Sustainable Development Goals

18 April 2024Economic Development The President of the UN General Assembly on Thursday underscored the critical need for resilient infrastructure if the world is to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline. In a special meeting dedicated to building resilience and promoting sustainable development through infrastructure connectivity, Dennis Francis emphasised the importance of quality and endurance. “Quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient...

20 April 2024Economic Development Vanessa Winston’s home and business in the Caribbean island of Dominica were destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Starting from scratch, the mother of four fought back and today, with UN support, she has rebuilt her life. 44-year-old Vanessa Winston lives in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, where she runs a small-scale business primarily making bespoke, hand-made fashion accessories. She is also President of the UN-supported Dominica Arts & Craft...

“I was not aware that vegetables were that important or how to grow them,” said the 25-year-old farmer from Idas in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. “Now I do.” She, along with 50 of her neighbours in this village among the rolling hills of northwest Borneo, received vegetable seeds and the opportunity to participate in a training course on how to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peanuts, foods that should make their families less prone to diseases. Kornelia Icha sorts through...

According to UN estimates, the world is facing an annual financing gap of about $4 trillion to achieve sustainable development, leaving countries with hardly any resources to invest in better education, healthcare, renewable energy or social protection. “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are hanging by a thread, and with them, the hopes and dreams of billions of people around the world,” António Guterres said, addressing the UN Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) 2024 Forum on...

Small island developing States (SIDS) often benefit from good weather, sandy beaches and lush countryside, attracting large numbers of tourists, particularly from the United States and Europe, seeking to escape the gloomy winter months. But, growing up in these countries can be hard: opportunities are few and far between, and youth unemployment is high, with more than half of young people out of work in some countries, according to recent studies. Robert Tonge, Digital Economy Coordinator...

They live in the village of Ankilinanjosoa in Anosy, a region which has suffered a series of droughts leading to the failures of multiple harvests. Twenty-five women formed a grower’s association which has access to water as part of a project supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Tenefo Votsirasoa is a member of a women’s growers association in the village of Ankilinanjosoa. It’s hoped a reliable way to irrigate their crops will not only help to build their resilience to the...

In an alert, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that this increase had been fuelled by the growing number of people forced to work illegally, but also by higher profits. ILO senior research officer Federico Blanco told journalists in Geneva that traffickers and criminals make close to $10,000 per victim, around $1,700 more than they did in 2014. “The human toll is also incalculable. These illegal profits represent wages, resources, livelihoods, effectively stolen from...

The 2023 Human Development Index stands at a new high following steep decline during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Rich countries experienced unprecedented development, the Human Development Report details, yet half of the world’s poorest nations continue to languish below their pre-COVID crisis levels. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite of statistics measuring such factors as per capita income, educational...

Kanni Wignaraja, Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, who recently visited the country, told correspondents in New York that 69 per cent of Afghans are “subsistence insecure” – meaning they do not have enough basic resources. “Something that really hit me … was the harsh impact of continuous natural disasters,” she said, adding that many parts of Afghanistan are facing “dramatic” scarcity of water further setting back development efforts. Lights out Since the...

7 March 2024Economic Development The benefits of cutting-edge technology remain out of reach for around 2.6 billion people globally who are still waiting for an Internet connection, the head of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said on Thursday, outlining the agency’s plans to narrow the gap. Doreen Bogdan-Martin underscored ITU’s wide-ranging brief, emphasizing its pivotal role in fostering connectivity across the globe. Founded in 1865 as an international telegraph...