“The Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have failed to step up to the gravity of the global economic crisis, in particular for developing countries, where the economic outlook continues to worsen. No major decisions were taken to support these countries, and the initial emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic is becoming too little as the crisis wears on.”

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September 4, 1995, the world witnessed the penultimate conclusion of a series of international women’s conferences, which culminated in the landmark Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) adopted by 189 nations in Beijing, China. As 17,000 delegates, accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international civil servants from all over these countries debated the outcome document in Beijing, another 30,000, primarily women, and some men, activists, academics, parliamentarians,  business interest groups, religious leaders and local government officials met at the parallel NGO Forum in Huairou,  near Beijing, to share and exchange ideas on the situation of women and girls in their countries and regions and to propose solutions for the way forward.  Many of these participants had educated themselves and lobbied members of their governments, including the delegations inside the negotiating space, on the multiple issues of concern to them in the course of the various preparatory meetings held prior to the conference.

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The traditional concept of poverty is outdated, according to a new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). New data demonstrate more clearly than ever that labeling countries – or even households – as rich and poor is an oversimplification.

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Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows fell by 13 per cent in 2018 to $1.3 trillion, the third consecutive year of a decline in FDI, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said.

In its World Investment Report 2019, UNCTAD said that the decline was mainly due to large-scale repatriations of accumulated foreign earnings by United States multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the first two quarters of 2018, following tax reforms introduced in that country at the end of 2017.

Going forward, UNCTAD has forecast global investment to see a modest recovery of 10 per cent in 2019. Continue reading