Support Oxfam’s campaign to “Even it up!”
Oxfam has launched a new report and a new campaign on the explosion in inequality around the globe. You can view a three-minute video here. You can see the excetive summary of the report here.
The campaign has the following nine objectives.
1) Make governments work for citizens and tackle extreme inequality
Public interest and tackling extreme inequality should be the guiding principle of all global agreements and national policies and strategies. It must go hand in hand with effective governance that represents the will of the people rather than the interests of big business.
Specific commitments must include: agreement of a post-2015 goal to eradicate extreme inequality by 2030; national inequality commissions; public disclosure of lobbying activities; freedom of expression and a free press.
2) Promote women’s economic equality and women’s rights Economic policy must tackle economic inequality and gender discrimination together.
Specific commitments must include: compensation for unpaid care; an end to the gender pay gap; equal inheritance and land rights for women; data collection to assess how women and girls are affected by economic policy.
3) Pay workers a living wage and close the gap with skyrocketing
executive reward
Corporations are earning record profits worldwide and executive rewards are skyrocketing, whilst too many people lack a living wage and decent working conditions. This must change.
Specific commitments must include: increasing minimum wages towards living wages; moving towards a highest-to-median pay ratio of 20:1; transparency on pay ratios; protection of worker’s rights to unionise and strike.
4) Share the tax burden fairly to level the playing field
Too much wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few. The tax burden is falling on ordinary people, while the richest companies and individuals pay too little. Governments must act together to correct this imbalance.
Specific commitments must include: shifting the tax burden away from labour and consumption and towards wealth, capital and income from these assets; transparency on tax incentives; national wealth taxes and exploration of
a global wealth tax.
5) Close international tax loopholes and fill holes in tax governance
Today’s economic system is set up to facilitate tax dodging by multinationals and wealthy individuals. Until the rules are changed and there is a fairer global governance of tax matters, tax dodging will continue to drain public budgets and undermine the ability of governments to tackle inequality.
Specific commitments must include: a reform process where developing countries participate on an equal footing, and a new global governance
body for tax matters; public country-by-country reporting; public registries
of beneficial ownership; multilateral automatic exchange of tax information including with developing countries that can’t reciprocate; stopping the use of tax havens, including through a black list and sanctions; making companies pay based on their real economic activity.
6) Achieve universal free public services by 2020
Health and education can help to close the gap between the haves and have nots, but under spending, privatisation and user fees as well as international rules are standing in the way of this progress and must be tackled.
Specific commitments must include: removal of user fees; meeting spending commitments; stopping new and reviewing existing public subsidies for health and education provision by private for-profit companies; excluding public services and medicines from trade and investment agreements.
7) Change the global system for research and development (R&D) and pricing of medicines so everyone has access to appropriate and affordable medicines Relying on intellectual property as the only stimulus for R&D gives big pharmaceutical companies a monopoly on making and pricing of medicines. This increases the gap between rich and poor and puts lives on the line.
The rules must change.
Specific commitments must include: a new global R&D treaty; increased investment in medicines, including in affordable generics; excluding intellectual property rules from trade agreements.
8) Implement a universal social protection floor
Social protection reduces inequality and ensures that there is a safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable people. Such safety nets must be universal and permanent.
Specific commitments must include: universal child and elderly care services; basic income security through universal child benefits, unemployment benefits and pensions.
9) Target development finance at reducing inequality and poverty,
and strengthening the compact between citizens and their government Development finance can help reduce inequality when it is targeted to support government spending on public goods, and can also improve the accountability of governments to their citizens.
Specific commitments must include: increased investment from donors in free public services and domestic resources mobilisation; assessing the effectiveness of programmes in terms of how they support citizens to challenge inequality and promote democratic participation.