Poverty

Photo: The demolitions at the slum are set to pave way for construction of the Nairobi Expressway. Credit: The Standard.

A Superhighway Paves Over a Nairobi Slum

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — An ambitious road construction project in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, has demolished some 13,000 homes in the informal housing of Mukuru Kwa Njenga, technically a slum, ignoring human rights and leaving some 40,000 people homeless, says Diana Gichengo of Amnesty International Kenya.

Schools, businesses and homes across nearly 100 acres have been demolished since October as the government constructs the so-called “road for the rich” while others, forced by poverty, will be left to walk.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 January 2022

Photo: Protest against the Amazon/River Club development Credit: Leon Lestrade. African News Agency/ANA.

Court Freezes Planned Amazon HQ in Cape Town on Historically Significant Site

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A massive new complex housing Amazon’s proposed South African headquarters along with a hotel and other businesses continues to face stiff opposition from indigenous Khoisan, environmental and community groups despite city officials already approving of construction of the nine-story construction.

Opponents say the project will ruin a historically significant riverside site in Cape Town and harm the environment. The Khoisan were some of the country's first inhabitants and their presence in the southern tip of Africa dates back thousands of years.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 24 January 2022

Photo: Two indigenous persons. Source: Survival International

Concern Over 'Fortress Conservation' and Evictions of Kenyans from Ancestral Homelands

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Nature conservancies, with the stated goal of protecting wilderness and endangered wildlife, have enabled the removal of tribal peoples from their ancestral homelands in Africa to allow superior “western” models of conservation to prevail, according to the activist group Survival International.

Under the western model, half of all land must be kept in a natural state to protect Earth, as the National Geographic Society recently declared on its magazine pages, if a stable climate and high quality of life are to be preserved in the near future.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 24 January 2022

Photo: A boy sits amid scenes of destruction in Macomia town after it was hit by tropical cyclone Kenneth, which made landfall in Cabo Delgado province in Northern Mozambique, on 25th April 2019. Credit: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

Over 100 Millionaires Call for Wealth Taxes on The Richest

By Rodney Reynolds

NEW YORK (IDN) — A group of over 100 millionaires and billionaires from nine countries published an open letter January 19 to government and business leaders, calling for permanent annual wealth taxes on the very richest to help reduce extreme inequality and raise revenue for sustained, long-term increases in public services like healthcare.

: Rodney Reynolds; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 19 January 2022

Photo: An employee arranges vegetables in a supermarket in Indonesia. © ILO/Feri Latief

Global Pandemic Halts Economic Recovery, Says UN Report

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — A new United Nations report shows that the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has halted a rapid recovery, countering signs of solid growth at the end of 2021. The report titled, 2022 World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) cites problems contributing to the slowing down of the economy: new waves of COVID-19 infections, persistent labour market and lingering supply-chain challenges, as well as rising inflationary pressures.

: Radwan Jakeem; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 16 January 2022

Photo: According to a UNDP survey, the textile, tourism, hospitality, and construction sectors have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and the political upheaval, as have small and medium enterprises. Credit: UNDP Myanmar.

Urban Poverty Rates in Myanmar Set to Triple, Warns New UN Survey

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK | YANGON (IDN) — By early 2022, nearly half of Myanmar’s 55 million population—some 25 million people—will be living below the national poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A survey leaves no doubt that the country’s poverty headcount is likely to return to levels not seen since 2005, effectively erasing 15 years of pre-pandemic economic growth.

“The rising levels of poverty is not just about the lack of incomes to survive but we are also seeing a significant risk to nutrition, health and education, which will negatively impact on the human capital of the next generation,” said the survey report.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 28 December 2021

Photo: The report projects that in the last six years the crisis has caused Yemen to miss out on US $126 billion of potential economic growth. Credit: UNDP Yemen

New UN Report Hopeful of Recovery in Yemen by 2047 Once the War Ends

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Yemen, currently among the poorest countries in the world, continues to be mired in a conflict underway since 2015, which in addition to the loss of life is tearing apart livelihoods, social fabric, causing Yemen to teeter on the brink of famine, and resulting in widespread reversals of development progress.

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 27 December 2021

Photo: Families in Afghanistan do not have the money they need, while prices for key commodities continue to rise. © UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

UN Concerned About Afghans Facing Hunger and Economy in "Free Fall"

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK | ISLAMABAD (IDN) — A senior UN official has painted a grim picture of Afghanistan with 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 per cent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students—who are the country's future—out of school.

The UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said, Afghanistan’s economy is in “free fall”, and warned that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may “pull the entire population with it”.

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 19 December 2021

Global Agreement Defines The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — A historic agreement defines the common values and principles needed to ensure the healthy development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). All the member states of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have signed the agreement.

The importance of the agreement signed on November 23 is underlined by the fact that AI is pervasive and enables many of our daily routines—booking flights, steering driverless cars, and personalising our morning news feeds. AI also supports the decision-making of governments and the private sector.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 05 December 2021

The Global Pandemic Pushing Africa into A Severe Job Crisis

By Johann Ivanov*

ACCRA (IDN) — Africa is facing a severe employment crisis. But if nothing is done to find a solution, it could get much worse in the not-too-distant future, as World Bank projections from 2017 show: By 2035, Africa’s working age population will expand by 450 million. At the same time, however, only 100 million jobs are expected be created in the same period. And that was before the Covid-19 pandemic hit: Africa was severely affected and its economies experienced a contraction by 2 per cent in 2020. UNECA estimates that almost 30 million Africans have been pushed below the extreme poverty line.