Briefs
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Briefing paper
The Inequality Virus
The coronavirus pandemic has the potential to lead to an increase in inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began. The virus has exposed, fed off and increased existing inequalities of wealth, gender and race. Close to two million people have died, and hundreds of millions of people are being forced into poverty while many of the richest – individuals and corporations – are thriving. Billionaire fortunes returned to their pre-pandemic highs in just nine months, while recovery for the world’s poorest people could take over a decade. The crisis has exposed our collective frailty and the inability of our deeply unequal economy to work for all. Yet it has also shown us the vital importance of government action to protect our health and livelihoods. Transformative policies that seemed unthinkable before the crisis have suddenly been shown to be possible. There can be no return to where we were before. Instead, citizens and governments must act on the urgency to create a more equal and sustainable world.
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Briefing paper
Will the Cure Bankrupt Us? Official Development Assistance and the COVID-19 Response in Southern African Countries
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa in early November 2020 exceeded 1.8 million, with 45% occurring in Southern Africa (SAF). Most SAF countries lack the capacity to adequately protect lives and livelihoods. High indebtedness means underfunded essential services, and most countries had just emerged from a severe food crisis and the effects of Cyclone Idai. Donors must go beyond temporary debt service suspension and provide new aid grants. SAF governments must not use the pandemic to restrict civil society advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable people.
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Briefing paper
A Shot at Recovery
Measuring corporate commitments towards a free, fair, and accessible COVID-19 vaccine
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Briefing paper
Confronting Carbon Inequality
Despite sharp falls in carbon emissions in 2020 linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis – which is driven by the accumulation of emissions in the atmosphere over time – continued to grow. This briefing describes new research that shows how extreme carbon inequality in recent decades has brought the world to the climate brink. It sets out how governments must use this historic juncture to build fairer economies within the limits our planet can bear
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Briefing paper
Power, Profits and the Pandemic: From corporate extraction for the few to an economy that works for all
The worsening inequality crisis triggered by COVID-19 is fuelled by an economic model that has allowed some of the world’s largest corporations to funnel billions of dollars in profits to shareholders, giving yet another windfall to the world’s top billionaires, a small group of mostly white men. At the same time, it has left low-wage workers and women to pay the price of the pandemic without social or financial protection. Since the onset of the pandemic, large corporations have put profits before workers’ safety, pushed costs down the supply chain and used their political influence to shape policy responses. COVID-19 should be the catalyst for radically reining in corporate power, restructuring business models with purpose and rewarding all those that work with profits, creating an economy for all.
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Briefing paper
For a Decade of Hope Not Austerity in the Middle East and North Africa
Towards a fair and inclusive recovery to fight inequality
