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New York, June 12 – While digital technologies are crucial tools to keep societies connected and informed, they have also enabled the spread of hate speech and disinformation that transformed into a global threat, the United Nations said at the launch a new policy brief calling for information integrity.

The brief said, “The danger cannot be overstated. Social media-enabled hate speech and disinformation can lead to violence and death. The ability to disseminate large-scale disinformation to undermine scientifically established facts poses an existential risk to humanity and endangers democratic institutions and fundamental human rights.”

The policy brief is available at https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/policy-briefs

The brief said hate speech and mis- and disinformation have spread to all major issues. For U.N.-led works, they have challenged and delayed urgent action on climate change, development and peacekeeping. Mis- and disinformation about the virus and vaccination also widely spread during the Covid-19 pandemic. The brief said any future solutions to protect information integrity should be future-proof. But the fast development of potentially powerful advance in artificial intelligence is also a matter of concern.

It said Open AI’s ChatGPT-3 platform, which was launched in November 2022 and gained 100 million users by January 2023, has “unimaginable potential” to address global challenges. However, “there are serious and urgent concerns about the equally powerful potential of recent advances in artificial intelligence – including image generators and video deepfakes – to threaten information integrity. Recent reporting and research have shown that generative artificial intelligence tools generated disinformation and hate speech, convincingly presented to users as fact”.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio said the proliferation of hate and lies in the digital space is currently causing grave global harm, fueling conflict, death and destruction, threatening democracy and human rights and undermining public health and climate action.

“Social media platforms have helped the United Nations to engage people around the world in our pursuit of peace, dignity and human rights on a healthy planet,” he said. “But today, this same technology is often a source of fear, not hope. Digital platforms are being misused to subvert science and spread disinformation and hate to billions of people.”

The U.N. chief said the organization is developing a Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms, which would provide a “gold standard for guiding action to strengthen information integrity.” The code will be presented to the Summit of the Future taking place in 2024.

Guterres said the proposals in the policy brief are aimed at creating “guardrails to help governments come together around guidelines that promote facts, while exposing conspiracies and lies, and safeguarding freedom of expression and information; and to help tech companies navigate difficult ethical and legal issues and build business models based on a healthy information ecosystem.”

Independent media

The brief supports a strengthened independent media at a time dozens of countries have taken measures to undermine press freedom and 85 per cent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in the last five years.

“Real public debate relies on the facts, told clearly, and reported ethically and independently. Ethical reporters, with quality training and working conditions, have the skills to restore balance in the face of mis- and disinformation. They can offer a vital service: accurate, objective and reliable information about the issues that matter. “

The policy brief is available at https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/policy-briefs

How mis- and disinformation affects major climate and environment programs

Following are excerpts from the policy briefs. “Mis- and disinformation have delayed urgently needed action to ensure a liveable future for the planet. Climate mis- and disinformation can be understood as false or misleading content that undercuts the scientifically agreed basis for the existence of human-induced climate change, its causes and impacts. Coordinated campaigns are seeking to deny, minimize or distract from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific consensus and derail urgent action to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.”

“A small but vocal minority of climate science denialists continue to reject the consensus position and command an outsized presence on some digital platforms. For example, in 2022, random simulations by civil society organizations revealed that Facebook’s algorithm was recommending climate denialist content at the expense of climate science.

 “On Twitter, uses of the hashtag #climatescam shot up from fewer than 2,700 a month in the first half of 2022 to 80,000 in July and nearly 193,000 in December. The phrase was also featured by the platform among the top results in the search for “climate”.

“In February 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called out climate disinformation for the first time, stating that a “deliberate undermining of science” was contributing to “misperceptions of the scientific consensus, uncertainty, disregarded risk and urgency, and dissent”.

“Some fossil fuel companies commonly deploy a strategy of ‘greenwashing’, misleading the public into believing that a company or entity is doing more to protect the environment, and less to harm it, than it is. The companies are not acting alone. Efforts to confuse the public and divert attention away from the responsibility of the fossil fuel industry are enabled and supported by advertising and public relations providers, advertising tech companies, news outlets and digital platforms. Advertising and public relations firms that create greenwashing content and third parties that distribute it are collectively earning billions from these efforts to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny and accountability. Public relations firms have run hundreds of campaigns for coal, oil and gas companies”. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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The world remains off track to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. Up to 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, largely in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Following is a news release from the U.N. Department of Global Communications.

Washington, New York, Geneva, Abu Dhabi, 6 June 2023 – A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO), released today, finds that the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 for energy by 2030.

This year marks the halfway point for achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. SDG 7 is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.

The goal includes reaching universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix. Attaining this goal will have a deep impact on people’s health and well-being, helping to protect them from environmental and social risks such as air pollution, and expanding access to primary health care and services.

The report can be downloaded at https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/

The 2023 edition of Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report warns that current efforts are not enough to achieve the SDG 7 on time. There has been some progress on specific elements of the SDG 7 agenda – for example, the increased rate of using renewables in the power sector – but progress is insufficient to reach the targets set forth in the SDGs.

The global energy crisis is expected to stimulate the deployment of renewables and improve energy efficiency with several government policies pointing to increasing investment. However, IRENA estimates show that international public financial flows in support of clean energy in low- and middle-income countries have been decreasing since before the COVID-19 pandemic and funding is limited to a small number of countries. To meet SDG 7 targets and to ensure that people fully benefit from the socio-economic gains of the shift to sustainable energy, it is necessary to structurally reform international public finance and define new opportunities to unlock investments.

The report also finds that mounting debt and rising energy prices are worsening the outlook for reaching universal access to clean cooking and electricity. Current projections estimate that 1.9 billion people will be without clean cooking and 660 million without electricity access in 2030 if we do not take further action and continue with current efforts.

These gaps will negatively impact the health of our most vulnerable populations and accelerate climate change. According to WHO, 3.2 million people die each year from illness caused by the use of polluting fuels and technologies, which increase exposure to toxic levels of household air pollution.

Key findings of the report – In 2010, 84% of the world’s population had access to electricity. This increased to 91% in 2021, meaning more than a billion people gained access over that period. However, the growth pace of access slowed in 2019–2021 compared to previous years. Rural electrification efforts contributed to this progress, but a large gap within urban areas remains.

In 2021, 567 million people in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global population without access. The access deficit in the region stayed almost the same as in 2010.

The world remains off track to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. Up to 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, largely in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The use of traditional biomass also means households spend up to 40 hours a week gathering firewood and cooking, which prohibits women from pursuing employment or participating in local decision-making bodies and children from going to school.

According to the 2019 WHO estimates, 3.2 million premature deaths each year were attributable to household air pollution created by using polluting fuels and technologies for cooking. Renewable electricity use in global consumption has grown from 26.3% in 2019 to 28.2% in 2020, the largest single-year increase since the start of tracking progress for the SDGs.

Efforts to increase renewables’ share in heating and transport, which represent more than three quarters of global energy consumption, remain off target to achieve 1.5oC climate objectives.

Energy intensity – the measure of how much energy the global economy uses per dollar of GDP – improved from 2010–2020 by 1.8% annually. This is higher than the 1.2% improvement from the previous decades. However, the rate of energy intensity improvement has slowed in recent years and dropped to 0.6% in 2020. This makes it the worst year for energy intensity improvement since the global financial crisis, albeit largely due to pandemic-related restrictions, which may indicate only a temporary setback. Annual improvements through 2030 must now average 3.4% to meet the SDG target 7.3.

International public financial flows in support of clean energy in developing countries stand at US$ 10.8 billion in 2021, 35% less than the 2010–2019 average and only about 40% of the 2017 peak of US$ 26.4 billion. In 2021, 19 countries received 80% of the commitments.

The report will be presented to top decision-makers at a special launch event on 11 July 2023 at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, ahead of the second SDG Summit in September 2023 in New York. The authors urge the international community and policymakers to safeguard the gains made toward achieving SDG 7, to advance structural reforms, and to maintain a strategic focus on the vulnerable countries needing the most support.

QUOTES

“The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a profound impact on people all around the world. High energy prices have hit the most vulnerable hard, particularly those in developing economies. While the clean energy transition is moving faster than many think, there is still a great deal of work needed to deliver sustainable, secure and affordable access to modern energy services for the billions of people who live without it. Successful energy transitions rely on effective policies and technological innovation combined with large-scale mobilisation of investment capital. The international community must leverage all these tools to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of this decade.” Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

“Cost-competitive renewable energy has yet again demonstrated remarkable resilience, but the poorest in the world are still largely unable to fully benefit from it. To realise SDG7 without compromising climate goals, we must bring about systemic change in the way international cooperation works. It is crucial that multilateral financial institutions direct financial flows more equitably around the world to support renewables deployment and related physical infrastructure development.” Francesco La Camera, Director-General, International Renewable Energy Agency

“Despite advances towards sustainable energy targets at the mid-point of Agenda 2030, Goal 7 seems harder to reach than it was in 2015 and scaled-up action is necessary if we are to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. Access to electricity and clean cooking still display great regional disparities and should be the focus of action to ensure that no one is left behind. Investment needs to reach the least-developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa to ensure more equitable progress toward Goal 7.” Stefan Schweinfest, United Nations Statistics Division

“Despite a recent slowdown in the global pace of electrification, the number of people without electricity almost halved over the past decade, from 1.1 billion in 2010 down to 675 million in 2021. Nonetheless, additional efforts and measures must urgently be put in place to ensure that the poorest and hardest-to-reach people are not left behind. To reach universal access by 2030, the development community must scale up clean energy investments and policy support.” Guangzhe Chen, Vice President for Infrastructure, World Bank

“We must protect the next generation by acting now.  Investing in clean and renewable solutions to support universal energy access is how we can make real change.  Clean cooking technologies in homes and reliable electricity in health-care facilities can play a crucial role in protecting the health of our most vulnerable populations.” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, World Health Organization

About the report

This report is published by the SDG 7 custodian agencies, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) and aims to provide the international community with a global dashboard to register progress on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy and international cooperation to advance SDG 7.

This is the ninth edition of this report, formerly known as the Global Tracking Framework (GTF). This year’s edition was chaired by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The report can be downloaded at https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/

Funding for the report was provided by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

Media contacts

IEA: Merve Erdil, merve.erdil@iea.org – IRENA: Nanda Febriani Moenandar, nmoenandar@irena.org

UNSD: Francyne Harrigan (UNDGC), harriganf@un.org; Pragati Pascale (UNDESA), pascale@un.org

World Bank: Lucie Blyth (ESMAP), lblyth1@worldbankgroup.org

WHO: mediainquiries@who.int, Paul Safar, safarp@who.int

Technical focal points

IEA: Gianluca Tonolo, gianluca.tonolo@iea.org

IRENA: Mirjam Reiner mreiner@irena.org & Gerardo Escamilla gescamilla@irena.org

UNSD: Leonardo Souza, souzal@un.org

World Bank: Elisa Portale eportale@worldbank.org & Jiyun Park jpark24@worldbank.org

WHO: mediainquiries@who.int, Heather Adair-Rohani, adairrohanih@who.int, Josselyn Mothe, mothej@who.int

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Rome/New York, May 31 – Urgent appeals for fresh funds to support life-saving humanitarian aid have increased, compelled by alarming facts that 18 hunger “hotspots” in 22 countries have worsened and have spread.

The Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Program said in a report that Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are at the highest alert level of hunger.

Conditions in Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali in the Sahel, and the Sudan are now at the highest concern levels due to severe movement restrictions to people and goods because of the war in Sudan.

Hunger hotspots with very high concern exist in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan and Syria.

The report said Lebanon is added to the list of hotspots, joining Malawi and El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in Central America.

“All hotspots at the highest level have communities facing or projected to face starvation, or are at risk of sliding towards catastrophic conditions, given they have already emergency levels of food insecurity and are facing severe aggravating factors. These hotspots require the most urgent attention,” the report said.

“All these hotspots have a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life‑threatening conditions in the coming months.”

The report titled “Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity” called for urgent humanitarian action to save lives, prevent starvation and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at a high risk of worsening from June to November 2023. Read report 

“Business-as-usual pathways are no longer an option in today’s risk landscape if we want to achieve global food security for all, ensuring that no one is left behind.” said Qu Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

“We need to provide immediate time-sensitive agricultural interventions to pull people from the brink of hunger, help them rebuild their lives, and provide long-term solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity. Investing in disaster risk reduction in the agriculture sector can unlock significant resilience dividends and must be scaled up,” he added.

“Not only are more people in more places around the world going hungry, but the severity of the hunger they face is worse than ever,” said Cindy McCain, WFP’s Executive Director.

“This report makes it clear: we must act now to save lives, help people adapt to a changing climate, and ultimately prevent famine. If we don’t, the results will be catastrophic,” McCain warned.

Yemen – The report said the country is one of the most food insecure countries in the world under the impact of years of conflict and economic decline. It said about 3.2 million people experienced high levels of acute food insecurity in government-controlled areas, representing a 23 per cent reduction from the period between October and December 2022. From June to December 2023, the report estimated that the number of people likely to experience high levels of acute food insecurity could increase to 3.9 million, out of which 2.8 million people are projected to reach crisis levels of hunger.

Sudan – WFP reported on May 30^th that it was able to reach desperate families trapped in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, for the first time since the armed conflict broke out on April 15.

WFP’s Country Director in Sudan, Eddie Rowe, said the agency distributed food assistance to 15,000 people in both Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled areas of Omdurman. As reported by the U.N., Rowe said other recent food distributions took place in Wadi Halfa in Northern State to reach 8,000 people fleeing Khartoum and on their way to Egypt, as well as to 4,000 newly displaced people in Port Sudan.

WFP said it has been able to reach 725,000 people across 13 states in the country since it resumed its operations on May 3. WFP said some 16 million Sudanese have had difficulty to afford a meal a daybefore war broke out. It said food insecure population is expected to increase by about 2.5 million in coming months in addition to those already in the difficult situation. The agency said it plans to reach 5.9 million people across Sudan over the next six months and needs $730 million in humanitarian aid, telecommunications and logistics services.

Syria – The U.N. has appealed for $5.4 million to assist 15.3 million, or close to 70 per cent of Syria’s population, who are experiencing some degree of “humanitarian stress.”

Ghada Mulawi, the U.N. humanitarian office’s deputy operations director, told the U.N. Security Council on May 30^th that the Syrian people “are more and more reliant on humanitarian assistance as basic services and critical infrastructure are on the brink of collapse. Syrian people need the support of the international community now more than at any time in the past 12 years.”

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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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