Contacts:
Taylor Royle, 1 202 258 3508, troyle@oxfamamerica.org
Laura Rusu, 1 202 459 3739, lrusu@oxfamamerica.org
Natalie Curtis, 44 7824 503108, ncurtis@oxfam.org.uk
]]>
"This study will be an especially useful tool to Louisiana legislators, activists and philanthropists because it provides an evidence-based portrait of living conditions in the state. It looks at our health, our education and our economic status, leading to important conclusions about how we must proceed to create a better Louisiana that is characterized by communities of opportunity," said Flozell Daniels Jr., President and CEO of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. "The report makes it clear that we cannot forge ahead while leaving so many people behind. It is not only unjust; it is also ineffective."
"A Portrait of Louisiana" is the second state-specific report produced by the authors of The Measure of America: American Human Development Report 2008-2009 since its release last summer. It applies the American Human Development Index—a single measure of well-being for all Americans based on indicators in three key areas: health, education and income—to life in Louisiana. Using U.S. government statistics on longevity, educational attainment and enrollment, and earnings, the American Human Development Report revealed where America is today and set a benchmark against which we will be able to assess where we are tomorrow. In countries around the world where similar studies have been done, Human Development Index findings have proven that strategic investments in health, education and employment boost people's well-being as well as national prosperity.
Some surprising findings of "A Portrait of Louisiana" include the following:
"This report explores actions needed to build an infrastructure of opportunity so that all in Louisiana can be productive citizens and reach their full potential," said Sarah Burd-Sharps, co-author of both this report and the American Human Development Report. "Doing so is critical to the economic growth and future competitiveness of Louisiana in the knowledge-based global marketplace of tomorrow," added co-author Kristen Lewis.
"In Louisiana, where we work with 16 state and local organizations such as the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, this report clearly illustrates the conditions residents were struggling with even prior to the hurricanes of 2005—limited access to education, lower incomes, and shorter lives—and argues for a comprehensive solution for recovery," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, which helped to fund the report with the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and the Foundation for the Mid-South. "And it comes at a crucial time, given the financial challenges facing the state and nation, to help policymakers prioritize how to use scarce funds."
"A Portrait of Louisiana," like the American Human Development Report, was published by the Social Science Research Council. Go to measureofamerica.org for the full text of the report and interactive maps of Louisiana.
]]>However, we must also soberly assess the challenges yet before Louisiana. This report paints an often troubling picture of long-standing human disparities, some of which have been exacerbated by natural/man-allowed disaster and the global economic crisis. The report's Human Development (HD) Index is a user-friendly method of comparing the condition of communities. This analysis has great potential to guide policy-making processes and to support data-driven thinking that moves beyond the assumptions of historical parochialism.
This report was developed by the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF) in partnership with Oxfam America and other organizations committed to fully recovering the lives of Gulf Coast citizens.
]]>The warning comes as world leaders prepare to join President Obama at his first United Nations address on climate change, at next week’s Climate Summit in New York on 22nd September. The meeting will be followed by the G20 Summit on the 24th September, where climate finance will be high on the agenda. With only Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in support of additional funds, Oxfam is concerned that December’s climate negotiations in Copenhagen could fail, unless action is taken now by Heads of State.
“This shouldn’t be about robbing Peter to pay Paul. New funds must be put on the table to help poor communities on the front lines of climate change adapt to the realities of a changing climate,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America.
The report, Beyond Aid, outlines the dangers of raiding aid budgets to pay for necessary adaptation efforts, estimating that at least 75 million fewer children would be likely to attend school and 8.6 million fewer people could have access to HIV/AIDS treatment if aid is diverted. Without at least $50 billion a year in addition to the 0.7% of national income rich countries have already pledged as aid, recent progress toward the Millennium Development Goals could stall and then go into reverse.
“Despite having contributed little to the climate crisis, most poor families around the world are just one climate related disaster away from total ruin,” said Offenheiser. “Without adequate support to adapt to the changing climate, the effect is a downward spiral into deeper poverty and increased vulnerability. This could mean millions going without food, pulling their children out of school or selling off cattle or other assets critical to their livelihoods to pay for mounting debt caused by failed crops or lost homes. Such dramatic human consequences will also threaten to undermine global stability and security.”
There have been great strides toward the Millennium Development Goals since their inception in 2000. In just seven years, 90% of children in poor countries have been enrolled in school. Between 1999 and 2005 there was a 24% drop in the number of people living in extreme poverty. But despite these gains, poor countries are struggling to meet the MDGS and many goals still fall short of the mark. Diverting aid for climate adaptation would strain an already overstretched system.
Oxfam points to the Global Fund, set up in 2002 to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as an example of how political will on a global scale can mobilize money quickly and effectively. To date, the Global Fund has approved funding for $15.6 billion in more than 140 countries. Like the Global Fund, a fund for climate adaptation must be made available quickly, equitably governed, managed under streamlined arrangements and transparent. Currently there is no single route for delivering money for adaptation. A ‘spaghetti bowl’ of aid channels means it is impossible to determine which governments have and have not delivered their promises. To date, less than half the money pledged for adaptation funding has been delivered. Oxfam also emphasized that adaptation support should be aligned and integrated with broader development strategies and objectives, especially country led development plans.
“Quality, long-term aid does make a huge difference, as poor country governments have used it to scale up spending on education and health to help fight poverty,” said Offenheiser. “As developing countries governments undertake adaptation efforts, they should not have to make the choice between education and storm warning systems, or between children’s vaccines and drought resistant seeds.”
]]>
The international community must make a new commitment to fund adaptation to climate change. Funds must be additional to the promise to deliver 0.7 per cent of rich country income as aid and raised and managed in new ways. A global adaptation finance mechanism is needed, able to deliver the scale of funding required and governed according to the principles of equity, subsidiarity, transparency, and accountability. This will insure against future development losses and help to resuscitate the international climate negotiations, laying the foundations for a fair and safe deal at Copenhagen at the end of 2009.
]]>“Even with aggressive efforts to reduce emissions, the consequences of climate change will be severe. Increased temperatures, rising sea levels, and more intense droughts, floods, and storms threaten the existence of many communities— especially in developing countries,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser. “Many American firms stand to benefit from an increase in adaptation market opportunities that spur innovation and create jobs.”
“We see investments in adaptation as a win-win,” said Brian Bieron, Senior Director, Federal Government Relations and Global Public Policy, eBay. “Adaptation efforts that respond to more severe climate impacts at home and abroad can create new jobs and drive economic growth. They can also help developing countries cope with a changing climate.”
Sectors outlined in the briefing paper where early and rapid growth is more likely to include the following:
Water management: Demand is increasing for technologies that improve water use efficiency and help to ensure that growing need does not outstrip shrinking water supplies. Many American companies are already leaders in developing advanced water management technologies.
Agriculture: The need for agricultural solutions to feed a growing global population presents enormous business opportunities for American companies that are developing solutions like drought-resistant seeds, drip irrigation systems and innovative pest-control technologies.
Disaster preparedness: US firms have a broad range of technologies that can help prepare for and recover from hurricanes, cyclones, and other extreme weather events, from advanced forecasting systems and resilient building materials to portable backup equipment.
Coastal and natural resource management: More than 60 percent of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of a coastline, putting millions of people at risk as sea levels rise and we face increasingly severe storms and heavy rains. New technologies, such as forecasting equipment and construction techniques that strengthen homes against the effects of high water and wind, will protect coastal areas vulnerable to these impacts.
Insurance: Climate change will significantly increase the costs of insurance payouts for weather-related disasters over the coming decades. American expertise in areas like risk mitigation and financial innovation, drive growth in this sector.
Climate change information and consulting services: Consulting firms can help both the public and private sector to understand the threats posed by climate change and develop adaptation strategies.
“Investing in adaptation strategies, such as flood defenses and efficient irrigation systems, will lessen the impact of future natural disasters and drive economic growth by strengthening infrastructure and spurring the development of new technologies,” said Offenheiser.
]]>"The impacts of climate change are extremely severe in the areas we visited,” said Christensen in Peru today. “The farmers we met and talked to are already living very hard lives, and are now being forced to adapt to the effects of the rapidly changing climate."
Christensen has documented the trip with a series of photographs that will be exhibited in New York, Washington, London and at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen this December. A short film of the expedition, captured by award-winning Director Richard Bullock, will also be shown.
“One of the women I spoke to, Elizabeth Ayma, told me that because rainfall are less frequent now and impossible to predict due to the climate changes, this is having a huge effect on crop production,” said Christensen. “As a result, her family has less food to eat and less produce to sell, resulting in her not being able to afford her children's school fees. The lack of nutritional vegetables also affects her family's health."
"Climate change in Peru is already devastating and we welcome Helena's commitment to show this to the rest of the world. Peru is on the frontline of climate change, along with other developing countries, which have played little part in causing the problem,” said Frank Boeren, Oxfam’s coordinator in Peru. “It is crucial that rich leaders do the right thing at Copenhagen so that we can begin to stop run away climate change and protect vulnerable people around the world."
"We are at a critical tipping point. We need to put pressure on our governments in order for them to take the necessary, radical steps that are needed. There's no time left, it is absolutely imperative to act now,” said Christensen. Of the global talks in Copenhagen in December, she said “Hopefully the only benefit of this UN conference won't be just a boost to Danish tourism.”
]]>Farmers in Cusco are reporting irregular rains and intense heat. This is affecting their potato and corn crops: in recent years, production has fallen by at least half. The Peruvian Ministry of the Environment corroborated this information in its 2009 National Environmental Study, which revealed that 80,000 hectares (about 195,000 acres) of potato and 60,000 hectares (148,000 acres) of white corn have been lost in the last 12 crop years due to climate change. Livestock farmers also report that new diseases are affecting their animals.
Cirilo Quispe Latorre, mayor and resident of the district of Cachimayo. “Eighty percent of the farmland is seasonal. In other words, if there is rain, we plant. If there isn’t enough rain, we can’t keep planting. I’m a native of this region. When I was a child, there was quite a lot of water in this region. There were toads and frogs that you don’t see any more. It’s a big worry. And if I go up to the mountains around Urubamba, I see that they’re almost black now. I worry and tell my children that those mountains used to be white with snow. Now that I’m a bit older, they’re black. What’s happening? A big change is taking place on our planet. I don’t know who’s going to come and sort out this situation. It’s worrying. The rains used to start in October, and we would plant broad beans, wheat, and potatoes. Now the rains begin around mid-December, and we lose more than a month and a half of growing time. Now, by the end of March the rains are over. It used to rain throughout most of April, with the dry season only starting in May. So, the rain has decreased at the beginning and the end.”
Teresa Rocca Mismi, communal farmer in the community of Chacacurqu. “I have potato and corn crops. There isn’t as much rain. The hail that’s fallen (we don’t normally see hail in this region) is what’s affected us. It hailed in mid-February. For example, the potatoes that should be big by now are just seeds. I don’t know why we’ve had hail this year. The rain used to start in October, now it’s December. This has been happening for five years. We want the authorities to help us.”
Local residents in rural Piura report that changing rainfall patterns are damaging their mango and cassava crops. They also have noticed public’s health problems, specifically the emergence of diseases such as dengue fever (spread my mosquitos) and leishmaniasis (spread by sand fleas). A Ministry of Health employee corroborated this information, confirming the appearance of dengue in populations where the transmitting agent (the Aedes aegypti mosquito) never had existed previously.
Marco Sandoval García, president of the Santa Catalina Peasants’ Association. “When I was a lad, I remember that there would be two harvests a year in the lower rice-growing area. Now there’s only one. I also remember that in my community, we had drinking water 24 hours a day. Now it’s just two or three hours, depending on the rain. All the drinking water for Patachaco used to come from a single spring. Now we have to take it from two springs... There’s a shortage of water... The springs aren’t the same any more. Some of them are drying up. The elders say that the cassava never used to rot and could be harvested throughout the year. Last year, no one harvested cassava because it all rotted. My orange tree was full of blossoms, but then we had a sharp frost and all the flowers fell off. There’s instability. The climate is strange. For example, although it’s winter, we’ve just had seven days of strong sun. Some farmers think this is because there’s been a lot of deforestation of the hills. They don’t know that climate change is affecting the whole world. We’ve caused so much damage ourselves, with deforestation and pollution.”
Katerine Rosillo Quispe, Ministry of Health employee in charge of Health Center 1 in La Huaquilla (Morropón, Piura). “We’ve got high numbers of dengue transmitting agents in the region, which hadn’t been seen before. Those dengue mosquitoes are new for us. In La Huaquilla, the whole population is exposed: children, adults, the elderly. Climate change greatly affects health, especially as other types of pathologies appear, such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, but above all, the dengue mosquito.”
]]>"Resuscitating Doha is essential to right the rigged rules of trade, but what's been simmering on the WTO stove will simply not deliver for poor countries, said Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser. "The financial crisis, which started in developed countries but is taking its worst toll on developing countries, should be the impetus for a change in course."
In a new report released today called "Empty Promises," Oxfam details how the Doha Round has become an exercise in prying open developing country markets rather than an effort to rebalance decades of unfair agricultural and industrial trade rules. In the midst of a global economic crisis, a food crisis, and a climate crisis, nations with the least blame and with the least capacity to cope with the consequent effects must not have to pay even more to enable their economies to develop, according to the report.
Over 50 million people stand to lose their jobs, remittances are collapsing, and growth in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to fall by 70 percent this year trapping 90 million more people in poverty, because of the crisis. Food prices meanwhile remain high for poor consumers: by the end of 2008 a further 109 million people had been added to the ranks of hungry, topping 1 billion people worldwide. As the world experiences the sharpest drop in trade in 80 years, a "development" trade deal—as originally promised—remains crucial, according to Oxfam.
"Now is the time for WTO members to come back to the negotiating table, recognize that the current crisis provides an opportunity to address urgent development needs, and change the course of negotiations, much as they did nearly eight years ago in Doha," said Offenheiser. "At this time of desperate need for a change of course, the Doha Round has to step up to deliver on its development promise. There is little credit left for another failure."
The welcome political commitment from the G8 could lead to a fresh start to negotiations, but it cannot be business as usual. In the past eight years, developed countries have used the talks to continue to push to open up new export markets. Developing countries have resisted, saying they were promised a deal that would give them space to protect their farmers and new industries, an end to rich country trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and more access to rich markets for their farmers and industries.
The widespread food price crisis has shown that food and livelihood security cannot depend solely on market forces. Development, rather than liberalization, has to be the central objective of negotiations and trade rules must respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people first and foremost, according to Oxfam. It is the responsibility of WTO member states to analyze the role of trade in the recent global crises so that the Doha negotiations take into account the new global context and contribute to a solution, rather than exacerbate the problem.
"What's on the table is no silver bullet since it continues to favor the richest and biggest farmers and industrialists in the US and Europe and sidelines the needs of the poor," said Offenheiser. "We have seen what can be done when countries find the resolve to avert problems at home, and this resolve must be translated to the multilateral trade agenda so that the much-needed conclusion of the Doha Round can be achieved in a manner that addresses developing country needs first and foremost."
]]>"President Obama's historic visit to Ghana, so early in his presidency and on the heels of important commitments at the G8 in Italy, signals the importance of African development to US interests," said Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "President Obama gets it. He understands that without a strong civil society, and capable, transparent governance, efforts to fight poverty and bring about social justice in Africa will at best be incremental. Good governance and sustainable use of resources will inspire more effective international assistance and increase trade."
President Obama had several recommendations that will help Africa on the road to prosperity. Here are a few of the highlights from the speech:
"In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success—strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges; an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives." These are all important parts of a thriving democracy, and President Obama made clear in his speech that these should be a priority in Africa just as they should be on every other continent. Building strong institutions that protect the rights of citizens, and allow business and entrepreneurs to flourish, will encourage investment in Africa. Oxfam is focused on helping civil society organizations work to hold their governments accountable. Examples include our partnerships with groups promoting new laws that accord equal rights to women and girls in southern Africa, and a region-wide proposal for uniform laws governing the mining industry in West Africa.
"So in Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been very responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa... Dependence on commodities—or a single export—has a tendency to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns." Resources like gold, diamonds, and oil can bring enormous wealth and potential for development. The road to prosperity will require leaders to avoid the path of poor management, corruption, violence and war. Ghana is a promising example of what is possible: Since Ghana discovered oil near its coast, the country's President John Atta Mills pledged earlier this year to disclose all petroleum agreements, so citizens can track what money comes to the government and how revenues are spent. This pledge has not yet been turned into reality. Real transparency needs to be built into a new legislative framework for how Ghana's new oil wealth will be managed, to ensure revenues are spent on social services and poverty reduction. Oxfam is working with the US Congress on legislation to require all US and foreign companies subject to Securities and Exchange Commission rules to disclose payments to developing country governments. This will be a critically important tool for citizens working to avoid corruption and waste of natural resource revenues.
President Obama also highlighted steps that the US would take to help combat corruption, including addressing corruption in the annual State Department human rights report, a recommendation that was made by Oxfam America in its Presidential transition memos.
"Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it's no longer needed." The United States needs to make a number of key reforms to make our foreign aid system as effective as possible in reducing poverty and creating prosperous communities throughout the developing world. The US lacks a coherent strategy for global development. Oxfam is calling on the US to keep recipient country governments and their public informed on the nature and amount of American aid, and let each recipient country lead its own development agenda. President Obama's focus on using aid to defeat poverty is on the right track—one that we hope will lead to a new strategy for global development and a reinvigorated, effective aid system that will also rebuild US leadership in the world.
"A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and more conflict." Climate change is already affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people in Africa, as a recent Oxfam report detailed. Tackling these impacts is essential to addressing food security and broader development objectives. President Obama must commit to help bring about a comprehensive global climate strategy that will help poor communities cope with failed crops, dwindling reserves of clean water, and displacement caused by extreme weather events. The US and other wealthier countries must curb their greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate chaos and provide adequate financial assistance to help African countries adapt in greener and more sustainable ways.
"Now, America can also do more to promote trade and investment." The economic welfare of Americans is inextricably linked with the well-being of people across the globe. While our foreign policy seeks to address the problems of poverty, disease and lack of economic opportunity, our trade policy has often exacerbated them, by demanding greater access to export markets in the poor countries, more favorable rules for US investors that can lead to greater poverty and inequality, and limiting access to affordable medicines. President Obama must develop a new trade policy with economic development as a core objective, spreading the benefits of trade as widely as possible, in the developing world as well as in the United States. This must include focusing efforts on the multilateral trading system to achieve a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round, while working with Congress to pass legislation providing for duty-free and quota-free market access for all Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
]]>Published just after the House of Representatives passed a landmark climate change bill and as President Obama prepares to head to the G8 Summit in Italy, "Suffering the Science — Climate Change, People and Poverty" combines the latest scientific observations on climate change and evidence from the communities Oxfam works with around the world, to reveal how the burden of climate change is already hitting poor people hard.
"Climate change is no longer a hypothetical problem, as more and more impacts are becoming evident in vulnerable communities around the world," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "From failed crops to dwindling reserves of clean water and displacement caused by extreme weather events, climate change is taking its toll on people who already face a daily struggle to survive."
Urgent action must be taken to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. But many scientists are now skeptical that the political will exists to make it happen, the report says.
"Many politicians remain unmoved by increasingly urgent calls for action from the scientific community, whereas others are taking action but not at the scale needed to reduce the risks of dangerous climate change," said Professor Diana Liverman, a leading contributor to three IPCC Assessment Reports, member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee and author of the Forward to the Oxfam report. "Without a serious effort to reduce warming, and in the absence of international funds for adaptation, the food, water, health and livelihoods of millions of people will be at risk."
Suffering the Science outlines how climate change is affecting every issue linked to poverty and development today, including:
HUNGER: New research based on interviews with farmers in fifteen countries across the world reveals how once distinct seasons are shifting and rains are disappearing. Farmers from Bangladesh to Uganda and Nicaragua, no longer able to rely on generations of farming experience, are facing failed harvest after failed harvest.
AGRICULTURE: Rice and maize, two of the world’s most important crops, face significant drops in yields even under mild climate change scenarios. Maize yields are forecast to drop by 15% or more by 2020 in much of sub-Saharan Africa and in most of India.
HEALTH: Diseases such as malaria and dengue fever that were once geographically bound are creeping to new areas where populations lack immunity or the knowledge and healthcare infrastructure to cope with them. It is estimated that climate change has contributed to an average of 150,000 more deaths from disease per year since the 1970s, with over half of those happening in Asia.
LABOR: Rising temperatures will make it impossible for people to work at the same rate on hot summer days without serious health impacts. The ramifications for laborers paid by the hour, and the wider economy. Tropical cities such as Delhi could see a drop of 30% in worker productivity.
WATER: Water supplies are becoming so acutely challenged that several major cities including Kathmandu and La Paz which are dependent on the Himalayan and Andes glaciers may soon be unable to function.
DISASTERS: Disasters including mega fires and storms are on the rise and could triple by 2030. The 2005 hurricane season alone caused more than $165 billion in damages and the insurance industry says that climate change will make the situation worse, particularly for poor people who have no access to insurance.
DISPLACEMENT: An estimated 26 million people have been displaced as a direct result of climate change and each year a million more are displaced by weather related events. Island communities from Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Bay of Bengal have already been forced to move because of sea level rise.
]]>