SDGs were doomed to fail from the start, new Oxfam chief warns

The world is failing to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty because politicians have become servants of the super-rich instead of their own citizens, the new head of Oxfam International says. In an interview with Devex, Amitabh Behar rejected the argument that the United Nations targets — set in 2015, to be delivered in 2030 — have been derailed by a so-called polycrisis of coinciding catastrophic events including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s assault on Ukraine. Instead, Oxfam’s executive director and former Oxfam India chief executive, said politicians’ “lofty ideals” were doomed from the start because they failed to address the reality of how the global economy is run. “I don’t doubt the people who have worked very hard in getting the SDGs, but they never addressed the fundamental questions of how the global economy is organized — how power is distributed, how does the Security Council work?” he warned. Behar said the world is, as Oxfam’s recent annual report highlighted, “moving from democracy to plutocracy” where politicians are “protecting capital and the accumulation of capital” instead of focusing on their own people. “Governments are essentially becoming aides to the super rich, instead of it being the other way around,” he said — admitting he felt even more “doom and gloom” about the likely failure of the SDGs than most people. Nevertheless, Behar said a glimmer of hope is the prospect of a deal, at the G20 summit in Brazil in November, for a global wealth tax on billionaires — which could yield $250 billion a year to confront poverty and the climate crisis. “I’m very optimistic. Brazil has been consistent in this agenda to tax the super-rich, several countries are positive about this idea and even narrative setters like the World Bank, the IMF, are acknowledging levels of inequality are unacceptable. That’s a big shift,” he added. In the interview, Behar, 53 — who was born in Raipur in central India and has worked for civil society organizations, or CSOs, for 27 years, joining Oxfam in 2018 — also: • Argued CSOs must change from their “traditional role of a charity provider working with governments” to pushing for “systems change” — whether in “the corridors of power of the UN and the World Bank” or working with groups fighting “injustice and indignity.” • Admitted there is “resistance” within parts of Oxfam to its efforts to “decolonize,” with only eight of 21 affiliated organizations at “the decision-making table” from the global south — while arguing “we are ahead of most” because of a commitment to achieve parity. “There’s a long journey ahead. Yes, there is resistance still. It’s sometimes the nature of bureaucracy to resist change. How much of it is entrenched in colonialism, how much of it is bureaucracy?” Behar said. • Said Oxfam has escaped the funding crises that have engulfed other INGOs including Save The Children and the International Rescue Committee, which are making mass layoffs after sharp income drops. • Attacked governments still selling weapons to Israel despite its “clear violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza, where there is “forced displacement, forced starvation.” • Revealed that, on recent trips to countries including Honduras, Burkina Faso, Jordan, and Nepal, public services in some places are so poor that “people felt their access to health care was better 20 years ago.” • Said Oxfam is still widely seen as a United Kingdom charity, more than six years after moving to Kenya — saying: “Wherever I go, still the first question I’m asked is ‘do you live in Oxford or London?’ That’s still the perception.” At the G20 summit in Rio, the most industrialized nations will discuss international coordination to ensure billionaires pay a wealth tax of at least 2%, as well as how the billions raised should be spent. Behar suggested it would be a huge breakthrough. “Once that happens, the money that is generated can be invested in inequality-busting policies like public health, public education, daycare, social protection, a living wage,” he said. He argued politicians are being forced to respond to a “changing mood,” which has seen dozens of popular revolts over the last 15 years against governments seen as serving “other masters,” most recently in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Such revolts have spread to richer nations, Behar said, with the rise of a “demagogue right-wing” and “outsiders” such as Donald Trump and Argentina’s maverick president, Javier Milei. “Even there, the political system is paying a price,” he said. Behar argued the “fundamental question” of the “same economic system” causing political upheaval and climate breakdown was not confronted after the SDGs were laid down nearly a decade ago — but leaders are now shifting in response to “bottom-up pressure.” “They must and they can, there’s absolutely no reason,” he said.