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Millions of people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have suffered the longest drought in the region in addition to conflict and economic woes. Donor countries have announced US$2.4 billion in humanitarian aid but it is far from the US$7 billion requested by the humanitarian community –  Following is a press release from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

New York, May 24 – With the Horn of Africa facing the combined impacts of a historic drought, conflict and economic shocks, donors at a United Nations-backed event today announced US$2.4 billion to provide life-saving and life-sustaining assistance for nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Famine has been averted, thanks in part to the tremendous efforts of local communities, humanitarian organizations and authorities, as well as the support of donors. In the face of five consecutive poor rainy seasons, more than 30 million people received assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

But the emergency is far from over, and additional resources are urgently required to prevent a return to the worst-case scenario.

Today’s pledges were made at a high-level event held in New York, co-hosted by the United Nations, Italy, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United States, in collaboration with the Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

The humanitarian community requires $7 billion for humanitarian response and protection for drought- and conflict-affected people in the region in 2023.

The funds announced today will allow humanitarian agencies to sustain aid pipelines of food, water, health care, nutrition and protection services.

“We welcome the announcements of support for the people of the Horn of Africa, who need our sustained commitment to recover from a crisis of catastrophic proportions,” said Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator. “We must persist in pushing for stepped-up investments, especially to bolster the resilience of people already bearing the brunt of climate change.”

The Horn of Africa is the epicentre of one of the world’s worst climate emergencies. An estimated 43,000 people died in 2022 in Somalia, most likely due to the drought, half of whom may have been children under age 5. Millions remain displaced because of drought as well as conflict.

Today’s event was held as improved rains are starting to ease the impacts of the drought, but they also bring new risks and challenges. Floods have already caused widespread damage and affected at least 900,000 people. More flooding is expected later this year, partly due to the forecasted El Niño phenomenon, potentially leading to further displacement, death and disease.

Despite the relief brought by the rains, it will take years to recover from the historic drought. Representatives from non-governmental organizations, Member States and experts debated solutions, ranging from long-term investment in people and infrastructure to alternative ways for people to earn a living and adapt to climate change.

“Now more than ever, as global humanitarian needs soar, our action cannot be merely limited to meeting the most immediate needs but should also be tailored to finding solutions and prevent a further deterioration,” stressed Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy. “The international community must invest further in the link between humanitarian and development action as a way to ensure that interventions on the ground have both immediate effects as well as durable benefits.”

The UK Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said, “A unified international effort helped to narrowly avert famine in 2022, but we can be anything but complacent. The clear and present threat remains, and we must act now to prevent further suffering.

“Funding pledged today will help millions, but we must work together to break the cycle of crisis afflicting so many States. Without effective governance there can be no truly sustainable development.”

The US Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said, “Today’s pledge brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the response to the region to more than $1.4 billion in FY 2023 and is anchored in the most essential of American values – that we have a responsibility to help others in need when we are able.”

Qatar’s Ambassador to the UN, Sheikha Alya bint Ahmed Al Thani, said, “The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis resulting from the drought in the three countries of the Horn of Africa requires our urgent attention and our moral and humanitarian responsibility to alleviate the suffering of the people in the region.

“The State of Qatar remains firmly committed to standing in strong solidarity through its consistent humanitarian support. We urge all Member States to fulfil their moral obligation by contributing to the realization of food security in the region and globally.”

Media contacts: In New York: Eri Kaneko, kaneko@un.org, +1 917 208 8910. In Geneva: Jens Laerke, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750

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Hiroshima/New York, May 21 – In blunt words, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Group of Seven (G7) countries – considered the world’s richest – that it is morally wrong that the global economic and financial systems have favored them over poor countries.

Read G7 Communique

Guterres, who attended the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, said his message to the group was “clear” that while the global economy faced uncertainties the majority of countries in the world are suffering through a deep financial crisis. He said the crisis resulted from the crushing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unsustainable levels of debt, rising interest rates and inflation.

“Poverty and hunger are rising; development is sinking,” he said, pointing out that problems facing developing countries have three dimensions: moral, power-related, and practical.

“There is a systemic and unjust bias in global economic and financial frameworks in favor of rich countries, which is naturally generating great frustration in the developing world,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund allocated US$650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to countries around the world during the pandemic, he said.

“The G7 countries, with a population of 772 million people, received US$280 billion. The African continent, with 1.3 billion people, received US$34 billion. This was done according to the rules, but from a moral point of view, there is something fundamentally wrong with the rules themselves.”

He pointed out the “extremely unbalanced” recovery from the pandemic between rich and poor countries, with the former printing money and spending their way out of trouble. The later, a total of 52 countries, are in debt distress, near debt distress, or face extremely expensive market financing while Middle Income Countries, many small island developing states, do not qualify for concessional funding and have no access to debt relief.

He said the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944, which created the IMF and the World Bank, and the creation of the U.N. Security Council, reflected the power relations of 1945, which were dominated by World War II victors.

“The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” he said. “In the face of the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net.

“It’s time to reform both the Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions. This is essentially a question of redistributing power in line with the realities of today’s world. Even within the present unfair global rules, more can and must be done to support developing economies.”

Communique issued by the G7 meeting in Hiroshima as published by the White House May 20, 2023.

Read G7 Communique

The three-day meeting, which ended on May 31, was attended by national leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy. It focused on the ongoing Russia’s war in Ukraine, the global economy as well as conflicts in Africa and food prices.

The European Union took part in the annual meeting. Japan, the host country, invited also leaders of Australia, India, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Comoros (representing the African Union) and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Islands Forum).

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Hiroshima/New York, May 21 – In blunt words, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Group of Seven (G7) countries – considered the world’s richest – that it is morally wrong that the global economic and financial systems have favored them over poor countries.

Guterres, who attended the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, said his message to the group was “clear” that while the global economy faced uncertainties the majority of countries in the world are suffering through a deep financial crisis. He said the crisis resulted from the crushing economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, unsustainable levels of debt, rising interest rates and inflation.

“Poverty and hunger are rising; development is sinking,” he said, pointing out that problems facing developing countries have three dimensions: moral, power-related, and practical.

“There is a systemic and unjust bias in global economic and financial frameworks in favor of rich countries, which is naturally generating great frustration in the developing world,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund allocated US$650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to countries around the world during the pandemic, he said.

“The G7 countries, with a population of 772 million people, received US$280 billion. The African continent, with 1.3 billion people, received US$34 billion. This was done according to the rules, but from a moral point of view, there is something fundamentally wrong with the rules themselves.”

He pointed out the “extremely unbalanced” recovery from the pandemic between rich and poor countries, with the former printing money and spending their way out of trouble. The later, a total of 52 countries, are in debt distress, near debt distress, or face extremely expensive market financing while Middle Income Countries, many small island developing states, do not qualify for concessional funding and have no access to debt relief.

He said the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944, which created the IMF and the World Bank, and the creation of the U.N. Security Council, reflected the power relations of 1945, which were dominated by World War II victors.

“The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair,” he said. “In the face of the economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net.

“It’s time to reform both the Security Council and the Bretton Woods institutions. This is essentially a question of redistributing power in line with the realities of today’s world. Even within the present unfair global rules, more can and must be done to support developing economies.”

G7 meeting in Hiroshima

National leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy held a three-day summit that ended on May 21, focusing on the ongoing Russia’s war in Ukraine, the global economy as well as conflicts in Africa and food prices.

The European Union took part in the annual meeting. Japan, the host country, invited also leaders of Australia, India, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Comoros (representing the African Union) and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Islands Forum).

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A mid-2023 economic report published by the United Nations says lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, worsening effects of climate change and unaddressed economic issues are expected to affect the global economic growth. Following is a press release:

Amid multiple global crises, risk of prolonged period of low growth looms large,U.N. report warns
 Growing financing gaps, anemic investment and mounting debt vulnerabilities
threaten to derail global progress on sustainable development
 New York, 16 May 2023 – Prospects for a robust global economic recovery remain dim amid stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and heightened uncertainties. Instead, the world economy faces the risk of a prolonged period of low growth as the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ever-worsening impact of climate change and macroeconomic structural challenges remain unaddressed, according to the World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2023.

 Read the full report: https://desapublications.un.org/

According to the report, the world economy is now projected to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2023 (+0.4 percentage points from the January forecast) and 2.5 per cent in 2024 (-0.2 percentage points), a slight uptick in the global growth forecast for 2023. In the United States, resilient household spending has prompted upward revision of growth forecast to 1.1 per cent in 2023.  The European Union’s economy—driven by lower gas prices and robust consumer spending—is now projected to grow by 0.9 per cent. China’s growth this year is now forecast at 5.3 per cent as a result of COVID-19 related restrictions being lifted.  

But a sombre picture still remains. Despite this uptick, the growth rate is still well below the average growth rate in the two decades before the pandemic of 3.1 per cent. For many developing countries, growth prospects have deteriorated amid tightening credit conditions and rising costs of external financing. In Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, GDP per capita is projected to increase only marginally this year, reinforcing a longer-term trend of stagnating economic performance. The least developed countries are forecast to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2023 and 5.2 per cent in 2024, far below the 7 per cent growth target set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“The current global economic outlook presents an immediate challenge to delivering on the SDGs,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Li Junhua. “The global community must urgently address the growing shortages of funding faced by many developing countries, strengthening their capacities to make critical investments in sustainable development and helping them transform their economies to achieve inclusive and sustained long-term growth.”

Global trade remains under pressure due to geopolitical tensions, weakening global demand and tighter monetary and fiscal policies. The volume of global trade in goods and services is forecast to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2023, well below the pre-pandemic trend.

Inflation remains stubbornly high in many countries
Inflation has remained stubbornly high in many countries even as international food and energy prices fell substantially in the past year. Average global inflation is projected at 5.2 per cent in 2023, down from a two-decade high of 7.5 per cent in 2022. While upward price pressures are expected to slowly ease, inflation in many countries will remain well above central banks’ targets. Amid local supply disruptions, high import costs and market imperfections, domestic food inflation is still elevated in most developing countries, disproporationately affecting the poor, especially women and children.

Strong labour markets in developed economies are a bright spot
Labour markets in the United States, Europe and other developed economies have continued to show remarkable resilience, contributing to sustained robust household spending. Amid widespread worker shortages and low unemployment rates, wage gains have picked up. Employment rates are at record high levels in many developed economies with gender gaps narrowing since the pandemic.

Global spillovers from monetary tightening demand enhanced policy cooperation
Exceptionally strong labour markets are, however, making it harder for central banks to tame inflation. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and central banks in other developed countries have continued to raise interest rates in 2023, but at a slower pace than last year, which saw the most aggressive monetary tightening in decades. The banking sector turmoil in the United States and Europe has added new uncertainties and challenges for monetary policy. Although swift and decisive actions by regulators helped contain financial stability risks, vulnerabilities in the global financial architecture and the measures taken to contain them will likely dampen credit and investment growth going forward.  

Rapid tightening of global financial conditions poses major risks for many developing countries and economies in transition. Rising interest rates, coupled with a shift in developed economies from quantitative easing to quantitative tightening, have exacerbated debt vulnerabilities and further constrained fiscal space. Current policy challenges call for stronger cross-border policy cooperation and concerted global actions to prevent many developing economies from becoming trapped in a vicious cycle of low growth and high debt.

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Read the full report: https://desapublications.un.org/

Media contacts:
Sharon Birch, UN Department of Global Communications, birchs@un.org
Helen Rosengren, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, rosengrenh@un.org

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New York, May 2 – The first Global Fund to Safeguard Independent Journalism is launched at the annual World Press Freedom Day event, which UNESCO said will highlight the fact that freedom of expression is the driver of all other human rights.

The Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which is responsible for defending and promoting freedom of expression, media independence and pluralism, leads the organization of World Press Freedom Day each year. The event takes place (May 3) at the U.N. Headquarters in New York.

The International Fund for Public Interest Media (“International Fund” or “IFPIM”) said it launched (May 2) the first phase of the Global Fund in an effort “to arrest the decline of independent journalism and foster lasting solutions for media ecosystems around the world.”

It said the U.N. has stated that “media freedom, safety of journalists and freedom of expression are increasingly under attack, which impacts the fulfilment of other human rights.”

Following is a press release by the International Fund:

It will do so through ramping up direct financial support to media organizations and accelerating long-term, systemic initiatives that address structural challenges in global media ecosystems and enable media markets to work for democracy. It will fund experimentation and innovation in priority areas, including engagement with young audiences, promotion of inclusive newsrooms, and use of emerging technologies.

The International Fund has been endorsed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and supported by world leaders including Presidents Biden and Macron and former President John Kufuor.

Board co-chair-elect Mark Thompson, in New York for the UN events, said: “We are thrilled that after a year of successful fundraising and increasing support from governments around the world, the International Fund can mark the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day by launching its first phase of operations.

“The challenges facing media entities in mid- and low-income countries are more urgent and acute than ever and collective, multilateral action is the best way to start to overcome them,” he said.

​Board co-chair-elect and Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Ressa said:​ “We can’t keep trying old solutions to new problems. The International Fund for Public Interest Media is a new solution to counter existential problems for journalism. It will help independent media survive during these times before legislation and other systemic interventions can kick in and protect our information ecosystem.”

Khadija Patel, Journalist-in-Residence, will announce the International Fund’s launch at the U.N. event and detail the International Fund’s strategy, including its impact goals and priority regions.

She said: “Independent journalism faces an existential economic crisis: traditional business models have broken down; new ones will take time to emerge. Economic levers are being used to silence critical voices, and private and political interests are capturing economically weak media.”

As well as outlining the nature of the crises facing independent media, Patel will discuss the critical importance of independent journalism for global democracy in ensuring access to trustworthy information, countering disinformation, and holding power to account. She will call on governments, the private sector, and civil society to further their commitments in support of independent news media.

In the way that the GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund for Aids, TB and Malaria transformed access to vaccines and life-saving treatments, the International Fund seeks to radically change how independent media is financed at scale.

The International Fund has already raised close to US$50 million from more than fifteen governments, philanthropies, and corporate entities and aims to reach at least US$500 million in financial support in coming years. Overseen by an independent board, it will allocate resources to media organizations in low- and middle-income countries while supporting them to innovate towards new, more sustainable business models.

In this first phase of its operations, the International Fund will make grants available for media organizations in four focus regions: Africa & Middle East, Asia & Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe.

The International Fund has already completed a small-scale pilot funding round that awarded 13 pilot grants to media organizations in Brazil, Colombia, Lebanon, Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, and Ukraine. In its first phase of operations, the International Fund will continue to work in these countries and in at least 29 others. [A full list of countries is included below].

For more information and interviews, contact: Helen Palmer hpalmer@webershandwick.com / +44 7912 242394; Nathan Carpenter ncarpenter@ifpim.org / +1 (503) 891-5208

In-person or remote interviews are available before or during the UN events with:

●       Khadija Patel, IFPIM Journalist-in-Residence, Chairperson of the International Press Institute & former editor-in-chief of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper. Ms Patel will launch the International Fund for Public Interest Media at the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference in UN General Assembly.

●       Mark Thompson, Co-chair at IFPIM, Former President & CEO at The New York Times Company, Director General of the BBC.

●        Editors at independent media outlets chosen for IFPIM pilot grants in:

o   South Africa – Bush Radio, Africa’s oldest community radio station, a valued information source and sounding board for deprived Cape Flats communities for three decades.

o   Brazil – the Nexo news site, pioneering independent ‘journalism of context’ in a polarized society.

o   Nepal – Himalmedia, working to ensure trustworthy news reaches underrepresented communities.

Countries of operation:

Africa & Middle East: Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana,      Kenya, Lebanon, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia.

Asia & Pacific: Bhutan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Latin America & Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay.

Eastern Europe: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine

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UNESCO hosts the 30th Anniversary of World Press Freedom Day in New York

Paris/New York – 3 May 2023 is the 30th edition of World Press Freedom Day. To mark this important occasion, UNESCO will organize two major events the day before in New York: a global conference at the United Nations headquarters and the award ceremony of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize at The Shed.

As the UN Organization responsible for defending and promoting freedom of expression, media independence and pluralism, UNESCO leads the organization of World Press Freedom Day each year.

This year’s celebration will be particularly special: the international community will mark the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of the Day by the United Nations General Assembly. It will serve as an occasion to take stock of the global gains for press freedom secured by UNESCO and its partners in the past decades, as well as underline the new risks faced in the digital age.

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Doha/New York, May 1 – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is leading a two-day meeting in Doha to seek ways to engage with the Taliban on human rights, in particular for Afghan women and girls. The meeting is attended by special envoys for Afghanistan from 21 countries, and representatives from the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

“The aim is to reinvigorate international engagement around key issues, such as human rights, in particular women’s and girls’ rights, inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking,” the U.N. said. “The meeting is intended to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban on these issues.”

The participants in the meeting are from the following countries and organizations: China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, European Union and the OIC. 

The 15-nation U.N. Security Council, which is divided by various issues, including the war in Ukraine, unanimously adopted on April 27 a resolution which unequivocally condemned the de facto authorities in Kabul for banning Afghan women from working for U.N. humanitarian operations and Afghan girls from schools. The council demanded a “swift reverse” of the bans and called for the “full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan.”

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by the United Arab Emirates and Japan, expressed “deep concern at the increasing erosion of respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban” and reaffirmed their “indispensable role” in Afghan society.

The resolution called on the Taliban to swiftly restore their access to education, employment, freedom of movement and equal participation in public life. And it urged all other U.N. member nations to use their influence to promote “an urgent reversal” of the Taliban’s policies and practices toward women and girls.

The U.N. said there were about 600 international staffers in Afghanistan and 3,300 Afghan nationals, including 2,700 men and 600 women, who worked for the U.N. in the country before the Taliban banned the women. The international humanitarian programs were assisting more than 28 million Afghan people.

U.N. News reported that a recent study conducted by the U.N. Development Program, titled Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023, depicted Afghanistan’s economic recovery as grim as long girls are banned from attending schools and women are not allowed to hold jobs. The study said the country’s economic output collapsed by 20.7 percent following the Taliban takeover in 2021 and the shock has kept Afghanistan among the world’s poorest countries. The country’s GDP declined by 3.6 percent in 2022.

“A sustained inflow of foreign aid, to the tune of $3.7 billion in 2022, has helped avert the total collapse of Afghanistan,” said UNDP Resident Representative in Afghanistan Abdallah Al Dardari. The U.N. contributed $3.2 billion of the overall $3.7 billion in foreign aid to Afghanistan in 2022.

The new report projects that the 2023 GDP in Afghanistan could increase by 1.3 percent if the level of foreign aid remains at $3.7 billion. However, prospects for economic recovery remain weak and insufficient over the long term, especially if foreign aid is withheld as a result of restrictive Taliban policies.

“There will be no sustainable recovery without the active participation of Afghan women in the economy and in public life, which includes delivering on humanitarian and livelihoods-saving projects,” said UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja. “Only the full continuity of girls’ education and women’s ability to pursue work and learning can keep the hope of any real progress alive.”

“Afghanistan is on the brink of economic collapse, exacerbated with the takeover in August 2021. The effects of the pandemic, followed by an extraordinary 20.7 percent contraction of the economy, and an unusually severe drought, have resulted in the loss of food, livelihoods and access to basic services,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in a statement. “Only the continued provision of international aid and basic services to millions of Afghans have prevented a full collapse.” 

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New York, April 24 – India will get the title as the world’s most populous nation when its population grows to 1.429 billion by mid-2023 with 40 per cent of the people under 25 years old, the U.N. and the Pew Research Center said.

The U.N. estimated that India’s population will surpass China’s population of 1,426 billion, which peaked in 2022, by the end of April and will continue to grow for several more decades. By contrast China’s population could drop below 1 billion before the end of this century as the country now has the world’s lowest fertility rates of 1.2 births per woman while India’s current fertility rate is 2.0 births per woman.

China conducted a census in November 2020 while India’s planned census in 2021 was postponed until 2024 because of the Covid pandemic.

The world population now stands at 8 billion people.

The U.N. said the number of older persons is growing rapidly in both China and India. But it said the number of persons aged 65 or over in China is expected to increase and nearly double those of the same age in India.

“The number of adults of working age in India is projected to continue increasing both in number and as a proportion of the total population through mid-century, providing opportunities for faster economic growth over the next few decades,” the U.N. said. But it said projections indicated that the percentage of the population at ages 25-64 in China will peak in the coming years, “closing the window of opportunity created by the changing age distribution.”

While studying and projecting population growth, the U.N. warned of uncertainties associated with estimating and projecting populations. It said the specific date on which India is expected to surpass China in population size is approximate and subject to revision. The U.N. has called for national censuses to be taken at least once every 10 years.

The Pew Research Center said in its most recent report that India’s population has grown by more than 1 billion people since 1950 and the exact size of the population is not yet known but it is estimated at over 1.4 billion.

It said India has not conducted a census since 2011.

Compared with India’s population, Europe has a total population of 743 million, the Americas have a total of 1.04 billion.

Pew Research said 40 per cent of Indian people are under 25 and globally one in five people under that age group is an Indian because there are so many Indians in this age group. It said india’s median age is 28. By comparison, the median age is 38 in the United States and 39 in China.

It said, according to the U.N., China and the United States, the world’s second and third countries with largest populations, have rapidly aging populations – unlike India. It said India’s adults ages 65 and older comprise only 7 per cent of the population this year compared with 14 per cent in China and 18 per cent in the U.S. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, April 11 – Current efforts fighting the food crisis to relieve hunger worldwide are marred by funding gaps and lack of coordination, the Rockefeller Foundation said in a new report that called for new approaches to make humanitarian operations work.

“If the world does not act now, there will be as many hungry people in 2030 as there were in 2015, a devastating backslide – and one that could accelerate amid the worsening climate crisis,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “The goal of ending hunger once and for all is still achievable, but it requires stakeholders coming together in public-private-philanthropic partnerships behind big bets to scale innovative solutions, including those identified in this report.”

Read the report: Anticipate and localize: Leveraging humanitarian funding to create more sustainable food systems 

The United Nations has set the goals of ending poverty and hunger by 2030. The World Food Program (WFP) estimated that more than 345 million people worldwide are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, an increase of almost 200 million since the early 2020. It said 43 million of those people are just steps away from famine.

“Ration cuts are coming if we don’t have the money to get food to those who need it most,” said Cindy McCain, the new executive director of WFP on April 5. “My priorities are clear: increase our resources, improve our effectiveness and scale up partnerships and innovation to bring modern solutions to those most in need.”

“No organization can solve world hunger alone,” she said. “Today we are asking new friends – especially from the private sector – to step up and join us.” McCain said she will work in particular with the private sector to raise funds and identify new ideas to help the most vulnerable people.

The Rockefeller Foundation said its new report provides “constructive steps forward in leveraging resources to end hunger and build sustainable food security” and it called on donors to “align more closely with solutions that strengthen food system resilience to climate change, conflict, and other shocks.” The report was the second of four reports that presents a unified roadmap for achieving global food and nutrition security, the foundation said.

In the face of the global food crisis, the international community has responded with unprecedented pledges of humanitarian aid, but funding gaps still remain, the report said. “More broadly, there are concerns that humanitarian food assistance, as currently structured and delivered, is not the way to achieve resilient and sustainable food security,” the foundation said in a press release to present the report. Following are excerpts from the press release:

Report’s Recommendations Break with Funding Orthodoxy – The four key recommendations in the report are as follows: 

1.Fund anticipatory action and make smarter investments. The report urges donors to spend 1% of their 2024 budgets on such action, increasing that share by 1% for the next 10 years. Furthermore, investments must be smarter than in the past, helping farmers to rapidly adapt to climate change, including through a focus on regenerative agriculture.

2. Fund localization by increasing the share of funding that goes to local organizations to 25% of their total expenditure over the next five years. This would support the role of local communities as effective first responders. National governments are urged to invest a similar share of their spending on domestic food security in local approaches.

3. Crack funding siloes by establishing United Nations country teams that unify funding and strategies that address humanitarian need, social and economic development, and peace, including in food insecurity hotspots affected by armed conflict.

4. Make the investment case through a campaign to put under-utilized working solutions to the test in a real-time situation of food insecurity.

“We have the largest humanitarian appeals, the largest numbers of people who are food insecure and the largest funding gaps in history,” said Carol Bellamy, writer of the report and former Executive Director of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “The numbers force new thinking about how we can both improve the effectiveness of existing aid and also reduce the need for aid through building more sustainable food systems.”

The humanitarian assistance system is comprised of several actors, including the multi-agency United Nations; governments; multilateral development banks; nongovernmental organizations; and private donors.

 Yet, despite the enormous resources deployed, coordination is weak. Major shortcomings have included a failure to anticipate crisis and invest proactively; a failure to tailor aid to local needs through local partners; and a failure to join the funding “dots.”

“The sliver of funding that went to sustainable solutions demonstrates the most dangerous gap of all: the gap between short-term thinking and long-term solutions,” said Catherine Bertini, Managing Director, Global Nutrition Security at The Rockefeller Foundation, former Executive Director of the World Food Programme, and 2003 World Food Prize Laureate. “Until we address the underlying issues of the resilience and sustainability of food systems, the need for humanitarian food aid will continue to escalate.”

In addition to the solutions highlighted above, the report calls for weaving three common threads into every policy, program and approach: a gender lens, the meaningful inclusion of those most directly affected by food insecurity, and intensive collaboration.

The report draws on insights of The Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored Convening Group on Funding for Sustainable Food Security.* The Rockefeller Foundation convened nearly two dozen experts in food insecurity and food aid from around the world. Over the course of two months, November through December 2022, they examined how to best mobilize and leverage funding to ensure food security for all.

“Millions of people are in desperate need of food assistance today – and as we deliver this aid, it is critical to invest in systemic change that will build sustainable food security in the longer term,” continued Ms. Bertini. “To solve these interconnected global challenges, governments and organizations must be willing to abandon cherished notions of what works for them in favor of what can work to bring food security to all.”

Anticipate and localize: Leveraging humanitarian funding to create more sustainable food systems is the second of four reports in a series on achieving global food and nutrition security supported by The Rockefeller Foundation. The first report, Defining the Path to Zero Hunger in an Equitable World, was recently published by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and offers a framework to reimagine a hunger-free world.

 Media Contact:

 Davina Dukuly

 Media Relations Manager

 The Rockefeller Foundation

 media@rockfound.org}

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The President of the U.N. General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, strongly condemned the decision and said that the ban will undermine the U.N. work in the country.

“This step is a blatant violation of the human rights of women and undermines the work of the United Nations in Afghanistan, the people of which are in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” he said. “The consequences of this decision would harm the Afghan people, in particular the most vulnerable segments of the population. Afghanistan needs sustained development, and for that, it should mobilize the country’s full potential.”

Roza Otunbayeva, the U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, said: “In the history of the United Nations, no other regime has ever tried to ban women from working for the Organization just because they are women. This decision represents an assault against women, the fundamental principles of the U.N., and on international law.”

“This is yet another cruel and devastating blow against the women of Afghanistan, and one which carries grave consequences for all Afghans. The country is at further risk of even greater economic misery and isolation from the community of nations,” the envoy said.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said in a statement that Otunbayeva is engaging with the highest levels of the de facto Taliban authorities to protest and seek an immediate reversal of the order. It said the Taliban has issued over the past 20 months measures that increasingly restricted women and girls from participating in social, economic and political life.

The mission said it was informed by the Taliban, which took over the country in 2021, that the ban was to take effect immediately and will be actively enforced.

The U.N. said its mission in Afghanistan has about 3300 Afghan nationals and 600 internationals, including about 400 Afghan women and 200 women internationals.

The U.N said the ban is unlawful under international law and unacceptable. It also constitutes an “unparalleled violation of women’s rights, a flagrant breach of humanitarian principles, and a breach of international rules on the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, including those extended to all U.N. personnel.”

It said the ban will further impact the international community’s engagement with Afghanistan, and the U.N.’s ability to support the population as they experience an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The U.N. said both Afghan women and men are essential to all aspects of U.N. work and the ban will impose “further psychological and emotional harm on Afghan women who have already endured so much.”

It said two-thirds of the Afghan population – some 28.3 million people – require life-saving assistance to survive, including 20 million people who are food insecure, six million of whom are one step away from famine. The order will also further negatively affect humanitarian partners’ ability to reach those most vulnerable, especially women and girls. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has launched a report analyzing over-compliance and misconceptions about the scope of international sanctions that have led to severe obstacles for the Afghan business community. Read the report here. Following is a press release:

The Taliban’s new extension of last year’s ban on female aid workers to the UN threatens to throw delivery of urgent life-saving humanitarian action into disarray, making the role of the private sector even more critical for the recovery of the Afghan economy.

Report: Afghanistan should be open for business, but misconceptions about sanctions are increasing suffering for millions

Over-compliance and misconceptions about the scope of international sanctions have led to severe obstacles for the Afghan business community, including for businesses that import and export food and other essential goods, finds a new report commissioned by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

The report, based on in-depth interviews with Afghan businesspeople and other private sector stakeholders, calls on the international community to improve awareness about sanctions and reduce over-compliance. It argues that concrete steps must be taken to address the crippled Afghan economy and ongoing unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

“Humanitarian aid alone cannot meet the needs of the millions of Afghans who have lost their jobs and been forced to take on huge debts and sell their possessions just to be able to buy food needed for survival,” said Neil Turner, NRC’s country director in Afghanistan. “We must reverse this devastating economic disaster. A stable economy, thriving private sector, and the reintroduction of development programmes are important to complement the work of humanitarian organisations.”

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, international actors have pursued political and economic isolation policies towards Afghanistan, in reaction to the Taliban’s increasingly restrictive governance, that have contributed to the current economic crisis and the population’s reliance on humanitarian assistance. More than 28 million people are now on the brink of survival.

There are comprehensive exemptions to the sanctions that should enable the transfer of money in and out of Afghanistan for activities designed to address the basic needs of the population, but banks continue to restrict businesses’ access to financial services despite the exemptions in place. Afghan businesses highlighted that payment instructions for any international bank transaction that mention Afghanistan get blocked, even for transactions for food shipments via the United Nations.

“We need to educate overseas companies and banks that Afghanistan itself is not under sanctions. There is a real lack of understanding about this – particularly among key sectors in our main export and import markets,” said an executive of a large agricultural firm in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s stance towards women has also led to the loss of many women from the Afghan workforce. These restrictions pose substantial challenges to the Afghan people and the economic prospects of the country as well as serious practical and ethical dilemmas for international donors and aid agencies.

To address the complex political, economic, and social changes since the return to power of the Taliban, NRC calls on major governments, financial institutions, UN agencies and relevant regional actors to urgently convene to establish measures to stabilise and support Afghanistan’s economy for the benefit of all the Afghan people.

“Concrete steps must be agreed to address the barriers faced by critical private sector actors in Afghanistan, including challenges in accessing financial services. On top of this, it’s vital that mechanisms are stepped-up to provide technical assistance to the Afghanistan Central Bank to support its resumption of core functions that are critical to support the Afghan economy, private sector actors, and ultimately the Afghan people who have already endured so much,” added Turner.

For more information, please contact: NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62329. Christian Jepsen, Regional Communications Adviser for Asia and Latin America: christian.jepsen@nrc.no, +254 706 248 391

 Facts and Figures: 

• 28.3 million people, two thirds of Afghanistan’s population will need urgent humanitarian assistance in 2023 to survive. This makes Afghanistan one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises (OCHA).
• The main driver of humanitarian need is the extremely high levels of food insecurity, with nearly 20 million people in Afghanistan acutely food-insecure (IPC 3+), including more than 6 million people on the brink of famine-like conditions in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). Four million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of five (WFP).
• According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Afghanistan’s real GDP contracted by 20 percent between 2021 to 2022, equating to a loss of $5 billion, which had taken almost ten years to generate.As a consequence, per capita income declined by 14–28 percent and an estimated 700,000 jobs were lost during the same period.
• Banking sector de-risking and overcompliance to sanctions continues to create challenges for private businesses and international banks. In the linked report, one European Bank reportedly needed 40-50 staff members to facilitate one financial transaction to Afghanistan.
• Despite the broad exemptions to sanctions, humanitarian actors continue to face challenges accessing domestic and international banking services for Afghanistan (NRC), and remain mostly reliant on UN cash shipments (UNAMA).
• A recent report by ACAPs demonstrates the Afghani has maintained its stability through foreign currency inflows that are part of humanitarian aid. These inflows have been vital to help stabilise the price volatility of essential food and non-food items, but if jeopardised it will have a serious impact on the stability of the economy and banking sector.

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