-Through underfunded public services
Oxfam Liberia says West African governments have the poorest performance when it comes to taking actions to reduce inequality on the continent.
Oxfam said this is happening despite inequality being at a crisis level in in West Africa.
Findings are contained in the new global report on inequality released January 20, 2020 by Oxfam Liberia.
In a statement read by Oxfam Liberia Gender Justice Program Officer, Luopu Garmai Blackie, the Regional Director of Oxfam said “West African governments must strengthen their commitment against inequality by promoting progressive taxation, boosting social spending, strengthening labor market protection, investing in in agriculture and strengthening land rights for smallholder crop farmers”.
Adama Coulibaly stressed that it would be impossible to eliminate poverty and address climate change without fighting inequality.
The statement was released as Liberia joins the Global Davos Action Week of Campaign against Inequality.
Echoing the new global report, the regional index revealed that West African governments are exacerbating inequality by underfunding public services, such as “healthcare and education and agriculture.
It also accuses the governments in the sub-region of under-taxing corporations and the wealthy, and failing to clamp down on tax evasion, tax avoidance and corruption.
“The West African is also one of the most affected in the world by climate change which is an amplifier of inequality” the report underscored.
From the perspective, Oxfam International reports that the “world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60% of the planet’s population.
The report is being released ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The World Economic Forum in Davos is the single most influential gathering of world leaders and business innovators on the planet Report by Garmah Never Lomo