Explainer: Why is COVID-19 pushing up extreme poverty and can it be reversed?
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation COVID-19 could push a billion people – almost one in nine of the Earth’s inhabitants – into extreme poverty by 2030. The alarming statistic laid out in a United Nations report last week is the latest warning of the generational impact the pandemic is having on the world’s most vulnerable. A woman potter carries […]
Essay: ‘End COVID For All’ and the five surprises on aid
TIM COSTELLO, executive director of Micah Australia and spokesperson for the ‘End COVID For All’ campaign, applauds recent Australian Government decisions to help the nation’s regional neighbours through the COVID-19 crisis…
Wealthy countries edge towards global climate finance goal
Brussels, BelgiumReuters Wealthy countries have ramped up financing to help developing countries cut carbon emissions and cope with the impact of climate change, although it is unclear if they will meet their goal of $US100 billion this year. In its annual update on climate finance for developing countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development […]
Keeping girls in school seen worth billions to developing nations
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Making sure all girls are finishing secondary education by 2030 could boost the gross domestic product of developing countries by 10 per cent on average over the next decade, a report said on Tuesday. Every $1 spent on girls’ rights and education would generate a $2.80 return – equivalent to billions […]
Climate-menaced nations say survival depends on stronger 2020 action
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Developing countries at risk from wilder weather and rising seas on Wednesday urged all governments to meet a deadline to deliver stronger national climate action plans to the United Nations by the end of 2020, stressing that their survival depended on it. About 195 nations committed under the 2015 Paris Agreement […]
Poorer countries to get 120 million $US5 coronavirus tests, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland/London, UKReuters Some 120 million rapid diagnostic tests for coronavirus will be made available to low- and middle-income countries at a maximum of $US5 each, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The wider availability of quick, reliable and inexpensive testing will help 133 countries to track infections and contain the spread, closing the […]
Debt swaps could free funds to tame climate, biodiversity and virus threats
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation In Kenya, the coronavirus pandemic has dried up eco-tourism, cutting off sources of funding that help protect wildlife and pay an income to communities working to preserve nature. But forgiving a share of Kenya’s hefty foreign debt, in exchange for the government devoting those resources to fighting climate change threats and biodiversity […]
“Education emergency” as third of world’s children lack remote learning
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation One in three schoolchildren across the world have been unable to access remote learning during coronavirus school closures, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said on Thursday, warning of a “global education emergency”. Nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures as countries locked down to prevent the disease from spreading, […]
COVID-19 will push middle income countries into hunger, says Oxfam
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation More people will die of hunger caused by the pandemic than of coronavirus this year, according to The Hunger Virus, a report from Oxfam. Poor countries like war-torn Yemen are at risk but the global aid charity also identified several middle-income countries as new epicentres of hunger where millions could be pushed to […]
Essay: How coronavirus lockdowns from the US to Nepal are starving the most vulnerable
In an article first published on Religion News Service, DARREN TYLER, president of the Conduit Mission, says lockdowns are having a disproportionate impact on people in developing nations…