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 Health Organization (WHO) unveiled a global plan to better integrate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services with four other public health interventions to accelerate progress in eliminating and eradicating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2020. Millions suffer from devastating WASH-related neglected tropical diseases – such as soil-transmitted helminthiasis, …
UK charity Techfortrade is trying to make 3D printing affordable for developing countries by creating software that is able to take e-waste components and use them to build 3D printers. In fact, the charity says the technology is available for free online, and anyone around the world can use the …
A new open-access data portal to be developed by FAO will use satellite imagery to help water-scarce countries in the Near East and North Africa better manage this precious resource. Currently all countries in North Africa and the Near East suffer from severe water scarcity, with significant consequences for irrigated …
The World Alzheimer Report 2015: 'The Global Impact of Dementia: An analysis of prevalence, incidence, cost and trends’ finds that there are currently around 46.8 million people living with dementia around the world, with numbers set to increase to 74.7 million by 2030 and 131.5 million by 2050. There are …
Less than a third of governments seeking a global climate agreement have submitted plans for reducing emissions, raising concerns over developing countries’ commitment to a deal months before talks are meant to culminate in Paris. As part of the latest international effort to stave off warming, nearly 200 countries agreed …
The meeting to draw up a climate change regime for 2020 and beyond in Paris later this year will, as usual, be fraught with overwhelming complexity. Will "climate clubs" be able to offer room for making greater efforts in smaller groups?
This report provides recommendations on the design and distribution of policymakers and development finance institutions' policy and financing tools to enable fast and cost-effective deployment of geothermal in developing countries. It draws lessons from case studies of geothermal projects with different public, private and mixed development models in Turkey, Kenya …
ZAMBIA has been awarded the opportunity to become the first African country to host the board meeting of the Worldwide Green Climate Fund (GCF). In this regard, Zambia is expected to share its experience and raise awareness to the world about the impact of climate change in the country's regions …
Twenty-five contaminated water sources in South Africa, Ghana and Bangladesh have been cleansed more than 99 percent by a bug-killing book in its first field trials. Its papers successfully killed bacteria with promising effect to filter a person's water supply for four years. The result, presented at the 250th national …
Microfinance for business has had mixed impacts but there is evidence that it could succeed in funding sanitation facilities in developing countries The time when microfinance was seen as the miracle cure to lift people out of poverty is long gone. The funding crisis in India in 2010 and evidence …
A book with pages that can be torn out to filter drinking water has proved effective in its first field trials. The "drinkable book" combines treated paper with printed information on how and why water should be filtered. Its pages contain nanoparticles of silver or copper, which kill bacteria in …
Health priorities since the UN Millennium Declaration have focused strongly on children younger than 5 years. The health of older children (age 5–9 years) and younger adolescents (age 10–14 years) has been neglected until recently, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, and mortality measures for these age groups have often …
Access to modern energy is vital for sustainable development. In rural areas, decentralized energy solutions may play a significant role in reducing poverty, supporting community institutions and facilitating the generation of basic services such as communication, water access, education and health services. However, the majority of dwellers in off-grid communities …
The World Bank has made a U-turn on its stance that coal is the backbone of the India's energy economy 17 years after it agreed to lend $1.03 billion to Coal India along with a Japanese lending agency. The international lender has now decided not to invest in any coal-related …
The World Bank said coal was no cure for global poverty on Wednesday, rejecting a main industry argument for building new fossil fuel projects in developing countries. In a rebuff to coal, oil and gas companies, Rachel Kyte, the World Bank climate change envoy, said continued use of coal was …
Uncertainties over finance may be taken as a tough nut to crack before signing a global climate deal in Paris, but the major developed and developing countries including India have taken an important step to remove another irritant by "informally" agreeing for five-yearly review of their collective efforts to curb …
Despite promises by many big companies that produce, trade and use palm oil to clean up their supply chains, complaints are still pouring in over the conversion of forests into plantations from West Africa to Southeast Asia, experts say. A fledgling effort to balance forest protection and oil palm production …
India today said investment flows — which can have green benefits — cannot be treated as climate finance, that should ideally come from public funding or there should be a subvention for industries to adopt climate-friendly technologies. While demanding the need to curb "discrimination" against industries from major developing countries …
Although more than 90% of Europeans, Japanese and North Americans are aware(Reuters) Some 40% of adults worldwide have never heard of climate change, a study has found. Published in Nature Climate Change, the researchers from a string of higher education facilities across the US analysed the awareness and the perceived …
Climate change is a threat to human societies and natural ecosystems, yet public opinion research finds that public awareness and concern vary greatly. Here, using an unprecedented survey of 119 countries, we determine the relative influence of socio-demographic characteristics, geography, perceived well-being, and beliefs on public climate change awareness and …
