Trade and development

The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that over 1 million people in Myanmar will be cut off from food assistance, starting in April, due to critical funding shortages. The cuts will also impact almost 100,000 internally displaced people in Rakhine, who will have no access to food without WFP assistance.

In Somalia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that drought conditions are looming in several areas of the country due to prolonged extreme dry conditions, with hundreds of thousands of families likely to be impacted.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) today launched a $1.4 billion humanitarian appeal to address the unique needs of women and girls trapped in, or uprooted by, the wave of emergencies occurring around the world.

Faced with mounting debt, rising financial constraints, dwindling foreign investment and illicit financial flows, speakers in the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) urged international actors to address and reverse pernicious obstacles to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UN, along with humanitarian aid partners, last night launched a response plan calling for $9 million to support 43,000 people impacted by Hurricane Beryl in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Immediate action is crucial, particularly in light of what is expected to be a very intense hurricane season.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Global Leaders Forum for the sixtieth anniversary of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in Geneva today:

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a report today on how attacks on Red Sea shipping are reshaping global trade routes. Higher fuel consumption from rerouted trade could result in a 70 per cent rise in greenhouse-gas emissions for these trips, and shipping costs have skyrocketed.

In Sudan, the UN refugee agency reports that 4.5 million people have been internally displaced, while 1.2 million others have fled to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, as well as Ethiopia and the Central African Republic. That is almost 6 million people who have been forced to move since the start of fighting in April.

In Afghanistan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that aftershocks continue three days after the earthquake which struck Herat Province and affected over 12,000 people. The UN and its partners are on the ground providing emergency food, shelter, health care and household aid.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development’s newly released Trade and Development Report 2023 warns of a stalling global economy this year, with growth slowing in most regions and only a few countries bucking the trend. The agency calls for a change in policy direction and institutional reforms to avert a lost decade.