TheCable

The wealth of the 22 richest men in the world is greater than that of all African women combined, a new report by Oxfam International has shown.

The report, titled: ‘Time to Care‘ was released on Monday ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) holding in Davos, Switzerland.

According to the United Nations, there are 325 million women aged 20 and above in Africa.

The report also states that 2,153 billionaires in the world control more wealth than 4.6 billion, about 60% of the planet’s population.

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam India CEO, who will represent the organisation in Davos, explained that the report is indicative of the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

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

The solution, Behar said, is for governments to introduce measures to ensure corporations and the wealthy pay tax.

“Governments created the inequality crisis —they must act now to end it. They must ensure corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax and increase investment in public services and infrastructure,” he said.

“They must pass laws to tackle the huge amount of care work done by women and girls and ensure that people who do some of the most important jobs in our society —caring for our parents, our children and the most vulnerable— are paid a living wage.”

Painting scenarios of the wealth gap, Oxfam said if everyone were to sit on their wealth piled up in $100 bills, most of humanity would be sitting on the floor, a middle-class person in a rich country would be sitting at the height of a chair while the world’s two richest men would be sitting in outer space.