World’s 22 Richest Men Richer Than All Women In Africa

Oxfam report published on Monday revealed that 22 richest men in the world are richer than all African women combined.

The organisation (Oxfam) also concluded that 2,153 billionaires on the Forbes list have more wealth than 60 per cent (4.6 billion people) of the global population.

The large disparity between the world’s population is considered “out of control” by Oxfam.

The cause according to the report was a flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, more than the billions of hours of the most essential work – the unpaid and underpaid care work done primarily by women and girls around the world.

“The 22 richest men in the world have more wealth than all the women in Africa.

“Women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day —a contribution to the global economy of at least $10.8 trillion a year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry.”

If the world’s richest can pay just 0.5 per cent extra tax on their wealth over the next 10 years, acccording to Oxfam, the accrued amount will be enough to create investments that will provide jobs for 117 million in sectors such as elderly and childcare education and health.

“The gap between rich and poor can’t be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these.”

Oxfam India CEO, Amitabh Behar who is representing the organisation at the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, said; “Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary men and women. No wonder people are starting to question whether billionaires should even exist,

“Women and girls are among those who benefit least from today’s economic system.

“They spend billions of hours cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly. Unpaid care work is the ‘hidden engine’ that keeps the wheels of our economies, businesses and societies moving.

“It is driven by women who often have little time to get an education, earn a decent living or have a say in how our societies are run, and who are therefore trapped at the bottom of the economy,” added Behar.

Oxfam, an organisation that describes its mission as working together with people to build a future where everybody enjoys equal right said;

“The gap between rich and poor can’t be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these.”

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