Iran Press/ Africa: The richest 1% in the world have more than double the wealth of 6.9 billion people and the world’s 22 richest men have more combined wealth than all 325 million women in Africa, according to an Oxfam study.
Women and girls across the globe contribute an estimated $10.8tn to the global economy with a total of 12.5bn hours a day of unpaid care work, a figure more than three times the worth of the global tech industry, claims an Oxfam report published ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Oxfam found women in the poorest households in low-income countries were the hardest hit, with women in Uganda, Zimbabwe, India, the Philippines, and Kenya spending 40 minutes more each day on activities like collecting water and fuel than those who were better off.
The charity says that women around the world, especially those living in poverty, do more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work, which is chronically undervalued and taken for granted by businesses and governments alike.
"Aging populations, cuts in public spending, and the climate crisis will exacerbate gender and economic inequality," the report warns.
In spite of increasing awareness about the wealth divide, most world leaders continue to pursue policy agendas that benefit the rich and hurt the poor, the report claims, pointing to tax cuts for billionaires promoted by US and Brazil Presidents.
An estimated 2.3 billion people will be in need of care by 2030, an increase of 200 million from 2015, said the report. But governments are increasing taxation on the poorest, cutting public spending and privatizing education and health, according to Oxfam.
"Governments around the world can, and must, build a human economy that is feminist and benefits the 99%, not only the 1%," the reports suggests.
Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared several African countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and many other African countries are currently struggling with high rates of suicide. Suicide figures are even higher than in most European countries, with more than 15 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Despite admirable development in the continent, inequality and poverty rose as well and many have warned about dire consequences of disproportionate development in Africa in the last decades. 212/ 207
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World's 26 richest people own as much as poorest 50%: Oxfam
Africa battles high rates of suicide, depression
