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J. Tuyet Nguyen, a journalist with years of experience, has covered major stories in New York City and the United Nations for United Press International, the German Press Agency dpa and various newspapers. His reports focused mostly on topics with international interests for readers worldwide. He was president of the United Nations Correspondents Association (2007 and 2008), which is composed of more than 250 journalists representing world media with influence over policy decision makers. He has chaired the organization of the annual UNCA Awards, which seeks to reward journalists around the world who have done the best broadcasts and written reports on the UN and its specialized agencies. He has traveled the world to cover events and write stories, from politics to the environment as well cultures of different regions. But his most important reporting work has been with the United Nations since the early 1980s. He was bureau chief of United Press International office at the UN headquarters before joining dpa in 1997. Prior to working at the UN, he was an editor on the International Desk of UPI World Headquarters in New York. He worked in Los Angeles and covered the final months of war in Vietnam for UPI.

Ukraine war exposes 1.6 billion people to high food and energy prices or finance tightening, new UN report says

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New York, June 8 – Russia’s war in Ukraine has triggered a global crisis that is exposing 1.6 billion people in 94 countries to either high food prices, energy prices or financial difficulties, the United Nations said in a new study.

“This is a global crisis, not confined to any one region,” said the 25-page report as a follow-up to the initial UN Global Crisis Response Group analysis launched after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year. It said 1.2 billion of those people live in developing countries that can be hit by all three crises at once, which the UN calls a “perfect storm.”

Read report:  https://news.un.org/pages/global-crisis-response-group/

The report, which involved the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and other UN agencies, cited recent World Bank’s analysis on the war and its Impacts on poverty, income and energy access. The World Bank said the average household has lost 1.5 per cent in real income since the start of the war.

“The World Bank suggests that the war in Ukraine may bring up to 95 million people into extreme poverty, making 2022 the second-worst year ever for poverty alleviation, behind only 2020. In general, 10 million people are pushed into extreme poverty for every percentage point increase in food prices,” the report said.

“Today’s report makes clear that the war’s impact on food security, energy and finance is systemic, severe, and speeding up,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a news conference. “Three months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we face a new reality. For those on the ground, every day brings new bloodshed and suffering.”

“And for people around the world, the war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake. Vulnerable people and countries are already being hit hard. But make no mistake: no country or community will be left untouched by this cost-of-living crisis. “

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebecca Grynspan said, “We are on the brink of the most severe global cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The report also demonstrates the interconnected nature of the three dimensions of the crisis: food, energy, and finance. And that tackling just one aspect, will not solve the global crisis we are in.”

Grynspan said the cost-of-living crisis cannot be resolved without a solution to the finance crisis and developing countries urgently need the financial support from international financial institutions.

“Unless there is a strong effort from international financial institutions to increase countries financial resources, countries will continue to struggle to pay their food and energy import bills, service their debt and increase spending in social protection. All at the same time,” she said.

The World Food Program has estimated that the number of people suffering severe food insecurity in the last two years doubled from 135 million pre-pandemic to 276 million at the start of 2022 in scores of countries. It said the war’s ripple effects are expected to drive this number up to 323 million in 2022.

The report said countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are most vulnerable to a “perfect storm” because one out of two Africans lives in a country exposed to all three dimensions. The region has been exposed to energy crises, financial difficulties, food crises and repeated droughts. It said in the Horn of Africa up to 58 million more Africans may fall into poverty this year and across Africa, 568 million people are currently without access to electricity, which in turn has severe effects on access to healthcare, education, and income generating activities.

 The Latin Ameri-ca and the Caribbean region is the second largest group facing the cost-of-living crisis with nearly 20 countries deeply affected.

In the Middle East and North Africa, extreme poverty could threaten the lives and livelihoods of 2.8 million people. In South Asia, which is currently experiencing crippling levels of heat waves, 500 million people are severely exposed to the food and finance crisis.  Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are severely exposed to the energy and finance dimensions, given the importance of remittances and energy exports from Russia.

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WHO: Climate change poses serious risks; nearly 1 billion people living with mental conditions

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Geneva/New York, June 3 – The World Health Organization issued a policy brief warning that climate change is a serious risk to people’s mental health and well-being. It said nearly 1 billion people are living with mental conditions in low- and middle-income countries but the majority do not have access to needed health services. Following is a news release from WHO.

NEWS RELEASE 

Why mental health is a priority for action on climate change

New WHO policy brief highlights actions for countries

3 June 2022 

Climate change poses serious risks to mental health and well-being, concludes a new WHO policy brief, launched today at the Stockholm+50 conference. The Organization is therefore urging countries to include mental health support in their response to the climate crisis, citing examples where a few pioneering countries have done this effectively.

The findings concur with a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in February this year. The IPPC revealed that rapidly increasing climate change poses a rising threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being; from emotional distress to anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behavior.

“The impacts of climate change are increasingly part of our daily lives, and there is very little dedicated mental health support available for people and communities dealing with climate-related hazards and long-term risk,” said Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.

The mental health impacts of climate change are unequally distributed with certain groups disproportionately affected depending on factors such as socioeconomic status, gender and age. However, it is clear that climate change affects many of the social determinants that already are leading to massive mental health burdens globally. A 2021 WHO survey of 95 countries found that only 9 have thus far included mental health and psychosocial support in their national health and climate change plans.  

“The impact of climate change is compounding the already extremely challenging situation for mental health and mental health services globally. There are nearly 1 billion people living with mental health conditions, yet in low- and middle-income countries, 3 out 4 do not have access to needed services” said DévoraKestel, WHO Director, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. “By ramping up mental health and psychosocial support within disaster risk reduction and climate action, countries can do more to help protect those most at risk.”

The new WHO policy brief recommends five important approaches for governments to address the mental health impacts of climate change: 

Integrate climate considerations with mental health programs

Integrate mental health support with climate action

Build upon global commitments

Develop community-based approaches to reduce vulnerabilities and

Close the large funding gap that exists for mental health and psychosocial support

“WHO’s Member States have made it very clear mental health is a priority for them. We are working closely with countries to protect people’s physical and mental health from climate threats,” said Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, WHO climate lead, and an IPCC lead author. 

Some good examples exist of how this can be done such as in the Philippines, which has rebuilt and improved its mental health services after the impact of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 or in India, where a national project has scaled up disaster risk reduction in the country while also preparing cities to respond to climate risks and address mental health and psychosocial needs. 

The Stockholm Conference commemorates the 50th anniversary of the UN Conference on the Human Environment and recognizes the importance of environmental determinants for both physical and mental health.

Note to editors

WHO defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”.

WHO defines mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) as “any type of local or outside support that aims to protect or promote psychosocial well-being and/or prevent or treat mental disorder”.

Related links

Mental Health and Climate Change Policy Brief

WHO’s work on climate change

WHO’s work on mental health

Media contacts:

mediainquiries@who.int 

Sarah Sheppard, World Health Organization 
sheppards@who.int

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UN: Accelerate action to fight climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution

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Stockholm/New York, June 2 – The United Nations has called for accelerating progress made in the past 50 years to protect planet earth’s environment as promises have not been kept and nations now face the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity degradation and pollution.

At the June 2-3 international conference in Sweden’s capital titled, “Stockholm+50 :  A healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity,” and co-hosted by Sweden and Kenya, thousands of participants are attending, including UN and government officials as well representatives from civil society. They planned to hammer out an effective program to achieve a set of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The UN said the conference will be organized around plenary segments , three leadership dialogues and side events that will focus on the importance of multilateralism in tackling the triple planetary crisis. It will also reinforce the outcomes of the fifth UN Environment Assembly , which took place earlier this year in Nairobi.

In 1972, Sweden organized the first-ever Conference on the Human Environment and launched UN efforts to promote a green and healthy environment. The UN then created an environmental program agency to support those efforts. Organizers said the current conference took place at a time the world needs effective action to save the environment while it is dealing conflict, the pandemic, food prices and persistent inequalities.

The 113 countries that attended the 1972 conference adopted the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment , which placed environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns.

“The crisis for our environment and climate affects people all around the world. The developed countries are the ones who pollute and have polluted the most. But the poorest are hit the hardest,” Prime Minister Andersson said in her opening remarks. “We must ensure that no country is left behind. And we must ensure that no person is left behind. The climate transition can only be done if it’s made in a social and inclusive way. This is not just an option. This is our moral obligation.”

Speakers stressed the need for decisive action to transform the global economy and humanity’s relationship with nature for people and planet to thrive. They included His Majesty the King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, President Mohamed al-Menfi of Libya, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria and John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

“We have an exceptional opportunity to turn climate and environmental commitments into action, if we work together as a community of nations. Heightened ambition in financing and implementation should be at the core of these actions,” said Kenyatta whose country is host to the UN Environment Program (UNEP) since it was established in the 1972 Stockholm Conference.

“Today, I call on G20 governments to dismantle coal infrastructure, with a full phase-out by 2030 for OECD countries and 2040 for all others,” Guterres said in address opening the conference.

“And I call on all financial actors to abandon fossil fuel finance and invest in renewable energy. Renewable energy technologies should be seen as a global public good. The necessary raw materials should be available to all. We must scale up and diversify supply chains.”

“We face a triple planetary crisis,” Guterres said. He said a climate emergency is displacing populations around the world while the ecosystem degradation has escalated biodiversity loss that is affecting the well-being of 3 billion people and pollution and waste costs 9 million lives a year.

“We know what to do. And, increasingly, we have the tools to do it. But we still lack leadership and cooperation, He said. “So today, I appeal to leaders in all sectors: Lead us out of this mess.”

On climate change, Guterres said scientists have warned that there is a 50:50 chance that global warming could breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next five years.

“We cannot let that happen. We must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 to reach net-zero by 2050. And developed nations must at least double support to developing countries so they can adapt and build resilience to the climate disruption that is already happening.”

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WHO raises alarm on tobacco industry environmental impact

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Geneva, May 31 —The World Health Organization (WHO) has today revealed new information on the extent to which tobacco damages both the environment and human health, calling for steps to make the industry more accountable for the destruction it is causing. Following is a news release from WHO to celebrate World No Tobacco Day

Every year the tobacco industry costs the world more than 8 million human lives, 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2.

The majority of tobacco is grown in low-and-middle-income countries, where water and farmland are often desperately needed to produce food for the region. Instead, they are being used to grow deadly tobacco plants, while more and more land is being cleared of forests.

Related link: Talking Trash: Behind the Tobacco Industry’s “Green” Public Relations

The WHO report “Tobacco: Poisoning our planet” highlights that the industry’s carbon footprint from production, processing and transporting tobacco is equivalent to one-fifth of the CO2 produced by the commercial airline industry each year, further contributing to global warming.

“Tobacco products are the most littered item on the planet, containing over 7,000 toxic chemicals, which leech into our environment when discarded. Roughly 4.5 trillion cigarette filters pollute our oceans, rivers, city sidewalks, parks, soil and beaches every year,” said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at WHO.

Products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes also add to the build-up of plastic pollution. Cigarette filters contain microplastics and make up the second-highest form of plastic pollution worldwide.

Despite tobacco industry marketing, there is no evidence that filters have any proven health benefits. WHO calls on policy-makers to treat cigarette filters, as what they are, single use plastics, and consider banning cigarette filters to protect public health and the environment.

The costs of cleaning up littered tobacco products fall on taxpayers, rather than the industry creating the problem. Each year, this costs China roughly USD 2.6 billion and India roughly USD 766 million. The cost for Brazil and Germany come in at over USD 200 million (see table below for further estimates).

Countries like France and Spain and cities like San Francisco, California in the USA have taken a stand. Following the Polluter Pays Principle, they have successfully implemented “extended producer responsibility legislation” which makes the tobacco industry responsible for clearing up the pollution it creates.

WHO urges countries and cities to follow this example, as well as give support to tobacco farmers to switch to sustainable crops, implement strong tobacco taxes (that could also include an environmental tax) and offer support services to help people quit tobacco.

Note to the editor: In the table below, we present estimates of tobacco product waste (TPW) attributable costs in one country from each of the WHO regions. These estimates are based on the “proportional estimation” approach, which starts with an estimate of the costs of total litter (“all product waste,” or APW) for each country, and then applying an estimate of the proportion of all litter that is TPW (i.e., a TPW “weight”). 

For estimated APW costs (column [1]), we relied on publicly available literature and reports for as many of the six countries as possible.  For Brazil, China, and India, we were not able to identify any sources. Thus, for those countries, we imputed APW costs by applying the average APW cost per capita of similar middle-income countries for which data were available. Once we had APW cost for all countries, we applied the TPW proportion. The TPW proportion was based on the global average from the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, weighted by the WHO smoking prevalence in each country (i.e., we assumed that countries with higher rates of smoking would have higher proportions of TPW).  The final TPW cost estimate is the APW cost multiplied by the weighted TPW proportion.

Please contact Jaimie Guerra at guerraja@who.int and cc mediainquiries@who.in

Related link: Talking Trash: Behind the Tobacco Industry’s “Green” Public Relations

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UN human rights chief urges China to “review” its policies against the Uyghur people

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Guangzhou/New York, May 28 – Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the Chinese government to review its widely criticized policies applied in the Xinjiang region inhabited by Uyghur minorities and to comply with international human rights standards.

“During my visit, the Government assured me that the VETC system (Vocational Education and Training Centre) has been dismantled,” Bachelet said in a lengthy statement issued during a virtual press conference in Guangzhou as she concluded a six-day visit to China’s western region.

“I encouraged the Government to undertake a review of all counter terrorism and de-radicalization policies to ensure they fully comply with international human rights standards, and in particular that they are not applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory way,” she said.

Bachelet said her visit to Xinjiang was not an investigation of the treatment of the Uyghur people and it was an opportunity to hold direct discussions with China’s most senior leaders “on human rights, to listen to each other, raise concerns, explore and pave the way for more regular, meaningful interactions in the future, with a view to supporting China in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law.”

“In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, I have raised questions and concerns about the application of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures and their broad application – particularly their impact on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities,” she said.

Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said she spent two days in Kashgar and Urumqi and met with government officials, including the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), the Governor and the Vice-Governor in charge of public security among others. She also visited Kashgar prison and the Kashgar Experimental School, the training center for VETC.

“I raised with the government the lack of independent judicial oversight of the operation of the program, the reliance by law enforcement officials on 15 indicators to determine tendencies towards violent extremism, allegations of the use of force and ill treatment in institutions, and reports of unduly severe restrictions on legitimate religious practices,“ she said, adding however that she had not been able to assess the full scale of the VETCs.

Bachelet said some Uyghur families had told her before her trip to China that they had lost contact with family members and she had appealed to Chinese officials “to take measures to provide information to families as a matter of priority.”

“I also share the concerns of UN human rights mechanisms about legitimate activities by lawyers, human rights defenders and others being penalized under the national security framework. UN human rights bodies have found the system of Residential Surveillance constitutes arbitrary detention and have called for its repeal.”

Tibet Autonomous Region

Turning to the Tibet Autonomous Region, Bachelet said Tibetan linguistic, religious and cultural identity “be protected, and that Tibetan people are allowed to participate fully and freely in decisions about their religious life and for dialogue to take place. I discussed education policies in the Tibet Autonomous Region and stressed the importance of children learning in their own language and culture in the setting of their families or communities.”

 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)

 Bachelet said HKSAR has long been respected as a center for human rights and independent media.

“It is important that the government there do all it can to nurture – and not stifle – the tremendous potential for civil society and academics in Hong Kong to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights in the HKSAR and beyond. The arrests of lawyers, activists, journalists and others under the National Security Law are deeply worrying. Hong Kong is due to be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Committee in July, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

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UN: Over 100 million people forced to flee conflict and persecution for the first time on record

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Geneva/New York, May 23 – The United Nations refugee agency said a record number of over 100 million people have been forced to flee war, human rights violations and persecution, including the millions of Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s war in their country this year.

The agency said there were an estimated 90 million people who were forcibly displaced by violence in countries like Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Congo by the end of 2021. That number has reached over 100 million this year after more than six million Ukrainians fled their country and a further eight million are displaced inside the country following the February 24 Russian military invasion.

“One hundred million is a stark figure — sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, UN News reported. “This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

“The international response to people fleeing war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive,” Grandi added. “Compassion is alive, and we need a similar mobilization for all crises around the world. But ultimately, humanitarian aid is a palliative, not a cure. To reverse this trend, the only answer is peace and stability so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile”.

The UN agency said the 100 million displaced people worldwide represented 1 per cent of the global population and they included refugees as well as asylum seekers and the 53.2 million people displaced within their countries.

Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “Today’s sobering 100 million displacement figure is indisputable proof that global leaders are failing the world’s most vulnerable people on a scale never before seen. Behind these numbers are families without roofs over their heads, children shut out from school and entire communities facing starvation. We are witnessing an unprecedented plague of human suffering.

“The war in Ukraine has not only forced over 14 million people from their homes, but has tipped the global displacement number over 100 million for the first time on record. Disruptions to Ukraine’s supply chains have also caused food and fuel prices to soar in the world’s crisis hotspots, worsening an already dire situation for displaced people. We are seeing the domino effect of this devastating many places where we operate, from Somalia to Yemen. 

“Meanwhile, the aid system is overstretched and underfunded. We will not be able to support 100 million people in need without more resources – it is twice the number of people compared to a decade ago, without a doubling of funding to match it.”

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UN: Over 100 million people forced to flee conflict and persecution for the first time on record

Geneva/New York, May 23 – The United Nations refugee agency said a record number of over 100 million people have been forced to flee war, human rights violations and persecution, including the millions of Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s war in their country this year.

The agency said there were an estimated 90 million people who were forcibly displaced by violence in countries like Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Congo by the end of 2021. That number has reached over 100 million this year after more than six million Ukrainians fled their country and a further eight million are displaced inside the country following the February 24 Russian military invasion.

“One hundred million is a stark figure — sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, UN News reported. “This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

“The international response to people fleeing war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive,” Grandi added. “Compassion is alive, and we need a similar mobilization for all crises around the world. But ultimately, humanitarian aid is a palliative, not a cure. To reverse this trend, the only answer is peace and stability so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile”.

The UN agency said the 100 million displaced people worldwide represented 1 per cent of the global population and they included refugees as well as asylum seekers and the 53.2 million people displaced within their countries.

Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, “Today’s sobering 100 million displacement figure is indisputable proof that global leaders are failing the world’s most vulnerable people on a scale never before seen. Behind these numbers are families without roofs over their heads, children shut out from school and entire communities facing starvation. We are witnessing an unprecedented plague of human suffering.

“The war in Ukraine has not only forced over 14 million people from their homes, but has tipped the global displacement number over 100 million for the first time on record. Disruptions to Ukraine’s supply chains have also caused food and fuel prices to soar in the world’s crisis hotspots, worsening an already dire situation for displaced people. We are seeing the domino effect of this devastating many places where we operate, from Somalia to Yemen. 

“Meanwhile, the aid system is overstretched and underfunded. We will not be able to support 100 million people in need without more resources – it is twice the number of people compared to a decade ago, without a doubling of funding to match it.”

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UN calls for “goodwill on all sides” of Ukraine war to resolve global food crisis

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New York, May 18 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he has been in “intense contact” with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union to work out a solution to the food crisis threatening the livelihood of millions of people in developing countries.

 “Russia must permit the safe and secure export of grain stored in Ukrainian ports,” Guterres told a high-level ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council being presided over by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

”Alternative transportation routes can be explored – even if we know that by itself, this will not be enough to solve the problem. Russian food and fertilizers must have full and unrestricted access to world markets,” he said, adding that he has been also in touch with “several other key countries” to discuss the food crisis.

“I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go. The complex security, economic and financial implications require goodwill on all sides. I will not go into details because public statements could undermine the chances of success,” he said.

“But let’s be clear: there is no effective solution to the food crisis without reintegrating Ukraine’s food production, as well as the food and fertilizer produced by Russia and Belarus, into world markets — despite the war.”

Guterres said global hunger has reached new levels in just two years, from 135 million pre-pandemic to 276 million today and more than half a million people are living in famine conditions – an increase of more than 500 percent since 2016. In addition to conflict, he said the climate emergency is another driver of global hunger and over the past decade, 1.7 billion people have been affected by extreme weather and climate-related disasters.

The United States, which holds the 15-nation council’s presidency in May, said the two-day meeting will debate links between armed conflict and food security with a focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine as a major culprit for growing food prices and hunger affecting millions of people. The council will hear representatives from 30-35 countries, including those most affected by food insecurity and those that can take action and strengthen the food systems.

“The hard truth we have to reckon with is that people starve every day all around the world even though we have more than enough food to go around,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said before the council meeting. “Worse, many go hungry and don’t know where their next meal will come from because warmongers are intentionally using starvation as a weapon of war. Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen are just a few examples of places where conflict is driving people to desperate hunger.”

“These Days of Action are about bringing this crisis to the center of the world’s attention, and this is – this all takes on heightened significance given Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine.”

UN: Fragile economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic upended by war in Ukraine

The UN issued a mid-year economic report, saying that the war in Ukraine has “upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in Europe, increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures.”

The World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) said as of mid-2022, “the global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 per cent in 2022, down from the 4.0 per cent growth forecast released in January 2022.  Global inflation is projected to increase to 6.7 per cent in 2022, twice the average of 2.9 per cent during 2010–2020, with sharp rises in food and energy prices.”

“The downgrades in growth prospects are broad-based, including the world’s largest economies, — the United States, China and the European Union —, and the majority of other developed and developing economies. The growth prospects are weakening particularly in commodity-importing developing economies, driven by higher energy and food prices. The outlook is compounded by worsening food insecurity, especially in Africa.”

Read report: https://www.bit.ly/wespmidyear

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  Fragile economic recovery from COVID-19 pandemic upended by war in Ukraine 

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Amid rising inflationary pressures, UN revises global growth estimates downwards for 2022 (Following is a news release from the UN)
  New York, 18 May – The war in Ukraine has upended the fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, triggering a devastating humanitarian crisis in Europe, increasing food and commodity prices and globally exacerbating inflationary pressures, says the latest United Nations forecast released today. 

According to the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) as of mid-2022, the global economy is now projected to grow by only 3.1 per cent in 2022, down from the 4.0 per cent growth forecast released in January 2022.  Global inflation is projected to increase to 6.7 per cent in 2022, twice the average of 2.9 per cent during 2010–2020, with sharp rises in food and energy prices. 

The downgrades in growth prospects are broad-based, including the world’s largest economies, — the United States, China and the European Union —, and the majority of other developed and developing economies. The growth prospects are weakening particularly in commodity-importing developing economies,  driven by higher energy and food prices. The outlook is compounded by worsening food insecurity, especially in Africa.

“The war in Ukraine – in all its dimensions — is setting in motion a crisis that is also devastating global energy markets, disrupting financial systems and exacerbating extreme vulnerabilities for the developing world,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.  
 
He added, “We need quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy in open markets, by lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to those who need them, and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility.”
 
European Union prospects
 
In addition to the tragic loss of many human lives and the unfolding humanitarian crisis, the war is exacting heavy tolls not only on the economies of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, but also on the neighbouring economies in Central Asia and Europe, including the European Union. 

The sharp increase in energy prices represents a large negative terms-of-trade shock for the European Union, which in 2020 imported 57.5 per cent of its total energy consumption. The growth prospects for the European Union economy weakened significantly, with its GDP forecasted to grow by only 2.7 per cent in 2022, instead of the 3.9 per cent projected earlier in January. 

As imports from the Russian Federation accounted for almost 25 per cent of Europe’s energy consumption in 2020, a sudden halt in oil and natural gas flows from the Russian Federation would likely further increase energy prices and exacerbate inflationary pressures. EU member states from Eastern Europe and the Baltic region are severely impacted as they are already experiencing inflation rates well above the EU average.  

Developing and Least Developed Countries’ prospects
High inflation is reducing the real income of households, particularly in developing countries, where poverty is more prevalent, wage growth remains constrained, and fiscal support to alleviate the impact of higher oil and food prices remains limited.

The surge in food and energy prices are having knock-on effects on the rest of the economy and are posing an additional challenge to an inclusive recovery as it disproportionally affects low-income households that spend a much larger share of their income on food items. 

The monetary tightening in the United States is also set to raise borrowing costs and worsen financing gaps in developing countries, including the least developed countries. Tighter external financial conditions will adversely affect growth prospects, especially for the countries with high exposure to global capital markets facing debt distress or risks of debt default.  “The developing countries will need to brace for the impact of the aggressive monetary tightening by the Fed and put in place appropriate macroprudential measures to stem sudden outflows and stimulate productive investments,” said Hamid Rashid, Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and the lead author of the report. 

Climate actions challenged  
The war in Ukraine unfolds at a time when global CO2 emissions are at a record high. By driving up energy prices, the conflict will significantly impact global efforts to deal with the climate emergency.

As countries are looking to expand energy supplies amid high oil and gas prices, fossil fuel production is likely to increase in the short term. High prices of nickel and other metals may adversely affect the production of electric vehicles, while rising food prices may limit the use of biofuels.

“However, countries can also address their energy and food security concerns – brought to the fore due to the crisis – by accelerating the adoption of renewables and increasing efficiencies, thus strengthening the fight against climate change,” emphasized Shantanu Mukherjee, UN DESA Director of Economic Policy and Analysis. 
  For more information, please visit: https://www.bit.ly/wespmidyear

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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World’s leading economies and EU blame Russia’s war in Ukraine for global food insecurity

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Weissenhaus, Germany/New York, May 14 – The world’s seven leading economies (G7) and the European Union said in a statement concluding their three-day meeting in Weissenhaus that the Russia’s war in Ukraine is responsible for spiked food and commodity prices that are threatening millions of people, particularly in poor countries in Africa and the Middle East. The UN Security Council in New York has scheduled an open debate on May 19 on the war’s impacts on the global economy.

The statement said the “war of aggression against Ukraine” and unilateral actions preventing Ukraine’s exports of agricultural products have led to “steep price rises in commodity markets and the threats we are now seeing to global food security.”

“As global markets suffer from Russia’s war of choice by rising food and commodity prices, thus affecting the lives of people around the world and exacerbating existing humanitarian and protection needs, we are determined to contribute additional resources to and support all relevant efforts that aim to ensure availability and accessibility of food, energy and financial resources as well as basic commodities for all.”

The G7, composed of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. called on Russia to immediately cease its attacks on key transport infrastructure in Ukraine, including ports, so that they can be used for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products.

The G7 said it will discuss the causes and consequences of the global food crisis through a Global Alliance for Food Security and will closely cooperate with international partners and organizations beyond the G7 “with the aim of transforming political commitments into concrete actions as planned by various international initiatives such as the Food and Agricultural Resilience Mission (FARM) and key regional outreach initiatives, including towards African and Mediterranean countries.”

The G7 said Russia’s war in Ukraine “violated the UN Charter, undermined the fundamental principles of the European security architecture as enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris and will have to face consequences for its actions.” It also “condemns and will systematically expose Russia’s policy of information manipulation and interference, including disinformation which it employs to justify and support its war of aggression against Ukraine and which deliberately aims at manipulating public opinions domestically and worldwide with a view to covering its responsibilities in the ongoing war.”

UN Security Council to discuss war’s impacts on food security on May 19
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to preside a meeting of the 15-nation council on May 19 at which food security issues and the war in Ukraine will be debated with the participation of UN member nations. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, whose country holds the council’s presidency for the month of May, said the meeting will debate war’s impacts on food security.

The World Food Program (WFP), the UN agency that feeds the world’s hungry, has called for the re-opening of ports in Odesa in the Black Sea in order to allow exports of grains and other commodities to the rest of the world. Ukraine and Russia, known as major food baskets, provide up to 30 per cent of global wheat that are needed in developing countries.

WFP Executive Director David Beasley has said that Ukraine’s grain silos are full but the war has stopped all exports. He said 44 million people around the world are facing starvation because of severe shortages and high food prices.

“We have to open up these ports so that food can move in and out of Ukraine. The world demands it because hundreds of millions of people globally depend on these supplies,” he said. “We’re running out of time and the cost of inaction will be higher than anyone can imagine. I urge all parties involved to allow this food to get out of Ukraine to where it’s desperately needed so we can avert the looming threat of famine”.

WFP’s studies showed that 276 million people worldwide were already facing acute hunger at the start of 2022 and that number is expected to rise by 47 million people if the conflict in Ukraine continues, with the steepest rises in sub-Saharan Africa. WFP said most of Ukraine’s food productions before the war could feed some 400 million people and they were shipped through the Black Sea ports.

The World Bank in Washington said in its Commodity Markets Outlook report published on April 25 that Russia’s February 24 war in Ukraine has dealt a “major shock” to commodity markets and has altered global patterns of trade, production, and consumption in ways that will keep prices at historically high levels through the end of 2024.

The report said the increase in energy prices in the past two years has been the largest since the 1973 oil crisis. Price increases for food commodities—of which Russia and Ukraine are large producers—and fertilizers, which rely on natural gas as a production input, have been the largest since 2008.

Download the report

“Overall, this amounts to the largest commodity shock we’ve experienced since the 1970s. As was the case then, the shock is being aggravated by a surge in restrictions in trade of food, fuel and fertilizers,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions. “These developments have started to raise the specter of stagflation. Policymakers should take every opportunity to increase economic growth at home and avoid actions that will bring harm to the global economy.”

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UN reports nearly half of Afghanistan’s population suffer acute hunger

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Kabul/New York, May 9 – An estimated 19.7 million Afghan people, or nearly half of the country’s population, are facing acute hunger because of a series of setbacks, including drought, years of conflict and the on-going war in Ukraine which is causing a global shortage in wheat and other commodities, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP), two major UN agencies specialized in food, said in a joint report.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, conducted in January and February 2022 warned of “catastrophic levels” of food insecurity know as IPC Phase 5 that has been detected in the north-eastern province of Ghor, with a population of 20,000 people. It said the catastrophic levels of hunger are caused by a long period of harsh winter and disastrous agricultural conditions.

Read report: Afghanistan IPC Report,

(NOTE: Definitions provided by the UN: Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger. Chronic hunger is when a person is unable to consume enough food over an extended period to maintain a normal, active lifestyle.)

“Unprecedented levels of humanitarian assistance focused on bolstering food security have made a difference. But the food security situation is dire. Humanitarian assistance remains desperately important, as do the needs to rebuild shattered agricultural livelihoods and re-connect farmers and rural communities to struggling rural and urban markets across the country. Unless these happen, there will be no way out of this crisis,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan.

Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP’s Country Director and Representative in Afghanistan, said, “Food assistance and emergency livelihood support are the lifeline for the people of Afghanistan. We mounted the world’s largest humanitarian food operation in a matter of months, reaching more than 16 million people since August 2021.”

“We are working with farmers, millers, and bakeries, training women and creating jobs to support the local economy. Because the people of Afghanistan would much prefer jobs; women want to be able to work; and all girls deserve to go to school. Allowing the economy to function normally is the surest way out of the crisis, otherwise suffering will grow where crops cannot,” she added.

The report predicted that the food security outlook for June-November 2022 may see a slight improvement, including a reduction in the acute food insecurity cases to 18.9 million people due in part to the coming wheat harvest during the May-August period and this year’s “well-coordinated scale-up of humanitarian food assistance – alongside increased agricultural livelihood support.”

But the report said the slight improvement may be limited because of lingering drought and the country’s economic crisis, which means that hunger will remain a threat to millions of people in Afghanistan.

The war in Ukraine will continue to put pressure on Afghanistan’s wheat supply, food commodities, agricultural inputs and fuel prices, the report said. It said access to seeds, fertilizer and water for irrigation is limited, labour opportunities are scarce and enormous debts have been incurred to buy food over the last few months.

FAO and WFP said they will continue to scale up programs across Afghanistan while WFP has reached more than 16 million people so far in 2022 with emergency food assistance, and is supporting local markets, working with retailers and local suppliers. WFP continues to invest in people’s livelihoods through skills training and climate adaption projects so that families can cultivate their land and grow their own food. FAO said it will continue to scale up its assistance to farmers and herders in rural areas and will assist more than 9 million people in 2022 through a range of interventions supporting crop, livestock and vegetable production, cash transfers and the rehabilitation of vital irrigation infrastructure and systems.

“Supporting agriculture is a cost-effective and strategic intervention that delivers great short-term impact as lifesaving support, while it paves the way for longer-term recovery and sustainable development,” the two agencies said.

UN protests Taliban’s order forcing Afghan women to wear hijab and stay home

The UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) issued the following statement on May 7 to protest  the order:

“UNAMA is deeply concerned with today’s announcement by the Taliban de facto authorities that all women must cover their faces in public, that women should only leave their homes in cases of necessity, and that violations of this directive will lead to the punishment of their male relatives. Information that UNAMA has received suggests this is a formal directive rather than a recommendation, and that it will be implemented and enforced.

This decision contradicts numerous assurances regarding respect for and protection of all Afghans’ human rights, including those of women and girls, that had been provided to the international community by Taliban representatives during discussions and negotiations over the past decade. These assurances were repeated following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, that women would be afforded their rights, whether in work, education, or society at large.

The international community has been eager for signals that the Taliban are ready for positive relations with the wider world. The decision six weeks ago to postpone secondary schooling for Afghan girls was widely condemned internationally, regionally, and locally. Today’s decision by the Taliban might further strain engagement with the international community.

UNAMA will immediately request meetings with the Taliban de facto authorities to seek clarification on the status of this decision. UNAMA will also engage in consultations with members of the international community regarding its implications.”

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