The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The World’s Women 2020 is a collection of 100 stories providing up-to-date assessments of progress towards gender equality in the following six critical areas, including, under each area, the impact of COVID-19 on women: (a) population and families; (b) health; (c) education; (d) economic empowerment and asset ownership; (e) power …
This study by Oxfam India analyses the regional disparity and inequality in Bihar with respect to the other states in India and inter-district variations within the state. It is based mainly on secondary data from published official reports, individual studies, etc. The study is, thus, constrained by a limited database …
This report assesses the potential land use and climate impacts due to an increased demand of wood for bioenergy in Canada following the implementation of the expected Clean Fuels Standard and other climate mitigation initiatives linked to the Pan-Canadian Framework. Canada is already slightly increasing its use of wood-based bioenergy …
Financiers can and must make the shift to circularity, ensuring the consumption and production patterns of the businesses they invest in make more efficient use of resources and minimize waste, pollution and carbon emissions, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). Launched at …
Entitled Building a Resilient Innovative Africa, the report is a result of a survey of over 1,000 pan-African innovators, entrepreneurs, and start-ups from both Djembe’s and AfriLabs’ vast innovation and entrepreneurship networks. Framed within the context of key milestones for the continent, including the impending African Free Trade Continental Area …
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed online shopping behaviours, according to a survey of about 3,700 consumers in nine emerging and developed economies.The survey, entitled “COVID-19 and E-commerce”, examined how the pandemic has changed the way consumers use e-commerce and digital solutions. It covered Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, the Republic …
The coronavirus pandemic has swept across a world unprepared to fight it, because countries had failed to choose policies to fight inequality. Only one in six countries assessed for the CRI Index 2020 were spending enough on health, only a third of the global workforce had adequate social protection, and …
Rapid adoption of digital technologies can help the Philippines overcome the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, recover from the crisis, and achieve its vision of becoming a middle-class society free of poverty, according to the report released by the World Bank and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The …
The global economy is climbing out from the depths to which it had plummeted during the Great Lockdown in April. But with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread, many countries have slowed reopening and some are reinstating partial lockdowns to protect susceptible populations. While recovery in China has been faster …
The COVID-19 Pandemic calls for a multi-sectoral response in Asia and the Pacific to protect people and enhance resilience, support economic recovery and restore supply chains and support SMEs. Shipping and ports are a major part of such a response. For most countries in Asia and the Pacific, shipping represents …
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the European University Institute (EUI), the University of Amsterdam (UvA), and the German Development Institute (DIE) released a study that finds there is “significant overlap” between the SDGs and voluntary sustainability standards (VSS). The report highlights how …
Informal food systems contribute to the food and nutrition security of hundreds of millions of people around the world, particularly in the global South. But the concept of sustainable diets – which brings together global priorities around food and nutrition security, environmental protection and economic affordability – is built around …
As a global community of nations and some 8 billion people, we share in the desire to achieve the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goals that call for no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, reduced inequality, and climate action, among others. The …
Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region, the center of gravity …
The economy of the Central African Republic (CAR) grew at a slower pace in 2019 compared to 2018. Still, it grew at 3.1 percent, year-onyear, in 2019, above the average of regional peers (1.6 percent) and countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) (2.7 percent). Despite improvements in security …
The 2020 Africa SDG Index and Dashboards Report provides an assessment of where African countries stand with respect to the SDGs and their progress toward the goals, with the additional lens of “leave no one behind.” The report also includes a preliminary analysis of the impact of COVID‑19 on the …
SDSN’s National and Regional Networks promote the localization and implementation of the SDGs, develop long-term transformation pathways, provide education for sustainable development, and launch Solutions Initiatives to address challenges. Each network focuses on distinct projects and priorities in line with their local contexts and challenges. The 2020 Networks in Action …
Most of the world’s nations are not doing enough to protect women and girls from the economic and social fallout being caused by the COVID-19 crisis, according to new data released today by UNDP and UN Women from the COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker. The tracker, which includes over 2,500 …
Access to finance has been found crucial in influencing firms’ real activities and economic performance. This paper investigates the relationship between the financing structure and firm performance by explor- ing a unique panel dataset of 59,968 Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) operating in the manufacturing sector in Indonesia over the …
Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries. Despite major investments by both government and private sector, this challenge will intensify if job opportunities remain limited. To tackle youth unemployment, the report highlights the importance of …
