The global economy is at a crossroads, where divergent growth paths, widening inequalities, growing market concentration, and mounting debt burdens cast shadows on its future.
Economic Development
Over the last six months, on nearly 50 SDG indicators across 90 countries. underscores the pressing need for swift and targeted action.
The 2023 International Day for South-South Cooperation (12 September) takes place a week ahead of the UN SDG Summit and is an opportunity to raise awareness of the practical actions to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals at the halfway mark to the 2030 target. South-South cooperation is a manifestation of solidarity among peoples and countries of the South that contributes to their national well-being, their national and collective self-reliance and the attainment of internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Apply today to participate in, an initiative that offers training, support, pitching and networking opportunities to help women entrepreneurs access financing and succeed. The program provides investment readiness training, business skills training, pitching and matchmaking opportunities, all critical to helping women-led startups scale up their businesses. She Wins Africa is open to women-led startups operating in sub-Saharan Africa in any sector. Applications close on September 15th, 2023.
global public debt has reached colossal levels, standing at $92 trillion in 2022. This five-fold surge in public debt levels since 2000 demands immediate action to tackle the escalating crisis affecting developing countries. On average, African countries pay four times more for borrowing than the United States and eight times more than the wealthiest European economies. A total of 52 countries 鈥 almost 40 percent of the developing world 鈥 are in serious debt trouble with half of all developing nations spend a minimum of 7.4% of their export revenues on servicing external public debt.
Fashion has one of the most powerful marketing engines that influences the identities, values, and actions of billions of people. This, in turn, impacts consumption patterns, a . and launched the , a guide with an , on how to align consumer-facing communication in the fashion industry with sustainable targets in accordance to the Paris Agreement. Its purpose is to reduce the carbon print and overconsumption, demand action, and inspire sustainable lifestyles.
Syrians are laying down roots in their places of refuge and have valuable skills and knowledge that they can use in their host communities. grants are helping refugees fulfil their potential.
The recently launched Productive Capacities Index will help countries make more accurate diagnostics and measurements of their economic performance. By measuring the economy from an input perspective across eight core components of productive capacities, the PCI more fully captures economic potential and highlights key areas for development policy focus. Stronger productive capacities help countries move towards long-term national development goals and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. With 鈥檚 support, more countries are adopting the PCI to establish data-driven and evidence-based policies.
Small-scale farmers in developing countries are only one flood, one drought or one failed harvest away from ruin. asks "Tomorrow is a new day. What will it look like?"
In the words of rice farmer Deur Sok, the difference the 2.3km canal built in 2022 as part of a -backed project is making in Sambour, a commune in central Cambodia鈥檚 Kampong Thom province is tremendous. Changing weather patterns in the past few years have caused an unpredictable succession of drought and flooding, which spelled disaster for farmers relying on so-called wet season 鈥 or rainfed 鈥 rice cultivation. Farmers in the region had seen their plants wilt when there was not enough water 鈥 or washed away when there was too much. The canal has broken their dependence on erratic weather events and as a result, their yields have more than doubled.
Over 50 per cent of remittances are sent to households in rural areas, where 75 per cent of the world's poor and food-insecure live. Rural households rely on these flows for improving their livelihoods. Globally, the accumulated flows to rural areas over the next five years will reach US$1.5 trillion. This International Day of Family Remittances (16 June) focuses on promoting digital technologies to enhance financial inclusion in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Day also aims at achieving the cost reduction target of 3% as mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goal 10.c.
Garin Kaka is one of three "opportunity villages" that form part of an initiative by , together with the Niger government and local leaders, to provide refugees with a more sustainable alternative to living in camps. After being relocated to Garin Kaka, Jamilla met Hamsou after joining the peanut oil cooperative, one of several income-generating projects in the village which UNHCR partner, Action pour le Bien Etre, helped to start up. Jamilla is the president of the cooperative of 20 refugees and local women who work together to produce peanut oil.
Renewable energy is touted as a solution for rural electricity access in Africa. -implemented projects in Sierra Leone run solar-powered mini-grid systems in rural areas of the country.
A short yet perilous road connects the towns of Buufow and Shalanbood in southern Somalia. The two communities have had to cope with increasing scarcity of natural resources from which to derive their livelihoods. This combined with a lack of basic services increases the likelihood of conflicts. In an original approach to conflict resolution, youth met for a 鈥淕ame Day鈥 - an innovative peacebuilding project implemented by and - where they use a smartphone game application to identify priorities for investments in critical infrastructure that would promote peace and productivity.
There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept of creativity ranges from artistic expression to problem-solving and can be used in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. The creative economy too has no single definition. It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas and intellectual property, knowledge and technology. On World Creativity and Innovation Day (21 April), the world is invited to embrace the idea that creativity and innovation are essential for harnessing the economic potential of nations.