News headlines for “Trade, Economy, & Related Issues”, page 556
Covid19 a Wake-up Call to Address Development Fault Lines in Asia and the Pacific
- Inter Press Service

BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 30 (IPS) - The world is emerging from the biggest social and economic shock in living memory, but it will be a long time before the deep scars of the COVID-19 pandemic on human well-being fully heal.
In the Asia-Pacific region, where 60 per cent of the world lives, the pandemic revealed chronic development fault lines through its excessively harmful impact on the most vulnerable. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) estimates that 89 million more people in the region have been pushed back into extreme poverty at the $1.90 per day threshold, erasing years of development gains. The economic and educational shutdowns are likely to have severely harmed human capital formation and productivity, exacerbating poverty and inequality.
Developing Countries COVID-19 Debt Crisis Could Put 2030 Agenda & Paris Agreement Completely Out of Reach
- Inter Press Service

BONN, Germany, Mar 30 (IPS) - The inability of developing nations to spend on post COVID-19 recovery and resilience has placed the world on the "the verge of a debt crisis". “We face the spectre of a divided world and a lost decade for development,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, Mar. 29, during a high-level meeting on financing development post COVID-19.
Identities
- Inter Press Service

STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 30 (IPS) - I was born in the winter in 1990 in a country not my own i was born with my father’s eyes maybe i stole them he doesn’t look like that anymore i was born in seven countries i was born carved up by borders i was born with a graveyard of languages for teeth i was born to be a darkness in an american boy´s bed ...
Safia Elhillo
IMF, World Bank Must Urgently Help Finance Developing Countries
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 30 (IPS) - COVID-19 has set back the uneven progress of recent decades, directly causing more than two million deaths. The slowdown, due to the pandemic and policy responses, has pushed hundreds of millions more into poverty, hunger and worse, also deepening many inequalities.
UN-Habitat report calls for cities post-pandemic to lead the way to a fairer, greener, healthier future
- UN News

A new report on pandemics and cities from UN-Habitat, points the way to how hard-hit urban centres can reduce the impact of future outbreaks and become more equitable, healthy and environmentally friendly.
Guterres urges ‘decisive action’ to stave off debt crisis in developing world
- UN News
Though significant steps have been taken to prevent debt crises across the world sparked by the COVID-19 crisis, they have not been sufficient to restore economic stability in many developing countries, according to a policy brief issued by the UN Secretary-General on Monday.
Why Rehabilitation is as Vital as Rescue for Child Trafficking Survivors
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY, Australia, Mar 29 (IPS) - Twelve-year-old Babloo’s (Name changed) parents, who worked as daily wage agricultural labourers in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, were finding it difficult to feed their family of six. They had recently lost their eldest son to sudden illness, when a distant relative convinced them to send Babloo with him to work in a city. He promised to pay Rs 5000 ($70) a month, a significant amount for the impoverished family.
Arab Region Counts Cost of Devastating COVID-19 Pandemic
- Inter Press Service

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Mar 29 (IPS) - More than eight million people moved onto the poverty line in the Arab region, a conference of Arab and Asian parliamentarians heard.
The hybrid conference, held simultaneously in Beirut, Lebanon, and via video conferencing to delegates in Asia and the Arab region, was a follow up on earlier discussions on the regions' ICPD25 Commitments.
Bangladesh Welcomes a New High Yielding Biofortified Zinc Rice
- Inter Press Service

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Mar 29 (IPS) - The Bangladesh National Seed Board has approved the release of the newest biofortified zinc rice variety in the country: the BRRI dhan100. This latest zinc rice variety was developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). HarvestPlus assists BRRI in crop development and breeder seed production of biofortified zinc rice.
Nobel Economist and 100 Experts Condemn Corporate Action against Argentina and Bolivia after Rollback of Failed Pension Privatization
- Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, Mar 29 (IPS) - Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, Juan Somavia, Jeffrey Sachs, Jose Antonio Ocampo and more than 100 high-level development experts have issued a statement protesting insurance corporations suing Argentina and Bolivia over the reversal of their failed pension privatizations at closed sessions of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank. If Argentina and Bolivia lose the disputes, it means that impoverished citizens and elderly pensioners will have to compensate wealthy financial corporations. Read their letter:
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