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 …
When powerful earthquakes rocked New Zealand and Haiti in 2010, each measuring 7.0 magnitude, very different dramas unfolded: New Zealand, though hit hard, was able to start recovering relatively quickly; Haiti, meanwhile, was brought to its knees. One major reason for the difference was the role insurance played in the …
Right now, people often associate the use of drones with warfare. But in the future they could serve humanitarian purposes, such as delivering aid to people in developing countries. For example, the pilotless flying machines might offer a cheaper and better way to deliver vaccines. And that could potentially boost …
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least a third of hospitals in developing nations do not have clean running water, a study has found, leading to unsanitary conditions and further spread of disease in drought-hit areas. The study examined 430 hospitals in developing countries and found that one third of …
This report is meant to inform a joint publication by the World Bank and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) on the economic costs of air pollution. Air pollution is a global challenge and one that is acutely felt in developing countries. Illnesses caused by ambient and household air …
Reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption will not hamper India's development, said climate change expert Jayant A Sathaye in Coimbatore on Saturday. Economical, social and technological development, he said, can still be achieved as long as the country's population was brought on board with policies to reverse climate change. To …
Air pollution has become a major contributor to stroke for the first time, with unclean air now blamed for nearly one third of the years of healthy life lost to the condition worldwide. In an unprecedented survey of global risk factors for stroke, air pollution in the form of fine …
Air pollution is becoming a “terrifying” problem around the globe, one of the world’s leading economic organisations has warned, and will get much worse in the coming decades if urgent steps are not taken to control the pollution. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday that …
MUMBAI: Increase in patents on essential medicines in India will jeopardise supply of affordable treatment , not only in the country, but also in developing nations. The latest trigger raising concerns among public health advocates is exorbitantly-priced hepatitis C drug sofosbuvir by Gilead, which was recently granted a patent in …
The global climate finance landscape has changed significantly since the establishment of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in 2008. New institutions have come to the fore, countries’ economic circumstances and investment needs have evolved, and climate-related risks have become clearer. Given this evolved landscape, and in light of the request …
High levels of investments are required to unleash the potential of agriculture for sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries, but low public budgetary allocations to the sector have slowed growth. To address this problem, innovative partnerships that bring together business, government and civil society actors are increasingly being …
This report provides a community perspective on priorities for future collaboration and investment in the development and use of disaster risk information for developing countries. The intended outcome of this report is twofold. First, that through the community speaking as one voice, additional investment in the areas highlighted as priorities …
The document provides an overview of the situation that small-scale fishers in developing countries face in terms of: financial and economic performance of fishery enterprises; vulnerabilities and poverty; adaptations to a changing environment including, climate variability and change; and access to technology, infrastructure, financial services and social protection schemes. It …
Persistent hunger and pervasive malnutrition are serious problems in the developing world. Recent literature suggests that well-designed public policies towards provisioning of social protection/security and strengthening of support measures to smallholder agriculture appear to be effective in reducing hunger and malnutrition. An investigation of the role of public provisioning on …
NAIROBI - China blocked a much-anticipated United Nations resolution to curb lead in paint during last-ditch negotiations at the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi. A campaign to phase out lead paint in developing countries was high on the agenda at last week's global "parliament of the environment." China was …
This may result in better coordination to fight climate change. Diplomats are gradually crowding out environment experts in global efforts to tackle climate change, a shift signalling a higher profile for the issue and improved chances for more coordination to fight it. Foreign ministries usually wield more clout in national …
ISTANBUL (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The risk of man-made and natural disasters hitting fast-growing cities is rising, and national governments must do more to help municipal authorities protect residents through better planning, the head of the U.N. agency for human settlements said. UN-Habitat Executive Director Joan Clos said urbanization was …
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Saturday called on developing countries to step up efforts to control air pollution to help reduce death from diseases associated with the menace. Fanny Demassieux, UNEP's Environment and Heath Coordinator, said measures should be put in place to avert 7 million annual deaths caused …
Developed and developing nations spar for two days over implementation of the agreement Governments across the world paused after the Paris climate agreement in December, couching sighs of relief behind self-congratulatory notes. A deceptive bonhomie marked the pact's signing in New York in April this year. However, less than five …
Global life expectancy increased by five years between 2000 and 2015, the World Health Organization said Thursday, crediting progress in Africa against HIV, AIDS and malaria. The gains made over the last 15 years are the largest since the 1960s, when the world—especially Europe and Japan—saw broad socio-economic improvements linked …
International carbon offsetting can help reduce compliance costs in emissions trading schemes and at the same time support carbon mitigation projects in developing countries. A surprising observation from the European Union Emissions Trading System’s experience with offsetting is that companies do not fully utilise offsetting for compliance despite the cost …
