1 - 16 of 16
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Asia’s Extreme Inequality Crisis: Building back fairer after COVID-19
- Author:
- Matthew Martin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- COVID-19 has exacerbated Asia’s crisis of extreme inequality. This is undermining growth and preventing poverty eradication. Asian governments have done almost nothing to combat this rise in inequality and are constrained in their policy choices as debt burdens grow and post-COVID austerity begins. A few Asian governments have done a lot to fight inequality during COVID-19 through equitable public services, progressive taxation and enhanced labour rights, especially for women, but most have not. This paper lays out a comprehensive set of measures that Asian governments, the Asian Development Bank and the international community could use to significantly reduce inequality, eradicate poverty and accelerate growth in Asia.
- Topic:
- Poverty, Governance, Pandemic, COVID-19, Banking, and Equality
- Political Geography:
- Asia
3. Climate finance in Asia: Assessing the state of climate finance in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions
- Author:
- Christopher Roy
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Asia is particularly vulnerable to climate hazards including extreme temperatures, flooding, droughts, cyclones, and sea level rise. The most vulnerable communities need financial support to help adapt to the climate crisis – they cannot do so alone. Developed countries have promised $100 bn in climate finance to developing countries every year until 2025. This promise has not been met. Asian countries have outlined the support they require and delivering on these needs is integral to bringing climate justice to those most vulnerable to – yet least responsible for – the climate crisis. We find that the climate finance provided to Asia is woefully inadequate to support the necessary adaptation actions and vulnerable communities are suffering as a result.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Finance, and Climate Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
4. Precarity and the Pandemic: A survey of wage issues and Covid-19 impacts amongst migrant seafood workers in Thailand
- Author:
- Josh Stride
- Publication Date:
- 07-2021
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- This report presents findings from an extensive survey of migrant workers in the Thai seafood industry conducted by the CSO Coalition. The report focuses on the issue of low wages, the gender pay gap and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these issues and the workers who experience them. It also aims to develop a national discussion around the issues of a living wage and a decent living for the hardworking migrant workers who generate wealth and produce food for wealthy companies and consumers around the world.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Labor Policies, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Thailand
5. Money Talks: A Synthesis Report Assessing Humanitarian Funding Flows to Local Actors in Bangladesh and Uganda
- Author:
- Anita Kattakuzhy and Chloe Parrish
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- International humanitarian agencies and donors have made a series of global commitments to local actors as part of the localization agenda, including to increase their access to greater direct funding by 2020. This briefing paper reviews 2015 national financial data for Bangladesh and Uganda to better understand how to target international investments in localization. It presents key findings from Oxfam-commissioned research on which factors affect local actors’ ability to access international humanitarian funding. It concludes that in order for global commitments to translate into practice, investments should look at changing the terms of the funding relationship, as well as be based on a context-specific, national analysis of the financial environment.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, Refugee Crisis, and Displacement
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Bangladesh, Africa, and Asia
6. Displaced and Dispossessed: Conflict-Affected Communities and Their Land of Origin in Kachin State, Myanmar
- Author:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- People displaced by conflict (IDPs) in Myanmar’s Kachin State want to return to their land, yet it is being appropriated unfairly. Legal or administrative procedures are undermining IDP rights, ignoring the exceptional circumstances of displacement. Restrictions on movement are making the situation worse. Action is required to resolve the lack of clarity over IDP land rights and to ensure equitable remedy is available where land has been unfairly acquired. This report is produced by The Durable Peace Programme (DPP), an EU-funded consortium of seven international and local organizations supporting peace, reconciliation, rehabilitation and development in Kachin State since 2015.
- Topic:
- Displacement, Conflict, Peace, Humanitarian Crisis, and Internal Displacement
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Myanmar
7. One Year On: Time to Put Women and Girls at the Heart of the Rohingya Response
- Author:
- Dorothy Sang
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Beginning on 25 August 2017, over 700,000 Rohingya refugees fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh seeking safety and lifesaving assistance. While safe from the violence they were subjected to in Myanmar, Rohingya women continue to face huge protection risks and challenges in Bangladesh. This briefing paper looks at how the humanitarian response, one year on, is meeting the specific needs of women and girls and what more can and should be done so that women and girls can access services, voice their concerns and hopes for the future and influence the decisions that affect their lives.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Migration, Water, Minorities, Refugees, Displacement, Humanitarian Crisis, and Hygiene
- Political Geography:
- Bangladesh, Asia, and Myanmar
8. The AIIB’s Energy Opportunity: How the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Energy Lending Can Chart a New Path of Sustainable Development
- Author:
- Kiri Hanks
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will be a major new funder of infrastructure in developing Asia, where demand for power is growing faster than any other region in the world. Done right, its energy lending could promote an inclusive and sustainable Asian energy transition. This report sets out a vision for an AIIB partnership with the region’s most climate-vulnerable countries. This could forge a new path of economic development and confirm a new era of Southern climate leadership.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Sustainable Development Goals, Fossil Fuels, and Paris Agreement
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Global South
9. Redefining Inclusive Growth in Asia: How APEC can Achieve an Economy that Leaves no one Behind
- Author:
- Maria Dolores Bernabe
- Publication Date:
- 11-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- In November 2017, leaders will gather in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The last few decades have seen astonishing growth and poverty reduction across Asia, but inequality is on the rise and the benefits of growth are increasingly going to those at the top. This paper sets out how APEC leaders can use the opportunity of the summit to move in a new direction – one in which the economy works for everyone, not just the few.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Labor Issues, Health Care Policy, Private Sector, Economic Cooperation, and Inclusion
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Asia-Pacific
10. Taxing for Shared Prosperity: Policy Options for the Asia-Pacific Region
- Author:
- Mustafa Talpur and Jian Zheng
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The Asia-Pacific region was a model for ‘growing with equity’ in the 1970s and 1980s. Rapid economic growth was achieved without major increases in inequality. However an economic take-off and market-oriented reforms in recent years, despite helping hundreds of millions to be lifted out of extreme poverty, has been accompanied by growing income and wealth gaps between rich and poor. This increase in inequality has greatly diminished the ability of economic growth to reduce poverty. This report suggests a course for the region’s economies to be defined by inclusive growth and shared prosperity. It argues that tax policies can play an essential role in an effective pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 10, which calls for reducing inequality. Taxes provide the main public revenue source for financing essential public programmes for inclusive development, such as healthcare, education, social protection and welfare schemes. And taxes can become a powerful policy tool for direct redistribution of income and wealth in a society.
- Topic:
- Education, Health Care Policy, Inequality, and Tax Systems
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Asia-Pacific
11. Asia at a Crossroads: Why the region must address inequality now
- Author:
- Jessica Hamer, Maria Dolores Bernabe, and Mark Fried
- Publication Date:
- 01-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Asia is at a Crossroads. Rising inequality poses a dire threat to continued prosperity in Asia, where an estimated 500 million people remain trapped in extreme poverty, most of them women and girls. The huge gap between rich and poor hinders economic growth, undermines democratic institutions and can trigger conflict. If Asia's policymakers hold tight to yesterday's truths, hoping against hope that growth and prosperity will trickle down to all, they will put everyone's welfare at risk. But if there are courageous leaders, willing to tackle inequality head-on, they can ensure inclusive and sustainable development for all of Asia's people. Oxfam is calling on Asia's governments to make a determined effort to combat discrimination and improve policies on taxation and social spending. This is needed now if the region is to secure a stable and prosperous future.
- Political Geography:
- Asia
12. Access to Cancer Treatment: A study of medicine pricing issues with recommendations for improving access to cancer medication
- Author:
- Ellen T. Hoen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- According to the World Health Organization, cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world, with 8.2 million deaths in 2012. More than 60 percent of the world's new cases of cancer occur in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America and these regions account for 70 percent of the world's cancer deaths. In low- and middle-income countries, expensive treatments for cancer are not widely available. Unsustainable cancer medication pricing has increasingly become a global issue, creating access challenges in low-and middle-income but also high-income countries. This report describes recent developments within the pricing of medicines for the treatment of cancer, discusses what lessons can be drawn from HIV/AIDS treatment scale-up and makes recommendations to help increase access to treatment for people with cancer.
- Political Geography:
- Africa, America, and Asia
13. Building Inclusive Coconut-Based Livelihoods in Post-Haiyan Reconstruction in the Philippines
- Author:
- Joel Rodriguez
- Publication Date:
- 02-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- The most powerful storm ever to hit the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda) has affected about 16 million people. Four million people have been displaced; the majority of them are fisherfolk, and small-scale farmers and farm workers.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Philippines
14. Beyond Safe Land: Why security of land tenure is crucial for the Philippines' post-Haiyan recovery
- Author:
- Daniel Fitzpatrick and Caroline Compton
- Publication Date:
- 08-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Following the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, the Philippines authorities pledged to 'build back better' – a vision designed to ensure that affected communities were stronger and more resilient in the face of future storms. Significant efforts and some important steps have been taken by various authorities to begin fulfilling that vision.
- Topic:
- Security and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Philippines
15. Can't Afford to Wait: Why Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation plans in Asia are still failing millions of people
- Author:
- Steph Cousins
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Climate-related disasters and food crises are devastating thousands of lives and holding back development across Asia. A year on from the devastating super-typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Oxfam calls for governments across Asia, backed by regional and global institutions and fair contributions from wealthy countries, to ramp up efforts to address these challenges. Without greater investment in climate and disaster-resilient development and more effective assistance for those at risk, super-typhoon Haiyan-scale disasters could fast become the norm, not the exception.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Disaster Relief, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Philippines
16. The BRICS Development Bank: Why the world's newest global bank must adopt a pro-poor agenda
- Author:
- Lysa John
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- In July 2014, a new multilateral and Southern-led development bank is expected to be launched by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – better known as the BRICS. The BRICS Development Bank will provide a fresh source of finance for developing and emerging economies to meet their development needs. Little has been made public regarding the proposed Bank's core mandate or activities but while governments negotiate the technicalities of the Bank, it is critical that they also provide a solid vision of the principles, priorities and objectives on which the Bank's activities and operations will be premised. This policy brief recommends that these include commitments to: ending extreme poverty and inequality, with a special focus on gender equity and women's rights; aligning with environmental and social safeguards and establishing mechanisms for information sharing, accountability and redress; leadership on the sustainable development agenda; the creation of mechanisms for public consultation and debate; and the adoption a truly democratic governance structure.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Gender Issues, International Cooperation, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Russia, China, Europe, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America