We need to tackle extreme inequality because it is morally indefensible and socially corrosive - undermining our health, affecting our well-being, and undermining peaceful societies.
— Winnie Byanyima
I believe we can build a human economy where people are the bottom line.
Poverty is a result of lack of opportunity. Lack of opportunity is about being without power, without being in a position to make choices.
Africa's young population could be a huge economic asset if inequality were addressed.
You are not going to lift everybody out of poverty through the kindness of wealthy people.
Oxfam is part of a global movement for social justice. We mainly work to fight for economic and social rights for people without a voice or people who are oppressed.
Developing countries can make great strides towards more progressive and effective taxation and spending through action within their own borders. But the damage caused by exemptions, loopholes, and tax havens requires action beyond national borders - it requires international action and cooperation.
Governments, the investor and business community, and civil society organizations and public representatives need to work together to ensure the necessary foundations are in place to align private finance to guarantee sustainable and equitable development and poverty reduction.
Money doesn't just buy a nice car; it also buys better education or healthcare. Increasingly, it can buy impunity from justice, a pliant media, favorable laws, business advantage, and even elections. This, in turn, perpetuates the policies that allow a tiny elite to accumulate ever more wealth at the expense of the majority.
Poverty is rooted in injustice.
The concentration of wealth in the hands of the few threatens the ability of ordinary people to raise their voices and have a say over how our societies are run.
The proud fight against colonialism is one that should be consigned to history.
Rule of law, access to justice, and financial transparency happen by design, not accident.
Investing in vital infrastructure will help to build more sustainable, equitable economies.
Fundamental is the need for governments to protect the space for citizens to claim their rights, organize, and express themselves.
I grew up thinking the most decent job to do was to fight injustice.
Tackling the extreme gap between the rich and the poor and tackling climate change is part of the same struggle.
Wealth is used to entrench inequality, not to trickle down and solve it.
We need to harness the boundless energy and creativity of our youth.
I grew up in a country that was in a civil conflict for most of my childhood and adolescence. I saw violence and lived as a teenager through the time of a brutal dictator called Idi Amin. I fled and became a refugee.
I grew up really being able to stand up to authority.
It's happy and secure people who the are most creative.
To reduce gaps between men and women, we will need to change the way people think, behave, and relate to each other.
A tax system is important because of what it can pay for, but also for how it works. When we pay taxes, we expect something back from the state; it strengthens the relationship and accountability between us and our governments. It also pays for what private finance shouldn't: our needs for healthcare, education and social security.
A global tax body would give all countries - not just the rich and powerful - an equal say in how the global rules on taxation are designed.
The extremely wealthy have disproportionate influence on policies that impact us all. This corrupts our politics and leads to poorer people being denied the economic opportunity to flourish in life.
Civil society space provides the oxygen for citizens to participate and meaningfully hold their governments and the private sector to account - and ensure that decisions are made in the interest of the majority and not the few. Without it, citizens have limited space to dissent and challenge the elites.
People who are denied access to power are also denied the opportunity to make or influence decisions to live a better life out of poverty and claim their rights.
Governments and civil society must step up to ensure inclusivity in the commissioning, design, delivery, and assessment of vital public services.
Crucially, African governments must ensure they prioritize the eradication of tax evasion and tax avoidance.
Citizens need to know how their countries are being run so that they can hold governments and big business to account.
Whatever I do, it will be fighting for social justice.
I'm ready to do any kind of work, as long as it absorbs my passion for making a just world and equal world.
The move to a zero-carbon future is unstoppable.
We need a world where people do not have to live in fear of the economic repercussions of getting sick or losing their home or job. Where every child gets to fulfil their potential. Where corporations pay their fair share of taxes and work for the good of the majority, not just their shareholders.
If the civil society is not transparent, honest, and accountable, then you cannot be a champion of social justice.
My life has been varied, involving many jobs, but I have always been impatient with injustice.
I have learnt to enjoy my own company because I have lived alone many years.
A good leader, in my view, should have a clear vision of the future they want and the society they need to build. They must also have a connection with the people who work for them and be able to mobilise their best energies to create teams where people can be most creative and happy.
Ultimately, developing countries and groups like Oxfam want to see a new intergovernmental body on cooperation in tax matters under the auspices of the United Nations.
Global governance needs recalibrating so it works in the public interest of all the world's citizens - not just for the few.
Women, men, and children have fundamental rights to humanitarian assistance and protection. Yet far too many states block aid and attack their own citizens, and too many others - including some of the world's wealthiest countries - turn their back on those fleeing conflict and violence.
When men and women, boys and girls, are denied the right to education, the right to own land, the access to basic services like healthcare and clean water, a fair price for the crops they grow, a fair wage for the work they do, or the right to be part of making decisions that affect them, the result is poverty.
Rather than working for all, power and public policy is increasingly influenced by wealthy elites that are able to bend the rules - and hijack democratic institutions - to their favour.
The struggles to overturn colonial rule were long and often bitter. But, over time, most were inevitably successful.
Protecting space for civil society and citizenry is particularly critical in a world marked by rising political and economic inequality.
To build more human economies in Africa, governments must be far more strategic, wise, and forward-looking in their expenditure and build diverse economies that are going to deliver the jobs for the next generation.
The people standing up most strongly for our democracies should be celebrated, not prosecuted - be it those countless human rights defenders who defend all our rights or the brave whistle-blowers who expose tax dodging.
We have international organizations for health, trade, and football - even for coffee - but not tax. Why not?
Inequality is inextricably linked with distribution of land and natural resources.
