cleanup Program: A Cautionary Tale for Investors and Regulators https://www.oxfam.ca/story/albertas-oil-cleanup-program-a-cautionary-tale-for-investors-and-regulators/ Tue, 09 Nov 2021 15:52:02 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40248
    ,

    Alberta’s Oil Cleanup Program: A Cautionary Tale for Investors and Regulators

    by Sharmeen Contractor and Mike Toulch | November 9, 2021

    In April 2020, the Government of Canada launched a $1.7 billion fund to clean up abandoned and inactive wells to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and create jobs, as part of its emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta received the majority of the funding – roughly $1 billion – and immediately established the Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP) to administer the funds. 

    Oxfam Canada and the Parkland Institute evaluated Alberta’s roll-out of the program in their report "Not Well Spent" and observed issues with effectiveness, inclusion, and transparency, which should concern investors and policymakers. 

    Some of the report’s findings include: 

    • The SRP appears to be a bailout for the oil and gas industry. At the time of the report’s publication, $800 million had been disbursed and more than half ($500 million) was allocated to 15 large oil and gas companies, relieving their environmental liabilities and in direct violation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle.  
    • The effectiveness of the program to achieve emissions reductions was questionable and went unmeasured. Environmental risks did not appear to be a priority in site selection, even though these wells are a significant source of methane emissions.  
    • Jobs created are non-permanent and in predominantly non-unionized companies. Though Alberta made many publicized attempts to include Indigenous participation, efforts fell short of expectations; Indigenous company participation was significantly low compared to non-Indigenous companies. 
    • Lack of transparency makes it challenging to assess how funds are spent. Information related to a number of sites completed, locations of sites approved for grants, GHG emissions reductions, job creation, and community engagement, especially Indigenous participation is not readily available.  

    While the federal government was quick to hand out money during the COVID-19 emergency, similar bailouts are unlikely to be a viable long-term option, as they circumvent the 'polluter pays' principle and foist private costs on the public. Moreover, the program’s minimal effectiveness and public dissatisfaction with the outcome makes it unlikely that further, larger or future cleanup programs will garner much public support.   

    Un-reclaimed Wells Present Investment Risks 

    Canada has committed to reduce its GHG emissions by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Investors with exposure to Canadian oil and gas producers and other companies servicing the sector in Canada should pay close attention. The year 2020 was marked as one of the largest asset write-downs to date for oil and gas companies, including in Canada, part of which can be attributed to growing concerns about climate change. 

    Canadian fossil fuel producers continue to face lower demand, higher regulatory scrutiny around environmental impacts, and more competition from renewable sources.  

    More asset write-downs are likely as countries increase their climate commitment levels during COP26 this November. In addition, as pressure mounts on banks to decrease the carbon associated with their lending portfolios, the cost of obtaining finance could go up, increasing oil and gas companies’ debt servicing costs. Further, in the event of bankruptcy, Canadian firms can no longer evade environmental liabilities as the 2019 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Orphan Well Association et al. v. Redwater Energy Corporation demonstrates.   

    As the fallout of COVID-19 continues to curb fossil fuel demand, and the looming threat of climate change forces governments to accelerate the energy transition, Canada’s energy sector is likely to experience greater consolidation, less access to capital and an upswing in bankruptcies among small and mid-sized operators. Factoring in the recent Redwater decision and the size of the potential costs associated with these well cleanups, it appears that the financial risks associated with reclamation liabilities, which the oil and gas sector and its investors had assumed would materialize well into the future, may be coming due faster than anyone had anticipated let alone planned for.  

    Just Transition - Opportunity for a 'Reclamation Boom' 

    To reduce the risk of exposure to un-reclaimed wells, investors must urge policymakers to learn from the SRP to ensure that future programs are properly developed and implemented. Firstly, investors should insist that the environmental benefits of funding should be represented in program design and performance measures with GHG emissions reductions must be prioritized, measured, and tracked. Wells should be prioritized for cleanup based on the environmental risks they pose.  

    Most importantly, any economic recovery should uphold the ‘polluter pays’ principle. While designing such programs, close attention should be paid to ensure that the problem is being addressed and that industry is held accountable. Any regulation must ensure that cleanup liabilities are accounted for on the balance sheets of companies and that these companies have adequate funding to cover cleanup costs. This will be immensely beneficial, especially in case of bankruptcy proceedings.   

    To provide information useful to investors, cleanup programs that are funded by the government should have a minimum level of transparency and reporting requirements. For instance, this can include information about quality and type of jobs benefited, data about sites nominated versus those completed, recovery of unpaid taxes from sites, etc. Measuring GHG emissions pre- and post-cleanup should be a cornerstone of any such program. To address unequal power dynamics between industry, landowners, workers, and communities where oil and gas activities are taking place, relevant data should be publicly available, which will be useful for ensuring that companies do not lose their social license to operate.  

    It's in investors' long-term interest if climate justice is a foundation of any recovery program.

    Well reclamation presents a unique opportunity to stimulate economic activity; recent estimates suggest that well reclamation can create over 10,000 full-time jobs that would require minimal to no skills re-training or relocation, and nearly $2 billion in contribution to Alberta’s GDP every year for the next 25 years. Cleanup programs must include constructive strategies to restore Indigenous sovereignty, correct socio-economic inequalities, protect workers, and promote direct involvement of affected communities in all stages of site cleanup and remediation.  
 

    Ultimately, if done well, oil and gas cleanup programs are not only environmental necessities but represent important economic and social opportunities and minimize investment risks.

    Sharmeen Contractor is a Senior Advisor, Market Systems and Investors at Oxfam America. Mike Toulch is a Senior Engagement Specialist at SHARE, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education.

     

    ]]>         How to Get Canadian MPs to Act on COVID-19 Vaccine Accessibility https://www.oxfam.ca/story/how-to-get-canadian-mps-to-act-on-covid-19-vaccine-accessibility/ Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:53:21 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40246

    How to Get Canadian MPs to Act on COVID-19 Vaccine Accessibility

    by Oxfam Canada | November 9, 2021

    As restrictions ease in various provinces across the country, the idea of “returning to normal” remains far out of sight for the poorest people on the planet. 

    While Canada boasts high vaccination rates and begins to roll out booster shots, vaccination rates remain depressingly low for most people around the world. Across Africa, less than 5% of the population has received their COVID vaccinations. In Uganda specifically, less than 1% of people are fully vaccinated.  

    Why is this? Because the price of a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine charged to the African Union is the same as Uganda spends per citizen on health in a whole year. 

    This is why the world needs action now to improve access to COVID19 vaccines. Oxfam, together with allies in the People’s Vaccine Alliance, continues to call for an emergency waiver on Trade Related and Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) at the World Trade Organization.  

    From the beginning of the pandemic,  rich country leaders promised that any successful vaccine would be a global public good. They said, "No one is safe until everyone is safe.” Instead of acting on this ideal, rich countries and pharmaceutical corporations have created an unnecessary and deadly vaccine apartheid.  

    Right now, we have an opportunity to make a small change that could help at least one country – and set a precedent for more action.  

    Canadian vaccine manufacturer Biolyse wants to produce and export 15 million doses of a patented COVID19 vaccine to Bolivia, a country struggling to fight COVID19. Under Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), generic pharmaceutical manufacturers like Biolyse can obtain a compulsory license to produce and export lower-cost versions of patented medicines to developing countries in the event of a public health emergency.  

    The Government of Canada has so far refused to add COVID-19 vaccines to the Schedule 1 list of essential medicines of the Patent Act, which would allow Biolyse to produce vaccines under CAMR. 

    In response to Canada’s failure to take this simple measure, a parliamentary petition has been opened to push for discussion of the issue in government. 

    Sign the parliamentary petition today, and tell Canada’s Members of Parliament to put accessible vaccines for the poorest in the world back on the agenda.  

    A change to the Schedule 1 list of essential medicines could mean a change for the lives of millions of people living in poverty worldwide.

    ]]>         Oxfam calls for urgent G20 action to tackle vaccine inequality, hunger, climate change, and promote a fair economic recovery https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-calls-for-urgent-g20-action-to-tackle-vaccine-inequality-hunger-climate-change-and-promote-a-fair-economic-recovery/ Thu, 28 Oct 2021 00:01:20 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40185 Ahead of the G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, Oxfam calls on G20 leaders to take urgent action to dramatically scale up manufacturing and access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world, promote a fair economic recovery, fight hunger, lower dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, and help the poorest countries adapt to the climate change already happening.

    Leaders at this G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, must tackle the unforgivable scandal of vaccine inequality and systemic mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic, which has sparked an unprecedented wealth grab.

    Rich countries originally promised that any successful vaccine would be “a global public good” and pledged 1.8 billion doses to developing countries. A year later, they have delivered just 261 million (14 per cent). While their own vaccination rates are high, some above 70 per cent, barely two per cent of people living in poorer parts of the world have been vaccinated with at least one dose.

    “Meeting in Rome at such a time of public health and economic turmoil, amid a worsening climate crisis, G20 leaders have a choice – either take urgent action against COVID-19, hunger, and climate change, or continue doing what they have been doing, talking some of the talk but walking none of the walk,” said Oxfam’s Senior Advisor, Jörn Kalinski.

    Rather than supporting common-sense proposals by India and South Africa for trading nations to waive the intellectual property rights and patents on vaccine technology, in order to increase production and lower vaccine costs for all, rich countries have instead hoarded more vaccine doses than they need and supported the big pharmaceutical companies to retain all of the vaccine science and know-how.

    “None of us are safe from the coronavirus until all of us are safe, but rich countries and pharmaceutical corporations have instead created a vaccine apartheid,” said Kalinski. “In Rome, G20 leaders must put aside their differences and starting the process to share the rights and the technology to vaccines, and scaling-up manufacturing around the world to ensure everyone has access to them.”

    G20 leaders must also pursue a more equitable economic recovery and help to fight the scourge of growing hunger, around the world. More than 40 million people experience extreme levels of hunger primarily due to economic shocks largely caused by the pandemic. Mass unemployment and severely disrupted food production have led to a 40 per cent surge in global food prices – the highest rise in over a decade.

    “The pandemic has both highlighted and exacerbated our broken and unequal economic system,” said Kalinski.  “Billionaire wealth has jumped from $8 trillion to $15 trillion in just two years while hundreds of millions of people now face crisis-levels of hunger and poverty. Together, the G20 can make a dramatic difference, by showing political will, and using its multilateral leadership to create the better future.”

    The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for governments all over the world. The discrepancy in financing abilities between countries is striking: throughout 2020 advanced economies spent about 20 per cent of their combined GDP to support their people, whereas the emerging markets’ and low income countries’ support stood at only five per cent and two per cent respectively. This requires an urgent G20 action to address, equitably and effectively, the constraints caused by high levels of indebtedness and shortage in domestic resources in the most vulnerable contexts of the globe.

    Oxfam is also calling for G20 action to tackle the climate crisis, which is exposing the unequal and devastating effects of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and sea level rises on the most vulnerable communities around the world. The poorest people, with fewest resources, and who have done the least to cause the problem, are being hardest hit.

    “We still have time to reverse course and prevent the worst impacts of climate change,” said Kalinski. “G20 leaders must use this summit to signal their collective commitment to tackle climate change before the COP26 negotiations start in Glasgow next week.”

    Oxfam calls on G20 leaders meeting in Rome to:

    • Lift patents and share COVID-19 vaccine know-how and technology, invest in decentralized vaccine manufacturing hubs in developing countries, and redistribute existing vaccines equitably.
    • Boost their climate actions by submitting ambitious NDCs based on their fair share ahead of COP26 and increasing their pledge of climate finance.
    • Ensure a generous reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from richer countries to the developing ones that has to be interest- and conditionality-free and additional to existing ODA and climate finance commitments.
    • Keep working on the package of tax reforms that have just been agreed to recover fairness and address more effectively and in a truly inclusive way corporate profit shifting and damaging effects of tax competition.
    • Support and invest in universal social protection systems that can be flexibly scaled to address health, climate and economic shocks such as the pandemic and its consequences like the hunger crisis.

    “G20 leaders must choose between a brighter, healthier, and more sustainable future for all or extreme wealth for just a few,” said Kalinski. “This is the time for G20 leaders to be bold. They can help win against the pandemic and create a just and equitable world for all of us to thrive, not just survive.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Pharmaceutical companies and rich nations delivering just one in seven doses promised for developing countries https://www.oxfam.ca/news/pharmaceutical-companies-and-rich-nations-delivering-just-one-in-seven-doses-promised-for-developing-countries/ Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:01:58 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40178 Firms and rich nations continue to block moves to share vaccine technology and recipes

    Developing countries have been hit with an endless tide of inadequate gestures and broken promises from rich countries and pharmaceutical companies, who are failing to deliver billions of doses they promised while blocking the real solutions to vaccine inequality, according to a new report published today by the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

    The report ‘A Dose of Reality’, found that of the 1.8 billion COVID vaccine donations promised by rich nations, only 261 million doses – 14 per cent – have been delivered to date, while western pharmaceutical companies have delivered only 12 per cent of the doses they allocated to COVAX, the initiative designed to help low- and middle-income countries get fair access to COVID vaccines.

    At the same time, the EU and countries including Germany and the UK, have refused to support the proposal of India, South Africa, and over 100 nations to waive patents on vaccines and COVID related technologies while leading pharmaceutical companies have failed to openly share their technology with the World Health Organization to enable developing countries to make their own vaccines and save lives.

    Canada has taken over 970,000 doses from COVAX, while delivering only 3.2 million – or 8 per cent – of the 40 million doses it promised. The US has delivered the most doses – nearly 177 million doses – however this is just 16 per cent of the 1.1 billion promised

    Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said: “Rich nations and corporations are shamefully failing to deliver on their promises whilst blocking the actual solution; ensuring developing nations have the ability to make their own vaccines. It is painfully clear that the developing world cannot rely on the largesse and charity of rich nations and pharmaceutical companies, and hundreds of thousands of people are dying from COVID-19 as a result. This is beyond appalling.”

    The Alliance said that while COVAX failed to acknowledge that relying on pharmaceutical companies may not deliver doses, the companies have undermined the initiative, first by not allocating it enough doses and second by delivering far less than they agreed. Of the 994 million doses allocated to COVAX by Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Pfizer/BioNTech, only 120 million – 12 per cent – have actually been delivered, which is 15 times less than the 1.8 billion doses delivered to rich countries from these companies. Both Johnson & Johnson and Moderna are yet to deliver a single dose they promised to the initiative.

    “Global vaccine inequality is the biggest obstacle to ending this pandemic and ensuring a strong economic recovery worldwide,” said Brittany Lambert, Oxfam Canada’s Women’s Rights Policy Specialist.

    “COVID-19 is destroying livelihoods and women are hardest hit since they are in the worst-paid, least secure jobs. Half a billion people, of which twice as many are women than men, are now under-employed or out of work because of this virus. We clearly can’t rely on trickle-down vaccine charity. The only way out of this pandemic is to share the technology and know-how with other qualified manufacturers so that everyone, everywhere can have access to these lifesaving vaccines.”

    During the UN General Assembly in September, President Biden rallied support for the goal to vaccinate 70 per cent of people in every country by September of 2022. While this target is rightly ambitious, the People’s Vaccine Alliance says it should be achieved much more quickly, and there is still no plan to achieve it.

    The WHO stated that it must be a global priority to get doses to developing countries by the end of this year, but the Alliance says rich countries are not listening and working to a timetable of delivering an inadequate supply of doses by some time in 2022, which is likely to lead to countless unnecessary deaths.

    To deflect growing pressure to share their vaccine technology free of intellectual property restrictions leading western pharmaceutical corporations have consistently over-exaggerated their projected production volumes, claiming there will soon be enough for everyone while delivering the overwhelming majority of their stock to rich nations.

    Collectively, the four companies claimed they would manufacture an estimated 7.5 billion vaccines in 2021, yet with less than three months until the end of the year, they have only delivered half of these. Forecasts suggest the companies will produce 6.2 billion vaccines by the end of the year, a shortfall on their projections of more than 1.3 billion doses.

    With a week to go before leaders meet for the G20 summit in Rome, The People’s Vaccine Alliance – which has 77 members including ActionAid, the African Alliance, Global Justice Now, Oxfam and UNAIDS – is calling on them to stop breaking their promises to vaccinate the world and to:

    • Suspend intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines, tests, treatments, and other medical tools by agreeing to the proposed waiver of the TRIPS Agreement at the World Trade Organization.
    • Demand, and use all their legal and policy tools to require pharmaceutical companies to share COVID-19 data, know-how, and technology with the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool and South Africa mRNA Technology Transfer Hub.
    • Invest in decentralized manufacturing hubs in developing countries to move from a world of vaccine monopolies and scarcity to one of vaccine sufficiency and fairness in which developing countries have direct control over production capacity to meet their needs.
    • Immediately redistribute existing vaccines equitably across all nations to achieve the WHO target of vaccinating 40 per cent of people in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70 per cent of people in all countries by mid-2022.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • All statistics are reference available in the full report available here.
    • The headline stats that rich nations have only delivered 14 per cent of promised doses refers to doses donated by the G7 and ‘Team Europe’ which includes the EU, Norway and Iceland.
    • So far COVAX has received directly from pharmaceutical companies:
      • 104 million (14 per cent) of the 720 million doses promised by Oxford/AstraZeneca
      • 16 million (40 per cent) of the 40 million promised by Pfizer/BioNTech
      • Zero doses of the 200 million promised by Johnson & Johnson
      • and zero doses of the 30 million promised by Moderna
    • Only 1.3 per cent of people in Low Income Countries are fully vaccinated.
    • Airfinity forecast that Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Pfizer/BioNTech will produce 6.2 billion doses by the end of the year, a 17 per cent shortfall of the original forecasts, which translates into more than 1.3 billion missing vaccine doses.
    • A new video from The People’s Vaccine Alliance is available here.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

     

    ]]>         Delivering on the Promise of Climate Finance https://www.oxfam.ca/story/delivering-on-the-promise-of-climate-finance/ Wed, 20 Oct 2021 17:41:20 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40176
    ,

    Delivering on the Promise of Climate Finance

    by Anya Knechtel | October 20, 2021
    Climate change isn't a looming crisis - it's a destructive force affecting thousands of lives right now. And the people who have contributed the least to the climate emergency are suffering most. Oxfam works alongside the world's poorest communities to help them face the climate crisis head-on. Photo: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam

    Over a decade ago, Canada and other wealthy countries made a commitment to deliver $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change and take action to reduce emissions. This so-called climate finance is not charity. It is a commitment aimed at addressing the injustice rooted in the climate crisis, which is marked by inequality.

    People in low-income countries who have emitted the least in carbon emissions are the ones suffering the most severe consequences of global warming. In fact, the world’s richest one per cent are responsible for more than twice the carbon pollution as the poorest half of humanity. And, unlike the poor, the richest have the means to buffer themselves against the worst impacts of climate change. That’s why climate finance is so critical to helping vulnerable communities deal with the impacts of a crisis they did little to create.

    Yet while this funding is urgently needed, wealthy countries have been short-changing developing countries when it comes to funding climate initiatives as they have yet to deliver on their $100 billion annual commitment. This funding shortfall is adding up to billions of dollars each year and many lost opportunities to support women, youth and vulnerable communities in tackling the climate crisis.

    The Missing Dollars: Tallying up the funding shortfall to developing nations

    The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently reported that donor countries provided around US$80 billion in climate finance in 2019, adding another US$20 billion to the amount owing from past years of funding shortfalls.

    The science clearly indicates that the effects of climate change are becoming worse. In this light, the $100 billion annual target already sets a low bar for support. The UNEP estimates that as a result of the escalating impacts of climate change, developing countries’ adaptation financing needs alone could climb to USD 140-300 billion by 2030 and USD 280-500 billion by 2050. Ahead of COP26, Indian and African climate negotiators are calling on developed countries to provide trillions in annual funding to assist developing countries in adopting cleaner technologies and adapting to the effects of climate change.

    While the final accounting is not yet available, 2020 is again chalking up to be another slim year where wealthy countries failed to deliver even on the $100 billion commitment. Unless wealthy countries meet their full commitment and realistically assess future needs in discussions on post-2025 finance, this shortfall will continue to grow in the coming years and precious time will be lost in helping women prepare for greater climate hardships.

    In the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow this November, Canada stepped up to co-lead, with Germany, an effort to map out a plan that may finally see wealthy nations fully deliver on the long-standing promise of $100 billion annually in climate finance. Although a few countries have significantly increased their climate finance commitments for the next five years, including Canada, the US, and most recently New Zealand, the increases are not enough to close the gap this year, or the next few years. Without factoring in last-minute funding announcements ahead of COP26, Oxfam’s analysis of existing pledges indicates governments could take as long as 2025 to finally deliver on the $100 billion annual commitment.

    Two women standing chest deep in water. Woman on the left is slightly taller wearing a blue shayla and blue patterned dress. Woman on right is wearing an orange/red patterned shayla and dress.

    Lipi and Zeyda from Bangladesh are standing in the water that flooded their homes and community near the Jamuna River once again due to climate change. Photo: Gideon Mendel/Oxfam

    The Real Value of Climate Finance

    The potential benefits of climate finance, if well deployed, are enormous. For example, women’s rights organizations in developing countries would have more funding to help their families overcome the threat of hunger by shifting to drought-resistant crops and building their climate resilience. The money could go to establishing early warning systems that may save lives by giving people living in exposed communities time to seek shelter before cyclones or typhoons hit. Or it could be lighting up homes and businesses with clean, reliable and renewable energy so kids can study and women can start new businesses. But instead, many women and youth are left to deal with rising hunger, poverty and an uncertain future as wealthy countries fail to live up to their responsibilities.

    While the delivery plan for the $100 billion will speak to the quantity of finance committed, it’s also important to improve the quality, accessibility and effectiveness of climate financing. Canada and all governments should ensure climate financing reaches the people experiencing increased vulnerability due to climate change.

    Women, youth and Indigenous people experience the brunt of the adverse impacts of climate change because of ongoing inequalities and discrimination that limit their access to resources that could otherwise help them to adapt.

    What’s more, we need governments to increase their climate finance without further indebting countries that have contributed the least to this crisis. Adaptation financing in particular should be provided in the form of grants, not loans, to ensure low-income countries have the means to respond without cutting other essential public services.

    So why aren’t wealthy countries prioritizing climate funding, especially when developing countries need this support more than ever as they struggle to contend with the ongoing pandemic and eventual recovery? Ultimately, it’s a matter of political will. To help build that will, it’s time for us to speak out and let governments know that we not only want to see them deliver on this commitment, but that millions of women around the world are counting on them to do so. It’s not an act of charity but rather a matter of climate justice.

    Join Oxfam in calling for a delivery plan that will see countries stepping up now to meet their full responsibility for climate finance and send a message that funding for adaptation and gender-responsive climate finance is needed to support women in their fight for climate justice.

    Anya Knechtel is a policy specialist leading policy work on climate change and natural resources at Oxfam Canada.

    ]]>         Oxfam Canada’s Commitment to Anti-Racism and Equity https://www.oxfam.ca/story/oxfam-canadas-commitment-to-anti-racism-and-equity/ Fri, 24 Sep 2021 16:49:24 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=40083

    In 2020, Oxfam Canada was jolted into action by the Black Lives Matter movement. We are inspired by the many formidable women around the world who are leading the charge for racial justice and, to be true to our mission, we acknowledge that we need to become an actively anti-racist organization.

    Over the past year, Oxfam Canada has strengthened our commitments to advance anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion in our culture, structure, policies, systems, programs, advocacy, campaigning and outreach work. Growing as an anti-racist, feminist and inclusive organization is a key priority in our Oxfam Canada Strategic Framework 2021-25, and we are working to root out and address racism and white supremacy.

    We have created a new Plan of Action on Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, focusing on three main areas:

    • Organizational strategy, internal culture, policies and systems
    • Ongoing learning and dialogue
    • Increasing our understanding of and applying intersectional and anti-racism approaches to our programming, outreach and advocacy

    What does this mean in practice? It means that over the next year, Oxfam Canada will:

    1. Conduct a listening and reflection process that focuses on listening to current and past Oxfam Canada staff and seeks to help us understand our current shortfalls and challenges on anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. This will be facilitated by external consultants.
    2. Complete a review of our internal policies using an anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion lens, then strengthen and update them.
    3. Complete a review of staff and board recruitment professional development practices and management practices from an anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion perspective and act on the recommendations.
    4. Integrate anti-racism, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion goals into the performance management process for each staff member, including senior management.
    5. Develop and institute a training, learning, coaching and dialogue plan on anti-racism, anti-oppression, diversity, equity and inclusion for all staff and the board.
    6. Develop a framework for measuring and reporting on our anti-racism and decolonization work to determine how well it is progressing and where it might be stuck or at a standstill.
    7. Create anti-racism and anti-oppression principles for Oxfam Canada, which will guide our work like our feminist principles do.
    8. Deepen relationships with anti-racism movements and Black women’s movements within our national influencing work and global programs.
    9. Strengthen our race-based analysis as part of our programming, advocacy and influencing work to bring a truly intersectional feminist lens to our work.
    10. Put thoughtful attention into the content decisions that we make for our public channels, using a justice, equity, diversity and inclusion lens and considering the importance of visibility and solidarity.

    While the whole organization is committed to this work, the Executive Director and the Senior Management Team are ultimately accountable for delivering on it. They will be guided by Oxfam Canada’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, which includes staff at all levels of the organization, and the expert advice of external consultants.

    As part of our ongoing work on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, we are also making organizational commitments to reconciliation. We are in a moment of reckoning for Canada, as the traumatic impacts of colonization on Indigenous Peoples – both past and present – continue to be revealed through the murder and abuse of indigenous women and girls and the unearthing of mass graves at residential schools. We recognize we must learn, unlearn and reflect on Canada’s ongoing genocide.

    We are committed to decolonizing our work and supporting reflective learning by staff. While we recognize the interconnections between our anti-racism work and our reconciliation work, we are developing a separate Reconciliation Action Plan, led by the Executive Director and supported by our Reconciliation Working Group. We have devoted separate resources to this work.

    We want to be transparent about this journey, letting our supporters and allies know about the progress we’re making, but also acknowledging our setbacks and shortcomings. We recognize that this is long, hard and complex work that requires sustained commitment and resources to ensure that the changes we implement are meaningful.

    Colonialism and racism – which are rooted in white supremacy – stand in direct opposition to Oxfam’s vision of a fair and just world. We are sincere in our commitments and want to be transparent and accountable. In that spirit, we will publish an update on our progress and learning annually (read our 2021 update).

    If you have any questions or want to contact us about this work, reach out to us at info@oxfam.ca.

    ]]>         Empty promises will not save the world from COVID, campaigners warn ahead of Biden global vaccine summit https://www.oxfam.ca/news/empty-promises-will-not-save-the-world-from-covid-campaigners-warn-ahead-of-biden-global-vaccine-summit/ Tue, 21 Sep 2021 04:01:26 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=40076 Leaders already failing to meet previous commitments as only 1 in 8 of doses promised at G7 have been delivered

    On the eve of President Biden’s global COVID summit on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly, campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance are calling for world leaders to go beyond empty promises of charity and deliver bold action to increase manufacturing and access to COVID vaccines around the world.

    The Alliance, which is a coalition of more than 75 organizations around the world united under a common aim of campaigning for a people’s vaccine for COVID-19, says President Biden’s ambitious goal to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world by this time next year will not be met with the trickle of charity currently on offer from rich countries.

    “World leaders have made big promises to vaccinate the world, yet they have failed to deliver on all promises. Instead, they allowed pharmaceutical companies to deprioritize poor countries in vaccine allocation. That’s why we have vaccine apartheid,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We need a new paradigm that rests on sharing the technology and know-how of vaccine manufacturing around the world, we need action, not promises.”

    The Alliance called on President Biden and other Summit participants to work to end existing vaccine monopolies, waive intellectual property rules, mandate the sharing of vaccine technologies and know-how, invest in manufacturing capacity in developing countries as well as in research and development, and reallocate existing vaccine doses as soon as possible.

    “We are at a crucial point in this pandemic. While rich countries have administered 80 per cent of global doses, poor countries have had only 0.5 per cent. This shocking inequality is a public health, economic, gender justice, and moral disaster,” said Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America. “President Biden’s pledge to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world by this time next year will not be met by empty promises, but with bold action. That starts by sharing the vaccine knowledge and technology now, so that developing nations can make their own doses.”

    The Alliance estimates that only 13 per cent of the one billion doses promised by G7 leaders in June have been delivered so far. Meanwhile, the international vaccine initiative COVAX has announced it is half a billion doses short of meeting even its already low target of enough doses for 23 per cent of people in developing countries. At the same time, the G7 are on track to waste 100 million doses of the vaccines by the end of the year.

    “Rich countries continue to offer pathetic trickles of charity while protecting the monopolies of pharmaceutical corporations and denying billions of people protection,” said Maaza Seyoum of the African Alliance and the People’s Vaccine Alliance in Africa. “With up to 10,000 people dying every day, nothing short of redistributing the rights to produce the vaccines will be enough.”

    The Alliance is calling for a fast-track intensive process to urgently agree a TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization with full backing of the US before November, and for President Biden and other world leaders to use every legal and policy tool available to insist pharma work with the WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the South African mRNA tech transfer hub to build up manufacturing capacity and ramp up production.

    “The US government has the recipe for the world’s most effective COVID vaccine and can choose to share this knowledge to help make billions more doses in the year ahead,” said Peter Maybarduk, Director of Public Citizen’s Global Access to Medicines Program. “The World Health Organization has established an mRNA manufacturing hub in South Africa and will need far more ambitious support than wealthy countries have offered so far. Ending the pandemic is a choice.”

    “India and South Africa proposed a TRIPS waiver nearly one year ago and have faced nothing but obstruction at every turn. Shameful inaction by President Biden is resulting in countless preventable deaths across the global South,” said Asia Russell, Executive Director of Health Global Access Project (Health GAP). “President Biden must use his global stage at the COVID-19 Summit to call for rapid passage of a robust TRIPS waiver at the WTO. The world can’t tolerate another day of his deadly delays.”

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling for President Biden and world leaders to:

    • Reach an urgent agreement on a waiver of intellectual property rules ahead of the TRIPS council in October, so that all qualified manufacturers, especially those in developing countries, are able to produce COVID vaccines.
    • Make legally binding commitments to share vaccine doses immediately, so that the most vulnerable and those working on the front line in developing countries are protected, before rich countries give third shots to healthy adults.
    • Use every power available to make it a requirement for pharmaceutical companies to share technology and know-how with the C-TAP and the mRNA Hub in South Africa and ensure there is enough funding to make the technology transfer happen.

    “Rich countries are selfishly looking out for themselves but short-changing all of us. We need bold solutions now, not more empty gestures,” said Dinah Fuentesfina, Campaigns Manager at ActionAid International. “Enough is enough, we must put people before profits. We need a People’s Vaccine — now.”

    – 30 –

    Editors notes:
    • Campaigners protesting President Biden and other world leaders’ records of failure on the global COVID-19 response took place outside the UN headquarters on September 20, ahead of President’s Biden’s address before the UNGA general debate September 21, which is followed by the COVID-19 Summit September 22.
    • According to the Airfinity weekly update for September 17: the G7 could collectively waste 100 million doses in 2021 (based on their current donation pledges), rising to 800 million by mid-2022, due to expiry. In addition to expired vaccines another potential significant source of wastage around the world is the inability to use all the doses in multi dose vials, with more doses per vial associated with greater wastage.
    • According to Our World in Data, more than 10,400 people died in one day from COVID-19, figures for September 16, 2021. Global COVID death figures also available from WHO.
    • According to Airfinity data, 133,273,810 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been donated to Low and Lower Middle-Income Countries by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States have been delivered since the start of the pandemic. At the June G7 meeting in Cornwall UK, leaders of these countries pledge “one billion doses over the next year”.

     

    Country Total donation deliveries to date of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
    Canada 1,260,600
    France 5,406,340
    Germany 3,568,080
    Italy 2,312,600
    Japan 16,039,060
    United Kingdom 6,285,060
    United States 98,402,070
    Grand Total

    133,273,810

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Pharmaceutical companies reaping immoral profits from COVID vaccines yet paying low tax rates https://www.oxfam.ca/news/pharmaceutical-companies-reaping-immoral-profits-from-covid-vaccines-yet-paying-low-tax-rates/ Tue, 14 Sep 2021 12:01:58 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38459 Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer cashing in thanks to taxpayer investments, monopolies, and low taxes while leaving millions unprotected

    Moderna, BioNTech, and Pfizer are reaping astronomical and unconscionable profits due to their monopolies of mRNA COVID vaccines — upwards of 69 per cent profit margins in the case of Moderna and BioNTech — while Moderna and Pfizer are also paying little in taxes, campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance said today.

    Thanks to their patent monopolies for successful vaccines against the coronavirus, development of which was supported by $100 billion in public funding from taxpayers in the US, Germany, and other countries, the three corporations earned more than $26 billion in revenue in the first half of the year, at least two-thirds of it as pure profit in the case of Moderna and BioNTech. The Alliance also estimates that the three corporations are over-charging, pricing vaccines by as much as $41 billion above the estimated cost of production.

    “Big Pharma’s business model — receive billions in public investments, charge exorbitant prices for life-saving medicines, pay little tax — is gold dust for wealthy investors and corporate executives but devastating for global public health,” said Robbie Silverman, Oxfam America’s private sector engagement manager. “Instead of partnering with governments and other qualified manufacturers to make sure that we have enough vaccine doses for everyone, these pharmaceutical companies prioritize their own profits by enforcing their monopolies and selling to the highest bidder. Enough is enough — we must start putting people before profits.”

    Even as vast regions of the world experience a rapid rise in COVID cases and deaths, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have sold more than 90 per cent of their vaccines to rich countries, charging up to 24 times the potential cost of production, according to analysis by the Alliance based on work by MRNA scientists at Imperial College. Analysis of production techniques for the leading mRNA type vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which were only developed thanks to public funding to the tune of $8.3 billion, suggest these vaccines could be made for as little as $1.20 a dose.

    Furthermore, despite benefiting from $8.3 billion of public investment in the development of their vaccines, the US companies have not paid their fair share of taxes. In the first half of 2021, Moderna paid a 7 per cent US tax rate and Pfizer paid a 15 per cent tax rate, well below the US statutory rate of 21 per cent.

    “More than 200 million people have been infected during this pandemic, more than 4.5 million people have died, and at least nine new billionaires have been minted thanks to COVID,” said Dinah Fuentesfina, Campaigns Manager at ActionAid International. “This truly is the inequality virus. We create vaccine billionaires but fail to vaccinate billions of people in desperate need. Given the vast public investment in the development of these vaccines and the overwhelming public health need throughout the world, these life-saving vaccines must be global public goods.”

    In the run up to the UNGA and an anticipated virtual COVID summit hosted by President Biden, activists are mobilizing across the world to demand the lifting of vaccine monopolies and sharing of vaccine recipes immediately to save lives. They have been joined by more than 140 former leaders and Nobel Prize winners including François Hollande, Helen Clarke and Gordon Brown who have written an open letter to German candidates ahead of the national election on Sept 26th calling on them to reverse German opposition to the waiving of patents and support immediate transfer of vaccine technology to manufacturers in developing countries.

    Based on recently released Q2 financial data, the People’s Vaccine Alliance estimates that Moderna has brought in more than $6 billion in revenue this year, $4.3 billion of which is profit — an astronomical 69 per cent profit margin on its vaccines. Moderna expects total vaccine sales of $20 billion in 2021. At the same, Moderna is paying single-digit tax rates — it has paid only $322 million in tax in 2021 despite earning billions in profit.

    Given that Moderna and BioNTech have no other significant commercial products besides COVID-19 vaccines, the total profit margins result almost exclusively from the vaccines. While Pfizer is not a start-up and sells multiple products, the COVID vaccine has been an enormous windfall for Pfizer as well.

    The COVID vaccine now accounts for more than a third of Pfizer’s overall revenue base. Pfizer has sold more than $11 billion in vaccines in the first half of this year. Pfizer is now projecting $33.5 billion in total vaccine sales for 2021, making the vaccine one of the top selling pharma products this year and potentially in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. Pfizer has stated that its vaccine profit margins are less than 30 per cent, but because Pfizer provides financial information only for vaccine revenue, and not expenses, it is not possible to independently verify its profit margins. It has sold just 0.5 per cent of its vaccine doses to the poorest countries.

    “Vaccine hoarding by rich countries and profiteering by rich pharma companies when millions across the world are being denied protection are not only morally wrong, but also short-sighted and dangerous,” said Silverman. “As the Delta variant clearly demonstrates, if COVID is left unchecked in other parts of the world, a mutation can lead to widespread transmission of the virus and severe illness or death amongst those who are not vaccinated. Future variants could send us back to square one. To truly get this virus under control, we need to end vaccine monopolies, share the recipe, ramp up production around the world and vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.”

    The administration of additional booster shots in rich countries like the US and the UK, while poor countries languish far behind is likely to increase profits further and increase the risk further of vaccine resistant variants.

    “Rich countries buying up more doses to give third shots to their residents while most countries struggle to provide first doses to their doctors and nurses illustrates the fundamental inequality that has prevailed in our response to COVID thus far,” said Maaza Seyoum of the African Alliance and the People’s Vaccine Alliance in Africa. “This unequal status quo is resulting in needless deaths across the globe and producing new variants that threaten public health everywhere — all to fatten the wallets for Big Pharma executives and corporate investors.”

    “These corporations have maximized their revenues and profits by preventing others from producing the vaccines and by minimizing the taxes they pay,” concluded Silverman. “We need a People’s Vaccine, which means sharing the vaccine recipe, leveraging the world’s full manufacturing capacity, and producing enough doses for everyone. No one will be safe until everyone is safe.”

    – 30 –

    Editor’s notes:
    • The People’s Vaccine Alliance is a coalition of more than 75 organizations united under a common aim of campaigning for a ‘people’s vaccine’ for COVID-19.
    • Company revenue, profits, and tax information sourced from publicly available company financial statements, such as filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
    • For context, the pre-pandemic profit margin across the entire Fortune 500 was 8 per cent.
    • For additional information on pricing estimates, please see the People’s Vaccine Alliance briefing note The Great Vaccine Robbery.
    • The open letter from former heads of state and Nobel Prize winners to German candidates is available in English and
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Can you believe this is ‘What She Makes’ https://www.oxfam.ca/news/can-you-believe-this-is-what-she-makes/ Tue, 31 Aug 2021 08:00:51 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38396

    OTTAWA – The fashion industry is huge and glamourous – and yet it’s built on the backs of millions of women who live in poverty despite working countless hours making the clothes we wear. Top executives of Canadian fashion brands make on average over $18,000 a day, while the women making clothes in Asia earn as little as $5 per day. Given this huge disparity, it takes about four days for a CEO to earn what an ordinary Bangladeshi woman worker earns in her whole lifetime.

    Oxfam Canada is launching the What She Makes campaign to tackle inequality in the fashion industry and demand Canadian clothing brands pay a living wage to the women who make our clothes.

    “Eighty per cent of Bangladesh’s four million garment workers are women – these workers have received poverty wages for years, barely making ends meet and have no financial savings to draw on,” said Amanda Gomm, the lead What She Makes campaigner at Oxfam Canada.

    “With mounting debt and little access to health care and without any social safety net, they can easily slip into abject poverty and struggle to feed themselves and their families.”

    Just like many people in Canada who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, internationally, the women who make our clothes faced a similar story. With the demand for new clothes plummeting and stores closing in the early months of the pandemic, apparel brands abruptly cancelled factory orders and refused payment for orders already completed. As a result, supplier factories in Bangladesh and other sourcing countries, which operate on paper-thin margins, were unable to pay workers’ salaries.

    These fashion brands abandoned workers in their supply chains, which left them without any means to support themselves or their families. As a result, more than a million workers in Bangladesh were fired or laid off in April 2020.

    With more than $28 billion (USD) in clothing retail sales in 2019, Canada plays a notable part in this exploitative business model. No major clothing brand in Canada has shown publicly that all workers making their clothing are being paid a living wage. Brands’ failure to ensure a living wage is paid in their supply chains means many thousands of the women who make clothes destined for Canadian stores live in poverty.

    What She Makes is calling on all Canadian brands to commit to ensuring the workers making their clothes are paid a living wage — and to publish a step-by-step strategy outlining how and when this will be achieved. Oxfam’s campaign brief, published today, outlines the steps fashion brands must take to move from current sourcing models to a system where workers are guaranteed a living wage.

    Currently, a very small amount of the retail price we pay for our clothes actually goes to the women who make them. While labour costs may vary for most garments, wages for production scarcely exceeds three per cent of the price that is paid for a product in a shop. This equates to just 30 cents from a $10 t-shirt.

    “Canadian brands make big money, and they must leverage that buying power to change the system and stop the exploitation of workers,” Gomm said.

    “They can be part of lifting women out of poverty while still producing affordable, good quality products. Brands have the power and the responsibility to ensure the workers who make their clothes can live with dignity and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.”

    To find out more visit the What She Makes website.

    – 30 –

     

    For more information please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Vaccine monopolies make cost of vaccinating the world against COVID at least 5 times more expensive than it could be https://www.oxfam.ca/news/vaccine-monopolies-make-cost-of-vaccinating-the-world-against-covid-at-least-5-times-more-expensive-than-it-could-be/ Thu, 29 Jul 2021 09:00:23 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38324 The cost of vaccinating the world against COVID-19 could be at least five times cheaper if pharmaceutical companies weren’t profiteering from their monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines, campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance said today.

    New analysis by the Alliance shows that the firms Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are charging governments as much as $41 billion above the estimated cost of production. Colombia, for example, has potentially overpaid by as much as $375 million for its doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, in comparison to the estimated cost price.

    Despite a rapid rise in COVID cases and deaths across the developing world, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have sold over 90 per cent of their vaccines so far to rich countries, charging up to 24 times the potential cost of production. Last week Pfizer/BioNTech announced it would licence a South African company to fill and package 100 million doses for use in Africa, but this is a drop in the ocean of need. Neither company have agreed to fully transfer vaccine technology and know-how with any capable producers in developing countries, a move that could increase global supply, drive down prices and save millions of lives.

    Analysis of production techniques for the leading mRNA type vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna – which were only developed thanks to public funding to the tune of $8.3 billion – suggest these vaccines could be made for as little as $1.20 a dose. Yet COVAX, the scheme set up to help countries get access to COVID vaccines, has been paying, on average, nearly five times more. COVAX has also struggled to get enough doses and at the speed required, because of the inadequate supply and the fact that rich nations have pushed their way to the front of the queue by willingly paying excessive prices.

    Without pharmaceutical monopolies on vaccines restricting supply and driving up prices, the Alliance says the money spent by COVAX to date could have been enough to fully vaccinate every person in Low and Middle-income countries with cost-price vaccines, if there was enough supply. Instead at best COVAX will vaccinate 23 per cent by end of 2021.

    The Alliance of nearly 70 organisations, including the African Alliance, Oxfam and UNAIDS, says the failure of some rich countries to back the removal of monopolies and to drive down these excessive prices has directly contributed to vaccine scarcity in poorer nations.

    Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, said: “Pharmaceutical companies are holding the world to ransom at a time of unprecedented global crisis. This is perhaps one of the most lethal cases of profiteering in history.

    “Precious budgets that could be used for building more health facilities in poorer countries are instead being raided by CEOs and shareholders of these all-powerful corporations.”

    Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS said: “Health workers are dying on the frontline all over the world every single day. Uganda alone lost more than fifty health workers in just two weeks. A reminder of the time when millions of people were dying of HIV in developing countries because the medicines that could save them were priced too high.

    “I see lives being saved in vaccinated countries, even as the Delta variant spreads, and I want the same for developing countries. It is criminal that the majority of humanity is still facing this cruel disease unprotected because Pharma monopolies and super profits are being put first.”

    While some rich countries have started to re-distribute a fraction of their excess doses and have made funding commitments, this charity is not enough to fix the global vaccine supply problems. The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling on all governments to insist that the vaccine technology is transferred – to enable all qualified manufacturers worldwide, especially those in developing countries, to produce these vaccines. Governments should also urgently approve a waiver of intellectual property rules related to COVID-19 technologies as proposed by South Africa and India.

    The waiver, which has been supported by over 100 nations including the US and France has now entered formal negotiations at the World Trade Organisation that met again this week. But the proposal has been repeatedly blocked by Germany, the UK and the European Union.

    Maaza Seyoum, from the African Alliance and People’s Vaccine Alliance Africa, said: “Enabling developing country manufacturers to produce vaccines is the fastest and surest way to ramp up supply and dramatically drive down prices. When this was done for HIV treatment, we saw prices drop by up to 99 per cent.

    “What possible reason then do the governments of the UK, Germany and EU have to ignore the repeated calls from developing countries to break the vaccine monopolies that could drive up production while driving down price?”

    Less than one per cent of people in Low Income countries have received a vaccine, while the profits made by the companies has seen the CEOs of Moderna and BioNTech become billionaires.

    Before the pandemic, developing countries paid a median price of $0.80 a dose for all non-COVID vaccines, according to analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO). While all vaccines are different and the new vaccines may not be directly comparable, even one of the cheapest COVID 19 vaccines on the market, Oxford/AstraZeneca, is nearly four times this price; the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is 13 times; and the most expensive vaccines, such as Pfizer/ BioNTech, Moderna and the Chinese produced Sinopharm, are up to 50 times higher.

    It is vital that vaccine manufacturers are forced to justify why their vaccines cost more, but open competition is also critical to bring down prices and increase supply. All vaccines, old and new, only come down in price once there are multiple competitors in the market.

    Never in history have governments been buying more doses of vaccines for one disease and the large-scale production should drive down costs, enabling companies to charge lower prices. Yet the EU reportedly paid even higher prices for its second order from Pfizer/BioNTech. Dramatic price escalation is predicted to continue in the absence of government action and with the possibility of booster shots being required for years to come. The CEO of Pfizer has suggested potential future prices of as much as $175 per dose – 148 times more than the potential cost of production. And because pharmaceutical companies anticipate charging such high prices for boosters, they will continue to sell doses to rich countries at the expense of protecting lives globally.

    In a briefing note, published today, The People’s Vaccine Alliance highlighted examples of how much both developing and wealthier nations have been potentially overpaying:

    • Pfizer/ BioNTech are charging their lowest reported price of $6.75 to the African Union but this is still nearly 6 times more than the estimated potential production cost of this vaccine. One dose of the vaccine costs the same as Uganda spends per citizen on health in a whole year.
    • The highest reported price paid for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines was paid by Israel at $28 a dose – nearly 24 times the potential production cost. Some reports suggest they paid even more.
    • The EU may have overpaid for their 1.96 billion Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines by as much as €31 billion.
    • Moderna has charged countries between 4 and 13 times the potential cost price of the vaccine and reportedly offered South Africa a price between $30-42 a dose – nearly 15 times higher than the potential production cost.
    • Colombia, which has been badly affected by COVID, has been paying double the price paid by the USA for Moderna vaccines. For Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech combined, the country has potentially overpaid by as much as $375 million.
    • Senegal, a lower-income nation, said it paid around $4 million for 200,000 doses for Sinopharm vaccines, which equates to around $20 a dose.
    • The UK alone has potentially paid £1.8 billion more than the cost of production for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines –enough money to pay every worker in its National Health Service a bonus of more than £1000.

    Maaza Seyoum said: “As long as the pharmaceutical corporations retain their monopolies on the life-saving technology, they will always prioritise contracts where they can make the most excessive profits, leaving developing countries out in the cold.

    “With government budgets in crisis the world over, and COVID cases rising in many developing countries, it’s time to stop subsidising corporate fat cats. It’s time to put people before profits.”

    -30-

    Notes to editors:

    A copy of the briefing note is available here.

    • Due to lack of transparency of pharmaceutical companies, the exact cost of research and development and manufacturing of vaccines are unknown. Estimates used in this release are based on studies of mRNA production techniques, carried out by Public Citizen with engineers at Imperial College. Their analysis suggests that it could cost $9.4bn to produce 8bn doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – $1.18 per vaccine and for Moderna it would cost $22.8bn to produce 8bn doses – $2.85 per vaccine: https://www.citizen.org/article/how-to-make-enough-vaccine-for-the-world-in-one-year/
    • The figure that companies have been charging up to 24 times the potential cost of production is based on the reported information that is available. The highest reported cost paid was by Israel. For many countries there is no available data on how much they have paid for these vaccines.
    • Pfizer forecasts sales of $26 billion in revenue for 1.6 billion vaccine doses, therefore at an average cost per dose of $16.25 (against a potential cost price of $1.18 per dose). Moderna forecasts sales of between 800 million and 1 billion doses, therefore at an average cost of between $19.20 and $24 per dose (against a potential cost price of $2.85 per dose). The total combined forecasted sales income equates to $41 billion above the potential cost of production.
    • Colombia is reported to have paid $12 per dose for 10 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech and $29.50 per dose for 10 million doses of Moderna. A potential overspend of $375 million.
    • Vaccine Billionaires data available here: https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/covid-vaccines-create-9-new-billionaires-combined-wealth-greater-cost-vaccinating
    • Pfizer/ BioNTech and Moderna have received $8.25 billion dollars in public support for their vaccines between them – $5.75 billion for Moderna and $2.5 billion for Pfizer/BioNTech. This includes public funding and guaranteed government pre-orders. https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/shot-recovery/
    • COVAX has reported that for its first 1.3 billion doses it paid an average price of $5.20 a dose. Given available reported prices for the vaccines in COVAX’s portfolio it is reasonable to assume COVAX paid less than $5.20 for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (reducing the average dose price), and likely paid more for the Pfizer/BioNTech (increasing the average dose price). The schemes’ lack of transparency prohibits proper scrutiny.
    • Gavi reports COVAX will achieve 23 per cent coverage in AMC populations by end of 2021: https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/covax/COVAX%20Supply%20Forecast.pdf
    • Competition drove down first-line regimen HIV medication prices by 99 per cent over a 10 year period, from $10,000 to as low as $67 per patient per year: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3078828/#B67
    • According to WHO, pre-pandemic, developing countries normally pay an average of $0.80 per dose for vaccines.
    • The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is being sold for up to $40 a dose (making it 50 x more expensive than $0.80): https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00306-8/fulltext#sec1
    • The UK is reported to have paid £15 a dose for the Pfizer vaccine and has ordered 100 million doses. For Moderna they are reported to have paid £25 per dose and have ordered 17 million doses. If these two vaccines were produced at the production price estimated by Public Citizen the UK would have saved £1.8 billion, enough to pay every NHS worker a bonus of £1,012 (based on the NHS having 5million members of staff in England, 140,000 in Scotland, 78,000 in Wales and 64,000 in Northern Ireland).

    For other examples of how much developing and wealthier nations have been potentially overpaying on vaccines, calculations and references are available in the briefing note here.

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Caroline Leal
    Communications Officer
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    caroline.leal@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Meet the Recipients of Our Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative https://www.oxfam.ca/story/meet-the-recipients-first-community-based-srhr-funding/ Wed, 21 Jul 2021 20:32:46 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=41061

    Oxfam Canada is pleased to announce the recipients of the Her Future Her Choice Financial Support for Community-Based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Initiative, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada. This initiative is part of the five-year Her Future Her Choice program, which aims to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Canada, directly reaching over 240,000 people, particularly young women and girls.

    The Her Future Her Choice program aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights across Canada by supporting community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth (aged 18 to 29) and women's rights or youth-led organizations.

    We are thrilled to announce the first round of recipients of this community-based funding initiative.

    There will be two more rounds of funding in 2022.

    Youth Recipients

    Aine Dolin (she/her) – Winnipeg, Manitoba

    Aine will be hosting five community conversations with youth aged 18-29. These conversations will identify and aim to address SRHR needs within the community. The topics covered will be determined through consultation with community, with possible subjects including contraceptive decision making, sexually-transmitted and blood-borne infections, abortion, exploring pleasure and embracing your sexuality/sensuality, consent and open communication about desires and boundaries, and support for young parents. Each community conversation will be moderated by community experts on the topic and will be developed into a podcast episode to share with a wider audience.

    Brintha Sivajohan (she/her) [The BIPOC Women’s Health Network] – Mississauga, Ontario

    Brintha and the grassroots collective, BIPOC Women’s Health Network, will be working on advancing their “Breaking the Cycle” project which partners with inner-city schools and newcomer centers to develop culturally safe contraceptive & safe sex workshops, as well as educational materials and toolkits. They will also partner with health care clinics to deliver prenatal & postpartum care kits with vital costly items and culturally-competent resource guides; create an “I’m Ready” toolkit providing information and resources for folks experiencing intimate partner violence to create a plan of action to leave when they feel ready; as well as education materials for safe sex counselling.

    Fae Johnstone (she/they) – Ottawa, Ontario

    Fae will be creating and disseminating a blog series, including videos and podcast content, accessible to folks in all provinces and territories. In partnership with community organizations and advocates, this blog series will be focused on 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion and rights, access to youth-friendly services, and gender-based violence. This project aims to reach young folks to equip them with the knowledge and tools they need to advocate for and support themselves, and for service providers to help address 2SLGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

    Jocelyn Wong (she/her) [Wellness Beyond the Binary] – Vancouver, British Columbia

    Jocelyn and her team at Wellness Beyond the Binary will be working to destigmatize sex positivity and the right to pleasure, comprehensive sexual health education, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and ending gender-based violence. They are looking to do this through their online resource hub and blog, expanding their work to be more interactive by bringing in more content creators on key topic areas.

    Siobhan Takala (she/her) [Let’s Sprout] – Halifax, Nova Scotia

    Siobhan and Let’s Sprout will be hosting a SRHR-focused book club for youth in Atlantic Canada that will focus on books written by BIPOC authors from the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Youth will be guided by trained youth facilitators to discuss the reading material and engage in thoughtful conversations on gender and sexuality. Youth from the book club will be invited to share their reflections and learnings in a pod cast that will include 2SLGBTQ+ community members.

    Topaza Yu (she/her) – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

    Topaza will be embarking on a mission to create and distribute “Empowerment Pacs” to 5 local Saskatoon organizations to address barriers to access of menstrual products and SRHR healthcare. Empowerment Pacs are care-packages containing ethically made menstrual products: one menstrual cup, one box each of tampons, pads, and panty liners, and a comprehensive SRHR booklet. The booklet will discuss basic contraceptive care, and include a list of websites that folks can refer to for youth-friendly SRHR resources.

    Tori Ford (she/her) [Medical Herstory] – Montreal, Quebec

    Tori and Medical Herstory will be creating a multimedia visual podcast that will feature interviews with leading SRHR activists, doctors and patients to advance youth-friendly care to destigmatize these conversations. This project will present medicine as a cultural product that is influenced by structures of sexism, shame and stigma. The interview series aims to challenge society’s stigmatizing beliefs and end the silencing of taboo subjects.

    Organizational Recipient

    Birth Mark – Toronto, Ontario

    Support will be given to Birth Mark for their Abortion Support Program (ASP) that provides free doula support to anyone in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario through self-referral or community partners. The ASP’s initiatives will put a specific focus on reaching BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ youth, under-housed and newcomer populations.

    The ASP will create a comprehensive virtual Abortion Doula Training to train new doulas across the country. ASP will also lead virtual abortion workshops for youth workers that aim to mobilize them as advocates for abortion access through increased awareness, comfort and knowledge. These workshops will explore personal values, avoiding stigmatizing language, abortion access, youth rights, resources, and doula support.

    Several emotional and practical preparation tools for abortion will also be created by Birth Mark, including abortion care packages, self-guided support booklets and abortion info brochures. Care Packages will be delivered to folks having an abortion with items they may need for support throughout.

     

    READ MORE: Meet the Second Round of Recipients of the HFHC Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative

    Thanks to Our Supporters!

    This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.

    New logo from government of Canada that reads, in partnership with Canada.

    ]]>         Federal COVID-19 Funding to Alberta’s Oil Patch “Not Well Spent” https://www.oxfam.ca/news/federal-covid-19-funding-to-albertas-oil-patch-not-well-spent/ Wed, 07 Jul 2021 12:00:07 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38235 EDMONTON and OTTAWA – A new report by the Parkland Institute and Oxfam Canada exposes how $1 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency funding transferred to the Alberta government is failing to achieve its intended social and environmental objectives.  

    When funding to clean up orphaned and abandoned oil wells in Western Canada was announced in April 2020, the federal government framed it as an opportunity for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, job creation, Indigenous reconciliation and part of Canada’s inclusive economic recovery.  The majority of the $1.72 billion in federal funding – $1 billion – was transferred to the Alberta government, which has approximately 168,000 inactive and abandoned oil and gas wells in need of remediation within its territory. 

    The new report, Not Well Spent: A review of $1-billion federal funding to clean up Alberta’s inactive oil and gas wells, finds that, based on available data, the federal funding amounts to little more than a bailout to the oil and gas industry, and the $1 billion dispersed by the Government of Alberta’s program – the Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP) – was not well spent. 

    “The public should not be paying to clean up the mess left by oil and gas companies,” says report author Megan Egler, a natural resources PhD student and researcher with the Parkland Institute. “Given what we’ve seen with the Site Rehabilitation Program, greater public accountability and oversight mechanisms will be required to ensure that the Alberta government’s new Liability Management Framework is equipped to hold industry responsible for environmental liabilities.”  

    Key findings: 

    • Job creation costs are $41,800/job higher than previous programs and will fall short of the target by 500 jobs;
    • Gender-based analyses conducted at the federal level intended to balance COVID-19 emergency funding toward those most in need. This did not translate to the provincial level in Alberta, where the roll-out of COVID-19 supports for the male-dominated workforce were prioritized over those for female-dominated sectors;;
    • Environmental risk was not prioritized in the cleanup, and any methane emission reductions were not tracked;
    • Indigenous participation and priorities are not meeting targets ;
    • Public dollars likely replaced industry’s clean-up budget;
    • Public dollars covered private sector’s environmental liabilities;
    • A small number of contractors did most of the clean-up work; and
    • Data availability and transparency is lacking.

    “This funding fails to deliver its intended social and environmental benefits,” says Ian Thomson, manager of policy at Oxfam Canada. “It’s highly questionable whether oil and gas cleanup should receive any public dollars, especially with so little transparency or co-management with Indigenous peoples.” 

    The report recommends that stronger regulations are needed to ensure that cleanup liabilities are accounted for on the balance sheets of companies, and that adequate funding is secured to cover these costs.  

    Furthermore, beyond improving regulations so polluters pay for their cleanup, federal funds disbursed to provinces should require performance criteria that meet or exceed federal standards, including requirements to incorporate gender equity, respect Indigenous rights and achieve climate commitments to reduce emissions. More effective federal-provincial collaboration will be needed for Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with our international commitments.  

    -30- 

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: 

    Sarah Pratt
    Communications co-ordinator
    Parkland Institute
    spratt1@ualberta.ca  

    Paula Baker
    Media relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org  

    Additional information 

    Key Findings of the Report 

    • Job creation target were nearly achieved, but at much higher cost: Though the SRP has only created roughly 1740 jobs so far, if job creation continues at the current pace, the program will reach 90 per cent of its job creation target. This is 500 jobs short of the government target for job creation. However, each job is $41,800 more expensive than jobs created by previous Alberta government cleanup spending. The SRP is on track to create or maintain 5,300 jobs at $188,680 per job. This is $41,800 more per job than those created by the Orphaned Well Association in 2018 to do similar work. There has been no clear explanation regarding why per job spending is higher in the SRP.   
    • COVID-19 supports for male-dominated workforce prioritized in roll-out over those for female-dominated sectors: The Alberta government moved quickly to get this federal funding out to oil and gas companies while delivery of COVID-19 supports for female-dominated sectors and occupations was much slower.  Meanwhile, the COVID economic recession led to biggest job losses in female-dominated sectors.  
    • Environmental risk not prioritized in cleanup, and any methane emission reductions not tracked: Cleanup of wells should reduce methane emissions, however, this is not being measured or tracked under the SRP.  With no tracking of methane emissions, it is unclear how significant a reduction will be achieved by this federal investment. Overall, the SRP has no means of prioritizing wells based on environmental risk. Instead, sites were targeted for remediation that relieved the financial obligations of the Alberta government and of oil and gas producers in the province. 
    • Modest progress made to prioritize Indigenous participation and priorities: Cleanup on Indigenous land and participation of Indigenous businesses in the cleanup was a priority for the SRP. However, Alberta government data shows little evidence that measures to increase in Indigenous participation are working. While 10 per cent of the total SRP funding ($100 million) was earmarked for cleanup on Indigenous lands, implementation has been slow with less than 1 per cent of completed well remediation sites having been selected by Indigenous peoples. Only 5.5 per cent of the sites nominated for remediation by Indigenous communities have been cleaned up. 
    • Public dollars likely replaced industry’s clean-up budget: Despite intentions to uphold the ‘polluter pays principle’ by giving grants to contractors rather than oil and gas producers, funding for cleanups that are the legal responsibilities of producers do amount to a displacement of corporate dollars that should have otherwise been spent on the activity. 

    Alberta’s SRP may have displaced much of industry’s own cleanup spending. The SRP launch nearly halted all cleanup activity as companies awaited grant funding, although there is not enough publicly available information to assess exactly how much public funding replaced planned industry spending. Comparing industry investments in 2019, through Alberta’s voluntary Area-based Closure Program ($340 million representing 70% of all industry activity) to the SRP funds approved in April 2020 ($363.2 million), there is not much difference, which suggested displacement is highly likely.  

    • Public dollars covering private sector’s environmental liabilities: More than 20 per cent of the funding benefited only one company, Canadian Natural Resources Limited. Aside from CNRL, roughly 50 per cent of the funding allocated to date went remediation costs of only 15 license holder companies, or roughly $250 million in traceable funds. 
    • Small number of contractors did most of the clean-up work: Nearly 25 per cent of the funding allocated so far went to only five oilfield service contractors. 
    • Data availability and transparency is lacking: Data on the SRP and the industry’s cleanup activity presented barriers to both availability and usability. The Alberta government’s performance measures to assess the program are not publicly available, nor are the locations of sites being cleaned up under the program. 

    Ways to improve future programs 

    • Before public funding is considered as a viable solution for oil and gas cleanups, regulation needs to ensure that cleanup liabilities are accounted for on the balance sheets of companies and that adequate funding is secured to cover these costs. 
    • A minimum requirement for oil and gas cleanups that utilize public dollars should be the reporting of the relevant variables needed for program evaluation. Programs should consider and report publicly on both the quality of jobs being supported through the funding and who these jobs are benefiting. Importantly, governments should track and provide publicly the necessary information for program assessment, including the public disclosures required to assess where private sector spending is being replaced by public funding. 
    • Public funding toward oil and gas cleanup should allocate a portion of the funds directly to Indigenous communities, who are best able to evaluate risk and set priorities on their own lands. 
    • Oil and gas cleanup programs should prioritize sites based on environmental risk while allowing for public participation and meaningful Indigenous consultation and consent. 

    Background 

    There are hundreds of thousands of inactive and abandoned oil and gas wells across Canada. Some are sitting idle but others have been left without decommissioning or cleanup after an oil and gas company has gone bankrupt or is no longer financially viable – also known as orphaned. The growing problem of inactive and abandoned wells is exceptionally pronounced in the province of Alberta. While British Columbia have approximately 16,000 inactive and abandoned wells, Saskatchewan around 75,000, the Alberta Energy Regulator estimates approximately 168,000 inactive and abandoned well within the province. These wells, alongside other aging oil and gas infrastructure, present human health and environmental risks through surface, soil, and ground water contamination, as well as serious implications for climate change. Wells that are not properly cleaned up are a serious source of methane gas leaks, a potent greenhouse gas emission. 

    ]]>         Canada commits to bold and unprecedented global investments to support a caring economy and advance women’s rights https://www.oxfam.ca/news/canada-commits-to-bold-and-unprecedented-global-investments-to-support-a-caring-economy-and-advance-womens-rights/ Wed, 30 Jun 2021 16:52:57 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38218 OTTAWA – Today Prime Minister Trudeau took bold action in support of a global feminist economic recovery by announcing $100 million in new international assistance funding dedicated to paid and unpaid care work at the Generation Equality Forum, the largest multi-sector gathering on women’s rights in the world. This is the first targeted global investment in the care economy by a donor government.

    This international assistance commitment, alongside Canada’s historic $30 billion commitment to build a national early learning and child care system in the 2021 federal budget, shows the government sees investment in the care economy – in areas such as childcare, eldercare and decent working conditions for domestic workers – as essential components to both Canada and the world’s pandemic economic recovery strategies.

    “This is a trailblazing commitment by the Government of Canada, and I applaud Prime Minister Trudeau and Canada’s Minister for International Development Karina Gould for their bold feminist leadership. Investing in care drives economic growth, reduces poverty and inequality, tackles sexist norms and supports gender equality,” said Lauren Ravon, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada. “This investment will be critical to helping countries around the world recover from the impacts of the pandemic in a more gender-just and sustainable way.”

    COVID-19 exposed how important care is for our society and our economy, while also demonstrating just how fragile the care sector is. Heavy and unequal care responsibilities remain one of the most significant barriers to gender equality across the world. According to the International Labour Organization, even before the pandemic hit 42 per cent of women of working age said they were unable to do paid work because of their unpaid care responsibilities such as care-giving activities and domestic chores like cleaning and cooking – compared to just 6 per cent of men.

    Oxfam, along with global allies, has been calling for a multi-million-dollar investment in programs which will help recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, freeing up women’s time and creating more opportunities for work and political and community participation. Research from Oxfam shows that the monetary value of unpaid care work globally for women aged 15 and over is at least $10.8 trillion annually – three times the size of the world’s tech industry. Ensuring decent work for paid care workers is also an essential step that Oxfam has called for to ensure the long-term sustainability of the care sector. Investing in both paid and unpaid care, in Canada and around the world, will support women’s rights and makes good economic sense.

    This $100 million commitment has the potential to support initiatives that advocate for the rights of care workers, create and improve care infrastructure and support programs which foster positive social norms around men and women’s shared responsibilities for care. In line with Oxfam’s recommendations, this programming should be developed through partnerships with women’s rights organizations, feminist movements, women’s funds and civil society in the Global South – an essential approach to ensure it effectively addresses gender equality. Canada’s leadership today opens an important opportunity to spur investment from other donor countries, paving the way to make investing in care a global priority.

    “The care economy has been ignored in global efforts to tackle poverty and inequality for far too long. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us all that child care, health care and elder care is absolutely critical for the well-being of our communities, our societies and our economies – and that women and girls shoulder a disproportionate yet undervalued responsibility for this work,” said Diana Sarosi, Director of Policy and Campaigns for Oxfam Canada. “We hope that Canada’s groundbreaking commitment incentivizes other donor countries to invest in paid and unpaid care programming, and catalyzes a step-change in the international community’s commitment to investing in care.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • On childcare in Canada, see Oxfam Canada (2019) Who Cares? Why Canada Needs a Public Childcare System
    • On the care economy and the global inequality crisis, see Oxfam (2020) Time to Care. Unpaid and Underpaid Care Work and the Global Inequality Crisis. Research in press release cited from this report.
    • International Labour Organization statistics from L. Addati, U. Cattaneo, V. Esquivel and I. Valarino (2018). Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
    • The 2021 Canadian federal budget delivered a historic $30-billion investment to build a national early learning and child care system, including with dedicated funding for Indigenous early learning and child care. This investment will expand the not-for-profit sector of the system and reduce parent fees to $10 a day within five years. It will enshrine early learning and child care in federal legislation to be tabled in fall 2021.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Caroline Leal
    Communications Officer
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    caroline.leal@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Open Letter to Ministers Bennett and Miller on Solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc People https://www.oxfam.ca/story/open-letter-to-ministers-bennett-and-miller/ Wed, 09 Jun 2021 20:42:54 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=story&p=38239

    Dear Ministers,

    On behalf of national, regional and local gender justice and human rights organizations, we are in solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and all First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples and honour the memory of the 215 children whose remains were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Our hearts are with residential school survivors, their families and all the children who never returned to the homes from which they were taken.

    We condemn the genocide enacted by the Canadian government that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls both found Canada responsible for. As feminist intersectional gender justice organizations, we are firmly against the colonial project that is Canada – established on continued actions that break treaties, steal lands and wreak violence on First Nations, Métis and Inuit women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people – and the eugenic practices that seek to erase the First Peoples of Turtle Island.

    We understand that the truths of this past week are not historical but an ongoing violent reality and a stark reminder that all settlers across Canada must act on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls 231 Calls for Justice. We call on the federal government to take immediate and concrete action, beginning with implementation of the TRC calls to action 71 through 76 on the Missing Children and Burial Information. This process must be led by the First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities affected, and we follow their direction, but we also must demand that the government address the process of uncovering and investigating the sites of burials with seriousness and respect. They must be treated with appropriate care and spiritual attention as the precious remains of families and communities. It is of national importance that in their entirety, all remains are considered as evidence of trauma and genocide that will be addressed legally.

    There are serious gaps in the processes and ongoing invisibilization within the National Action Plan for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). It does not recognize disabilities as a part of women’s’ identities and lacks actions to support them. It fails to include Métis women as well as Two Spirit LGBTQ+ peoples. Until these omissions are addressed, planned action on implementation will fail women, girls, Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ people made increasingly vulnerable by these gaps.

    Reconciliation is not a passive action but rather one that requires active disruption of colonial practices entrenched in policy and legislation, which continue to harm generations of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. Reconciliation means pursuing justice for Indigenous communities on all fronts.

    This includes the speedy passage of Bill C-15 to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the government of Canada. Canada must also put into action all mechanisms needed to fully implement Bill S-3, register the 270,000 First Nations women and their descendants who are now entitled to status, and eliminate all remaining sex-based discrimination from the Indian Act. The government must immediately stop litigating against all First Nations, Métis and Inuit children.

    In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that inequities in Canada's child welfare services created incentives to remove First Nations children from their homes, families and communities. Dr. Marie Wilson, a witness before the CHRT and a former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, described the harms experienced by First Nations children because of Canada's underfunding of child welfare services to be comparable to those experienced by survivors of Residential Schools. Canada must immediately comply with the ruling of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordering an end to discrimination against First Nations children in the delivery of child welfare services on reserves and fully implementing The Spirit Bear Plan to end inequalities across all public services. Currently, there are more First Nations, Métis and Inuit in the child welfare system than there were during the Residential School era.

    Canada has been called to act again and again by the First Peoples of Turtle Island, to respect treaties, to move on the recommendations of inquiries and to take concrete steps to change the ongoing racism, misogyny and ableism that is at the heart of the settler colonial project of nation building. We must act. As national, regional and local gender justice and human rights organizations, we are calling for immediately action, not in times of acute need, but in constant reference to the harms being done to First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

    We will continue to work towards reconciliation by following the leads of Indigenous governments, communities and partners to work in solidarity and honour the memory of lives lost and harmed.

    Signed by:

    Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
    Battered Women's Support Services
    Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity
    Canadian Council of Muslim Women
    Canadian Federation of University Women
    Canadian Research Institute CRIAW
    Canadian Women's Foundation
    Child Care Now - Un Enfant Une Place
    Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
    Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice
    Colour of Poverty Colour of Change
    Disability Justice Network of Ontario
    DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada | Réseau d’action des femmes handicapées du Canada
    FAFIA
    Feminists Deliver
    LEAF Women's Legal Education and Action Fund
    National Association of Women and the Law/L'Association nationale Femmes et Droit
    National Council of Women of Canada
    OCASI-Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
    Oxfam Canada
    Platform
    South-Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
    West Coast LEAF
    WomenattheCentrE
    Women's Shelters Canada | Hebergement femmes Canada

    CC:
    Prime Minister Justice Trudeau
    Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland
    Minister of Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef

    ]]>         Oxfam reaction to WTO agreement on text-based process on waiving IP rule for COVID-19 vaccines https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-reaction-to-wto-agreement-on-text-based-process-on-waiving-ip-rule-for-covid-19-vaccines/ Wed, 09 Jun 2021 15:59:22 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38164 World Trade Organization members (who met today for a council on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) have just agreed that they will engage in a text-based process on waiving Intellectual Property rules on COVID vaccines, test and treatments. This means a deal, which would see a temporarily suspension of Intellectual Property, is increasingly likely. However key government like the UK and Germany are continuing to block.

    In response, Siham Rayale, Oxfam Canada’s women’s rights policy specialist said:

    “This move to text-based negotiations is good news, because it means all member states acknowledge that pharmaceutical monopolies are blocking access to life saving vaccines for millions of people and that this needs to be addressed.

    “We are happy to see Canada support the move to text-based negotiations for the TRIPS waiver proposal. The ongoing meetings indicate that Canada and other G7 countries cannot live in isolation from the worst impacts of this pandemic. As infection rates are rising in many African countries, we are running against the clock to ensure global herd immunity greater than 60 per cent. It is imperative that Canada push other G7 countries to actively participate in text-based negotiations so a waiver is passed before more lives are lost.

    “It is shameful that in the midst of a pandemic it has taken eight long painful months and 2.7 million deaths from COVID-19 for a handful of rich country government blockers to finally agree to enter formal text based negotiations on this life saving proposal. Despite rising infections and the lack of vaccine stock in Africa and other regions of the world, the UK and Germany continue to be major blockers of the waiver. On the eve of the G7 summit, the UK and Germany must urgently reconsider their opposition to the waiver and let the world know they support people over profit hungry pharmaceutical corporations.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • The TRIPS waiver proposal was first presented to the WTO on 2nd October 2020. Since then to June 8th 2021 there have been a recorded 2.67 million deaths from COVID-19 worldwide.
    • WTO delegates agreed an urgent timetable to move negotiations forward ahead of the next General Council meeting in July.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Canada’s economy could shrink by 6.9 per cent per year by 2050 without more ambitious climate action – Oxfam https://www.oxfam.ca/news/canadas-economy-could-shrink-by-6-9-per-cent-per-year-by-2050-without-more-ambitious-climate-action-oxfam/ Mon, 07 Jun 2021 00:01:28 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38155 Human and economic impact on low-income nations will be much worse

    Canada’s economy could shrink by 6.9 per cent annually by 2050 without more ambitious climate action, according to Oxfam’s analysis of research by the Swiss Re Institute. Across G7 nations, the impacts of climate change could cause economies to contract by an average of 8.5 per cent annually by 2050 ― equivalent to $4.8 trillion. Oxfam is calling on Canada and other G7 leaders, who are meeting in the UK later this week, to cut carbon emissions more quickly and steeply.

    Oxfam found the potential loss in GDP across G7 nations is double that of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has caused G7 economies to shrink by an average of 4.2 per cent, resulting in staggering job losses — especially for women, who have also shouldered increased care responsibilities — and required some of the largest economic stimulus packages ever seen. Yet, G7 economies are expected to bounce back from the short-term effects of the pandemic. In contrast, the effects of climate change will be seen every year, and are already having disproportionate impacts on women around the world due to gender inequalities that increase their vulnerability to climate-related risks and disasters.

    Swiss Re modelled how climate change is likely to affect economies through gradual, chronic climate risks such as heat stress, impacts on health, sea level rise and agricultural productivity. All of the 48 nations in the study are expected to see an economic contraction, with many countries predicted to be hit far worse than the G7. For example, by 2050:

    • India, which was invited to the G7 summit, is projected to lose 27 per cent from its economy;
    • Australia, South Africa and South Korea, also invited, are projected to lose 12.5, 17.8 and 9.7 per cent respectively;
    • The Philippines is projected to lose 35 per cent;
    • Colombia is projected to lose 16.7 per cent.

    Oxfam warns that for low-income countries the consequences of climate change could be much greater. A recent study by the World Bank suggested that globally, between 32 million and 132 million additional people will be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 as a result of climate change.

    The economic case for climate action is clear ― we need Canada and other G7 governments to increase climate finance and take dramatic action to cut emissions in the next nine years.

    Anya Knechtel, Climate Policy Specialist at Oxfam Canada, said: “As a G7 nation, Canada needs to step up to the challenge of creating a safer, more liveable planet for all. The economic turmoil projected in wealthy G7 countries is only the tip of the iceberg: developing countries are expected to see increasing hunger, displacement and deaths as a result of extreme weather and other climate impacts, with women, Indigenous peoples, and others whose livelihoods depend on climate-vulnerable resources being particularly harmed. Prime Minister Trudeau and other G7 leaders need to make this year a turning point in taking action to cut emissions more quickly and increase climate finance.”

    Canada and other G7 governments are collectively falling short on delivering a longstanding pledge by developed countries to provide $100 billion per year to help poor countries respond to the climate crisis. Oxfam estimates the G7’s current commitments amount to $36 billion in public climate finance by 2025, with only a quarter ($8-10 billion) of that for adaptation. Canada has yet to announce whether it will increase its climate finance commitment, or whether it will offer greater support in the form of grants to countries seeking to undertake gender-responsive climate adaptation amidst spiralling debts made worse by the pandemic.

    At the Earth Day Summit, Canada announced a new commitment of 40 to 45 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 from 2005 levels, but this target falls short of Canada’s fair share of global reductions needed to limit warming below 1.5°C. Oxfam is calling on Canada to immediately raise its emission reduction commitments to deliver its fair share of the global reductions needed to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

    Achieving Canada’s fair share would require cutting domestic emissions by at least 60 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, as well as doubling current climate finance commitments in the near term and further ramping up climate financing over time to help developing countries reduce emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

    Canada and other G7 nations are some of the world’s largest historical emitters ― responsible for a third of all CO2 emissions since 1990 ― and they should be leading by example through action on the climate crisis in this crucial year.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:

    Summary of GDP projections and climate pledges of G7 nations:

    Country Predicted GDP loss by 2050 assuming 2.6°C of warming Emission reduction commitment Climate finance pledged to 2025 (as of June 1, 2021)
    Canada -6.9% 40-45% reduction by 2030 on 2005 levels Not yet stated
    France -10% No new national level commitment yet (but new EU objective is 55% below 1990 by 2030) Maintain current levels of €6 billion ($7.3bn) a year, with €2 billion of that for adaptation
    Germany -8.3% 65% reduction by 2030 on 1990 levels as part of the new EU objective of 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. Not yet stated
    Italy -11.4% No new national level commitment yet (but new EU objective is 55% below 1990 by 2030) Not yet stated
    Japan -9.1 46% reduction by 2030 on 2013 levels

     

    		 Not yet stated
    UK -6.5% 68% reduction by 2030 on 1990 levels £11.6 billion ($16.5bn) over the period, with 50% for adaptation
    US -7.2% 50-52% reduction on 2005 levels $5.7 billion per year by 2024, with $1.5 billion (26%) for adaptation
    Average -8.485714% N/A N/A

     

    • The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk – from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cybercrime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally.
    • Projections of GDP loss are from Swiss Re Institute’s Economics of Climate Change The authors modelled the economic impacts of climate change on 48 countries in four different temperature paths and used different impact scenarios to account for the large parameter uncertainty and missing climate impact channels usually present in the climate economics literature. The projections used in this press release assume high stress factors and global warming of 2.6°C by mid-century, which is a level of warming that could be reached based on current policies and climate pledges from all countries. All figures relate to real GDP. The GDP projections compare a warmer world with a world unaffected by climate change.
    • GDP losses in G7 countries as a result of the pandemic are from the UK’s Office for National Statistics and refer to real GDP between October 2019 and September 2020.
    • World Bank projections of the number of people who will be pushed into extreme poverty are here.
    • Estimates of climate finance were calculated by Oxfam and include pledges of public climate finance, not ‘mobilized’ private finance.
    • Cumulate CO2 emissions for all countries was 803.84 billion tonnes in 1990 and 1,650 billion tonnes in 2019, a difference of 849.08 billion. Cumulative CO2 emissions for the G7 nations combined was 461.2 billion tonnes in 1990 and 740.39 billion tonnes in 2019, a difference of 279.17 billion. G7 nations made up 32.88 per cent of all emissions since 1990. Source: Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         More than a million COVID-19 deaths in 4 months since G7 leaders failed to break vaccine monopolies https://www.oxfam.ca/news/more-than-a-million-covid-19-deaths-in-4-months-since-g7-leaders-failed-to-break-vaccine-monopolies/ Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:01:50 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38149 At current vaccination rate low income countries would be waiting 57 years for everyone to be fully vaccinated

    More than a million people have died from COVID-19 since G7 leaders last met back in February, when they made vague pledges to increase the global vaccine supply, but crucially failed to collectively back the waiver of intellectual property rules and investment in manufacturing vaccines in developing countries that would really make the difference.

    As G7 Health Ministers meet today for talks ahead of the Leaders’ Summit next week, The People’s Vaccine Alliance is calling on the G7 to stop making empty promises and protecting the interests of pharmaceutical companies, and instead take urgent action to close the massive vaccine void between their nations and poorer countries.

    New calculations from the Alliance, which includes Health Justice Initiative, Oxfam, and UNAIDS, found that last month people living in G7 countries were 77 times more likely to be offered a vaccine than those living in the world’s poorest countries. Between them, G7 nations were vaccinating at a rate of 4.6 million people a day in May, meaning, if this rate continues, everyone living in G7 nations should be fully vaccinated by January 8, 2022. At the current rate – vaccinating 63,000 people a day – it would take low income countries 57 years to reach the same level of protection.

    Of the 1.77 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines given globally, 28 per cent have been in G7 countries. In contrast just 0.3 per cent of COVID-19 jabs have been given in low-income countries, despite the fact G7 and low-income countries have a fairly similar population size.

    “Almost 60 per cent of Canadians have received at least one shot but many countries, including Senegal, Mali and Haiti, are struggling to get vaccines to healthcare workers. It is baffling to see Canada continue to push for protecting big pharma IP when the majority of Canadians (76 per cent) are in support of waiving it,” Siham Rayale, Oxfam Canada’s women’s rights policy specialist said.

    “We cannot keep relying only on COVAX to reach the most vulnerable. Canada should join the emerging global consensus to end pharma monopolies and stop this pandemic everywhere.”

    According to Fatima Hassan, Founder and Director of Health Justice Initiative in South Africa, eight people have died from COVID-19 every minute since G7 leaders last met.

    “That’s more than a million lives lost, while just a few countries, including the UK and Germany, continue to block proposals to waive patents on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments which would enable every qualified manufacturer in the world to produce vaccines instead of a handful of US and European pharma corporations,” Hassan said.

    “Whatever pledges and promises the G7 make, they are still leaving pharmaceutical corporations to decide who lives and who dies, unless they back the ending of these COVID-19 vaccine monopolies.”

    While some G7 members claim they have done their bit by pledging doses or funding to COVAX, the initiative, which was set up to help developing countries access COVID-19 vaccines, is massively failing. COVAX has delivered less than a third of the doses it promised to by the end of May and the Alliance warned that at the current rate, it is likely to reach only 10 per cent of people at best in developing countries by the end of the year.

    “It is obscene that Canada, the UK, Germany and other rich countries, which are able to vaccinate their own people, are preventing poor countries from making the doses they need to save lives,” Rayale said.

    “The sad fact is developing countries cannot depend on COVAX or the good will of the pharma industry to save the lives of their people. G7 leaders must take this moment to stand on the right side of history by putting their full support behind the vaccine patent waiver supported by more than 100 countries. The G7 may be getting the vaccines they need but too much of the world is not and people are paying for patent protection with their lives.”

    Of the G7 nations, only the US are backing the proposal at the WTO to waive intellectual property rights. The UK and Germany are opposing, while Canada, France, Japan and Italy are on the fence. This is despite the fact the public are strongly in favour of the idea, with polling showing that an average of 70 per cent of people across G7 nations believing that governments should ensure pharmaceutical companies share their formulas and technology, so that qualified manufacturers around the world can help increase the supply.

    Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Senior Health Policy Advisor to The People Vaccine Alliance, said: “The G7 must act now to force companies to share the vaccine technology and know-how with qualified manufacturers in developing countries in order to maximize supply.

    “Last week the WHO has re-launched its COVID-19 Technology Access Pool to facilitate sharing vaccines technology, knowhow and intellectual property. The G7 must show a strong political support for the pool if they are serious about ending the pandemic. They must also announce funding to support technology transfer and manufacturing in developing countries. Every day they delay is a day that lives could be saved.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • Since G7 leaders last met for a virtual summit on February 19 – 1,019,828 people have died from COVID-19, the equivalent of eight people per minute, according to data from Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/covid-deaths
    • Vaccine supply and delivery data from Airfinity, Our World in Data, UNICEF and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Projections of how long vaccinations could take are based on the average rate of vaccinations from May 1 – 25, 2021.Calculations were made on May 26, 2021.
    • Between them, G7 nations are vaccinating at a rate of 4,630,533 people per day. At that rate it would take 227 days to fully vaccinate their entire population, until January 8, 2022, assuming everyone receives two doses. Between them, Low Income Countries are vaccinating at a rate of 62,772 people per day. At that rate it will take them 57 years to vaccinate their entire population, until October 7, 2078, assuming everyone receives two doses.
    • Between them, Low Income Countries are vaccinating at a rate of 62,772 people per day. At that rate it will take them 57 years to vaccinate their population with at least single dose until October 7, 2078.
    • According to new calculations made by the People’s Vaccine Alliance using Our World In Data from 2May 25 – 1,774,959,169 vaccines have been administered globally. People living in G7 countries received 497,150,151 of these vaccines (28%) their combined population is 774,917,290. People living in low Income countries received 5,481,470 vaccines (0.31%), their combined population is 660,310,395.
    • For the month of May, 497.15m doses were given in G7 countries, divided between 774m people = 0.6423 doses per person, 5.48mdoses were given in low income countries divided between 660m people = 0.0083 doses per person, 0.6423 divided by 0.0083 = 77.4 – therefore, last month people in G7 countries were 77 times more likely to get a vaccine than those in poor countries.
    • The statistic that COVAX will only reach 10 per cent of people in developing countries this year does not include India.
    • More information on G7 public opinion polling by the People’s Vaccine Alliance available here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/05/an-average-of-7-in-10-across-g7-countries-think-their-governments-should-force-big-pharma-to-share-vaccine-know-how/
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Right to live without a blockade: Oxfam calls for lifting US sanctions against Cuba https://www.oxfam.ca/news/right-to-live-without-a-blockade-oxfam-calls-for-lifting-us-sanctions-against-cuba/ Tue, 25 May 2021 11:00:15 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38135 78 per cent of women and girls living in Cuba were born under the pressure exerted by the US blockade on the island for nearly six decades. According to a new Oxfam report, these sanctions impact the daily lives of all Cubans, but especially women. The blockade affects families and their livelihoods, and limits progress toward a more fair and inclusive society.

    The new Oxfam report, Right to Live Without a Blockade: The impact of US sanctions on the Cuban population and women’s lives, explains how US policy blocks people from developing their capabilities and exercising leadership to pursue their goals and fully exercise their rights, particularly affecting the most vulnerable groups.

    “Oxfam calls for the US blockade to be lifted. For over a year, these sanctions have represented a real obstacle to the procurement of mechanical ventilators, face masks, diagnostic kits, reagents, vaccination syringes, and other necessary materials to address COVID-19. Our organization supports the campaign for a people’s vaccine that is free and accessible as soon as possible to everyone, everywhere. Cuba is developing five of its own vaccine candidates, two of which are currently in the final phases of clinical trials. Yet by blocking trade and commercial transactions, the US blockade is delaying widespread vaccination on the island,” Elena Gentili, an Oxfam Representative in Cuba, explains.

    Based on the research for this study and our experience working in Cuba since 1993 with local stakeholders, communities, cooperatives, partner organizations, and allies, Oxfam recognizes how the US blockade deepens the economic crisis and restricts access to suppliers of medicines, technology, food, and other essential products.

    This report asks: what has it meant to experience the current health crisis in a country under an economic, commercial, and financial blockade. The Trump administration imposed over 240 sanctions to tighten this policy, 55 of which were implemented in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    These measures had already severely limited private sector activity, especially tourism-related enterprises, even before the COVID-19 crisis. A survey conducted on the island by the Cuba Standard Business Confidence Survey in 2020 revealed that over 60 per cent of entrepreneurs felt that the harm the pandemic caused to their businesses in the last year was equal to the consequences of the US blockade.

    Women are the most affected

    The analysis conducted by Oxfam based on research by the Centro de Investigacionesde la EconomíaMundial [The Global Economy Research Centre, CIEM] and women’s testimonies confirmed that the blockade reinforces the patriarchal system and turns a blind eye to women’s different needs, potential, opportunities, and autonomy. The sanctions affect women in their private lives, as they carry the heaviest burden of reproductive labour and efforts to sustain daily life. Cuban women spend approximately 35.2 hours per week on household work and family care, and women are the heads of 46 per cent of households on the island. The blockade also affects women in the public sphere, as their demands are unmet in the workforce and in academics, and as they struggle each day to make ends meet.

    The report examines sectors in which Cuban women have a significant presence and play leading roles, such as healthcare (where Cuban women account for 71 per cent of the 479,623 medical professionals), education (in 2019, women represented 60 per cent of the just over 500,000 workers in the sector), and biotechnology (53 per cent of the people working in the Science and Technological Innovation System and 84 per cent of personnel in clinical and biotech laboratories are women).

    Cuban women outnumber men among the specialists who continue to treat the most severe cases of COVID-19 in Cuban hospitals, and many women are part of the teams developing the five vaccine candidates on the island. Oxfam recognizes that the Cuban response to COVID-19 is built on the persistent daily efforts by women to overcome the difficulties and stress resulting from US sanctions against Cuba.

    Elena Gentilimakes it clear – “We are sure that in a scenario without the blockade, it will be possible to increase social protections to benefit those most in need, support the exercise of women’s rights, and develop the private sector. Promoting dialogue and cooperation between countries will support the global response to the pandemic. Cuba is positioned to share its experience in public health and biotechnology to help other countries control the epidemic as well.”

    Oxfam calls on the Biden-Harris administration to take action to normalize bilateral relations between the two nations. “It is in their hands to reverse the measures adopted by their predecessors, expand and diversify the scope of a new rapprochement between the countries, and work with Congress to definitively end the blockade,” the report concludes.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Lina Díazin Bogotá (Colombia) | lina.diaz@oxfam.org| +57 3133502896

     

     

    ]]>         COVID-19 vaccines create 9 new billionaires with combined wealth greater than cost of vaccinating world’s poorest countries https://www.oxfam.ca/news/covid-19-vaccines-create-9-new-billionaires-with-combined-wealth-greater-than-cost-of-vaccinating-worlds-poorest-countries/ Thu, 20 May 2021 00:01:31 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38119 At least nine people have become new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the excessive profits pharmaceutical corporations with monopolies on COVID-19 vaccines are making, The People’s Vaccine Alliance revealed today ahead of a G20 leaders Global Health Summit.

    Key members of the G20, who meet tomorrow, including the UK and Germany, are blocking moves to boost supply by ending companies’ monopoly control of vaccine production as COVID-19 continues to devastate lives in countries like India and Nepal where only a tiny fraction of the population has been vaccinated.

    Between them, the nine new billionaires, have a combined net wealth of $19.3 billion, enough to fully vaccinate all people in low-income countries 1.3 times. Meanwhile, these countries have received only 0.2 per cent of the global supply of vaccines, because of the massive shortfall in available doses, despite being home to 10 per cent of the world’s population.

    In addition, eight existing billionaires – who have extensive portfolios in the COVID-19 vaccine pharma corporations – have seen their combined wealth increase by $32.2 billion, enough to fully vaccinate everyone in India.

    Campaigners from the People’s Vaccine Alliance – whose members include Global Justice Now, Oxfam and UNAIDS, have analyzed Forbes Rich List data to highlight the massive wealth being generated for a handful of people from vaccines which were largely public funded.

    “What a testament to our collective failure to control this cruel disease that we quickly create new vaccine billionaires but totally fail to vaccinate the billions who desperately need to feel safe,” Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s director of policy and campaigns, said.

    “These billionaires are the human face of the huge profits many pharmaceutical corporations are making from the monopoly they hold on these vaccines. These vaccines were funded by public money and should be first and foremost a global public good, not a private profit opportunity. We need to urgently end these monopolies so that we can scale up vaccine production, drive down prices and vaccinate the world.”

    Vaccine billionaires are being created as stocks in pharmaceutical firms rise rapidly in expectation of huge profits from the COVID-19 vaccines over which these firms have monopoly control. The alliance warned that these monopolies allow pharmaceutical corporations total control over the supply and price of vaccines, pushing up their profits while making it harder for poor countries, in particular, to secure the stocks they need.

    Earlier this month the US backed proposals by South Africa and India at the World Trade Organization to temporarily break up these monopolies and lift the patents on COVID-19 vaccines. This move has the support of over 100 developing countries, and in recent days countries like Spain have also declared their support, as has the Pope and over 100 world leaders and Nobel laureates.

    Despite this, other rich nations, including the UK and Germany, are still blocking the proposal, putting the interest of pharmaceutical companies over what’s best for the world. Italy, who are hosting the G20 Global Health Summit tomorrow, are continuing to sit on the fence on the issue, as are Canada and France.

    Heidi Chow, Senior Policy and Campaigns Manager at Global Justice Now, said: “As thousands of people die each day in India, it is utterly repugnant that the UK, Germany and others want to put the interests of the billionaire owners of Big Pharma ahead of the desperate needs of millions.

    “The highly effective vaccines we have are thanks to massive amounts of taxpayers’ money so it can’t be fair that private individuals are cashing in while hundreds of millions face second and third waves completely unprotected. It is a sad indictment of the loyalties of some current governments that a handful of people working for pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to become billionaires off the back of publicly-funded efforts to end the pandemic.”

    Topping the list of new billionaires who have cashed in on the success of COVID vaccines are the CEOs of Moderna and BioNTech, each with a wealth over $4 billion or more. The list also includes two of Moderna’s founding investors and the company’s chair as well as the CEO of a company with a deal to manufacture and package the Moderna vaccine. This is despite the fact the vast majority of funding for the Moderna vaccine was paid for by taxpayers. The final three new vaccine billionaires are all co-founders of the Chinese vaccine company CanSino Biologics.

    Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said: “While the companies making massive profits from COVID vaccines are refusing to share their science and technology with others in order to increase the global vaccine supply, the world continues to face the very real risk of mutations that could render the vaccines we have ineffective and put everyone at risk all over again.

    “The pandemic has come at a terrible human cost, so it is obscene that profits continue to come before saving lives.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to Editors:

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance is a movement of health, humanitarian and human rights organisations, past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists advocating that COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured rapidly and at scale, as global common goods, free of intellectual property protections and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.  https://peoplesvaccine.org/

    Data comes from an analysis of the annual Forbes Rich List, as published on 6 April 2021.

    Figures for vaccinating all poorest countries is based on countries defined as ‘Low Income’, for which the population is 775,710,612 (according to UN Population 2020). The average vaccine cost, $19, is based on the  average mid-range cost per course of vaccination of the 5 leading vaccine producers. However, the prices should be far lower and the $19 is for illustration purposes and is in no way an endorsement of these unacceptably high prices. The wealth of the new billionaires could vaccine all Low-Income countries 1.3 times. The population of India (according to UN Population 2020) is 1.38 billion and the increase in wealth of the 8 existing billionaires could vaccine everyone in India 1.2 times. All figures based on a two-dose regimen. Vaccine doses in low income countries data from Our World in Data.

    The 9 new vaccine billionaires, in order of their net worth are:

    1. Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO (worth $4.3 billion)
    2. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech (worth $4 billion)
    3. Timothy Springer, an immunologist and founding investor of Moderna (worth $2.2bn)
    4. Noubar Afeyan, Moderna’s Chairman (worth $1.9 billion)
    5. Juan Lopez-Belmonte, Chairman of ROVI, a company with a deal to manufacture and package the Moderna vaccine (worth $1.8 billion)
    6. Robert Langer, a scientist and founding investor in Moderna (worth $1.6 billion)
    7. Zhu Tao, co-founder and chief scientific officer at CanSino Biologics (worth $1.3 billion)
    8. Qiu Dongxu, co-founder and senior vice president at CanSino Biologics (worth $1.2)
    9. Mao Huihua, also co-founder and senior vice president at CanSino Biologics (worth $1 billion)
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Canada still stalling on support of WTO TRIPS Waiver on COVID-19 Vaccines https://www.oxfam.ca/news/canada-still-stalling-on-support-of-wto-trips-waiver-on-covid-19-vaccines/ Fri, 07 May 2021 12:52:54 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38065 In response to today’s announcement that the Canadian government is ready to discuss proposals on a waiver for intellectual property (IP) protection for COVID-19 vaccines under the WTO Agreement on TRIPS, Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns said the following:

    Canada’s statement released today by Minister Ng confirming their readiness to discuss the TRIPS waiver is a step in the right direction, but what the world needs is a full backing by Canada to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. This waiver will pave the way for increasing the global supply of vaccines and will fundamentally alter the trajectory for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable to escape the depths of the pandemic.

    Today’s statement by the Government of Canada continues their wait and see approach and downplays IP as a barrier to supply problems. Thus, Canada continues to prioritize profits over public health.

    Over the past year, nurses, doctors, Nobel Laureates, former heads of state, artists, economists, public health activists and more than two million people from around the world have rallied together to call on Prime Minister Trudeau to reassert Canada’s moral and public leadership on the world stage.

    Considering the US, New Zealand, France and Spain have confirmed their support, Canada must stand on the right side of history and follow suit. The Government must show leadership by supporting a waiver of intellectual property rules and insisting on the transfer of technologies through the World Health Organization COVID-19 Technology Access Pool. The waiver must apply not just to vaccines, but to all COVID-19 related technologies.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Oxfam reaction to US support of WTO TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 vaccines https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-reaction-to-us-support-of-wto-trips-waiver-on-covid-19-vaccines/ Wed, 05 May 2021 20:52:18 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38053 In response to today’s announcement that the US Trade Representative is supporting waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns said the following:

    Canada could have taken international leadership to fight vaccine inequality by supporting the TRIPS waiver but instead has chosen to sit on the sidelines while the US stood up to support the world’s most vulnerable. Canada cannot continue to be idle in the fight to waive intellectual property rights while the rest of the world is working to end this global crisis.

    The U.S. administration’s support of the TRIPS waiver recognizes that big pharma should not have complete control over life-saving vaccines during a pandemic. This is also a testament to the widespread public movement calling for an end to vaccine monopolies.

    We are at a crucial inflexion point in the fight against the coronavirus, yet we have remained essentially at the mercy of a handful of giant pharmaceutical corporations that have monopoly control over the life-saving technologies we all need.

    Oxfam Canada and the Peoples Vaccine Alliance have been pushing this issue and Prime Minister Trudeau needs to get behind this waiver. This will ensure the ramping up of vaccine supplies allowing everyone who needs a vaccine to get one.

    Loosening the monopoly grip that pharmaceutical companies have on these life-saving vaccines is an essential step toward increased manufacturing that would lead to worldwide immunization, helping Canada and everyone else. We will continue to look to our government for leadership in a strong WTO outcome, in urgently insisting on the transfer of technologies through the World Health Organization Covid-19 Technology Access pool, and in investing strategically to build up regional vaccine hubs to defeat this and future pandemics.

    The horrific situation in India is a warning to all of us that if we don’t move urgently to share the vaccine technology and scale up manufacturing so everyone, everywhere can have access to these lifesaving vaccines, we will never get the upper hand on COVID anywhere.

    – 30 –

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         An average of 7 in 10 across G7 countries think their governments should force big pharma to share vaccine know-how https://www.oxfam.ca/news/an-average-of-7-in-10-across-g7-countries-think-their-governments-should-force-big-pharma-to-share-vaccine-know-how/ Wed, 05 May 2021 14:55:57 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=38050 G7 governments still refusing to waive intellectual property on Covid-19 vaccines, despite widespread public support
    People’s Vaccine Alliance calls for G7 leaders to support a vaccine patent waiver at today’s foreign and development ministers meeting in London.

    A supermajority of people in G7 countries believe that governments should ensure pharmaceutical companies share the formulas and technology to their vaccines, according to new polling from the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

    The public believes that pharmaceutical companies should be fairly compensated for developing vaccines, but should be prevented from holding a monopoly on the jabs.

    It comes as G7 foreign and development ministers meet in London, the group’s first in-person meeting in two years, and the general council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meets today online, while India’s death toll climbs.

    Across G7 nations, an average of 70 per cent of people want the government to ensure vaccine know-how is shared, according to analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance. Support for government intervention is highest in Italy, where 82 per cent of respondents were in favour, followed by Canada, where 76 per cent agree.

    74 per cent in the United Kingdom want the government to prevent Big Pharma monopolies, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson attributing the country’s successful vaccine rollout to “greed and capitalism”.

    UK support for intervention cuts across political boundaries, backed by 73 per cent of Conservative voters, 83 per cent of Labour and 79 per cent of Liberal Democrats, as well as 83 per cent of Remain and 72 per cent of Leave voters in the EU referendum.

    In the United States, where President Joe Biden has voiced his “hope and expectation” for sharing vaccine know-how, 69 per cent of the public support the measure, including 89 per cent of Biden and 65 per cent of Trump voters in 2020. In Japan, 58 per cent of the public want similar action.

    European Union member-nations were also strongly in favour, with support from 70 per cent in Germany and 63 per cent in France.

    Heidi Chow, Senior Campaigns and Policy Manager at Global Justice Now, said:

    “The public doesn’t want big pharma to hold monopolies on vaccines that were developed largely with public money. These vaccines are a global public good that should be available to everyone, everywhere. That much is obvious to the public across G7 nations, but political leaders are burying their heads in the sand while people die around them.”

    Despite widespread support for sharing vaccine know-how, G7 governments have continued to support pharmaceutical monopolies on Covid-19 jabs.

    More than 100 countries, led by India and South Africa, have supported a temporary waiver of Intellectual Property rights on COVID-19 vaccines at the WTO, but the proposal has been blocked by countries including the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and the EU. The Biden administration has confirmed it is reconsidering American opposition to the waiver.

    Pharmaceutical companies have so far refused to share their vaccine know-how with the world. No company with a successful vaccine has joined the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), which was established to facilitate sharing blueprints for vaccines and treatments.

    Saoirse Fitzpatrick, STOPAIDS Advocacy Manager said:

    “The horrific situation in India should shake G7 leaders to their core. Now is not the time for an ideological defence of intellectual property rules. Bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies have not worked. Governments need to step in and force pharmaceutical companies to share their intellectual property and vaccine know-how with the world.”

    As G7 chair, the UK has proposed a Pandemic Preparedness Plan, to be discussed by ministers this week, which ignores the issue of monopolies and intellectual property. Pharmaceutical corporations such as Pfizer are on the team preparing the proposal, but developing country governments and vaccine producers have not been asked to join.

    Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International, said:

    “G7 governments have clear human rights obligations to put the lives of millions of people across the world ahead of the interests of the pharmaceutical companies that they have funded. It would be a gross failure of leadership to continue blocking the sharing of life-saving technologies, and would only serve to prolong the immense pain and suffering caused by this pandemic.”

    Last month, 175 former world leaders and Nobel laureates, including Gordon Brown, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Francoise Hollande wrote to President Biden to support the temporary waiving of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines.

    150 faith leaders, including Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, and Cardinal Peter Turkson of the Roman Catholic Church have called for G7 leaders to treat COVID-19 as a “global common good”.

    Anna Marriott, Health Policy Manager at Oxfam, said:

    “People are dying by the thousands in low and middle income countries while rich nations have jumped the vaccine queue. G7 leaders need to face up to reality. We don’t have enough vaccines for everyone and the biggest barrier to increasing supply is that a few profit hungry pharmaceutical corporations keep the rights to produce them under the lock and key. It’s time to waive the intellectual property rules, ramp up production and put people’s lives before profits. It’s time for a People’s Vaccine.”

    Two-thirds of world-leading epidemiologists surveyed warned that the continued spread of the virus could allow vaccine-resistant strains of COVID-19 to render our current vaccines ineffective within a year. Independent SAGE, who provide independent public health advice in the United Kingdom, have called for a patent waiver to address supply issues.

    Moderna, Pfizer/BioNtech, Johnson & Johnson, Novovax and Oxford/AstraZeneca received billions in public funding and guaranteed pre-orders, including $12 billion from the US government alone. An estimated 97 per cent of funding for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine came from public sources.

    The companies have paid out a combined $26 billion in dividends and stock buybacks to their shareholders this year, enough to vaccinate at least 1.3 billion people, equivalent to the population of Africa.

    – 30 –

    Editor’s notes:
    • The People’s Vaccine Alliance has analyzed polling from across G7 countries conducted by YouGov, Leger360, and Nippon Research Center.
    • When asked if they support the statement ‘Governments should compensate fairly for any COVID-19 vaccine developed by a pharmaceutical company but ensure they don’t have a monopoly by sharing these formulas and technology with other approved companies’, views reflected by public in each country were:
      • YouGov UK polling
        • Sample Size: 1788 UK Adults
        • Fieldwork: 23rd – 24th February 2021
        • 74% supported the statement. 73% of Conservative voters, 82% of Labour, 79% of Liberal Democrat. 83% of Remain voters and 72% of Leave voters.
      • YouGov France polling
        • Sample Size: 1010 adults in France
        • Fieldwork: 24th – 25th February 2021
        • 63% support the statement
      • YouGov Germany polling
        • Sample Size: 2039 adults in Germany
        • Fieldwork: 24th – 26th February 2021
        • 70% support the statement
      • YouGov US polling
        • Sample Size: 1351 adults in the US
        • Fieldwork: 23rd – 24th February 2021
        • 69% support the statement. 82% of Biden voters and 65% of Trump voters in 2020.
      • YouGov Italy polling:
        • Sample size: 1019 adults in Italy
        • Fieldwork 4th – 5th March 2021
        • 82% support the statement
      • Leger360 Canada polling:
        • Sample size: 1526 Canadian adults
        • Fieldwork 5th – 7th March 2021
        • 76% support the statement
      • Nippon Research Center Japan polling:
        • Sample size: 1,278
        • Fieldwork:17 March 2021
        • 58% supported the statement

    The People’s Vaccine Alliance is a movement of health, humanitarian and human rights organizations, past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists advocating that COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured rapidly and at scale, as global common goods, free of intellectual property protections and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.

     

    ]]>         A personal stake in participation: Learning to mobilize for change at home and globally https://www.oxfam.ca/story/a-personal-stake-in-participation-how-people-learn-to-mobilize-for-change-at-home-and-around-the-world/ Mon, 03 May 2021 21:38:05 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=38007

    Social justice. Fighting to end inequality. The fair treatment of all people in a society and an equitable distribution of resources for all. How has Oxfam Canada worked in this space? What’s been the impact and what does that landscape look like now?

    Meet Miriam Palacios and Amar Nijhawan. Two women who share a passion for advocacy and their work in the social justice arena but are from different generations, different cultural and racial backgrounds and different personal and professional experiences. Their similarities married with their differences paint a picture of the social justice movement  in Canada and Oxfam’s role in supporting that work.

    In this conversation, Palacios brings her experience to the table as not only a former public engagement and campaign officer for Oxfam Canada but also as a tireless human rights activist and advocate based in British Columbia. She has helped educate and organize people in Vancouver on issues related to human rights, women’s rights, and food and trade. Nijhawan, who is currently  a women’s rights knowledge specialist at Oxfam Canada with a decade’s worth of experience as a gender and policy specialist, program manager and researcher, brings her fresh perspective and unique lens to the conversation.

    A Guatemalan woman stands behind a podium at a speaking event and a young South Asian woman stands smiling.

    Miriam Palacios (left) and Amar Nijhawan (right), represent two generations of Oxfam Canada and are two women who share a passion for advocacy and social justice work.

    Q: Oxfam is known by many people as an organization that works overseas to fight inequality and poverty in the world's poorest communities. How have you explained to people over the years that there is a role for Oxfam fighting poverty and inequality in Canada as well?

    Miriam: I worked for Oxfam Canada for over 30 years. I came to Canada as a political refugee from Guatemala and somehow, even before Oxfam hired me, I was connected to the organization. I was highly involved in communities before working with Oxfam. People in Canada saw me as a refugee, who came from a developing country – that was war torn, had poverty, inequality and injustice. But surprisingly when I arrived in Canada, to this incredible rich country – it seduces you with all its wealth and development, which was very contrary to the areas I was coming from. But I learned quickly there were a lot of social and economic issues in this country as well.

    There were links coming from a developing country and seeing some of the same injustices I was confronting in my country. Canada clearly had poverty at the time I arrived in the country. Food banks were trying to develop; people were trying to understand how they worked. But they didn’t see it.

    When I would talk to people, they would look at me as the person who came from poverty – a single mother (at the time) with two children, trying to survive. I have always been outspoken and taken a leadership role, so the way I used to try to get through to people here was acknowledging the poverty and war happening in Guatemala but also point out the injustices happening in Canada. There’s poverty and people suffering, there are single mothers going to the food banks looking for food right here in Canada.

    I would make clear connections between what's happening in developing countries and in Canada and why we needed to change these at both levels. It’s not enough to just give to other countries without making the changes here at home.

    Because sometimes I’d get ‘oh yeah, that's only affecting people in developing countries… people in Bangladesh can live on 12 cents an hour because it’s cheap.’ And that's not the case. People really have to be able to understand that 12 cents in Bangladesh would be equivalent to $12 here in Canada – and people cannot live on that.

    Through my connections in the trade union movements and women’s organizations, I was able to bring immigrant women, who were working in factories here, to tell their stories. I not only brought my voice, which to be honest in many aspects people didn’t respect because I was a Guatemalan and a person of color. But it didn’t stop me. I wanted people to know that it was not only me, that it’s people from everywhere else too.

    Amar: For me, it's been really interesting joining Oxfam as an organization that's committed to tackling inequalities in Canada and internationally during this pandemic. Because I feel COVID-19 has really shown us that inequalities exists in so many different contexts.

    They've heightened and exacerbated inequalities and what we're seeing and experiencing in Canada in terms of how many women have dropped out of the workforce this year… it isn't much different from the same levels of labor force participation rates that have dropped across the world.

    Q: What progress have you seen on social justice issues over the last few decades?

    Miriam: The social movements of women, youth, climate change, women’s rights organizations and racial organizations – there’s an incredible plethora of them that have made some clear and concrete changes. One example – when you look at fair trade coffee and goods in this country – back in the 80s when I started – no one knew what it was or what it was about. Now, everywhere you go in Canada, you can barely find a coffee shop or store that doesn't have fairly traded coffee and goods.

    A Guatemalan woman and four young men all wearing black Oxfam shirts walk with buckets in their hands through a street in downtown Vancouver.

    Miriam walks with Oxfam volunteers to bring awareness to climate change and women's rights.

    Even during this time of the pandemic, people are still fighting for global justice, for women’s rights, for racial rights. While there is concern on these movements not working together, there is still an incredible amount of mobilization taking place – and that, I think, is the most important thing. When I worked with Oxfam Canada, I was always making sure that Oxfam was integral in these incredible movements that were taking place because we had the incredible capacity of connecting our local movements to regional, national and international. And that was, to me, one of the incredible strengths that we were always able to bring to the country.

    Amar:  Adding to what Miriam said – movements are doing the work. They have been doing the work and been at the backbone of a lot of progressive initiatives and policies as much as they were 30, 50, 100 years ago – as much as they are right now. I think one thing I'm seeing evolve is not only the uptake of this movement work in the everyday population, but how governments are now responding using language. They’re using progressive trade language in their policies and rhetoric.

    Whether that rhetoric or policy is transformed into instrumental change is something that's yet to be seen and I think is the role of the movements to keep holding these spaces accountable.

    For instance in spaces where you would never hear the word feminist be uttered, you now have a Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) in the last four years. And again, not to say that an uptake of language is necessarily delivering the results the same way but I feel that movements have been so crucial into normalizing and mainstreaming a lot of these concepts and ideas.

    Q: What does international – national collaboration look like in support of social justice?

    Miriam: 30 years with Oxfam – there’s been an incredible range of organizations [that I collaborated with]. In the 80s, it was work with all the trade union movements, women’s organizations, churches in the beginning were working in solidarity and support of Central America liberation movements and against apartheid in Africa. That was where things started for me at Oxfam.

    Some of the issues we worked on was supporting liberation movements/labour rights, both in Latin America and Africa. It gave us an opportunity to make a lot of the connections in terms of looking at the role of women, their working conditions, and inequality.

    I also worked in the sector developing links and connection between groups, which I was doing before I joined Oxfam. I took a delegation of different BC women’s organizations to Central America to connect – sector to sector, women to women, doctors to doctors, nurses, to nurses, and lawyers to lawyers. It was an incredible plethora of different sectors linking up and helping each other.

    So depending on the issues, I was always able to connect with many different sectors to mobilize and work on changing policies.

    Amar:  I’m still relatively new to Oxfam but for me, a lot of these big global organizations are coming together to realize the problems within our country but they need to be brought out on the multilateral stage. I'm really happy to be participating. A part of my work is following the Beijing+25 process, the generation equality forums and the commitments that are coming out this year. There's such an amazing network of Canadian women's organizations that are not only trying to push the agenda within these blueprints for actions in a global space. But also actively mobilizing around – ‘now that we have this new set of sustainable development goals for the women's sector, how do we start putting the pressure on the Canadian government domestically to start adopting some of those as well?’

    Q: What keeps you up at night when you think about the social justice movement in Canada or globally, and what in your view are the biggest barriers to making change?

    Miriam: There are two components to that question. One is the realization that despite the incredible strength of the movements and the fact that we continue advocating and influencing on many different levels, poverty and inequality still persist. And the other part is seeing how often our sector changes priorities, which is concerning to me. I noticed that depending where the funding is coming from – we need to change priorities or programs or campaigns. To keep our partners and movements going and sustainable, you need to know where the money is going to have real impact in the long-term. Especially since we know that every two or three years, the government changes their priorities – which means we have to change.

    A middle-aged Guatemalan woman stands on stage with a piece of paper in her hand and speaks to an audience in 2005.

    Miriam Palacios, a former public engagement and campaign officer for Oxfam Canada and a tireless BC-based human rights activist and advocate, speaking in 2005.

    Amar: I'm always concerned about burnout in a lot of these movements. Doing movement work is really difficult. Working in the INGO and nonprofit sector, which is chronically underfunded in Canada, is also really difficult. So how do we keep applying that pressure and momentum without becoming discouraged? How do we gain every inch that's made in the right direction – how do we ensure that it's leading to a transformative change?

    [On identifying challenges] I think there are a lot of systems at play. The economic system we live in right now is clearly not working for us. I think a lot of the fundamental inequalities we see everywhere stems from that economic inequality that governments top up. We can add billions of dollars into entrepreneurship and labour market strategies, but you can't entrepreneur your way out of structural poverty.

    It’s like we're happy governments are responding to these critical issues, but a lot of these critical issues are there because of capitalism and these structures need to be addressed at the root cause. A lot of communities have been doing work around norm changing and bringing to attention these issues for a very long time. We need to fund and listen to them.

    Q: You hear people talk about ‘apathetic youth’ - what role have you seen youth, young activists and volunteers play in social justice work?

    Miriam: It was huge and a very strong part of my agenda. But it was not only the youth, it was also the engagement of volunteers. I went to schools to talk with teachers, to organize students and tell them what needed to be done. And the last effects are concrete. I had one high volunteer who became a member of the Oxfam board. And now he's a doctor and continues to be an incredible activist. And many of those I used to know are continuing to work for change with some now working at the government level.

    A Guatemalan woman stands smiling between a young South Asian boy and a young Asian girl in an elementary school classroom. They are holding a big piece of paper with a list of all the money they collected for an Oxfam emergency in Nepal.

    Miriam stands with two young students from an elementary school in B.C., who have collected money for an Oxfam emergency in Nepal.

    Amar: As someone who was introduced to Oxfam in university, I spent so much of my time outside of class, participating in campaigns and organizing things. So I’d say there’s no youth apathy. The generation that Miriam inspired, my generation, are the ones that are now doing these jobs and roles and running for politics. I also look to the generation below me, and I know the kids on TikTok are going to teach us more than anything we’ve seen today. People's heightened awareness of injustice, systems of oppression, not taking things for face value, and questioning a lot of the sexist norms we grew up with.

    I don't see the youth as apathetic, I feel they are getting more political in different means and ways. They're pushing boundaries and forcing people to confront things and challenging opinions.

    Q: In conclusion, what role do you think Oxfam plays in supporting grassroots social justice struggles in Canada?

    Miriam: I think that the role has always been clear – advocating for social change, being a strong part or member of the different movements. Making sure all the people from the grassroots have opportunities. To not only provide donations, which is a very important part of the work, but also contribute by making changes, advocating where they can by social media, meeting their MPs or writing letters. Essentially, giving them a very personal stake in participation. And continuing to make the links between poverty, women rights, climate change and all the inequalities that exist.

    **This conversation has been edited and condensed.

    ]]>         COVID-19 cost women globally over $800 billion in lost income in one year https://www.oxfam.ca/news/covid-19-cost-women-globally-over-800-billion-in-lost-income-in-one-year/ Thu, 29 Apr 2021 00:01:59 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37972 Women’s lost income in 2020 totaled the combined wealth of 98 countries

    The COVID-19 crisis cost women around the world at least $800 billion in lost income in 2020, equivalent to more than the combined GDP of 98 countries, Oxfam said today.

    Globally, women lost more than 64 million jobs last year — a five per cent loss, compared to a 3.9 per cent loss for men. In Canada, almost half a million women who lost their jobs during the pandemic, did not return to work as of January 2021 – and more than 200,000 fell into long-term unemployment.

    “COVID-19 has exacerbated existing economic inequalities and reversed decades of progress towards gender equality in Canada. There are now fewer women in the workforce than there were in 1990. The government’s commitment to adopting a feminist economic recovery in Budget 2021 is a first step. In the long term, the government’s economic recovery plan must focus on women-majority sectors and prioritize the needs of vulnerable workers,” said Amar Nijhawan, Women’s Rights Knowledge Specialist at Oxfam Canada.

    “And globally, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is having a harsher impact on women, who are disproportionately represented in sectors offering low wages, few benefits and the least secure jobs. Instead of righting that wrong, governments treated women’s jobs as dispensable — and that has come at a cost of at least $800 billion in lost wages for those in formal employment.”

    While women were losing out, companies like Amazon were thriving. Amazon gained $700 billion in market capitalization in 2020. The $800 billion in income lost by women worldwide also just tops the $721.5 billion that the US government spent in 2020 on the world’s largest defense budget.

    Globally, women are overrepresented in low-paid, precarious sectors, such as retail, tourism and food services, that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. In addition to holding the majority of the precariously low-paid jobs, racialized women who arrived in Canada within the last 10 years, were more likely to lose their jobs and 8.6 per cent of them remain out of work. Women also make up roughly 70 per cent of the world’s health and social care workforce — essential but often poorly paid jobs that put them at greater risk from COVID-19.

    Across the globe, women have been more likely than men to drop out of the workforce or reduce their hours during the pandemic, largely due to care responsibilities. Even before the virus struck, women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day — a contribution to the global economy of at least $10.8 trillion a year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry.

    “For women in every country on every continent, along with losing income, unpaid care work has exploded. As care needs have spiked during the pandemic, women — the shock absorbers of our societies — have stepped in to fill the gap, an expectation so often imposed by sexist social norms,” added Nijhawan.

    The effects of these dramatic changes will be unevenly felt for years to come. An additional 47 million women worldwide are expected to fall into extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 a day in 2021. In the US, 1 in 6 women of color are facing food insecurity because of the pandemic. According to the World Economic Forum, closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years due to negative outcomes for women in 2020.

    Although some governments have taken positive measures to address women’s economic and social security, for example, the infusion of $30 billion by the Liberal government into the childcare sector and new legislation in Argentina that offers flexible work schedules to those caring for children or the disabled, the response remains grossly insufficient. Only 11 countries have introduced shorter or flexible work arrangements for workers with care responsibilities, while 36 have strengthened family and paid sick leave for parents and caregivers.

    – 30 –

    Notes to editors:
    • Photos and stories of working women and mothers impacted by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic are available for download HERE.
    • Canadian employment data from RBC Economics report.
    • Women’s total income loss is an estimate derived from the change in the number of women working between the years 2019 and 2020, as captured in the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) indicator: Employment by sex and age – ILO modelled estimates, Nov. 2020 (thousands) — Annual. To achieve our income loss figure, Oxfam first estimated the average income among women globally and then multiplied this figure by the number of women working in 2019 and 2020. The average income figure comes from the International Labour Organization’s indicator: Mean nominal monthly earnings of employees by sex and economic activity for the year 2019. The ILO’s monthly earnings data includes fifty countries representing every region of the world. The monthly averages are multiplied by 12 to estimate an annual earnings figure. We keep women’s annual average income constant between 2019 and 2020 (2019 is the last year there is data available). The calculation is an estimate and is susceptible to data limitations. For example, using average income among women globally diminishes the extent of economic inequality among women. Further, regarding data describing employment by sex, the ILO cautions: Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Remembering the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster https://www.oxfam.ca/story/remembering-the-victims-of-the-rana-plaza-disaster/ Tue, 27 Apr 2021 17:51:50 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=37916
    ,

    Remembering the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster

    by Nirvana Mujtaba | April 27, 2021
    Young labourers demand fair compensation on the day of the Rana Plaza Collapse 8 years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
    Building a safer, fairer and sustainable recovery for garment sector workers

    April 24th marks the grim anniversary of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters that killed at least 1,132 garment workers and injured more than 2,500 when the Rana Plaza building collapsed 8 years ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    In the years since, global initiatives, primarily the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, have achieved remarkable improvements to health and safety standards and practices in targeted Bangladesh factories. Much more needs to be done to ensure this progress stays on track and to keep improving the working conditions for the women who make our clothes. Safe factories, workers’ jobs, incomes and benefits remain at risk as the global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on global markets and economies. The people at the bottom rung of the supply chain should not have to bear the brunt of the crisis.

    The Pandemic

    Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter and during the COVID‑19 crisis, hundreds of factories closed as international and Canadian brands and retailers cancelled orders and refused to pay for orders already in production. Factories fired over a million workers and many refused to pay legally earned severance pay. Workers were left with no savings from subsistence‑level salaries and no access to social protection to support them in times of trouble. The forecast remains dire for garment sector workers as global demand for apparel items remains low.

    It is of immense importance to build up social protection systems in Bangladesh and other garment-producing countries. Trade unions and labour rights organizations call for strengthened unemployment protection and the respect for all workers’ rights, including the right to organize. Retailers and brands must take responsibility for issues in their supply chains and contribute to a global wage assurance and severance guarantee fund to help workers survive the crisis.

    Workers in Bangladesh have been courageously organizing and fighting for their rights for years but need the support of voices in purchasing countries such as Canada, in order to push Canadian brands to rebuild a just economy after the pandemic by establishing more sustainable and resilient supply chains that respect workers’ rights and ensure suppliers pay workers living wages and social benefits.

    LEARN MORE: The global campaign to #PayYourWorkers

    Extend the Bangladesh Accord for Health and Safety

    The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally binding agreement between unions and brands and retailers created after the Rana Plaza collapse of 2013, led to real change in making death trap factories safe. Since its establishment, the Bangladesh Accord has provided safer working conditions for over 2 million garment workers by carrying out inspections and overseeing repairs and maintenance in more than 1,600 factories. The current agreement will end in late May and action is needed to safeguard progress in workplace safety.

    There are great concerns about the functioning of the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), the body that took over Bangladesh-based operations of the Bangladesh Accord. It is voluntary instead of being legally binding and workers hold less representation in its governing body. To prevent the RSC from becoming yet another industry-led voluntary initiative, the brands and retailers who signed the Accord before, including Loblaws (Joe Fresh), must make sure to lay their commitments down in writing again in a new international legally binding agreement. Now is the time for other Canadian brands, such as Lululemon Athletica, HBC, YM Group Inc, Arc’teryx and Canadian Tire, to also sign on to a new Accord. Brands and retailers must act now to protect progress and ensure an incident like Rana Plaza never happens again.

    LEARN MORE: The Bangladeshi garment sector workers’ working and living conditions supplying Canadian brands

    Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence

    A company’s responsibility flows through its entire corporate structure, including its business relationships and through its entire supply chain.

    The Government of Canada must legislate companies to respect human rights in their global operations and supply chains. Such legislation should require companies to conduct due diligence on their human rights and environmental risks, take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate such risks and hold companies accountable in the courts if they abuse human rights.

    Action:

    Support workers in Canadian supply chains by writing to Canadian companies Lululemon Athletica and YM Group to contribute to a Severance Guarantee Fund. Email and/or send a tweet to the CEO of Lululemon and the YM Group.

    FULL DOCUMENT: Remembering the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster

    Endorsed by:

    Canadian Labour Congress
    Canadian Union of Public Employees
    Centre international de solidarité ouvrière
    Inter Pares
    Maquila Solidarity Network
    Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation
    Oxfam Canada
    Public Service Alliance of Canada
    United Steelworkers
    Workers United Canada Council

    ]]>         Canada steps up its climate commitments, but total ambition falls short of what’s needed https://www.oxfam.ca/news/canada-steps-up-climate-commitments-but-ambition-falls-short/ Thu, 22 Apr 2021 15:19:32 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37883

    Today at the Earth Day Summit, Prime Minister Trudeau announced Canada’s commitment to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This marks a significant step up from Canada’s previous commitment of 30 per cent, but more ambitious reductions are required to deliver a just, climate-resilient future.

    Anya Knechtel, Policy Specialist at Oxfam Canada states, “Climate change, COVID-19 and inequality are compounding crises that are threatening the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people; the Earth Day Summit should be the launching point for tackling these crises together. While a target of 40 to 45  per cent marks an increase in ambition, reductions of 60 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 are needed to limit climate-related risks and impacts that are disproportionately affecting women and marginalized communities.”

    “We call on Prime Minister Trudeau to ensure environmental justice and gender justice are central to Canada’s climate actions. In addition to domestic actions, this will require Canada to commit at least $1.8 billion a year of public investments in climate finance in order to support women and other vulnerable people in developing countries to respond and adapt to climate change. Only by committing to a fair share of emissions reductions and climate finance, as well as supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening women’s resiliency to climate change, will Canada deliver on its commitment to feminist principles by ensuring our climate actions deliver a just, climate-resilient future that lets all people thrive.”

    The poorest half of the world’s population —3.1 billion people— is responsible for just a small fraction of dangerous carbon emissions. Yet, while vulnerable people such as women struggling to feed their families in drought-stricken regions have done little to cause the problem, they bear the brunt of the climate crisis. The richest 10 per cent of people in the world, on the other hand, produced over half of global emissions.

    As one of the top 10 global emitters and one of the largest per capita emitters of GHG emissions, Canada has a responsibility to undertake ambitious emissions reductions to cut emissions to net-zero over the next two decades. It must also deliver a fair and responsible share of the global commitment for climate finance to enable developing countries to transition to a low-carbon future, climate-resilient future as they work to recover from the pandemic.

    -30-

    Notes to editors

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Pharmaceutical giants shell out billions to shareholders as world confronts vaccine apartheid https://www.oxfam.ca/news/pharmaceutical-giants-shell-out-billions-to-shareholders-as-world-confronts-vaccine-apartheid/ Wed, 21 Apr 2021 23:01:28 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37882 Total pay-outs enough to vaccinate 1.3 billion people, the same as the population of Africa

    Ahead of shareholder meetings for the giant pharmaceutical corporations, the People’s Vaccine Alliance calculates that Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have paid out $26 billion in dividends and stock buybacks to their shareholders in the past 12 months.

    This would be enough to pay to vaccinate at least 1.3 billion people, the equivalent of the population of Africa.

    The shareholder meetings begin on April 22. Protests are expected outside the meetings in the US and UK while investors inside the meetings will be presenting resolutions to expand vaccine access. There is a growing backlash against the de facto privatization of successful COVID-19 vaccines and pressure on the pharma firms to openly license the intellectual property and share the technology and know-how with qualified vaccine producers across the world.

    While the global economy remains frozen due to the slow and uneven vaccine rollout worldwide, the soaring shares of vaccine makers has created a new wave of billionaires.

    The founder of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, is now worth $5.9. billion and Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel $5.2 billion. According to regulatory filings, Bancel has cashed out more than $142 million in Moderna stock since the pandemic began. Many other investors have also become billionaires in the last few months, while the International Chamber of Commerce projects a worst-case GDP loss of $9 trillion due to global vaccine inequity.

    “This is a public health emergency, not a private profit opportunity,” said Oxfam Health Policy Manager Anna Marriott. “We should not be letting corporations decide who lives and who dies while boosting their profits. We need a people’s vaccine, not a profit vaccine.”

    ‘Vaccine apartheid is not a natural phenomenon but the result of governments stepping back and allowing corporations to call the shots. Instead of creating new vaccine billionaires we need to be vaccinating billions in developing countries. It is appalling that Big Pharma is making huge pay-outs to wealthy shareholders in the face of this global health emergency,” Marriott said.

    While one in four citizens of rich nations have had a vaccine, just one in 500 people in poorer countries have done so, meaning the death toll continues to climb as the virus remains out of control. Epidemiologists are predicting we have less than a year before mutations could render the current vaccines ineffective.

    One of the reasons Pharma companies have been able to generate such large profits is because of intellectual property rules that restrict production to a handful of companies.

    Last week, 175 former heads of state and Nobel Prize winners, including Gordon Brown, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Francoise Hollande wrote to President Biden to support the temporary waiving of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines to enable the rapid scale up of vaccine production across the world. They join the 1.5 million people in the US and other nations who have signalled their support for a Peoples Vaccine.

    Over 100 low- and middle-income nations, led by India and South Africa, are calling at the World Trade Organization for a waiver of intellectual property protections on COVID-19 products during the pandemic, a move so far opposed by the US, EU and other rich nations. The Biden administration is reportedly considering dropping US opposition to the waiver, with the US Trade Representative saying at the WTO that ‘the market once again has failed in meeting the health needs of developing countries.’

    Moderna, Pfizer/BioNtech, Johnson & Johnson, Novovax and Oxford/AstraZeneca received billions in public funding and guaranteed pre-orders, including $12 billion from the US government alone. They also made use of many years of publicly funded research and discoveries. Researchers for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines found that only 3 per cent of the R&D costs to develop the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and its underlying technology was privately funded. AstraZeneca is producing and supplying the vaccine at no profit during the pandemic.

    “These vaccines were funded by public money and are desperately needed worldwide if we are to end this pandemic,” said Heidi Chow, Senior Campaigns and Policy Manager at Global Justice Now.

    “It’s morally bankrupt for rich country leaders to allow a small group of corporations to keep the vaccine technology and know-how under lock and key while selling their limited doses to the highest bidder.” Chow added.

    Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech’s successful mRNA vaccines are set to become two of the three bestselling pharmaceutical products in the world. The companies are projecting revenues of $33.5 billion in 2021 from their vaccines.

    Their vaccines are also the most expensive, ranging from $13.50 to $74 per course, with both firms looking to increase prices.  In an investor call, Pfizer cited between $150 and $170 a dose as the typical price it receives for vaccines. This is despite a study from the Imperial College in London showing that the cost of production of new mRNA vaccines could be between 60 cents and $2 a dose.

    The two firms have also sold the vast majority of their doses to rich nations. Moderna has so far allotted 97 per cent of their vaccines to wealthy countries and Pfizer 85 per cent. Co-developed with the US Government’s National Institutes of Health, Moderna’s vaccine is likely to make $5 billion in profits in 2021. The company received $5.45 billion in public subsidy.

    All the major pharmaceutical companies are fiercely opposed to the open sharing of technology and the suspension of intellectual property protections. The CEO of Pfizer responded to moves by the WHO to pool vaccine technology to enable other qualified producers to make vaccines by saying he thought it was ‘nonsense, and… it’s also dangerous.’

    The African Alliance’s Maaza Seyoum, who is leading the People’s Vaccine Alliance’s Africa efforts said ‘Big business as usual will not end this pandemic. This is clearer now more than ever. President Biden has an historic opportunity to show that he will put the health of all of humanity and shared economic prosperity ahead of the private profits of a few corporations.’

    – 30 –

    Notes to Editors:
    • The People’s Vaccine Alliance is a movement of health, humanitarian and human rights organizations, past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists advocating that COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured rapidly and at scale, as global common goods, free of intellectual property protections and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.
    • More information of each of the leading western vaccine producers: Oxford/ Astra Zeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer/ BioNtech, Moderna/NIH and Novovax can be found in the following Oxfam Media Brief, Shot at Recovery.
    • The total shareholder payouts is the sum of Total Dividends Paid and Share Repurchases in the companies’ financial year 2020, as found in company financial filings. The average vaccine cost, $19, is based on the median average of the five leading vaccine producers. At this price, the $25.74 billion in shareholder pay-outs could pay for 1.354 billion doses. The Peoples Vaccine does not endorse a price of $19 dollars and is only using this as an illustration.  Prices can and should be far lower than this to make vaccinating the world possible.  The population of Africa is estimated by the UN to be 1.36 billion people.
    • The AGM dates are:
      • Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson – 22nd April 2021
      • Moderna – 28th April 2021
      • Novavax – Not listed yet
      • AstraZeneca – 11th May 2021

    TABLE: SUMMARIZING MEASURABLE INDICATORS TOWARD A PEOPLE’S VACCINE

     

    Company Public Funding (est.)[1] Price per course (est.) COVID Vaccine Sales (est. 2021) COVID Vaccine Profit  (est. 2021) Dose Distribution: High-Income Countries (est.) Dose Distribution: Low- & Middle-Income Countries (est.) CEO pay (FY2020) Shareholder payouts (FY2020)
    AstraZeneca / Oxford University (AZD1222) $2.7 billion $4.38 to $10 $1.9 billion Undisclosed 1 billion doses (33%) 2 billion doses (67%) $21,089,782 $3.6 bn in dividends (AstraZeneca)
    Johnson & Johnson (Ad26COVS1) $1.5 billion $8.50 to $10 Undisclosed Undisclosed 901 million doses (43%) 1.2 billion doses (57%) $29,575,974 $10.5 bn in dividends + $3.2 bn in share buybacks = Total $13.7 billion
    Moderna / NIH (mRNA-1273 vaccine)  $5.75 billion $24 to $74 $18.2 billion $5 billion 1.25 billion (97%) 35.2 million (3%) $12,855,275 Zero
    Novavax (NVX-CoV2373) $2 billion $6-$8.36 Undisclosed Undisclosed 914 million (59%) 645 million (41%) $2,400,000 (FY2019) Zero
    Pfizer / BioNTech (BNT-162) $2.5 billion $13.50 to $39 $7.5 billion (Pfizer)

    $7.5 billion (BioNTech)

    		 $2 billion (Pfizer)

    $2 billion (BioNTech)

    		 1.67 billion (85%) 290 million (15%) $21,033,570 (Pfizer) $8.44 bn in dividends (Pfizer)

    [1] Transparency in public funding is lacking across all the COVID-19 vaccine developers, making firm figures difficult. Oxfam has arrived at these estimates by analyzing the research and development, manufacturing and advanced purchase deals made between the companies and some governments, notably the US. While Oxfam attempted to include all sources of public funding across these 3 areas (research and development, manufacturing and procurement), we were not able to be comprehensive due to contract opacity. Note also that these sums do not include the public investments in years of early research, which preceded COVID but was essential to these vaccines succeeding. Theses amounts also do not include purely philanthropic contributions. As a result, these estimates are conservative, and likely much less than the total public investments.

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         Budget 2021 delivers historic feminist investments domestically, but falls short on global response https://www.oxfam.ca/news/budget-2021-delivers-historic-feminist-investments-domestically-but-falls-short-on-global-response/ Wed, 21 Apr 2021 16:16:36 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37878

    Budget 2021 presents the government’s plan to tackle COVID-19 and was highly anticipated, considering it is the first federal budget in over two years. It is also the first budget presented by Canada’s first female finance minister, who prioritized engagement with feminist leaders and women’s rights organizations in the budget process through consultations and the newly created taskforce on women and the economy.

    The new budget, titled A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience, lays out an ambitious pathway for the government that recognizes the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women and gender diverse, Indigenous and racialized people, and invests in public services to ensure a more inclusive recovery. The 724-page document mentions women 669 times and includes annexes of its GBA+ analysis as well as a gender, diversity and quality of life statement. Having committed to an intersectional feminist recovery in the Throne Speech, the budget delivers some historic investments needed to advance gender equality at a time when decades of progress is at risk as a result of COVID-19.

    Oxfam Canada made recommendations in six key areas for Budget 2021 and provides an assessment of the budget along those areas by its policy team.

    1. Invest in the Care Sector

    The federal budget delivered a historic $30-billion investment to build a national early learning and child care system, including with dedicated funding for Indigenous early learning and child care. Answering the call of child care advocates, the investment will expand the not-for-profit sector of the system and reduce parent fees to $10 a day within five years. Moreover, it will enshrine early learning and child care in federal legislation to be tabled this fall.

    “Today’s investment in child care and the care economy in Canada is historic,” says Diana Sarosi, director of policy and campaigns at Oxfam Canada. “An investment in child care is good for women and the economy, and will ultimately pay for itself. Sustained long-term investments are what’s needed to build a nation-wide system that will improve quality, accessibility, and affordability. It will be important for the federal government to work with the provinces, territories and Indigenous partners to establish clear accountability mechanisms with targets and timelines in place to ensure the funds meet the principles set out in the multilateral agreement.”

    2. Invest in Social Protection and Decent Work for Women

    In this budget, the federal government acknowledges the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women in the economy, and expressed a commitment towards creating a “more inclusive, sustainable, feminist, and resilient economy that values women’s work” over time. No single approach was outlined, with the understanding that tackling the “she-cession” requires an intersecting approach that takes into account “racial identity, income level, disabilities, and geography”. A few measures that address this—in addition to child care—include: $3.8 billion to modernize and make Employment Insurance more accessible; $146.9 million for the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy; $755 million for the Social Finance Fund; $50 million for the Readiness Program for the non-profit sector; $15 million for the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot initiative, $100 million for the Supporting Black Communities Initiative through Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), in addition to $200 million for the establishment of a Black-Led Philanthropic endowment fund.

    “Women have disproportionately experienced the economic fallout of the pandemic – particularly black, indigenous, racialized, and migrant women working low-wage essential jobs with increased care responsibilities,” says Amar Nijhawan, women’s rights policy specialist at Oxfam Canada. “In this budget, it is good to see the importance of an intersectional analysis of gender and the economy through inputs by members of the National Task Force on Women in the Economy.  While the range of approaches were welcome, more work and dedicated funding is needed to specifically address the immediate needs of women workers marginalized by the pandemic.”

    3. Invest in the Green Economy

    Budget 2021 puts forward initiatives totalling $17.6 billion for a green recovery and commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 36 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, up from the 31 per cent target in the recently released climate plan, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy (HEHE). This target is meant to represent a floor, not a final target, for emissions reductions, with further announcements expected at the upcoming Earth Day Summit. The budget provides little detail on how these investments will address gender disparities, although specific initiatives such as the home energy retrofit program do offer support for improvements to women’s shelters and low-income housing. The budget does not include details of Canada’s post-2020 climate finance commitment, but makes note of a forthcoming announcement in the lead up to the COP26 climate summit.

    “The investments and targets announced today are important but fall short of the level of ambition needed to match the scale and scope of the climate crisis we are in,” says Anya Knechtel, climate policy specialist at Oxfam Canada. “We eagerly look forward to further announcements signaled in the budget, including higher targets for emission reductions and significant contributions to international climate finance, which is critical to support developing countries’ adaptation and mitigation efforts.”

    Budget 2021 makes important tweaks to the country’s tax system but fails to tackle extreme wealth inequality in a transformative way.  Taxing the digital economy, closing tax loopholes around executive stock options and increased enforcement by Canada Revenue Agency against tax avoidance and evasion are welcome. However, the budget did not introduce a wealth tax or any reforms to capital gains deductions, despite Canadian billionaires having increased their wealth by more than $78 billion during the pandemic.

    “Considering the massive spending of the government over the past year to help Canadians weather the storm, now would have been the perfect time to tackle wealth inequality and reform Canada’s outdated tax system,” says Ian Thomson, policy specialist at Oxfam Canada. “As other countries take action to increase corporate income tax rates, the Canadian government has shown little ambition for systemic tax reforms to make the wealthy pay their fair share.”

    4. Invest in Ending Gender-Based Violence

    Considering the rise in violence against women and gender-based violence during the pandemic, feminist organizations applauded the government’s investment of $600 million over five years to support the development a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, as well as $14 million to set up a dedicated secretariat to coordinate this work. Moreover, the government recognizes the role of women’s rights organization in addressing this ‘shadow pandemic’ and announced $200 million for these organizations. Several other related initiatives, including investments to address gaps in sexual and reproductive health services were also announced.

    “The shadow pandemic of violence against women and gender-based violence has left a mark on families and communities over the past year, as levels and the severity of violence increased due lockdowns and stressors brought on by the pandemic. These investments today will make a difference in the lives of women and gender-diverse people across Canada, who have had a hard time accessing life-saving services. It is critical that those most at risk of violence are actively engaged in the development of the NAP,” said Sarosi.

    5. Invest in Global Recovery

    The government announced $375 million towards the international COVID-19 response, as well as other global initiatives, totalling an increase of $1.4 billion in international assistance over 5 years. Much of the $1.4 billion is allocated for this year, whereas long-term sustained investments are needed to not only put an end to the pandemic but also support countries with the devastating economic fallout. Today’s investments fall short of what is needed to address this global crisis and do little to boost Canada’s attainment of the 0.7 per cent global benchmark for international assistance as a ratio of gross domestic product.

    “Women have been at the center of the COVID-19 response in low-income countries as the majority of frontline healthcare workers. Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy ambitions cannot be fulfilled when there are limited resources to support the global COVID-19 response,” says Siham Rayale, women’s rights policy specialist at Oxfam Canada. “At this time of uncertainty, increasing international assistance and championing debt cancellation are vital for poorer countries to provide social protection and critical public services, as well as access COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to end this pandemic. The government knows keeping Canadians safe means eradicating COVID-19 everywhere and that will require leadership and resources.”

    6. Invest in Feminist Leadership

    The women’s sector has been at the forefront of providing critical services during the pandemic to some of the most marginalized, and therefore hardest hit, groups in Canada. Budget 2021 recognizes the critical role community organizations play and invests $400 million to create a Community Services Recovery Fund to support charities and non-profits. An additional $100 million over two years will help non-profits, including women’s shelters and child care centres, be more accessible and adapt their workplaces to provide more services online. 2SLGBTQ+ organizations welcomed a new $15-million fund to support their community initiatives, but highlighted that this was not enough to fill the gaps.

    “Investing in non-profits is a smart investment that will boost gender equality,” says Sarosi. “These organizations are a lifeline to millions of people in Canada stuck in poverty. Considering the non-profit sector disproportionately employs women, these initiatives will also support women’s labour force participation, which has plummeted this year.”

    – 30 –

    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         As Global Leaders Talk Climate, Women in the Dry Corridor Are Working to Survive https://www.oxfam.ca/story/as-global-leaders-talk-climate-women-in-the-dry-corridor-are-working-to-survive-2/ Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:21:09 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=37872

    On a daily basis Rosa Soriano weighs her options, but no matter what she decides, her kids will still be hungry.

    “If we have a pound of rice, we use half for one meal and half for the other, because we have to be careful with our food. Otherwise, we will have nothing left to eat,” she explains. “We have had to assess what we have available. I think – if I don’t have enough for today, how am I going to make it through tomorrow if things stay the same?”

    Rosa can attest that the impacts of climate change and other crises are not experienced equally. She and her family live in Tacuba, a community with the highest rates of extreme poverty and malnutrition in El Salvador. Rosa’s home is located in the Central American Dry Corridor, a broad swath of land running through El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Most families in the Dry Corridor depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods, but failing crops brought on by severe droughts, extreme weather and other challenges like deforestation and land encroachment by mining operations have eroded the basis of their livelihoods, especially among the poorest households.

    Climate change has affected 2.2 million people in the Dry Corridor, comprised of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

     

    While Central America is responsible for only 0.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Rosa and others living in the Dry Corridor are heavily affected by the deepening poverty, hunger, and societal violence that have escalated in part due to climate change. This past year, the eventual rains offered no relief – Tropical Storm Amanda battered the region, followed by the intense power of hurricanes Eta and Iota. These storms destroyed crops, livestock, and homes throughout the Dry Corridor, pushing over 60 per cent of households in the region further into poverty and hunger.

    A rotten crop of beans in El Salvador. Credit: James Rodriguez/Oxfam

     

    Since then, Rosa had been eking out her family’s survival by working different jobs – cleaning houses, caring for other people’s children, and working in the fields. But when the pandemic hit, her situation became even more precarious. As lockdown measures and fears of contracting COVID-19 stopped her from finding work in town or as an agricultural labourer, Rosa saw her daily income disappear.

    Although Rosa and other marginalized women like her contribute little to climate change, they are disproportionately vulnerable to its effects. Their ability to cope with crisis – whether climate or COVID-19 related – are limited by social and economic inequities that weigh the scales against them. For women, long-standing social biases translate into lower incomes, less opportunities for education and jobs, as well as an unequal burden of caring for children and elderly family members. Inadequate services like social assistance, public health and childcare add to their challenges. Even more vulnerable to crises are Indigenous women and others experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, (dis)ability and other factors.

    Orbelina tends to her crop. Credit: Alfredo Carias/Oxfam

    In El Chilamo, El Salvador, Orbelina Guevara and her family have also been hit hard by climate change. In 2018, she watched as her bean and corn harvest shriveled, along with her savings when droughts destroyed 90 per cent of the crops in the area. And yet, Orbelina is feeling more optimistic since a local organization, Fundación Campo, offered training in sustainable agriculture to women in her community. Now, she plants drought-tolerant crops in her own garden, and has been able to save money, which has been critical to her family’s well-being during the pandemic.

    While Orbelina’s experience speaks to the importance of helping women adapt to climate change, more needs to be done to overcome barriers that limit women’s resilience to climate change and crises.

    What Needs to Change? 

    Gender-responsive climate actions take more than good intentions. Initiatives aimed at helping people adapt to climate change have more impact in reducing vulnerability when underlying inequalities are addressed.

    This starts by recognizing the impacts of climate change not being experienced equally, and that developing countries need resources to develop initiatives that overcome underlying vulnerabilities as part of building climate resilience. To better understand these vulnerabilities, it is critical to engage local women and gender-diverse people, as well as women’s rights organizations, in project planning and delivery. It also requires governments to implement gender-transformative policies that work to tackle the root causes of inequality and poverty. This includes adopting policies that are aimed at recognizing, reducing and redistributing care work often shouldered by women, and creating economic opportunities for women as countries work to green their economies. It also requires equitable access to much needed funding to support these initiatives – because women like Rosa and Orbelina need better options for their families.

    The Importance of Climate Finance

    Under the UN Paris Agreement, developed countries committed to jointly contribute at least US$100 billion annually in order to assist developing countries with efforts to transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. This includes funding for initiatives like sustainable agriculture and land-use programs that target women, indigenous people and youth in the Dry Corridor, and renewable energy projects that expand economic opportunities in rural communities.

    For developing countries, climate finance is critical to building resiliency to climate-related risks as they work to recover from the pandemic.

    Climate finance will be on the agenda when President Biden hosts the climate-focused Earth Day Summit on April 22. We’re calling on Canada to show leadership by paying its fair share of climate finance and directing support to initiatives that reduce women’s vulnerability to crises – because Rosa and her family’s future depend on it.

    Anya Knechtel is Oxfam Canada’s policy specialist leading policy work on climate change and natural resources.

    ]]>         Open Letter to Deputy Minister Freeland on Climate Finance https://www.oxfam.ca/story/open-letter-to-deputy-minister-freeland-on-climate-finance/ Fri, 09 Apr 2021 21:04:36 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=37820

    Open Letter to Deputy Minister Freeland on Climate Finance

    by Canadian Coalition for Climate Change and Development | April 9, 2021
    Mako and her husband Mahamud are pastoralist farmers living in the Somali region of Ethiopia whose lives and incomes are impacted by climate change. “The drought is real. We are affected by it now,” Mako says. “This year and last we have been affected by severe drought.”

    The Honourable Chrystia Freeland
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
    Department of Finance Canada

    April 8, 2021

    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance,

    Budget 2021 is an opportunity for Canada, in the spirit of global cooperation, to deliver its fair and responsible share of international climate financing ahead of COP26. Climate objectives must not be pursued in isolation from other political outcomes such as fiscal responsibility and debt sustainability.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of sustained investments in healthier, more equitable and environmentally sustainable communities. Our global challenges will not be solved unless they are solved everywhere. With the most marginalized communities and countries disproportionately affected we simply cannot afford to ignore responding to the existing crises, like the climate crisis.

    A successful COP26 outcome will not be possible without concrete and robust climate finance pledges from developed countries including Canada. The United Kingdom recently pledged to double its international climate finance contribution. Decisive and coordinated leadership at home and at the multilateral level is key to address the climate emergency. Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called on Canada and other G7 countries to increase climate financing and ensure that at least 50 per cent of the total pledge goes towards adaptation. Ahead of the upcoming Leaders Summit on Climate taking place on April 22, the United States is expected to announce an increase in its climate finance commitments.

    Now is the time to evaluate financial commitments made to meet the USD 100 billion per year target beginning in 2020. Canada’s total investment, including public and private contributions, should be equivalent to 4 percent of the total 100 billion pledge or USD 4 billion annually. In the budget 2021, the undersigned urge the Government of Canada, as a first step to deliver on its obligations, to increase Canada’s public financial commitment of the USD 100 billion to CAD 1.8 billion per annum. Building a resilient low-carbon transition requires the Government of Canada to assertively pursue health, climate and development agendas simultaneously and without tradeoffs. For this reason, Canada’s international cooperation actors call for long-term, sustainable and predictable increases of official development assistance.

    The cost of adaptation is rising, and cost estimates range from USD 140 billion to USD 300 billion by 2030. Current climate finance flows remain far below the necessary funds identified by both the Global Commission on Adaptation and UNEP’s Adaptation Finance Gap Report. Meeting Canada’s fair share also requires a better balance between adaptation and mitigation support, increased grant-based financing and committing to reaching the poorest and most climate-vulnerable, while ensuring that efforts are aligned with Canada’s feminist commitments.

    Budget 2021 must reaffirm that future climate finance will be rights-based. Canada’s future package must build resilience and produce benefits that will result in conservation and protection of nature and biodiversity.

    In sum, we urge the Government of Canada to assertively tackle this crisis with strong policy coupled with the required financial investment. We stand ready to collaborate with the government to implement these priorities.

    - Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D)

    Contact:
    Eddy Perez
    International Climate Diplomacy Manager, Climate Action Network Canada
    eddy@climateactionnetwork.ca

    Mueni Mutinda
    Canadian Foodgrains Bank
    mmutinda@foodgrainsbank.ca

    Signatories
    Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac)
    The Canadian Coalition on Climate Change and Development (C4D)
    Cooperation Canada
    Plan International Canada
    ONE Canada
    Global Citizen
    AidWatch Canada
    Canadian Foodgrains Bank
    Alinea International
    WaterAid Canada
    World Accord - International Development Agency
    British Columbia Council for International Cooperation
    Grandmothers Advocacy Network (GRAN)
    Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale (CECI)
    CARE Canada
    ADRA Canada
    Mennonite Central Committee Canada
    Oxfam Canada
    Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada

    ]]>         From burden to benefit: Reframing the conversation on care https://www.oxfam.ca/story/from-burden-to-benefit-reframing-the-conversation-on-care/ Tue, 06 Apr 2021 15:21:32 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=37713

    From burden to benefit: Reframing the conversation on care

    by Amber Parkes | April 6, 2021

    If I said you could either invest in something that is essential or something that is a burden, which would you choose? I’m guessing most people would choose the former.

    How we frame things matters. From political slogans to hashtags to social justice campaigns, anyone who has tried to compel others into action knows that the words we choose are important. Words can mean the difference between winning and losing an election, having one hundred or one million retweets, or getting legislation passed.

    And so it is with advocacy on unpaid care work. Over the years I’ve worked in this sector I’ve noticed the frequent use of the term ‘care burden’. I’ve heard it while on panel discussions and I’ve read it in research reports and news articles.

    If anything, its use has increased now that the pandemic has lifted the curtain to reveal the extraordinary amounts of invisible, free labour that women around the world provide to keep families and communities nurtured, healthy and clean. It is encouraging – and long overdue – that more people are now speaking about care work and making the links between women’s unpaid care responsibilities and gender inequality.

    However, in Oxfam’s WE-Care program we have learnt from feminist economists to avoid using the term ‘burden’ as a default when advocating on care. Why? Because ‘burden’ implies that something needs to be reduced and minimized. Do we really want less education, less nourishment, less care?

    MORE OR LESS?

    Several things come to mind when I think of the burdens in our society that do need to be reduced. One is the ‘global burden of disease’, which is a term that public health professionals use to describe the impact of a health problem based on its financial cost, mortality and morbidity. I think we can all agree that disease – particularly in the form of a pandemic – is definitely something we want to minimize.

    But unlike disease, care is a social good, one with immense value that underpins the very functioning of our society and economy. When it comes to care, we actually want more and better care for our children, elderly parents, communities and planet. What we want to reduce is the most arduous tasks like carrying water and washing clothes by hand. The responsibility for providing care, however, must be more equally shared between women and men, and between households, government and businesses. For these three things to happen we must help policymakers see that care is valuable. To reflect that value, we must choose our words wisely.

    In her headline-grabbing book, Doughnut Economics, Kate Raworth speaks about the power of verbal framing in shaping the political and economic debate. She refers to the example of taxation, and how the use of the term ‘tax relief’ by conservative politicians frames tax as a societal burden and an imposition to be relieved (usually by said conservatives). In contrast, the alternative framing of ‘tax justice’ does a better job of conjuring ideas of fairness and accountability, helping us to see tax as a means of reducing inequality and supporting community needs.

    REFRAMING CARE

    Similarly, referring to unpaid care work as a ‘social good’, rather than a ‘burden’, can help people to see that care is critical to our social and economic wellbeing. In Canada alone, unpaid carers (the majority of which are women), ‘save’ the economy a massive $350 billion per year (that's 15.6% of the country's GDP)! Our advocacy needs to make clear that the 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care and domestic work that women and girls provide on a daily basis is valuable.

    This means recognizing the skills and labour that unpaid care and domestic work requires, recognizing it as ‘work’, and governments investing in services and infrastructure that more equally share the responsibility, time and costs of providing care.

    But of course, there is a distinction between advocacy and individual experience. For many women, the daily mental and physical labour to provide care for their families and communities is gruelling and draining, and this must be acknowledged. We of course do want a reduction in the difficulty of domestic tasks and the isolation experienced by many carers who have insufficient resources and support. This is especially true for women living in high levels of poverty who are least able to afford childcare and healthcare, or own time-saving technology like washing machines and gas or electric stoves. Research by Oxfam and others has shown how unpaid care and domestic work has increased significantly during COVID-19 lockdowns and, around the world, has been shouldered disproportionately by women of colour, single mothers, and women living in rural areas or urban informal settlements.

    Yet as a political statement and as an advocacy tactic, the use of ‘burden’ is counterproductive to our calls for valuing care and for more and better care. As such, this is a call to fellow care advocates, development practitioners and feminist campaigners to reconsider ways of framing the care debate when advocating for change at the policy level.

    Reframing care as a social good, offers us a powerful tool in the struggle to get unpaid care work valued by politicians, donors, business owners and male allies alike. Let’s make our words count.

    Originally posted on Oxfam's Views & Voices.

    ]]>         Oxfam scorecard shows federal government provided critical services during pandemic but marginalized populations fell through cracks https://www.oxfam.ca/news/oxfam-scorecard-shows-federal-government-provided-critical-services-during-the-pandemic-but-marginalized-populations-falling-through-the-cracks/ Tue, 16 Mar 2021 13:00:49 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37393 (Ottawa) – In a year that continues to be buried in challenges due to the pandemic, the federal government’s feminist response was quick and included an influx of resources but it also exposed some serious gaps when it comes to the most marginalized populations, according to a new report released by Oxfam Canada today.

    Following the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 crisis, Oxfam Canada’s fifth annual Feminist Scorecard, Accelerating a Feminist COVID-19 Recovery, grades the federal government’s actions to help Canada and the world respond and recover from the pandemic between March 2020 until February 2021 in 10 policy areas. Oxfam uses a traffic light approach (red, yellow and green), indicating very little, some, or significant progress.

    Three categories received a green rating this year: global development, women’s leadership and representation, and gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

    “Women have been at the forefront of Canada’s response to COVID-19 as medical officers, key ministers but also in communities ensuring relief for those who have been hardest hit. The government quickly provided resources for women’s shelters and invested in global response mechanisms. These measures are critical but more is needed to address the massive drop in women’s labour force participation – it is now the lowest in 30 years. Investments in women-majority sectors and child care will be critical to advancing gender equality and preventing an unnecessarily slow recovery,” said Diana Sarosi, Oxfam Canada’s Director of Policy and Campaigns.

    The government missed the mark when it comes to taxation having shown little appetite for tax reforms to reduce inequality. Wealth inequality has grown during the pandemic, with the wealthiest Canadians, who are mostly men, benefiting from tax loopholes and not paying their fair share.

    ”The fortunes of the country’s 44 billionaires have increased by over $60 billion since March 2020. Despite government promises to tax extreme wealth inequality and close tax loopholes, policies that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and help corporations avoid paying their fair share of taxes persist,” Sarosi said. “A feminist recovery will rely on investments in much needed public services funded by a progressive tax system.”

    The scorecard also highlights a number of policy areas where more can be done to accelerate a feminist response and ensure the most marginalized do not fall through the cracks, which include poverty, care work, humanitarian crises, work and pay equity, climate change and extractives, and ensuring the rights of Indigenous women.

    “As the world moves from response to recovery, it is clear that more has to be done to ensure no one is left behind,” Sarosi said. “The government has an opportunity to strengthen its intersectional feminist analysis and build a path for recovery that ensures women in all their diversity are heard and seen as partners. This will require more women and gender-diverse people in leadership and decision-making spaces and better disaggregated data collection and analysis on the impacts of the pandemic. COVID-19 has shown us what is possible if there is political will.”

    – 30 –

     Notes to Editors:
    • Oxfam Canada’s Feminist Scorecard is available for download here.
    • The scorecard does not rate the government’s overall performance in each policy area. It presents an assessment of actions that have, or have not, been taken by the government in these 10 policy areas to advance a feminist response and recovery to COVID-19.
    For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

    ]]>         After 10 years of war in Syria, families now endure economic crisis https://www.oxfam.ca/story/after-10-years-of-war-in-syria-families-now-endure-economic-crisis/ Mon, 15 Mar 2021 21:22:31 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=blog&p=37395
    Nesreen and her family live in rural Damascus, where she says they are cutting back on their meals to save money. 
    Oxfam continues its work to assist families surviving a decade of war in Syria.

    Nesreen, a mother of four from rural Damascus, continues to live with the effects of the 10-year conflict in Syria. Since war broke out, everything has changed for her and her family of six.

    “I remember one dark afternoon when the sounds of explosions started rising all around us. Moving to the nearest basement in the neighborhood to hide with my little children was as risky as staying in our house,” Nesreen, now 39, says.

    “I thought, ‘if we’re going to die today, then let it be right here, in our home.’ Nothing will ever erase those memories from my heart and mind.”

    Every day in Syria is a struggle to survive. Like so many other Syrian women Oxfam works with, Nesreen struggles to put enough food on the table to feed her family.

    Economic Crisis

    Two years ago, life gradually returned to normal in Nesreen’s town. For the first time in almost seven years — her husband found work, the family started to fix the damage to their house, and the children returned to school. However, the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the collapse of the Syrian pound (and the spillover from the financial crisis in Lebanon) has pushed more and more Syrians to the brink.

    Woman in green dress and mauve hijab sits by her sewing machine.

    Nesreen works on her sewing machine to earn money and support her household. Credit: Dania Kareh

    Skyrocketing prices of food and people’s inability to afford the most essential food items have meant women are reverting to extreme strategies to cope, such as eating fewer meals each day or being forced to buy cheaper, less nutritious food.

    ‘We have had to cut down on the types of food we buy as well as so many other needs like clothing. It might be safer now, but the economic situation is unbearable."

    “I’m dying inside when my youngest daughter needs her medication and I can’t afford it,” she says.

    For thousands of families like Nesreen’s across Syria the situation is getting worse. The World Food Programme recently found 12.4 million Syrians are going to sleep hungry, an increase of over 3 million people from 2020. Between 2019 and 2020 food insecurity increased a massive 42 per cent. In the same year, 80 per cent of Syrians were living below the poverty line. The economic crisis is hitting people affected by the war in Syria across the region. In conversations between Oxfam staff and Syrian women in Jordan, Lebanon, and across Syria, two-thirds indicated they were the most concerned about finding food for their families.

    “I’m afraid I will wake up one day to find nothing to fill the stomachs of my little children,” Nesreen says.

    Farmers Hit by Syrian War

    The conflict in Syria has taken away nearly everything from Tahani and her family. “When war broke out in Syria, I lost contact with my ex-husband,” she says. “To this day, no one knows whether he’s still alive or dead. I am supporting our six little children by myself. As the war dragged on, we lost almost everything; our house, our crops, and the modest life we once had.”

    Woman in red patterned dress and purple hijab in blue sky background looking towards the right.

    Tahani, 42, from rural Aleppo, works on a farm to support her six children. Credit: Islam Mardini.

    Eventually, she and her children had to flee the fighting near their home in rural Aleppo. “Staying in our town became too dangerous. We had to go and leave everything behind, moving from one town to another for five years."

    “Three years ago, we returned home and all I could think of was how to start over. I thought I had survived the worst. I survived the conflict, I was forced to leave my home, and I lived through a bad divorce, but nothing is compared to how I’m living now with my children,” Tahani says of the economic crisis afflicting Syria."

    Tahani is now working on a farm to support her family, but she fears for their future if the war does not end. “This war turned our lives upside down, and today, after 10 years of war, I still cannot imagine leading a normal life.”

    What Oxfam is Doing in Syria

    In collaboration with partner organizations in Syria, Oxfam is currently working in eight of Syria’s 14 governorates to prevent the spread of diseases by promoting good hygiene practices in schools and by training local community volunteers. We distribute food where needed and support farmers to grow food and make a living through training, and distribute cash to people who need it the most.

    Oxfam in Syria strives to ensure that our aid programs address the needs of women, encourage their leadership and their active participation in community decision-making as well as in peace talks. In 2018, Oxfam helped bring Syrian women activists and leaders to meet with senior international diplomats during a conference in Brussels on the future of Syria.

    There are approximately 5.6 million Syrian refugees. Oxfam and partners in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey are assisting Syrian refugees in camps and communities hosting them. We are providing clean water, soap and other hygiene items, and cash to help people buy food as well as training programs to help people find employment.

    In the meantime, women continue to work to meet the needs of their families with the help of Oxfam and our partners. For Lubana, 65, who fled her home in rural Damascus for five years and has returned, getting back to her pre-war life is proving difficult.

    Woman with mask holding on to walking stick.

    Lubana lost everything during war and now relies on aid to survive. Credit: Oxfam

    “Our life revolves around farming,” she says. “Before the war, we made a good income from our land. And we could afford a modest but comfortable life. When war broke out we had to flee our hometown… When we finally got the chance to return home, we found everything had gone.”

    The economic crisis has hit Lubana hard. “The past year has been extremely tough. We had to cut down on our expenses and reduce the size of our food portions. In these rough times, we can’t help but feel broken.

    “Today, after 10 years of war, I still can’t see an ending to all our suffering. I hope one day my children will have a better life than the one I’m having.”

    ]]>         Garment workers suffer while fashion brands’ profits return https://www.oxfam.ca/news/garment-workers-suffer-while-fashion-brands-profits-return/ Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:01:43 +0000 https://www.oxfam.ca/?post_type=news&p=37355

    200 rights organizations demand brands fix their broken industry by putting the money on the table to ensure workers can feed their families and respecting labour rights

    A coalition of more than 200 organizations today announced sweeping demands of apparel brands and retailers for cash relief for suffering garment workers and reform of the industry.

    Millions of garment workers have been struggling to feed their families since brands abandoned them last March. Brands and retailers responded to the crisis by refusing to pay their bills and using the decreased demand for clothing to extract even lower prices from suppliers. Garment workers around the world have faced a widespread loss of jobs and income, forcing many deeper into poverty and hunger. A year into the crisis, many brands have returned to profitability and some have even ranked in record level earnings, while workers in their supply chains struggle to survive.

    The #PayYourWorkers #RespectLabourRights campaign brings together more than 200 unions and civil society groups from over 40 countries to demand that brands provide immediate relief to garment workers and make enforceable commitments to reform their broken industry. With the website, the coalition is launching a petition, urging brands and retailers like Amazon, Nike, and Next to live up to their responsibility to contribute funds to sustain workers' income throughout the pandemic, respect the right to organize and bargain collectively, and make sure workers are never again left penniless if their factory goes bankrupt by signing onto a negotiated severance guarantee fund.

    Sophorn Yang, President of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions said: “Workers in Cambodia lost millions of dollars in wages during the pandemic because of brands’ actions. It’s time for brands to recognize the crucial position they hold in garment and footwear supply chains and take responsibility for the wages of workers who make them billions of dollars in profits year after year.”

    PayYourWorkers.org – the campaign website launched today – is available in 7 languages. The 200 endorsing organizations include grassroots worker unions like Garment Labour Union in India, major trade union federations, including UNI Global union, and international organizations and networks such as Oxfam and Clean Clothes Campaign. In a global week of action, trade unions and activists are holding planned socially distanced in-person actions at store fronts and in front of factories in countries around the world this week, along with a digital and social media actions.

    Anton Marcus, joint secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union in Sri Lanka calls for broad support for the campaign: “Sri Lankan apparel sector employers haven't paid their employees' full wages and bonuses and have withdrawn transport and food support during the first wave in March to May 2020. According to our calculation, garment employees are owed at least $24 million (USD) only for that period. About 200,000 employees lost their jobs without receiving the compensation they are entitled to. In the meantime, apparel export numbers have hardly gone down. Brands and suppliers must take responsibility and pay back the apparel sector employees what they are owed.”

    Next and Nike belong to the 'Super Winners' who recovered quickly from the pandemic’s losses and started making profit again in 2020. Amazon did even better and reported a near 200 per cent rise in profits, rising to a stunning $6.3 billion (USD) in the first year of the pandemic. These companies can and must ensure that workers do not pay the price for the pandemic from their poverty wages.

    Ineke Zeldenrust of Clean Clothes Campaign says: “We have calculated that it would take just 10 cents per t-shirt for fashion brands to make sure garment workers can at least survive the pandemic, and to strengthen unemployment protections for the future. This is the minimum brands should do on the way to the living wages which must become the standard of a post-pandemic recovery. This proposal is achievable, an brands and retailers who say it is not are putting profits before the well-being of their workers.”

    – 30 –

    Notes to editor:
    • The website and petition, including a full list of endorsers are available at payyourworkers.org.
    • Clean Clothes Campaign has calculated in August 2020 that workers globally were owed $3.2-5.8 billion (USD) in wages for just the first three months of the pandemic.
    For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:

    Paula Baker
    Media Relations
    Oxfam Canada
    (613) 240-3047
    paula.baker@oxfam.org

     

     

     

     

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