Winnie Byanyima
Without women's equal access to positions of decision-making power and a clear process to get there, gender equality, global security, and peace will never be realized.Collection: Equality
The discrimination of women and girls goes to the core of any and all analyses of the world's economic, political, and environmental problems.Collection: Environmental
Rule of law, access to justice, and financial transparency happen by design, not accident.Collection: Design
A tax system is important because of what it can pay for, but also for how it works. When we pay taxes, we expect something back from the state; it strengthens the relationship and accountability between us and our governments. It also pays for what private finance shouldn't: our needs for healthcare, education and social security.Collection: Finance
Governments, the investor and business community, and civil society organizations and public representatives need to work together to ensure the necessary foundations are in place to align private finance to guarantee sustainable and equitable development and poverty reduction.Collection: Finance
If the civil society is not transparent, honest, and accountable, then you cannot be a champion of social justice.Collection: Society
We need to tackle extreme inequality because it is morally indefensible and socially corrosive - undermining our health, affecting our well-being, and undermining peaceful societies.
Cutting down a forest for timber adds to GDP, but what we don't record is the loss to our wealth in terms of natural resources.
Developing countries can make great strides towards more progressive and effective taxation and spending through action within their own borders. But the damage caused by exemptions, loopholes, and tax havens requires action beyond national borders - it requires international action and cooperation.
The move to a zero-carbon future is unstoppable.
Extreme inequality is no temporary blip. It is hard-wired into our economies.
When we talk about women's economic empowerment, we should be careful that we're not just giving women more to do.
Poverty is a result of lack of opportunity. Lack of opportunity is about being without power, without being in a position to make choices.
The extremely wealthy have disproportionate influence on policies that impact us all. This corrupts our politics and leads to poorer people being denied the economic opportunity to flourish in life.
I am angry that the international community has failed to find a permanent solution to the plight of the Rohingya. I am also ashamed that, in not speaking out loudly enough, we - humanitarians - have been complicit.
Civil society space provides the oxygen for citizens to participate and meaningfully hold their governments and the private sector to account - and ensure that decisions are made in the interest of the majority and not the few. Without it, citizens have limited space to dissent and challenge the elites.
High corruption and the influence of big business and the wealthy elite keeps the poorest Nigerians trapped in poverty and cut off from the benefits of economic growth and basic services. Some people - searching for the means to survive - became vulnerable to groups like Boko Haram.
Far too many governments are cutting back on their investment in human development.
The proud fight against colonialism is one that should be consigned to history.
Instead of presiding over an economic system that panders to big business and a wealthy elite, a more human economy must be established which meets the needs of African women and young people.
I don't think it's helpful to go dismantling the past, but you can refuse to honor aspects of it that you don't believe in anymore.
Leadership is so defined by men, and we need to revise that - we need to be able to say that the people we honor are not the conquerors but the peacemakers.
Economic inequality is a corrosive force that undermines economic growth, puts a brake on the fight against poverty, and sparks social unrest.
Our economic system has enabled companies and individuals to use their power and influence to capture and retain an ever-increasing share of the benefits of economic growth while the benefits for the poorest in society have shrunk.
By allowing super wealthy corporations and individuals to avoid paying their fair share of tax, tax havens are denying governments' revenue that could and should be spent on schools, healthcare, and other essential services.
We treat a planet at crisis point as an externality that can be shunted into a future generation. We continue to act as if we had the natural resources of several planets, not one.
GDP excludes care work and other unpaid work, most of which falls to women and girls in rich and in poor countries alike.
Tax abuse is a scourge on our global community, but especially for Africa.
African countries lose the most from tax dodging. African governments must, therefore, do more to push for a full reform of the global tax system and demand action from countries, such as the U.K., whose financial centres sit at the heart of the global network of tax havens.
For me, growing up as an activist under an oppressive dictatorship in Uganda, the U.N. was a friend to those of us who fought our way to freedom, as it was for the millions who joined decolonization struggles in the African continent.
The U.N. must be made more inclusive, accountable, democratic, effective, and reflective of a world in which political and economic power has shifted.
Conflict and callous politics drive famine.
Billions of people are being left behind by economic growth.
Global growth and development that is strong, sustainable, and inclusive requires the challenges of inequality to be met head-on.
Ending extreme poverty is possible.
Inequality, climate change, and conflict are evicting millions from their homes. But these perils are being met with 'anti-answers' such as nationalism, closed borders, lies, and hatred.
Development cooperation between nations is very important because it is one of the building blocks of shared peace, prosperity, and human rights for all. It is one of the antidotes to the poison of xenophobia.
My own life values were shaped in great part by my mother, who instigated women's clubs in my village. Women were able to organize and stand together. What inspired me most about their work was the power it gave them to assert their rights and the rights of their daughters, be it education or property inheritance.
That a country has a strong civil society is, I believe, particularly necessary for good development.
The importance of tackling inequality in Africa cannot be overstated.
African countries lose billions every year because of tax dodging by big corporations and wealthy individuals. They lose billions more from overly generous tax incentives in a misguided belief that this is the only way to attract foreign investment.
Rather than engineering our economies solely to maximise GDP, Africa's business and political leaders must build economies explicitly designed to end poverty and inequality.
Wealth does not trickle down to the poor. Oxfam knows this, the IMF knows this, the World Bank knows this. Poor people have always known this.
Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.
Governments should end the extreme concentration of wealth in order to end poverty. This means tackling tax dodging but also increasing taxes on wealth and high incomes to ensure a more level playing field and generate the billions of dollars needed to invest in healthcare, education, and job creation.
We don't have to accept an economy that doesn't work just because some people have got rich in the status quo. That is not democracy.
I am still haunted by the memory of my Ugandan friends dying from HIV years ago because high prices kept the medicines they needed out of reach.
The high price of medicines is crippling healthcare systems and denying people access to the treatments they so desperately need.
Democracy in Myanmar cannot be achieved with discrimination and gross violations of human rights.
Here's something we're rarely told growing up: our world rewards wealth, not hard work or talent.