Economic Development

UNRWA/Khalil Adwan

UN report finds Gaza suffered $16.7 billion loss from siege and occupation

25 November 2020

Israel’s military operations and prolonged closure of Gaza, has caused economic damage of $16.7 billion between 2007 and 2018, driving the poverty rate up almost fourfold compared to what it might have otherwise been, the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD said in a report published on Wednesday.

UNDP Colombia/Jurany Carabani

‘Foundational and necessary change’ needed to heal post-COVID world

24 November 2020
Global

With the COVID-19 pandemic precipitating one of the world’s worst health, socioeconomic and humanitarian crises in over a century, the UN chief told a high-level discussion on Tuesday to seize the opportunity “to make real, foundational, and necessary change”. 

FAO/Momodu Deen Swarray

‘We see the sparks before they turn into fires’: training women to avoid conflict in Sierra Leone

21 November 2020

In the West African country of Sierra Leone, the UN is supporting a government programme, training women and men to take on leadership roles in areas such as peacebuilding, with the aim of promoting peace and non-violence.

UN Photo/Mark Garten

UN chief to press G20 for greater solidarity and support during pandemic

20 November 2020
Global

When he addresses leaders of the world’s richest countries at the G20 summit this weekend, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will deliver a simple message on the COVID-19 pandemic: “We need solidarity and cooperation. And we need concrete action now — especially for the most vulnerable.”  

World Bank/John Hogg

Guterres pledges support for sustainable industrial development in Africa

20 November 2020
Africa

The COVID-19 crisis was impacting Africa “well before the pandemic spread across the continent”, the UN chief said on Friday, marking Africa Industrialization Day, arriving at a point when many economies were expanding and “poverty was in decline”.   

World Bank/Rob Beechey

Development funding and trade transparency needed, to stop COVID-19 dividing the world

19 November 2020

The pandemic has redefined the world economy in ways that will deepen inequality and can only be reversed if a global transformation in attitudes towards trade and development allows the whole world to recover together, the UN trade body UNCTAD said, in a report published on Thursday. 

United Nations/Daniel Getachew

Persons living with disabilities ‘have very special abilities’, UN deputy chief tells young Ghanaians  

17 November 2020
Africa

During her visit to Ghana on Monday, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed met with young people living with HIV and disabilities in the capital, Accra.   

ILO/Marcel Crozet

New Asian trade bloc could play key role in driving investment 

16 November 2020
Asia Pacific

A new trade bloc covering a huge swathe of the Asia-Pacific region will play an important role in developing poorer economies and in post-pandemic stimulus, according to a report published on Monday by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).  

© FAO/Amine Landoulsi

A deep dive into Zero Hunger: farming the seas

15 November 2020
Global

With the world population expected to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050, food production will need to keep pace, and experts believe the Ocean can provide much of the sustenance we need. The second story in our two-part series on aquaculture focuses on the opportunities for significantly scaling up fish farming.

Unsplash/Shane Stagner

A deep dive into Zero Hunger: the seaweed revolution

14 November 2020
Global

If just two per cent of the Ocean were to be sustainably farmed, the world could easily be fed, according to experts. In the first story of a two-part series looking at the opportunities and challenges facing Ocean farming, we take a look at the huge potential role of seaweed in mitigating climate change, cutting marine pollution, and achieving the UN goal of Zero Hunger.