In areas of northern Mali the price of food and fuel is rocketing as supplies start to dry up after looting following recent military operations, and with traders who have fled the area failing to return amid growing numbers of reports of reprisal attacks, international agency Oxfam warned today. Many food traders, who are predominantly Arabs or ethnic Tuareg, fled the area as French troops advanced. They were key suppliers of food, fuel...

An explosion in extreme wealth is exacerbating inequality and hindering the world's ability to tackle poverty, Oxfam warned today in a briefing published ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos next week. The $240 billion (£150bn) net income in 2012 of the richest 100 billionaires would be enough to make extreme poverty history four times over, according to 'The cost of inequality: how wealth and income extremes hurt us...

Bill Nighy says UK aid is crucial to help prevent people dying for as little as 23 pence a day On the eve of World Aids Day, aid agency Oxfam is warning that the lives of almost 7 million people living with HIV are at risk because of a lack of funding to pay for their treatment. Millions of HIV sufferers - including an estimated 1.4 million children - are missing out on life-saving drugs because of a massive...

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Welcoming the appointment of Justine Greening as the new Secretary of State for International Development, Oxfam Chief Executive, Barbara Stocking said: "Justine Greening takes charge of the Department of International Development at a time when the value of Britain's overseas aid budget has never been more apparent. British aid is saving countless lives in humanitarian emergencies across the globe - from Somalia to the Sahel - and...

Commenting on the Prime Minister's speech at today's DFID/Gates Family Planning Summit Kathleen Spencer Chapman, Oxfam senior policy adviser, said: "Using British aid to give women in poor countries greater choice over whether to become pregnant will save lives and is something of which we can be proud. We are delighted that the Prime Minister continues to make the case for aid to the UK public. "To realise...

Today EU Finance Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, agreed to drop the idea of an EU-wide European Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). Instead, Ministers proposed to move forward in taxing the financial sector with a group of pioneer governments. Nicolas Mombrial, Oxfam's EU spokesperson, said: "We're delighted that a coalition of willing countries has finally asked the UK and other blockers to step out of the way....

Charity warns "UK could return to inequality levels not seen since Victorian times" Government rhetoric about 'making work pay' - used to justify sweeping welfare reforms- is sounding increasingly hollow, according to a new report by Oxfam, which details how getting a job in modern Britain is no guarantee of escaping poverty. Oxfam's report, The Perfect Storm, documents how the Government's...

Oxfam Ambassador publishes photos illustrating the impact of climate change ahead of UN conference ...