EU invests in nature, environment and climate Strategic Projects, one year of the war in Ukraine leaves lasting scars on the global economy and employment-related gender gaps greater than previously thought. Here is what you missed from last week’s headlines in the international development sector.
LIFE programme: EU invests more than €116 million in nature, environment and climate Strategic Projects
The Commission announced an investment of over €116 million for the new LIFE Programme’s Strategic Projects. The funding will help eight major projects in Belgium, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and Finland reach their climate and environmental targets. The projects are expected to mobilize significant additional funds from other EU funding sources, including agricultural, structural, regional, and research funds, in addition to national funds and private sector investment.
The projects will help Europe become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and successfully implement the European Green Deal. They also support the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, and the Nature Restoration Law and contribute to a clean energy transition.
One year of the war in Ukraine leaves lasting scars on the global economy
One year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war’s economic impact still reverberates around the world. The war – while not being the key factor explaining the slower-than-anticipated economic growth in 2022 and downgraded forecasts for 2023 – weighed negatively on global economic activity, adding to inflationary pressures worldwide and impeding the post-pandemic recovery.
The war has contributed to volatile and elevated commodity and energy prices, which exacerbated food shortages and stoked inflation in many regions across the world. Although energy and grain prices subsided from their mid-2022 peaks, the risks of their resurgence remain, and Europe may still face challenges to its energy security.
Some effects of the war have been mitigated by targeted policy measures and initiatives, including the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. Nevertheless, uncertainty over the duration and intensity of the conflict, along with potential export restrictions in food-exporting countries, means that food supply challenges will likely persist in 2023. Countries have also taken steps to secure imports of essentials, given the disruption of supply chains. It remains an open question as to whether global supply chains will evolve into significantly different configurations, given the accumulated experience with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 launched last month has estimated some of the economic consequences of the war. Ukraine’s economy suffered heavy losses, contracting by over 30 per cent in 2022 according to preliminary national data, and after the end of the conflict, will need large-scale and expensive reconstruction efforts. International support for Ukraine from various partners has remained steadfast over this period.
Employment-related gender gaps greater than previously thought, ILO report finds
Gender imbalances in access to employment and working conditions are greater than previously thought and progress in reducing them has been disappointingly slow in the last two decades, according to a new ILO brief. A new indicator developed by the ILO, the Jobs Gap, captures all persons without employment that are interested in finding a job. It paints a much bleaker picture of the situation of women in the world of work than the more commonly used unemployment rate. The new data shows that women still have a much harder time finding a job than men.
According to the brief, New data shine a light on gender gaps in the labour market, 15 per cent of working-age women globally would like to work but do not have a job, compared with 10.5 per cent of men. This gender gap has remained almost unchanged for two decades (2005-2022). In contrast, the global unemployment rates for women and men are very similar, because the criteria used to define unemployment tends to disproportionately exclude women.
DevelopmentAid Editorials
Urgent action needed to stop melting of ice sheets and rising sea levels
Scientists have sounded the alarm: the world must take immediate and drastic action to halt global warming and prevent the melting of ice sheets which will lead to rising sea levels that could threaten millions of people. Moderate action is no longer enough as this would fail to prevent the increase in sea levels. Moreover, a recent study indicates that Antarctic sea ice has hit an all-time low, suggesting that the climate system is responding to global warming.
Read the full article.
World waste: statistics by country and short facts
Have you ever wondered how much garbage and rubbish there is on Earth? When disposing of their daily trash, most people do not give any further thought to where it goes and what happens to it. But a greater insight into waste could provide us with a different attitude towards a variety of issues, ranging from our consumption patterns to the environmental footprint we leave behind.
Just think about this: every minute, 3,825 tons of municipal waste are produced and collected. The largest share of this huge volume ends up in landfills or on open dump sites, putting enormous pressure on the environment and wildlife habitats. Unfortunately, on the whole, people have not yet acknowledged the danger of overconsumption and overproduction and while businessmen, politicians, activists and scientists argue about how to reduce, reuse, and recycle, each country faces tons and tons of waste to deal with.
In this article, we’ll briefly describe the waste-related numbers and figures behind your daily cup of coffee, meal, and even daily shower.
Source: Statista.com
Read the full article.
Women in 2023: challenges, opportunities and perspectives | Experts’ Opinions
The right to vote and to be elected, to pursue a career and even to run a marathon were once utopian ideals for women. Today, these rights are a reality for most women and girls across the globe but even now, in some countries, women are still discriminated against, limited in their activities, and even lack control of their own bodies. In developed states, women earn 83 cents for each dollar that men earn, and this gender gap varies by occupation and industry. That’s why, each year, on the 8th of March, we mark International Women’s Day – a holiday devoted to celebrating the achievements of women and to seeking gender equality.
Key Takeaways:
- The differences in remuneration between women and men in terms of earnings is estimated to be 23% globally according to the International Labor Organization.
- COVID-19, climate changes, and the war in Ukraine have reversed previous progress on gender equality.
- Gender equality varies substantially across developing and developed countries. The differences lie in overall levels of education and the distribution of resources and wealth as well as the strength of the health system.
- Experts consider that the international community should strengthen its efforts on the applications of international conventions, treaties and other legal frameworks related to gender equity/equality.
Read the full article.
Here’s what else has happened
United Nations: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed an agreement with Euronav to secure the purchase of a Very Large Crude Carrier – or ‘VLCC’ – as part of the UN-coordinated operation to remove more than a million barrels of oil from a decaying tanker off Yemen’s Red Sea coast that threatens a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe.
LDC5: The Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) concluded with countries adopting concrete measures to implement the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) – which aims to renew and strengthen commitments between LDCs and their development partners – marking a transformative turning point for the world’s most vulnerable countries.
Earthquake one month on: One month after the devastating earthquakes struck southern Türkiye and Syria, the needs of the affected populations remain immense. Both Türkiye and Syria have sustained extensive damage, with the extent of misery inflicted upon the people living in each of the countries requiring international support that corresponds to the scale of the disaster.
WHO and UNICEF: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in coordination with health authorities, the Syria Immunization Group (SIG), and the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI), kicked off a cholera vaccination campaign in earthquake-hit areas of northwest Syria.
Reports
UNICEF warns of deepening inequalities in Europe and Central Asia
The COVID-19 pandemic, climate disasters, and ongoing conflict have deepened inequalities among children in Europe and Central Asia, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a report, calling for more robust support for boys and girls at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The report on children’s rights is the first of its kind to bring together existing data and analysis for all countries in the region while highlighting critical data gaps that need to be filled.
Malnutrition in mothers soars by 25 per cent in crisis-hit countries, putting women and newborn babies at risk
The number of pregnant and breastfeeding adolescent girls and women suffering from acute malnutrition has soared from 5.5 million to 6.9 million – or 25 per cent – since 2020 in 12 countries hardest hit by the global food and nutrition crisis, according to a new report released by UNICEF.
The 12 countries – including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen – represent the epicentre of a global nutrition crisis that has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and ongoing drought, conflict, and instability in some countries.
Undernourished and Overlooked: A Global Nutrition Crisis in Adolescent Girls and Women – issued ahead of International Women’s Day – warns that the ongoing crises, aggravated by ongoing gender inequality, are deepening a nutrition crisis among adolescent girls and women that had already shown little improvement in the last two decades.
Schools2030 Annual Report: A year of consolidation and growth
Schools2030, AKF’s flagship education programme, is thrilled to release its second Annual Report, providing details of its progress across ten countries and reflecting on all that has been learned together. Schools2030 is a ten-year participatory education programme based in 1,000 government schools across ten countries.
Events
Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the IDB and IDB Invest
📅 16- 19 March 2023
Panama City, Panama
In late March or early April of each year, the Boards of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest) hold their Annual Meeting in one of the Bank’s member countries.
2023 Japan Symposium: New Era, New Opportunities
📅 22–23 March 2023
Tokyo, Japan
The Japan Symposium returns to Tokyo, convening top executives and thought leaders to provide ideas, perspectives, and direction to capitalize on the potential of this new era.
