In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
This paper considers different approaches to modelling the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic/lockdown shocks. Review different modelling strategies and argue that, given the nature of the bottom-up recession caused by the pandemic/lockdowns, simulation models of the shocks should be based on a social accounting matrix (SAM) that includes both …
The year 2020 rivalled 2016 as the world’s hottest recorded year despite the absence of a strong El Niño effect. Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, the year was dominated by climate-related disasters. These were largely responsible for the 389 recorded events which resulted in 15,080 deaths, 98.4 million people affected, …
This paper summarizes unprecedented adverse health and economic impacts as well as policy responses in the Asia and Pacific region and the rest of the world generated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. By the end of 2020, over 80 million people had been infected, with developing Asia …
This study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related nationwide lockdown on the Indian economy, particularly on food systems. It also takes up an important issue of millions of migrant workers in India who seem to have suffered the most during this period. The loss of their …
This study will address the evidence gap of changes in women’s empowerment in their households and women’s diet diversity in rural Bangladesh against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, it will investigate the way and the extent to which women’s income earning abilities, women’s decision-making power with regard …
This report provides an update on the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the Malawian economy in light of the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in December 2020 and January 2021. It extends and updates the results of previous SAM multiplier-based modeling undertaken by IFPRI during 2020 with a particular focus …
The impacts of COVID-19 are being felt across The Gambia’s socioeconomic landscape, exacerbating existing inequalities and threatening hard-won progress. In response, the government has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), establishing a secretariat to reprioritise the current national development plan (NDP) to serve as a blueprint for a …
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the critical need for detailed, timely information on its evolving economic impacts, particularly for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where data availability and lack of generalizable nowcasting methodologies limit efforts for coordinated policy responses. This paper presents a suite of high frequency and granular country-level indicator tools that …
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on economies, businesses, and workers, and in Asia and many other regions, migrant workers have been among the most affected. This report by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Labour Organization …
A fresh report on COVID-19 recovery plans has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to champion a push for ‘win-win recovery’ that are underpinned by green economic thinking and efforts to address climate change. The report developed by the Society for Planet and Prosperity (SPP) implored …
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 …
How have plastics and a convenience lifestyle become so widespread in a part of the world that traditionally adhered to a refill, reuse, and recycle mindset and where natural materials for packaging and refillable containers were the norm? How has the drive for economic development and adoption of a throwaway …
South Asia region’s economies are beginning to recover, though unevenly: economic activity in industry and export sectors have recovered to pre-COVID levels but some labor-intensive services sectors and tourism have not. Inequality has worsened on many dimensions. The process of vaccinating South Asia’s population is underway, with India taking a …
India's economic output in 2021 is expected to remain below the 2019 level despite roll-out of the vaccine to deal with the menace of the coronavirus pandemic, said a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). India, according to the 'Economic and …
Another generation of women will have to wait for gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 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 …
To assess the impact of COVID-19 on firms, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation conducted Business Pulse Surveys in several countries, including six in the South Asia region. Analysis focusing on the South Asia region suggests that, first, firms in the South Asia region have suffered disproportionately more …
A new report by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and UNDP showcases the evolving partnership in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The brief report features the exemplary societal resilience across sectors, the sheer determination by Africans to cautiously minimize the health impact, as well as …
WFP carried out its second nationwide assessments during 2020 to understand how households' food security levels were impacted by COVID-19 and the conflict situation, to feed into policy dialogue with Government on how to enhance food security for the Armenian population. The objective of this study was to establish an …
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created the worst crisis in Asia and the Pacific since World War II. Across the Asia-Pacific region, as across the world, countries have suffered sudden economic contractions, along with interruptions to trade, broken supply chains, and with the collapse of international tourism – …
