A Year On Since COVID-19: Oxfam’s Contribution To The Movement Against Inequality And Discrimination

In the 12 months since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Oxfam’s deepest concern has been that the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world are well supported from suffering, discrimination and shouldering the burden of harm.

Oxfam partnered with 694 local civil society organisations in 68 countries to reach more than 14.3 million people with programs of aid and support including water and sanitation, emergency food and livelihoods, cash assistance, social protection, and gender justice. We reached more than 40 million people with community public health messages about COVID-19.

We designed new solar-powered and foot pedal-powered handwashing dispensers and gave the plans to local engineers. We developed an online ‘community perception tracker’ that helped us to directly respond to what local people said they needed.

Oxfam first called for a globally free and accessible “People’s Vaccine” back in March 2020 and joined a growing campaign of activists, scientists, and leaders. We showed that vaccinating the poorest 3.7 billion people would cost less than what the ten biggest pharmaceutical companies make in four months. We blew the whistle on rich countries supporting Big Pharma companies’ monopoly of the vaccine technology.

Bringing evidence from our partnerships and programs on the ground, Oxfam played its part in tackling the pandemic as a public health, humanitarian, economic and gender injustice “meta-crisis”.

We campaigned for:

• Dignified work for people in care and informal work, particularly women who are at the heart of COVID recovery;
• Debt relief, to spark a USD$40 billion investment into developing country health systems;
• USD$3 trillion in Special Drawing Rights to strengthen developing country economies;
• A global ceasefire and changes to a ‘creaking’ global humanitarian system;
• A ‘Pandemic Profits Tax’ as global hunger continues to spike, even as the world’s richest billionaires recovered their losses in just nine months and the 17 biggest US firms made USD$85 billion more in 2020 than in other years.

Oxfam offers its issue experts to talk about the impact of COVID19 on the communities we serve and in rebuilding toward a more just and equitable world. To know more about the timeline of the key moments since March 2020 that exposed the inequalities that COVID fuelled, and what Oxfam and partners have done, please visit our dedicated COVID 19 webpage, which will go live on Tues 9 March GMT 00:01.

Below are some of our spokesperson’s key statements:

Oxfam Executive Director Gabriela Bucher:

“A year on since COVID 19 was declared a pandemic, we have been brought together by pain and loss but torn apart by wealth and privilege. The poorest people –women and marginalized racial and ethnic groups above all – are bearing the brunt of this crisis. But for the wealthy few, it’s a different story.

A few governments have shown positive policies are possible – many more should follow. COVID 19 shows us that a more equal and sustainable world is in our collective interest. Governments can shift course by ensuring a “people’s vaccine” – so everyone has access to a vaccine – and putting equality at the heart of our recovery, from investing in universal public services to ensuring job security and that with the broadest shoulders pay their fair share of taxes.”

Oxfam Head of Inequality Policy Max Lawson:

“COVID 19 has laid bare the brutal inequality that shapes our world. It is set to lead to inequality increasing everywhere for the first time in history. Poor countries are bankrupting themselves to stay afloat in the economic storm. Pharmaceutical monopolies and global vaccine apartheid mean that only one in ten citizens of most poor nations can expect a vaccine this year. Rich nations must cancel the debts of poor countries and face down Pharmaceutical corporations to make them share their vaccine recipes and end this terrible disease.”

Oxfam Public Health Promotion Lead Michelle Farrington:

“Oxfam has been at the forefront of responding to COVID-19 given its longstanding experience in public health and in tackling other epidemic diseases like Ebola, Zika and malaria. We have seen first-hand how the virus has made life even more difficult for the most vulnerable – whether in refugee camps or in those stranded in conflict or living under poverty line – where access to water, soap and protective gears can be difficult, and physical distancing was near impossible.”

Oxfam Global Humanitarian Director Nigel Timmins:

“The most vulnerable people have received double, and sometimes triple blows this year, as COVID-19, compounded by conflict, natural disasters and poverty, pushed millions to the brink. We have witnessed how the three lethal Cs - COVID, conflict and climate – have devasted lives of the most disadvantaged and disarmed them of the chance to rebuild their lives. Governments must fully fund the UN global appeal for COVID response, especially in countries hit by multiple crises.”

Oxfam Director Gender Justice Maria Jose Moreno,

“The inequality virus showed us with a magnifying glass how more women than men were pushed to poverty and were exposed to violence. Women have had to shoulder more care and domestic work during the pandemic. Gender based violence has soared across many countries, as 243 million women and girls were subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner during the pandemic. To rebuild a more just world after COVID19, governments and communities must address the root causes of gender, class, and race inequality in public and private spheres, and ensure women at all levels, especially in leadership, have an equal voice.”

Oxfam Head of Emergency, Food Security & Livelihoods Emily Farr:

From Day 1 of this pandemic, we knew that global hunger would get even worse than the already all-time high reached in 2019. A year on, COVID-19 has deepened the hunger crisis and pushed millions of people to hunger. Governments must contain the spread of this disease, but it is equally vital they take action to stop the pandemic killing as many – if not more – people from hunger. This means action to stop people going hungry and to create fairer, more robust, and more sustainable ways of feeding the world in the wake of this pandemic.

Oxfam is also organizing a zoom webinar

The webinar is on “Equitable access to COVID 19 vaccine in Africa” on 11 March 14:00-15:30 EAT. The event will look at how in Africa the pandemic has increased hunger and poverty and deepened existing inequalities. It will also discuss how to ensure a fair access to the vaccine on the continent. RVSP at mary.muia@oxfam.org

Speakers of this webinar will include:

• Peter Kamalingin: Oxfam Pan Africa Programme Director 
• Lydia Zigomo, Oxfam Regional Director for the Horn, East and Central Africa

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