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	The World''s Inequality Countdown by Winnie Byanyima Executive director, Oxfam International   Jan. 2016   Welcome to the world''s inequality countdown. In 2010, some 388 people owned as much wealth as the poorest half of the world''s population. Jump to 2014 and that 388 is down to 85 people. In 2015 the figure was 80 and now today Oxfam has revealed that 62 rich individuals own as much wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people.   If this deeply alarming inequality clock continues to tick as fast, by 2020 a mere 11 people could have the same wealth as half the world. That''s not even a dozen.   This extreme inequality is not a sign of a healthy global economy as all the wealth is being sucked up by those at the dizzying top. Trickle-down economics is a fallacy - this is not just Oxfam''s view but that of the World Bank also. The rich can no longer pretend their wealth benefits the rest of us. It doesn''t: it harms us. The only thing that''s "trickling down" is inequality, and powerlessness.   The consequences of this extreme economic inequality are far reaching. If inequality is not dealt with, we could see more social unrest across the world, a brake on growth and all the work that has been done in the last quarter century on poverty halted - potentially reversed.   What this means to you and me is a more unstable, unequal world with fewer people able to escape poverty. The world''s most unequal region is still Latin America, despite income inequality there falling in recent years.   In 2014, the richest 10 percent of people in Latin America had amassed 71 percent of the region’s wealth. If this trend continues, according to Oxfam''s calculations, in only six years the region''s richest 1 percent will have more wealth than the 99 percent.   Meanwhile, inequality in Asia has risen by as much as 18 percent since the mid-1990s. Had this rise not happened, 240 million people across Asia could have escaped poverty.   In Africa, four million children''s lives could be saved each year if 30 percent of Africa''s wealth was not held in tax havens. This means an estimated $14bn is lost in tax revenues each year, a sum that could pay for life-saving healthcare for African mothers and children, and employ enough teachers to get every African child into school.   Across the world, Oxfam is seeing devastating impacts on the people we work with. But it doesn''t have to be this way. Inequality is not inevitable.   Oxfam has done the analysis and we have some of the solutions. What we need - what the world needs - is more action on dealing with extreme inequality and there has been some progress, but not enough.   In 2015, we saw the Sustainable Development Goals on extreme poverty and inequality enshrined. We also saw G20 governments agreeing on measures to curb tax dodging by multinational companies, but these reforms don''t go far enough in ensuring governments receive the taxes they are due. So more does need to happen, especially as tax havens are becoming an ever more common way of doing business.   The leaders of some of these multinational companies will be attending this week''s World Economic Forum in Davos. Oxfam has found that nine out of 10 WEF corporate partners have a presence in at least one tax haven and it is estimated that tax dodging by multinational corporations across the world costs developing countries at least $100bn every year. Corporate investment in tax havens almost quadrupled between 2000 and 2014.   Era of tax havens   That''s why I am going to Davos to challenge governments, companies and elites to play their part in ending the era of tax havens, which is fuelling economic inequality and preventing hundreds of millions on people lifting themselves out of poverty.   And it is also why Oxfam has released "An Economy for the 1%" just before this year''s Davos. This research has led to tax havens being at the top of our Inequality To Do list.   Tax may be boring to some, but the figures are eye watering. Roughly $7.6 trillion of individuals wealth sits offshore. If tax were paid on the incomes this wealth generates, we are looking at an extra $190bn for governments to spend on services that are essential for a functioning society, such as schools and hospitals.   We need to end the era of tax havens if we are to stop the inequality countdown. For the benefit of all of us, our governments - that are meant to represent our interests - need to shun the vested interests of the richest by stopping the race to the bottom on tax and pulling back the curtains on shady financial dealings.   http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2018-01-22/richest-1-percent-bagged-82-percent-wealth-created-last-year http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2016-01-18/62-people-own-same-half-world-reveals-oxfam-davos-report http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/economy-1 Visit the related web page
	Access to justice for all? Now that would be a measurably good thing by Stacey Cram and Vivek Maru Namati, agencies   Jan. 2016   Justice is bigger than police and prisons, it is the key to exercising our rights. The methods we use to evaluate it must therefore be correspondingly broad.   When a housing programme in the Indian state of Haryana guaranteed land to impoverished families in Raniyala, a village in Mewat district, it seemed like welcome news. Instead, government officials seized the land and refused to hear the villagers’ objections.   Could a newly agreed global framework support this community and others fighting injustice? Of the 17 global goals for sustainable development that come into effect on 1 January, goal 16 commits to “access to justice for all”.   The goal, which covers peace, justice and strong institutions, was contentious. Many governments said development should be a technical, economic undertaking, and that justice was too political to be included. The passage of goal 16 at the UN in September was therefore a milestone, a recognition that people cannot improve their lives without the power to exercise their rights.   But some countries are now taking the wind out of the goal by choosing a narrow set of indicators by which to measure progress.   At an October meeting in Bangkok, the expert group tasked with developing a monitoring framework for the new sustainable development agenda rushed through discussion of the 16th goal in what many viewed as an attempt to avoid public debate. Governments that had championed goal 16 at the UN general assembly just months earlier suddenly muted their support. The experts focused on what state agencies already measure, rather than what they could or should measure.   The draft indicators focus exclusively on criminal justice, including pre-trial detention times and crime reporting rates. Those numbers matter, but justice is bigger than police and prisons. Justice requires that every organ of the state treat citizens fairly.   If governments and the UN are serious about providing access to justice for all, global indicators must go beyond any one set of institutions. Measurement should instead focus on whether people faced with injustice are able to achieve a fair remedy.   In Raniyala, local women trained by the Haryana-based SM Sehgal Foundation supported community members to demand the return of land that was rightfully theirs. They formed collectives and gathered evidence, camping in government offices when refused a meeting. After five years, their efforts were rewarded. Seventy-six families now have decent homes.   The whole community has benefited from the legal skills learned by the female advocates along the way. The women mediate local disputes, monitor and demand better health and education services, and have trained more than 22,000 people in legal literacy. Raniyala is one town, but these women are part of a global movement of grassroots legal advocates who tackle injustice every day.   At the Bangkok meeting, the UK representative questioned the feasibility of measuring citizen perceptions of justice, a concern quickly echoed around the room. Yet it was the UK that pioneered a citizen-focused approach with the Paths to Justice survey that has been used to shape policy since 1996. Today, the World Justice project collects data on how people interact with the law in more than 100 countries.   Drawing on that experience, we support two global indicators. The first focuses on the proportion of people, from all those who faced an injustice in the past year, who tried to resolve it using any institutional channel – the courts, but also administrative and customary institutions – and felt the outcome was just. The second asks how many citizens can access independent legal support that they find helpful.   These two indicators would anchor goal 16 in real experiences. The first focuses on how injustices are resolved. The second challenges governments to give legal empowerment efforts – the work of the advocates in Raniyala and their counterparts around the world – the space, recognition and even some of the financing that they need, while respecting their independence.   We know that justice requires not just investment in state institutions but organisation and engagement by the people themselves. It is empowered citizens that create responsive governments.   What if we lose this battle? Amartya Sen told heads of state in September that reducing goal 16 to anaemic indicators “is like trying to cancel the French Revolution because liberté, égalité and fraternité couldn’t be precisely measured”. The global movement for justice, which made goal 16 a reality in the first place, is greater than any set of metrics.   Already, civil society groups in Kenya and the Philippines have used goal 16 to press for progressive changes: a legal aid bill in Kenya, and a section on access to justice in the Philippines’ national development plan. And each country will choose national indicators to complement the global ones.   Goal 16 belongs to the people, and the people won’t relinquish it easily.   • Stacey Cram and Vivek Maru work with Namati, which is dedicated to placing the power of law in the hands of people.   http://namati.org http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/01/access-to-justice-for-all-sustainable-development-goal-16-indicators   10 Jan 2016   Rampant corruption is paving the way for violence, lawlessness and environmental damage in India, writes James Bennett for ABC News.   Baba Umar walks through bulldozed foundations that were to be his new home, to the location of a chilling attack on his mother.   Pointing to dried blood still visible on some grass, he recounts the details.   "These guys, they came with steel rods, shovels, axe, and they beat my mother ruthlessly," he said.   The attackers were so-called "land mafia", based in his city of Srinagar, Kashmir.   "They''ve been trying to forcibly grab this piece of land from us," Mr Umar said.   "They don''t have any papers, they don''t have any valid document, they''re just trying to pressure us.   "There are many people here who just left their land, and then these guys [the mafias] sold these lands."   After his family refused the thugs demands for money, for the privilege of building on their own land, Mr Umar''s mother was set upon.   Neighbour Hanan Bazaz said he and his father saw the incident unfold.   "We came for help and we took her to the hospital," he said. Asked if he was scared, Mr Bazaz replied, "yeah, absolutely".   But Mr Umar credits his neighbour for saving his mother''s life. "If it wasn''t for these guys, my mother would have been dead this time," he said.   The gang returned that night, bulldozing the wall and foundations the Babas had already built.   Their brazen tactics are the result of an impunity, built on networks of corrupt police and politicians.   "These guys they work in tandem with officials from police, judiciary, revenue officials. They can seek patronage from the political parties as well," Mr Umar said.   Local Saffron industry also under threat   Saffron, lucrative and able to flourish in only a few locations worldwide, is also under threat.   In the villages surrounding Srinagar, growers of the delicate flowers say the government is turning a blind eye.   Saffron grower Shabeeh Farooq shows the ABC homes, built where the plants once grew.   "It is all illegal construction here, built on saffron fields," he said, driving through a village near Pampore, just to the south of Srinagar.   Officially the land is protected. But illegal houses are encroaching on the fields and Mr Farooq is straightforward about why.   "This land mafia business is flourishing because everyone here is corrupted," he said.   "Everyone takes a cut and turns a blind eye on the illegal constructions. The Government doesn''t listen to us."   The gangs do not stop there either. In the mountains above Srinagar "timber mafia" log trees on public land, while in the valley below in broad daylight an excavator gouges out the banks of the river Jellum.   Truckload after truckload of sand are carted away to feed cement-making and construction.   "Sand mafia" are found right across India, doing as they please and driven by a combination of lax environmental law and runaway demand from an economy growing at 7.5 per cent a year.   Nadreem Quadri, a Kashmiri environmental lawyer, said if permission was sought it was almost always under the table.   "Most of the work is illegal, most of the work is without official approvals but definitely under a political patronage," he said.   Mr Quadri said the fact that so many people stood to gain made the graft extremely difficult to halt.   "The money which is being collected from the economic activity of all these trades, doesn''t have one partner only, it has multiple stakeholders," he said.   "There are recorded statements in the high court that this cannot be possible without the political patronage and the state government support."   The Chief Minister''s spokesman Wahid Parra readily concedes that gangs operate with political and police protection, but says that is changing.   "They enjoyed support of police, sometimes they enjoyed support of government as well but now our priorities are very similar, we are trying to address all public grievances," Mr Parra said.   The ability to make money through bribes is one reason that government jobs in India are highly prized. It is also rare for people to be fired.   But Mr Parra said the government of the chief minister was trying to change the culture of impunity by doing just that.   "We have sacked 60 people who are facing the corruption charges. It has never happened in any Indian state," he said, adding that further sackings would follow.   "It''s a challenge, because it''s a virus in the society. It''s in our blood," he said of the culture of paying officials.   As Baba Umar headed to court to submit evidence of his mother''s injuries, he agreed. "I know the Government is trying to check corruption but it''s not possible here," he said.   Mr Umar is prepared for years of legal fighting in his family''s case, but said he did not expect major change anytime soon.   "It''s widespread ... people have internalised it, they can get small things done, and I don''t think its going to go away quickly," he said.   Aug 2015   The problem of forced evictions is a huge one in China, writes Stephen McDonell:   "We stumble across a protest outside a municipal government office in downtown Nanjing. As soon as we arrive, people who claim they"ve had their homes stolen are eager to speak.   WOMAN #1: "They didn"t notify me before demolishing my house. Now I have nowhere to live".   POLICEMAN: "You"re making us lose face in front of the foreigners".   WOMAN #1: "I"m from Nanjing City, Gulou district. Meitanggang Road, number 5".   Stephen McDonell: The woman proudly declares her name and address to the camera despite police urging her to be quiet.   WOMAN #1: "Because I spoke to you today I might now be thrown in jail".   Stephen McDonell: "Have you all come here with the same problem or different grievances?"   WOMAN #1: "We"re all the same".   Stephen McDonell: "You"re here because your houses have been demolished?" They also have stories of violent evictions.   WOMAN #2: "You can see my parents were beaten to death. Both houses were my legal property. They took our houses and they beat us".   Stephen McDonell: The police bring out their own camera to capture us, but they"re also interested in the demonstrators. The authorities film as those who"ve spoken out give their contact details. The police tell us to stop recording. The residents keep coming.   WOMAN #3: "I tell you my house was demolished illegally. They took it. It"s been six years, six years and they haven"t paid me. Give me back my house. No compensation. They beat me. They detained me. What can I do?"   A former state prosecutor, Shen Liangqing has seen the widespread payment of bribes, the awarding of contracts to friends, the hiding of laundered money in the accounts of family members. He says corruption is everywhere within Chinese officialdom.   Shen Liangqing: "Every official has shit on his arse. The question is whether or not you investigate. If you do, they will have problems. I am very pessimistic. We should definitely crackdown on corruption".   Ordinary people like Xu Juan, who believe they"ve been wronged by corrupt officials. She says that developers have been trying to force her family and her neighbours out of their homes, and that she"s been fighting back on their behalf.   Xu Juan: "They offered us 4,000 yuan per square metre but the 2011 local housing price had already surged to 20,000 per square metre. The gap is huge".   Stephen McDonell: She says most of her neighbours have already caved into the pressure to leave. In the former community only 8 families are still holding out for what they say is fair compensation. Xu Juan says paid thugs, working with officials, have been sent around to try and bully the remaining residents into leaving. She is seven months pregnant when we speak to her.   Xu Juan: My demands are just - and yet they use thugs against me. It only shows how shameless the Government is".   "President Xi has taken down lots of bad guys", says one young university student.   China''s President Xi Jinping has made fighting corruption a key priority for his Government.
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