Economic Development

UNICEF/Vania Santoso

‘Industry 4.0’ tech for post-COVID world, is driving inequality: UNCTAD

25 February 2021

Developing countries must embrace ground-breaking technologies that have been a critical tool in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, or else face even greater inequalities than before, UN economic development  experts at UNCTAD said on Thursday.

Unsplash/Afif Kusuma

ILO urges better policies to protect workers, businesses, as digital platforms proliferate

23 February 2021
Global

The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) on Tuesday highlighted the need for enhanced international policy cooperation to provide decent work opportunities and foster sustainable business growth in the digital economy.

UNDP Cambodia/Kimheang Toun

Lifeline for vulnerable Cambodians as poverty doubles during COVID-19 pandemic

21 February 2021
Asia Pacific

In Cambodia, the shrinking economy, hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, has affected all population groups, but particularly the most vulnerable. A first-of-its-kind government scheme, managed with digital tools supplied by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is ensuring that the poorest receive a level of social protection.

UNCTAD/Jan Hoffmann

East Asian countries led economic recovery in last quarter of 2020, says UN report

10 February 2021

Without the resilience of the economies of East Asia and the Pacific, there would have been no global trade recovery at the end of last year, UN analysts said on Wednesday.

© UNICEF/Kalungi Kabuye

Social development key pillar for ‘sustainable and resilient’ world – Commission hears 

8 February 2021
Global

As coronavirus vaccines provide a glimmer of optimism around the world, a high-level UN official said on Monday that it was “painful to witness” the dashed hopes of most people in the Global South who have little chance of receiving an inoculation anytime soon. 

UNEP

First Person: Digging for victory in the Philippines

3 February 2021
Asia Pacific

Some farming techniques can have a devastating and negative effect on the environment, as farmers seek to harvest the maximum amount of produce from their land, but the efforts of a Filipino chef and activist are demonstrating that, with the right approach, agriculture can help to regenerate land, offer protection from the effects of climate change and extreme weather, and improve livelihoods.

© Brent Stirton/Getty Images for FAO | CIFOR | CIRAD | WCS

Pandemic triggers ‘widespread upheaval’ in global fisheries and aquaculture

2 February 2021
Global

COVID-19 has caused “widespread upheaval” for the whole fishing and aquaculture industry around the world, the UN deputy agriculture chief said on Tuesday, launching a new report that assesses the toll the pandemic has taken on the sector. 

UNCDF

Fair Finance: The women entrepreneurs lifting communities out of poverty

31 January 2021
Global

Helping women start and grow businesses in the world’s poorest countries is a path to lifting them and their families out of poverty, the high-profile businesswoman, and new UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Goodwill Ambassador Sonia Gardner, has told UN News, in the second of our two part series this weekend, on the role the financial sector can play in reducing inequality.

© IFAD/ Todd M. Henry

FROM THE FIELD: COVID crisis creates new wave of self-reliance for Tonga

30 January 2021
Asia Pacific

Although Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific, has so far avoided COVID-19 cases, the pandemic has hit the economy hard along with the entire region, and helped Tongans become more resilient and less reliant on expensive food imports.

© UNICEF/Truong Viet Hung

Fair Finance: How can the global inequality gap be narrowed?

30 January 2021
Global

Reducing inequality is one of the UN’s flagship goals, but the gulf between rich and poor worldwide, remains persistently high. In the first of a special two-part series on the financial sector this weekend, Hiro Mizuno, the newly-appointed UN Special Envoy on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments, explains how the industry can help to create a fairer, more equitable world.