Tag: Africa
Africa: At Least 146 Land and Environmental Defenders Killed or Disappeared Globally in 2024
New Global Witness figures bring the total up to 2,253 from 2012 to 2024 At least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed or disappeared* around the world last year defending their land, communities or the environment, a new report by Global Witness reveals. Today the investigative organisation published its annual report on land and…
Africa: Inside Africa’s Big Bet On Youth to Feed the Continent and Who’s Actually Getting Funded
Dakar — Winnie Wambui leans forward on the panel stage, microphone in hand, scanning the room until she spots a raised hand. Everyone in the room wears headphones, each voice isolated so that discussions don’t clash with sessions in adjacent halls. A question cuts through: how did a student science project become a commercial business?…
Africa: Inequality in Africa – What Drives It, How to End It and What Some Countries Are Getting Right
The relationship between inequality and economic growth is a complex one, especially in Africa. Inequality is the result of a host of factors, including policy choices, institutional legacies and power structures that favour elites. Professor Imraan Valodia, director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies spoke to Ernest Aryeetey, emeritus professor of Development Economics at…
Africa: Karura Forest and the Politics of Community-Based Conservation in Kenya
Karura Forest is a 1,041 hectare urban sanctuary located in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. It serves as one of the city’s largest remaining green spaces and sits in the northern part of the city, providing recreation and environmental services to millions of residents. Notably, it is one of the largest urban gazetted forests in the world….
Africa: Gender Equality – UN Women Calls for Political Will and Accelerated Global Action
More than 351 million women and girls could still be living in extreme poverty by the end of the decade if current trends persist. The world is retreating from gender equality, and the cost is being counted in lives, rights, and opportunities. Five years from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline in 2030, none of…
Africa: ‘Half of Sub-Saharan African Children Still in Extreme Poverty’, Say World Bank, UNICEF
A new report by the World Bank and UNICEF has revealed that despite global progress in reducing extreme child poverty, Sub-Saharan Africa has seen no improvement in the past decade, with more than half of children in the region still living below the poverty line. The report, ‘Child Poverty: Global, Regional and Select National Trends’,…
Africa: UN’s Humanitarian Work Is ‘Underfunded, Overstretched, and Under Attack’
“Underfunded, overstretched and under attack” is how the United Nation’s top aid official has referred to the UN and the support it is providing to the humanitarian sector. Speaking on Monday to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York, Tom Fletcher, who heads up the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said “we…
Africa: United Nations Revises 2026 Regular Budget Proposal, Pairing Cost Reductions With Initial Reform Measures
The United Nations has finalised the revised estimates for its 2026 proposed programme budget, outlining more than $500 million in reductions, while also introducing the first measures of the UN80 Initiative – a wider effort to make the Organisation more effective and resilient as it marks its 80th anniversary. The revised estimates, communicated on Monday…
Africa: Moody’s – Nigeria, Other African Nations Hit By High Borrowing Costs
Borrowing costs for governments and businesses in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya have risen in the last five years due to policy weaknesses, unfavourable market conditions and inflation, according to a study by Moody’s Ratings published yesterday. Although economies in the region face ever-rising funding needs to keep development and growth on track, they have…