Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
Nature underpins all economic activities and human well-being. It is the world’s most important asset. Yet humanity is destroying biodiversity at an unprecedented rate, posing significant but often overlooked risks to the economy, the financial sector and the well-being of current and future generations. This report provides the latest findings …
This second, annual Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All (SDG3 GAP) progress report illustrates how the SDG3 GAP is providing an important, long-term improvement platform for collaboration among 13 agencies in the multilateral system as they support countries on the path towards an equitable and resilient …
Order of the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) dated 19/05/2021. The matter related to availability of CSR funds with private sector companies in Vidarbha region with the aim to strengthen the health care system, especially in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The High Court expressed its disappointment with the response …
Agriculture is a major source of income in Africa, with 50-70% of Africans relying on agriculture for their livelihoods but the sector’s true potential remains untapped, limiting economic development and contributing to persistent poverty and deteriorating food and nutrition security across the continent. The continent is seeing demand for animal …
NITI Aayog and Mastercard released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’. The report identifies challenges in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to its 1.3 billion citizens. Based on five roundtable discussions held in October …
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released its draft energy policy, which states that the institution “will not finance any new coal-fired capacity for power and heat generation or any facilities associated with new coal generation. ADB’s new policy to stop coal financing is a long-delayed and incremental move. Communities throughout …
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an accelerating climate crisis and rising global poverty, a new report by End Water Poverty and WaterAid sets out the financial challenge of achieving water and sanitation for all by 2030. Based on research by Development Initiatives, this report updates recent work from the World Bank …
This working paper examines the evidence relating to the relationship between finance and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews the financial landscape, progress and gaps in its development since 2000. Although the region as a whole has made significant progress – including expansion of the banking system’s scale and …
This document provides a brief overview of the instruments that are available and may be considered as part of the CDRF strategy. As climate change increases the frequency and impacts of large scale natural hazards, it is critical that governments put in place or update actionable, comprehensive, transparent and inter-ministerial …
Beyond the Gap: Placing Biodiversity Finance in the Global Economy, a joint effort between an international team of researchers and Third World Network, addresses two questions: how does the organisation of the global economy drive biodiversity loss, and how has existing biodiversity finance performed? Trade, investment and financial regulation (or …
Among the important tasks of the UNFSS is identifying ways to finance the transformation of the global food system. This report analyses options for financing a specific, but crucial, part of the overall food system transformation, namely achieving SDG2 (and in particular “zero hunger”) by 2030 and examines the role …
This report presents economic prospects for developing Asia and the Pacific. It includes analysis of the impacts of school closures caused by the pandemic and a theme chapter on financing a green and inclusive recovery. Growth in 2021 is forecast to be strongest in East and South Asia, and more …
Important mitigation outcomes and other co-benefits could be at reach if rural communities and policy makers in low- and middle-income economies overcame the obstacle of access to finance in the livestock sector. The traditional sources of financing have long been difficult to access for livestock smallholders who often do not …
With a mantra of government being facilitator rather than regulator and to give impetus to the industrial sector, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has accorded sanction to the implementation of new Industrial Policy 2021-30 and its procedural guidelines with effect from April 1, 2021. As per the policy document released …
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership (MFW4A) released on 15 April 2021 the African Trade Finance Survey Report which provides a better understanding of the trade finance landscape across …
The Ministry of Power on April 15, 2021 has issued the Draft Bureau of Energy Efficiency (Manner and Intervals for Conduct of Energy Audit (Accounting) in electricity distribution companies) Regulations, 2021. The following regulations have been made: These Regulations shall extend to all electricity distribution companies notified as designated consumer …
Chinese banks must take action to prevent illegal wildlife traffickers from exploiting their networks to launder money says TRAFFIC. The non-governmental organisation, which works globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, is today releasing resources that indicate how Chinese …
This brief argues that the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic provides renewed urgency for African countries to invest in the inadequate physical infrastructure for basic services such as healthcare, clean water, and sanitation. Investing in basic services infrastructure now can deliver a huge social and economic value, while making the …
India has stockpiled a record 132 million tonnes of coal – enough to run India’s power plants for two months – greatly exceeding the average of the previous five years, finds a new briefing note by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The note by analyst and …
Nairobi is the top city in Africa for innovation and ranks among the top 100 globally, the Knight Frank’s 'Africa Horizons Report 2021/22' indicates. The Kenya's capital ranked ahead of Cape Town which was second, Kampala third with Cairo and Johannesburg at fourth and fifth place respectively. Dar es Salaam …
