Global megatrends such as income inequality, climate change, demographic shifts, technological progress, and urbanisation are shaping the future of societies. Yet, their quantitative impacts on development are neither well understood nor established. This paper examines the individual and combined effects of these global forces on poverty, using both cross-section and …
This third edition of the Zimbabwe Economic Update (ZEU) aims to provide both a current and historical background covering the pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic (2020 to April 2021) period. The 2019-2020 period marked a very difficult time for the country as 2019 was clouded by a prolonged drought, unprecedented cyclone …
This report explores the new poverty reduction strategy of the People's Republic of China and focuses on the vulnerable, particularly children, the elderly, and those whose access to health care is jeopardized by urbanization and aging. The People’s Republic of China has a long and successful record of poverty reduction. …
Order of the Madras High Court in the matter of Grace Banu Vs The Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu dated 20/05/2021. The matter related to COVID-19 relief measures to persons from transgender community in Tamil Nadu. An application was filed before the Madras High Court by Grace Banu requesting …
The World Social Report 2021 points to the ways in which rural development can be reset to achieve sustainable development. It calls for moving rural development to the centre of attention, instead of relegating it as an appendage of urban development; for ending the rural-urban divide through the adoption of …
Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of 'In Re: Problems and miseries of migrant labourers' dated 13/05/2021. The matter related to problems faced by migrant labourers due to COVID-19 imposed lockdown. The apex court directed the Central Government and governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana …
A strikingly large percentage of workers and firms operate outside the line of sight of governments in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs)—a challenge that is likely to hold back the recovery in these economies unless governments adopt a comprehensive set of policies to address the drawbacks of the informal …
Gender inequality and social inequity – understood in terms of access to and control over assets, participation in decision making, and knowledge, which are all dimensions of poverty – are deeply intertwined with environmental change. This discussion brief examines the relationships between air pollution, gender inequality, social inequity and poverty …
This paper proposes a new method for improving the design effect of household surveys based on a two-stage design in which the first stage clusters, or primary selection units, are stratified along administrative boundaries. Improvement of the design effect can result in more precise survey estimates (smaller standard errors and …
This paper is a contribution to the empirical literature that seeks to understand the factors contributing to poverty reduction in developing countries. Studies have sought to explain changes in poverty between two points in time by decomposing aggregate change in poverty into component factors, viz. growth of consumption expenditures or …
Among the important tasks of the UNFSS is identifying ways to finance the transformation of the global food system. This report analyses options for financing a specific, but crucial, part of the overall food system transformation, namely achieving SDG2 (and in particular “zero hunger”) by 2030 and examines the role …
Social protection can be a strategic tool for climate risk management and provides an important answer to the current calls for climate action and for increased resilience as we recover from COVID-19. The Paris Agreement demands rapid action to keep the average temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees, but also …
Myanmar, a least developed country, has made significant achievements in poverty reduction over the last decade. Despite such achievements, analyses of available data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic show that millions of people in Myanmar had remained vulnerable and at risk of falling into poverty in the face of a …
Modern economic policy making in Nigeria has placed enormous emphasis on diversification of the economy to non-oil productive sectors. With the aim to restore economic growth following the 2015-16 recession and lay the foundations for long-term structural change, the economic growth and recovery plan (ERGP) recognized the need to diversify …
As humanity’s demand on natural resources is increasingly exceeding Earth’s biological rate of regeneration, environmental deterioration such as greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere, ocean acidification and groundwater depletion is accelerating. As a result, the capacity of ecosystems to renew biomass, herein referred to as ‘biocapacity’, is becoming the material …
One year on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, many of the fears about the increase in hunger and poverty have been confirmed. Analyses by international institutions including the United Nations and the World Bank show just how devastating the pandemic has been on the global sustainable development goals …
Basic Statistics 2021 presents data for 46 economies in Asia and the Pacific on development indicators tracking progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
Despite turning out better than expected, growth in 2020 is estimated to be the worst on record, at –1.9 percent, leading to a large increase in poverty. In 2021, the region’s economy is expected to resume expansion at 3.4 percent, weaker than the 6 percent for the rest of the …
In view of importance of regular reporting of the state-wise values of HDI, GDI and GII, an attempt has been made to compute HDI, GDI and GII using the HDRO methodology and available data sets for the States/UTs as well as for the country as a whole for the years …
UN-Habitat’s new report - Cities and Pandemics: Towards a more just, green and healthy future – demonstrates how cities can reduce the impact of future pandemics and become more equitable, healthy and environmentally friendly. Urban areas have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis, with 95 per cent of …
Is there a trade-off between raising growth and reducing inequality and poverty? This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the complex links between growth, inequality, and poverty, with causation going in both directions. The evidence suggests that growth can be effective in reducing poverty, but its impact on …
