Here’s a startling thought: the world’s 22 richest men have more money between them than the 326 million women over the age of 20 living in Africa.
In a report released ahead of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering in Davos, Switzerland, global charity confederation, Oxfam International, says that the world’s population is in the grip of inequality so strong it’s “out of control”.
According to the report this is “because of biased economic systems that exclude many women while allowing billionaires to amass huge fortunes that do little for society”.
Subsequent to its findings, the organisation, which represents the interest of 19 charitable institutions, is calling on governments to implement policies that ease the burden of women who provide care for children and the elderly, often for little or pay.
It has also been reported, by various news outlets across the world, that Oxfam is recommending higher taxes for the world’s most wealthy people.
Many of these, famous for being infamously rich, like Amazon and Facebook founders Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, will most likely be present when the WEF’s next gathering shuts itself from the public glare and the blistering cold to talk about money.
Apart from laying bare some disturbing details about the expanding gap between the rich and poor, Oxfam also asked that national governments spend more on child and healthcare.
Some of the report’s other key findings include: the world’s 2 153 billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people; 1% of the world’s richest people, which includes Zuckerberg and Bezos, have twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people. – Eugene Goddard