Poverty & SDGs

Biofortified Crops Improve Farmers’ Livelihoods in Zimbabwe

By Martha Katsi
Steven Seremwe, who is 57 years old, was retrenched from his job as an administrator at Lake Shore Missions in 2012. He decided to focus on farming, and he started growing various crops—white maize, sugar beans, and sweet potatoes, among others—for consumption and sale.

Nature Losses Threaten Emerging Economies

More than half of worldwide GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature, putting biodiversity loss among the top five risks to the global economy, according to a report presented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

At the International Summit on Balanced & Inclusive Education: A Call to Transform Globally

By Anna Shen
In an increasingly unequal and divided world, what role can education play to achieve sustainable development globally?

Leprosy Re-emerges as a Global Health Challenge

By Stella Paul
Fifteen years ago, Sattamma – a daily labourer in the Rangareddy district of southern India’s Telangana state – was abandoned by her husband after she was diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease.

UN Plans to Launch a “Decade of Action” to Deliver Development Goals by 2030

By Antonio Guterres
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. I draw tremendous strength from all that we represent and all that we have achieved together.

Bridging Africa’s Great Gender-Financing Divide

By Miriam Gathigah
What stands between Soi Cate Chelang and her dream of turning her small pallet-making business into a major enterprise is capital.

UN Report: Rising Inequality Affects More Than 70% of the Globe

Inequality is growing for more than 70 per cent of the global population, exacerbating the risks of divisions and hampering economic and social development. But the rise is far from inevitable and can be tackled at a national and international level, says a flagship study released by the UN on Tuesday.

Ending Bullying and Humiliation over Menstruation as Girls and Boys in Conservative Eswatini are Educated about Reproductive Health

By Mantoe Phakathi
When 14-year-old Nomcebo Mkhaliphi first noticed the blood discharged from her vagina, she was shocked. Confused, she turned to her older sisters for advice. “My sisters told me that they were experiencing the same every month and that they used fabric, toilet paper and newspapers as sanitary wear,” recalls the now 45-year-old Mkhaliphi. She had to follow suit and use these materials because she had no money to buy sanitary pads.

Empowering Women in Poor Communities & Building Resilience Against Climate Pressure

By Bijal Brahmbhatt
As global temperatures continue to rise, vulnerable populations around the world are facing increasingly complex climate risks – with ongoing droughts in Zimbabwe and floods devastating Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.

Genuine Reform Culture Lacking in Zimbabwe

By Busani Bafana
Zimbabwe needs urgent economic and political reforms to transform its economy amidst a growing national crisis, researchers say in a new study that urges swift policy changes and a sound financial framework to attract investment.

Climate Change: A Tale of Weather Extremes with Mixed Fortunes for Zambia

By Friday Phiri
It is early Saturday morning and Planeta Hatuleke, a small scale farmer of Pemba District in Southern Zambia, awakens to the comforting sound of rainfall. As the locals say, the “heavens have opened” and it is raining heavily after a prolonged dry spell. 

The United Nations Reforms-From Ideas to Actions

By Mukhtar Ogle
One of the highlight activities as the United Nations commemorates its 75th anniversary this year will be the launch of an “annual temperature check” on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), progress. With only ten years left to the final whistle for the Goals, this activity that will take place each September will provide a snapshot of what’s working, and where countries need more action.

India and Japan’s MPs Act Quickly to Implement Sexual and Reproductive Health Plans after ICPD25

By Mantoe Phakathi
Parliamentarians from India and Japan have hit the ground running by acting soon after the recent Nairobi Summit on International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25).

Does Africa’s Food Future Really Lie with Young Farmers?

By Busani Bafana
Africa will starve or survive on expensive food imports because it is not growing new farmers, research shows. And the challenge remains among researchers, policy makers, public and private sector actors to get African youth interested in agriculture on a continent where a growing number of people go to bed hungry every night.

Can UN Development Be Reformed? Not at This Rate

By Stephen Browne
Like his predecessors, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has been pushing a reform program to help the organization adjust to the demands of contemporary global governance.

Let’s Give Trade a Chance

By Mia Mikic and James Gregory Gallagher
Imagine going through the day without consuming or using some product, service, data, technology, personal contact, or payment which has not – at least in some part – crossed one or more national borders before reaching you.

2020: a Year Full of Danger

By Farhana Haque Rahman
Let’s face what lies ahead with open eyes: 2020 is going to be a very tough year for the world, and developing countries in particular. The infant decade has already begun with the harbingers of climate disaster as thousands fled to beaches in Australia from raging bush fires, and the Middle East braced for more conflict after a U.S. air strike in Baghdad killed Iran’s top general.

Reflections for a New Year

By Roberto Savio
In a world shaken by so many problems, it is difficult to look at 2020 and not make some kind of holistic analysis. While enormous progress has been made on many fronts, it is clear that the tide has turned, and we are now entering – or have already entered – a new low point in the history of humankind..

Child Marriages Unlikely to End by UN’s 2030 Deadline

By Nayema Nusrat
“Right now, I don’t want to get married. I have a long life and a dream in front of me”, a 14-year-old young girl from Bangladesh told her parents as she was just not ready to get married.

In Mauritania, Imams take to Radio Waves to say Child Marriage is Against Islam

"I refused to marry off my daughter for a simple, good reason: I want my daughter to be empowered,” said Lemeima mint El Hadrami, 49. "I don't want her to go through the same difficulties I did when I was young." El Hadrami was married when she was only 13.

2020 Is the Decade of Action & It Has to Be a Sprint

By Siddharth Chatterjee
Happy New Year, Kenya. 2020 marks a decade of action towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Peace and development are inextricably linked, with each making the achievement of the other far more likely. This puts the conflict-prevention and development work of the UN at the heart of the agenda in East Africa, but in a multi-agency and programme environment, making meaningful progress is challenging.
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