Oxfam says that one out of every three people in northern Ethiopia don’t have enough food to eat.
Almost 10 million people live in Tigray and Amhara.
Fighting and lack of rain made it hard for farmers to grow crops, so millions of people had to find extreme ways to stay alive, according to the charity.
A government report said almost 400 people have died from hunger in two areas.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said no one had died in the country just from hunger, which goes against what the UN had reported.
Oxfam is saying that northern Ethiopia could have a very bad humanitarian crisis if we don’t increase our help.
There is a shortage of money and fighting in Amhara, which is making it hard to help people in need.
The World Food Programme and USAid found out that some people were stealing food aid in Ethiopia last Spring. Because of this, they stopped giving aid to Ethiopia for several months before starting again more carefully in December.
Last year, the UN only got one third of the $4 billion it asked for Ethiopia.
Leaders in Tigray say there could be a big hunger problem, but the central government doesn’t believe that.
Tag: Oxfam
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About 10 million Ethiopians are very hungry – Oxfam
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Implement workplace gender policy to combat sexual harassment – SGBV to employers
Experts specializing in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) have united to address the pressing need for robust workplace gender policies aimed at eradicating sexual harassment.
This collective initiative is a response to the widespread yet often unreported occurrences of workplace harassment, emphasizing the imperative for organizations to prioritize comprehensive gender policies that foster secure and inclusive work environments.
Thelma Akyere Hayford, Gender Advisor at OXFAM in Ghana and Project Manager for Ghana under the EU funded ENOUGH!, shared insights during a national conference held at the Labadi Beach Hotel.
The event, organized by OXFAM and the Institute of Directors, Ghana (IoD-GH), centered around the theme ‘The Draft Model: Gender Workplace Policy,’ focusing on combatting Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the workplace.
The collective call for action underscores the pivotal role of comprehensive policies in nurturing safe working environments and stands united against the global challenge of sexual harassment.
The keynote speaker, Angela Carmen Appiah, President of the Institute of Directors and Chairman of the Council, highlighted the need for purposeful action by directors, emphasizing the systemic nature of enterprises and the necessity for harmony for long-term profitability.
Panel discussions included Melody Darkey, Executive Director of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), who underscored the importance of implementing workplace gender policies to combat sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Darkey emphasized the pervasive yet underreported nature of these issues, highlighting their detrimental impact on productivity and the well-being of victims.
Kojo Amissah, Lead Executive and Principal Consultant, called for serious consequences for violations of workplace policies, stressing that policies alone are insufficient without stringent consequences for violators. He emphasized the crucial role of education in addressing workplace harassment.
Head of Department of Development Policy, School of Public Services and Governance,Dr. Gifty Oforiwaa Gyamera, emphasized the global impact of sexual harassment and the leadership responsibility in addressing this issue.
Lydia Doe, Head of Relations for OXFAM, focused on policy implementation and cultural transformation, emphasizing the need to move beyond legal frameworks to achieve successful policy implementation.
A Leadership and Corporate Governance Expert, Dr. Olu Ajayi, stressed the necessity of punitive measures for effective progress and suggested integrating behavioral assessment into performance management.
Bernice Sam Esq., Principal Consultant at BSC Advisory, presented the importance of businesses maintaining fair, safe workplaces without discrimination, violence, or harassment, emphasizing the impact on public image and reputation.
The conference aimed to catalyze transformative change in Ghana’s workplaces by promoting global imperatives for gender-equitable policies. Through collaborative efforts, knowledge sharing, and the endorsement of a model Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy, the conference aspired to drive the adoption of inclusive policies in both public and private organizations, with a goal of at least 12 organizations committing to adopting the policy and signing Memoranda of Understanding.
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Ghana’s IMF engagement under Mahama one of the most open in the world – Oxfam
Oxfam, the bloc of global organizations fighting against poverty has ranked Ghana’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2015 as one of the most open processes globally.
In a report authored by Oxfam, the openness was grounded in how the then-government approached the fund leveraging on consultations with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
IMANI Africa’s Bright Simons shared an extract from the report on Twitter with the caption: “Oxfam says Ghana’s IMF engagement in 2015 was one of the most open in the world, with strong engagement by CSOs pushing a public interest agenda.”
He added that as an actor in the CSO sector, he agreed with Oxfam: “I also find that the current IMF process is the opposite: with zero govt interest in openness & engagement.”
Mahama government goes to IMF
In 2015, Ghana’s economy was in trouble, hobbled by widening current account and budget deficits, rampant inflation, and a depreciating currency. Credit dried up as interest rates rose and banks’ bad loans piled up.
At the root of Ghana’s woes was out-of-control government spending, largely to pay salaries of an overgrown civil service.
The program
In early 2015, Ghana turned to the IMF for a $918 million loan to help stabilize the economy. IMF advisors, working with the Ghanaian government, developed a three-part program:
Extract from IMF report: Box 2: Ghana
Of all the case studies, Ghana represented the most successful example of meaningful engagement between CSOs and the IMF. This success was due to several factors which collectively amplified the power of Ghanaian civil society with respect to the IMF.
These included: the formation of a joint coalition of over 11 CSOs in 2014, known as the Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme – now the Economic Governance Platform (EGP); structured preparation and capacity building among the coalition prior to and during IMF engagement; the support of Global North actors such as Oxfam in accessing IMF decision makers and political stakeholders at headquarters level; detailed research and published analysis of the issues up for discussion;*# and public-facing awareness and advocacy campaigns which included experts and stakeholders from different sectors.
These combined factors meant the coalition’s goals and concerns could not be ignored.
The Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme [the Platform’) was principally responsible for ensuring the success of civil society negotiations with the IMF.
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Coronavirus could drive half a billion people into poverty worldwide – Oxfam
The fallout from the Coronavirus spread that has killed more than 83,000 people and wreaked havoc on economies around the world could push around half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam said on Thursday.
The report released by the Nairobi-based charity ahead of next week’s International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meeting calculated the impact of the crisis on global poverty due to shrinking household incomes or consumption.
“The economic crisis that is rapidly unfolding is deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis,” the report found.
“The estimates show that, regardless of the scenario, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990,” it said, adding that this could throw some countries back to poverty levels last seen some three decades ago.
The report authors played through a number of scenarios, taking into account the World Bank’s various poverty lines – from extreme poverty, defined as living on $1.90 a day or less, to higher poverty lines of living on less than $5.50 a day.
Under the most serious scenario – a 20% contraction in income – the number of people living in extreme poverty would rise by 434 million people to 922 million worldwide. The same scenario would see the number of people living below the $5.50 a day threshold rise by 548 million people to nearly 4 billion.
Women are at more risk than men, as they are more likely to work in the informal economy with little or no employment rights.
“Living day to day, the poorest people do not have the ability to take time off work, or to stockpile provisions,” the report warned, adding that more than 2 billion informal sector workers worldwide had no access to sick pay.
The World Bank last week said poverty in East Asia and the Pacific region alone could increase by 11 million people if conditions worsened.
To help mitigate the impact, Oxfam proposed a six point action plan that would deliver cash grants and bailouts to people and businesses in need, and also called for debt cancellation, more IMF support, and increased aid. Taxing wealth, extraordinary profits, and speculative financial products would help raise the funds needed, Oxfam added.
Calls for debt relief have increased in recent weeks as the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has roiled developing nations around the world.
In total, governments around the world would need to mobilise at least $2.5 trillion to support developing nations.
“Rich countries have shown that at this time of crisis they can mobilize trillions of dollars to support their own economies,” the report said.
“Yet unless developing countries are also able to fight the health and economic impacts the crisis will continue and it will inflict even greater harm on all countries, rich and poor.”
Source:Â reuters.com