Poverty

UN Forum Highlights New Initiatives to Tackle Inequalities Exacerbated by Pandemic

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — With many economies reeling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as inequalities continue to widen, world leaders discussed options to unlock concrete investments to support a sustainable and resilient recovery at the Forum on Financing for Development (FfD Forum) from April 12-15.

The four-day Forum, held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), took place as many countries are facing increased financial debt and liquidity pressures because of the pandemic. The FfD Forum was held virtually, with selected in-person sessions.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 17 April 2021

Photo: Dr Wim Naudé, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics with the Cork University Business School in Ireland with the image of AfCFTA from African Union website.

African Free Trade Area Expected to Lift Millions out of Extreme Poverty and Boost Growth

By Busani Bafana

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) — The long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—set to be the world’s biggest free trade zone by size—which entered into force on January 1, 2021, promises a new era for African trade.

An Africa-wide free-trade pact could bolster the region’s income by $450 billion and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035, if accompanied by significant policy reforms and trade-facilitation measures, according to the World Bank. When fully operational, the Free Trade area will create a market of 1.2 billion and drive a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 April 2021

Photo: Food systems in Africa have been adversely impacted by climate-induced shocks, conflicts and most recently, COVID-19. © FAO/Petterik Wiggers

Global Pandemic Hits the World's Poorest the Hardest

By J Natranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a deeply troubling situation in the world’s poorest countries. It threatens to push the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) another ten years further into the future, warns the Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2021 by more than 60 United Nations Agencies and international organizations. Because of the pandemic, the global economy has experienced the worst recession in 90 years.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 01 April 2021

Photo: The jobless in Malaysia. Source: Malay Mail.

COVID-19 Pushes Millions into Destitution

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic has reached every corner of the globe. Meanwhile, more than 120 million have been infected and close to 2.7 million people killed worldwide.

High unemployment and loss of income have pushed millions into destitution during the pandemic. The total number of people living in poverty is expected to have increased by 131 million in 2020 alone. As many as 797 million people will still be trapped in extreme poverty in 2030, representing a poverty headcount ratio of over 9 per cent.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 24 March 2021

Photo: Women Vision Workshop in Malawi. Source: Empower.

Development Needs to Come from The People

By Jones Ntaukira

KAPITA, Malawi (IDN) — Most development agencies fail because they don’t listen to the people and end up imposing projects on people. This is an important lesson I learned over 10 years working as a development worker here with Empower Malawi.

I joined the Empower Malawi team in 2010 as a fresh young graduate with no experience in development work. A scientist at heart, equipped with theories, hope and confidence amassed from the long lecture hours, I was eager to get down to work. I cared less where and how. I just wanted to work and enjoy myself.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 March 2021

Photo: Workers at a Chinese shoe-making factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Credit: Lin Qi

The Story of China’s Development Miracle

Viewpoint by Siddharth Chatterjee

UN Resident Coordinator* in China Siddharth Chatterjee, formerly the Resident Coordinator in Kenya, considers how China’s admirable rise can provide valuable lessons for developing nations looking to improve livelihoods for their citizens. The 'story' first appeared on UN News on March 20, 2021.

BEIJING | GUANGZHOU (IDN) — Arriving in Guangzhou as a first-time visitor to China, I could not help but think of former U.S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's description of what he saw as an underdeveloped provincial city in the 1980s.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 March 2021

Photo: The “Billionaire Raj” is preparing to turn India back from a country of hunger (on the 2020 Global Hunger Index, India is 94th out of 107 countries) to a country of famine. Child who starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Profit Hungry Modi Government Ready to Risk Famine in India

Viewpoint by Justin Podur*

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

TORONTO (IDN) — India’s right-wing government has been deploying all the modern tools of repression against a historic farmers’ protest. Much is at stake. For the people of India, their agricultural system is about to get far more precarious. For its farmers, ruin, and bankruptcy for millions, is all but guaranteed. For the government of Narendra Modi and his elite backers, it’s a crossroads moment; they calculate that their political power is assured for decades if they can refashion the politics of rural India and force dependency upon the farmers.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 March 2021

Photo credit: The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Share of Women Parliamentarians Reaches 'All-Time High'

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — There is a long way to go to achieve gender parity. But a new report reveals that the share of women parliamentarians worldwide reached more than 25 per cent in 2020 marking a historic step. Women in Parliament report was launched on March 5 ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that for the first time, women now account for more than a quarter of parliamentarians worldwide," Secretary-General of UN partner the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong said at the UN Office in Geneva. "The global average of women in parliament has now reached 25.5 per cent." 

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 06 March 2021

Photo: An artist’s impression of Columbus arriving in America by Wilhem Berrouet. Credit: Salon de la Mappemonde/Flickr/CC)

Europe Slow in Recognising Global Impact of Colonialism

Viewpoint by Michael McEachrane*

LUND (IDN) – Centuries of European colonialism have had a tremendous impact on shaping inequities within and among countries, many of which are yet to be effectively addressed. This may seem like a trivial statement, but it is only recently being recognised by EU countries.

In 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the Fundamental Rights of People of African Descent. It called for a comprehensive perspective on colonialism and slavery, which recognises their historical and contemporary adverse effects on people of African descent.

: Phil Harris; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 23 February 2021

Photo: Workers construct a solar panel array structure in Malawi. CC BY-SA 4.0

An Inclusive Energy System Key to COVID-19 Recovery

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects seen in other parts of the world. The pandemic has reminded us that a reliable and uninterrupted energy supply is critical to managing this crisis.