• Amid ongoing fighting in north-east Syria, civilians continue to flee violence
• Unprecedented flooding affects thousands of locals, refugees in South Sudan
• Modern-day ‘farm slave’ rescue highlights pervasive human trafficking in Ukraine

Low-cost initiatives such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets and child de-worming programmes are proof that the world can take effective action to reduce poverty, a Nobel Prize-winning economist has said, as the world marks the International Day dedicated to its eradication.

Michael Kremer, alongside fellow professors Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Economics for their research in fighting poverty.

   On Tuesday the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that a stark proportion of the world’s children are not receiving adequate nutrition, with half of all children under-five lacking essential vitamins and nutrients in their diets for proper development.  

The agency’s Senior Advisor for Infant and Young Child Nutrition says the figures from UNICEF’s most comprehensive report on the issue in 20 years, demonstrate a need for families and children to “demand nutritious food.” 

Although United Nations peacekeeping operations are over in Haiti, the Caribbean country will not “be alone” as a new political mission focused on sustainable development begins its work there on Wednesday.

That’s the message from Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, who has been reflecting on achievements during that 15-year period.