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New York, March 13 – Technology is a double-edged sword and more solutions are needed to address violence and harassment against women in the digital age, the United Nations heard in a conversation led by the President of the General Assembly on harnessing technology’s potential to end gender-based violence.

The event – organized on International Women’s Day March 8 – heard from women from around the world who described being targets of online harassment and abuse. Business leaders and advocates also described digital innovations to keep women and girls safe, and local leaders who highlighted support for survivors of gender-based violence.

The event took place during the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN headquarters in New York from March 6 to 17.

“Violence is a crime, online and offline. And violence against women is a global epidemic,” Csaba Kőrösi, the President of the General Assembly, said.

“Transformation will happen anyway, but we have an opportunity to guide it, to make it sustainable and just, within societies, within groups and with gender equality at its center.”

The discussion on “the role of technology in addressing violence against women and girls” was held on the sidelines of the Commission on the Status of Women, the key intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, whose priority theme this year is on innovation and technology.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous noted that technology and innovation could close the gaps in reaching full equality for women much faster than the 286 years expected.

But she added that artificial intelligence that is driving much of today’s innovation is developed by men, “and women find themselves in the middle with no skills to design them, to develop them”.

“Even when they go into STEM, most of them will fail, not because of their aptitude, but because they have been conditioned to think this is not their space,” Ms. Bahous told the audience.

Participants also heard personal stories from senior officials in the Pacific and the Middle East of targeted social media campaigns harassing them for having high-level positions in Government.

According to a study released by UN Women and the Interparliamentary Union (IPU), only around 11.3 per cent of countries have women Heads of State and 9.8 per cent have women Heads of Government.

While the number of parliamentarians is higher than ever before, there are wide global disparities with European Nordic countries on one side of the scale and rankings in the Middle East and North Africa region at the other.

“If I had been in my country during that time, I would have been afraid of stepping outside my house,” one woman Ambassador said, noting that she had been targeted at least three times in such a campaign.

Another senior official said it took her months to recover from cyberbullying, during a time when some people committed suicide.

One of the main topics of discussion was domestic violence and support for survivors.

According to figures cited during the conversation, one woman is killed by a family member every 11 minutes, and one in three will experience violence in her lifetime.

Violence against women is often linked to stalking, according to Commissioner Cecile Noelfrom the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV), who also participated in the conversation at the UN.

Commissioner Noel shared that her Office, in partnership with Cornell University and New York University’s Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA), launched an app that can tell when malware has been installed on the woman’s or her children’s phone, to limit stalking.

This innovation is being offered at New York City’s Family Justice Centers, established to support survivors and their children in New York’s five boroughs. President Kőrösi visited the Manhattan Center in late 2022, describing it as a place that made his “soul fly” to see the work done.

The conversation included Ministers and other senior Government officials who highlighted national support to survivors, including through toll free numbers.

“We cannot let women to fight alone, we cannot leave the victims to fight alone,” said Jeannette Bayisenge, Minister on Gender and Family Promotion in Rwanda.

Participating in the conversation were several representatives from the business sector. 

Among them Patricia Georgiou, Director of Policy, Partnerships and Business Development at Google’s Jigsaw, who spoke about the harassment experienced by women journalists and activists.

“For every voice we hear, there are countless others who have been erased, ultimately driving women off the internet. This leaves us all poorer economically, politically and culturally,” Ms. Georgiou noted.

She discussed the work that Google is doing to update its policies and algorithms to exclude revenge pornography, hate speech and violence – as well as the decision to publicly share its algorithms, and partnership with academia to fight misogyny. She also highlighted that half of their engineers were women.

Also on the technology side was Sara Wahedi who following a suicide explosion near her home in Kabul, created Ehtesab, a digital app that provides real-time emergency information to residents in Afghanistan.

She shared a message from Sahar, a female engineer who is still in Afghanistan where the Taliban has forbidden millions of female students from attending secondary schools and universities, or working outside of the home.

“She has no space to breath. She has the fundamental right, as I do, to pursue her education. So please do remember Sahab today,” Ms. Wahedi said, sharing the message with the room.

President Kőrösi asked Sara to relay a message back to Sahar: “We are with you.”

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Doha/New York, March 9 – The U.N. conference on the Least Developed Countries ended with member states committing to measures to deliver on the Doha Program of Action, a 10-year plan to put the world’s 46 most vulnerable countries back on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bold commitments at the conference marked a transformative turning point for the world’s poorest countries, whose development has been hindered by crises including COVID-19, climate change and deepening inequalities, the U.N said in a press release.

“Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Least Developed Countries is a litmus test for achieving the 2030 Agenda writ large, including by ensuring that no one — and no LDC — is left behind” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. “That is why the Doha Program of Action must be seen as a vehicle for SDG Acceleration.”

Under the theme ‘From Potential to Prosperity’ the conference aimed to drive transformational change to positively affect the 1.2 billion people who live in the LDCs.

“The commitments made this week are a true embodiment of global solidarity and partnership and will pave the way for a new era of international cooperation,” said Rabab Fatima, Secretary General of the Conference and UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

“This will result in more of the Least Developed Countries achieving the goal of graduation and a more prosperous and sustainable future,” she said.

5,000 participants attended LDC5, including 47 Heads of State or Government and 130 Ministers and Vice-Ministers. They called for developed countries to urgently provide the most vulnerable countries with the assistance they need to drive socio-economic and environmental development. Corporate leaders together with civil society, youth and other partners shared plans, innovations, and recommendations in several areas: from enhancing the participation of LDCs in international trade and regional integration to addressing climate change, strengthening global partnerships, supporting graduation, and leveraging the power of science, technology, and innovation.

The Doha Political Declaration, adopted March 9, reinforces the international community’s commitment to the Doha Program of Action.

Commitments

The Conference has presented a unique opportunity to translate the vision of the Doha Program into tangible results with countries and stakeholders showcasing a host of commitments. These commitments range from improving biodiversity and tackling malnutrition to resilience building in the LDCs.

Qatar announced a financial package of $60 million: $10m to support the implementation of the Doha Program of Action and $50 million to help build resilience in the LDCs.  

Germany dedicated €200 million in new money in 2023 for financing for least developed countries.

Canada announced $59 million to deliver Vitamin supplements in 15 LDCs and ecosystem conservation in Burkina Faso.  

The EU Commission announced cooperation agreements advancing sustainable investments in Africa totaling more than €130 million of investment.

Finland announced an annual event called the United Nations LDC Future Forum in Helsinki, with the Office of the UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States – OHRLLS –, to ensure the latest thinking and research is being put to work to ensure progress on the most vulnerable states.

The Green Climate Fund announced a new project to give $80 million in equity to offer green guarantees to business in LDCs and bring down the cost of capital.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization, announced a new €10 million Tourism for Development Fund for LDCs, supported by TUI Care Foundation, that will invest by 2030 to support sustainable tourism in LDCs as a key driver of development.

The government of Kazakhstan pledged $50,000 to continue their work supporting the most vulnerable member states of the United Nations.

The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a major new loan package for the Least Developed Countries.

The following 46 countries are listed as LDCs as of March 2023:

Africa (33): Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.

Asia (9): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Yemen

Caribbean (1): Haiti.

Pacific (3): Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

The U.N. said 46 countries are deemed as least developed as they showed the lowest indicators of socio-economic development across a range of indexes. The LDCs are home to about 1.1 billion people, or 14 per cent of the world population and over 75 per cent of them still live in poverty.

According to data from the World Bank, all LDCs have a gross national per capita income (GNI) of below USD$1,018; compare that to almost $71,000 in the United States, $44,000 in France, $9,900 in Turkey and $6,530 in South Africa.

Key LDC5 links

LDC5 Website: https://www.un.org/ldc5/

Doha Programme of Action: https://www.un.org/ldc5/doha-programme-of-action

Doha Political Declaration: https://undocs.org/A/CONF.219/2023/L.1

Media Corner: https://www.un.org/ldc5/news

For more information, contact:

Conor O’Loughlin | LDC5 Spokesperson | conor.oloughlin@un.org

Sharon Birch | UN Department of Global Communications | birchs@un.org

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Riyadh/New York, February 20 – Wars, climate disasters and economic collapse are causing the largest food crisis in modern history, spreading famine that is affecting millions of people around the world, the chief U.N. humanitarian affairs and emergency coordinator said in an appeal to help those in needs.

“The world is facing the largest food crisis in modern history, and famine is knocking on many doors,” Martin Griffiths told a humanitarian forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on behalf of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The forum was held under the theme “The Evolving Humanitarian landscape for 2023 and beyond” and attended by heads of state and government and donors to the U.N. emergency fund known as CERF.

“Our mandate and mantra is ‘We don’t give up.’ But to discharge this mandate, we need your help in practical and tangible ways,” Griffiths said.

Griffths described the current humanitarian landscape as “rough and rugged one” where needs are spiralling across the world and humanitarian crises are piling on top of each other, and “desperate people are looking to us in their hour of need.” He said women’s human rights specially are under “vicious attacks” in many places and injustice has festered for decades.

Griffiths said more than 350 million people around the world currently need humanitarian assistance and close to US$ 54 billion are needed to meet the basic needs of the worst affected among them.

“But experience shows that we can expect to raise barely half of that amount. Each year, our count of people in need, and dollars to raise, takes another jump. The trend is clear, and there are three main reasons for this,” he said.

He said more than 222 million people globally “don’t know when or even if they’ll eat another meal” and 45 million people are already on the brink of starvation with most of them women and children.

 The economic collapse fuelled first by the shock of Covid-19 pandemic, the year-old war in Ukraine and the recent earthquake in Turkeye and Syria are pushing millions of people to the brink, the U.N said. The U.N. has allocated up to $50 million to assist earthquake victims and $250 million from CERF to meet urgent humanitarian needs in score of countries.

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Joint statement by heads of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank Group (WBG); World Food Program (WFP) and World Trade Organization (WTO) calling for continued urgent action to address the global crisis on food and nutrition security.

 (Following is the original statement – February 8, 2023)

We offer our deepest sympathies to the people of Türkiye and the neighboring Syrian Arab Republic who have suffered the recent earthquakes. Our organizations are closely monitoring the situation, assessing the magnitude of the disaster, and working to mobilize necessary support in accordance with each organization’s mandates and procedures.

Globally, poverty and food insecurity are both on the rise after decades of development gains. Supply chain disruptions, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, financial tightening through rising interest rates and the Russia’s war in Ukraine have caused an unprecedented shock to the global food system, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. Food inflation remains high in the world, with dozens of countries experiencing double digit inflation.

According to WFP, 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure. The prevalence of undernourishment is also on the rise, following three years of deterioration.

This situation is expected to worsen, with global food supplies projected to drop to a three-year low in 2022/2023.^[1] The need is especially dire in 24 countries that FAO and WFP have identified as hunger hotspots, of which 16 are in Africa.^[2] Fertilizer affordability as defined by the ratio between food prices and fertilizer prices^[3] is also the lowest since the 2007/2008 food crisis, which is leading to lower food production and impacting smallholder farmers the hardest, worsening the already high local food prices. For example, the reduction in 2022 of the production of rice, for which Africa is the largest importer in the world, coupled with prospects of lower stocks, is of grave concern.

In response to the inflation of food, fuel and fertilizer prices, countries have spent over US$710 billion for social protection measures covering 1 billion people, including approximately US$380 billion for subsidies. However, only US$4.3 billion has been spent in low-income countries for social protection measures, compared to US$507.6 billion in high-income countries.^[3]

To prevent a worsening of the food and nutrition security crisis, further urgent actions are required to (i) rescue hunger hotspots, (ii) facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector, and (iii) reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency. Countries should balance short-term urgent interventions with longer-term resilience efforts as they respond to the crisis. 

1.     Rescue hunger hotspots

We call on governments and donors to support country-level efforts to address the needs in hotspots, share information and strengthen crisis preparedness. The WFP and FAO need funds urgently to serve the most vulnerable immediately. In 2022, WFP and partners reached a record number of people – more than 140 million – with food and nutrition assistance, based on a record-breaking US$14 billion in contributions, of which US$7.3 billion came from the United States Government alone. WFP sent over US$3 billion in cash-based transfers to people in 72 countries and provided support to school feeding programs in 80 countries, including 15 million children through direct support and more than 90 million children through bolstering government national school feeding programs. FAO has invested US$1 billion to support more than 40 million people in rural areas with time sensitive agricultural interventions. These activities were primarily focused on the 53 countries listed in the Global Report on Food Crises.

The World Bank is providing a US$30 billion food and nutrition security package covering the 15 months from April 2022 to June 2023, including US$12 billion of new projects, which have all been committed ahead of schedule. This also includes US$3.5 billion in new financing for food and nutrition security in hotspots. In addition, the Bank has allocated US$748 million from its US$1 billion Early Response Financing modality of IDA’s Crisis Response Window (CRW) to mostly address needs in hotspots and is mobilizing additional funds for the CRW.

Funding for the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) must also be mobilized to provide concessional financing to low-income countries facing balance of payment needs. The IMF’s new Food Shock Window has so far supported Ukraine, Malawi, Guinea and Haiti, while nine countries facing acute food insecurity benefited from IMF financial support through new programs or augmentation of existing ones, with a focus on strengthening social safety nets and policies to help address the impact of the food crisis. The Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) is supporting greater crisis preparedness through the development and operationalization of multi-sectoral Food Security Crisis Preparedness Plans across 26 counties, which should be supported by governments and donors. GAFS also continues to monitor the severity of the food crisis and the financing of the global response through the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard. We also welcome efforts by all parties to mobilize more funding for Africa’s agricultural transformation, as noted in the Dakar Declaration^[4] and we want to acknowledge the great work done by David Beasley, Executive Director, WFP, during his tenure. 

2.     Facilitate trade, improve the functioning of markets, and enhance the role of the private sector

Countries should minimize trade distortions, strengthen the provision of public goods, and enable the private sector to contribute meaningfully to improved food security outcomes. We repeat our urgent call for countries to (i) avoid policies such as export restrictions, which can impede access to food for poor consumers in low-income food-importing countries; (ii) support trade facilitation measures, to improve availability of food and fertilizer, (iii) support trade finance initiatives in a transparent and indiscriminatory manner; and (iv) adhere to the commitments made at the WTO’s 12^th Ministerial Conference.^[5] While countries have lifted some export bans on wheat and rice, new export restrictions and bans, particularly on vegetables, are hampering availability on global markets. Global food security can be strengthened if governments support both food producers and consumers in a smart and targeted manner, such as by strengthening the provision of public goods in ways that improve farm productivity sustainably. Countries can use e-voucher schemes for fertilizers and avoid large-scale public procurement and subsidized distribution schemes, either on farm inputs or farm products, that crowd out the private sector. The WBG’s US$6 billion IFC Global Food Security Platform supports farmers to access fertilizers and other critical supplies while helping private companies make longer-term investments, focusing on improving the resilience of agri-food systems and fertilizer use efficiency. Countries should follow FAO‘s International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use and Management of Fertilizers to sustainably manage nutrients for food security.^[6]

3.     Reform and repurpose harmful subsidies with careful targeting and efficiency

Countries should reform and repurpose general universal subsidies towards temporary, better targeted programs for global food security and sustainable food systems, considering the key aspects of (i) efficiency, (ii) cost and fiscal sustainability, (iii) flexibility, (iv) administrative complexity, (v) equity, and (vi) strengthened resilience and sustainability. Most of the global social protection response to inflation is in the form of subsidies, half of which are untargeted, inefficient, and costly to already constrained governments. Support should be scaled up for countries to strengthen and deploy comprehensive, actionable and shock responsive social protection strategies. Policies and reforms supported by financing from IMF and the World Bank have focused on the transition from broad-based measures to more targeted approaches. Countries need to re-examine and reform their support to agriculture, which amounted to about US$639 billion per year between 2016 and 2018, and has since been on the rise. Of every dollar spent, only 35 cents end up with farmers.^[7] Much of this support incentivizes inefficient use of resources, distorts global markets, or undermines environmental sustainability, public health, and agricultural productivity. Without ignoring the inherent trade-offs associated with large scale policy reforms ^[10], this funding should be reformed and repurposed in ways that strengthen the resilience and sustainability of the agri-food system, such as the adoption of good agricultural practices, research and innovation (including in fertilizer application efficiency and alternatives to synthetic fertilizers), extension and advisory services, improved infrastructure and logistics, and digital technologies that improve productivity sustainably. The FAO new science and innovation strategy and the agri-food systems technologies and innovations outlook, ^[11] together with the One CGIARInitiative, plays a pivotal role across these areas to deliver global benefits of individual country reforms.^[8]

Action is already under way to address underlying structural challenges in social protection and in the food and fertilizer markets, but more concerted action across these three key areas is needed to prevent a prolonged crisis. We are committed to working jointly and with impact to support the most vulnerable.

This is the third Joint Statement by the Heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Food Programme, and World Trade Organization on the Global Food and Nutrition Security Crisis. The previous Joint Statements can be accessed here (1) and here (2).

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