Ninety per cent of Ukrainian population could face poverty in protracted war – UNDP
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Nine out of 10 Ukrainians could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability if the war drags on over the next year, wiping out two decades of economic gains, the UN Development Programme said on Wednesday. Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said that his agency was working with the Kyiv government to avoid a […]
UN says about half of Myanmar’s people could sink into poverty in 2022
Reuters Urban poverty is on course to triple in Myanmar, pushing nearly half the population below the poverty line next year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, as the twin impact of the pandemic and a military coup threaten progress made in the past decade. The army seized power from the elected civilian government of […]
UN pushes cash handouts to avert mass poverty in Afghanistan
United NationsReuters The United Nations said on Wednesday that a program to pay $US300 million a year in cash to Afghan families with children, elderly or people with disabilities is the best way to target increasing poverty. In what the UN Development Programme described as an “alarming” socio-economic outlook for Afghanistan for the next 13 […]
UN warns of ‘colossal’ collapse of Afghan banking system
United NationsReuters The United Nations on Monday pushed for urgent action to prop up Afghanistan’s banks, warning that a spike in people unable to repay loans, lower deposits and a cash liquidity crunch could cause the financial system to collapse within months. In a three-page report on Afghanistan’s banking and financial system seen by Reuters, […]
Climate change extremes spur UN plan to fund weather forecasting
Glasgow, UKReuters As climate change triggers deadly heatwaves, droughts and floods, three UN agencies on Wednesday will roll out funding plans to improve weather forecasting in vulnerable countries. The initiative, announced at the UN climate summit in Glasgow, aims to plug gaps in weather monitoring and data collection so developing countries can better prepare for […]
During pandemic rebound, Latin America’s working mothers fall behind
Buenos Aires, Argentina/Asuncion, Paraguay/Santiago, Chile Reuters Latin America’s mothers are falling behind in the pandemic economic rebound, returning to the labor force more slowly than men in a trend experts say could set back female workforce participation by a decade. An analysis by the United Nations Development Program, which included countries in South America’s “Southern […]
North-east Nigeria insurgency has killed almost 350,000 – UN
Abuja, NigeriaReuters North-east Nigeria’s conflict with Islamist insurgencies had killed nearly 350,000 people as of the end of 2020, the United Nations Development Programme said on Thursday. The toll, given by the UN agency in a new study on the war and its impact on livelihoods, is 10 times higher than previous estimates of about […]
Postcards: Yemen’s famed beekeepers feel the sting of climate change
MAYA GEBEILY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how bee-keepers in war-torn Yemen are facing growing threats from the impacts of climate change…
Code red: UN calls for urgent shift to planet-friendly development
Barcelona, Spain Thomson Reuters Foundation Under huge pressure from COVID-19, climate change and natural destruction, warning lights for the planet and societies are “flashing red” – and now is the time to choose a safer, fairer path for human development, the United Nations said on Tuesday. “We are at an unprecedented moment in the history […]
Most countries failing to address women’s needs during pandemic – UN
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Only one in eight countries worldwide have brought in measures to specifically protect women from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a database of government responses to COVID-19 launched by two UN agencies on Monday. The crisis offers a chance to reshape societies for a fairer future, but many […]