Monthly Archives: July 2016

The UN first classified the list of countries as the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in 1971 at the general assembly in effort to assist them with special measures for effectiveness and efficiency. In 2016, among the 48 LDCs, 34 of them are located in Sub-Saharan region of Africa. There are 54 sovereign nations in Africa

The recruitment of children into armed forces is becoming increasingly pervasive, prevailing in three-fourths of the conflicts in the world and totaling at approximately 300,000 children with half a million children not currently in combat, but within ranks. The rise in child soldiers can be attributed to their trusting, vulnerable and easily initiated nature as

Recently, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank Group (WBG) revealed a report titled, “What’s holding back the private sector in MENA?” which demonstrated that the private sector can be an important driver for growth and prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with

Several sub-Saharan nations in Africa are posed to be the fastest growing globally, and are undergoing massive scales of development. This is partially because there were much smaller diminishing returns, and in part also because international investors have recently taken a keen interest in the continent. This is compounded by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Yun Bai – Columbia University SIPA Yun Bai is a recent graduate from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), focusing her studies on International Finance and Economic Policy. She is a creative thinker, world traveler and art lover. She likes spending time in galleries and museums, and wrote for a non-profit art

(AFP Photo/Federico Parra) Once the richest country in South America with its unrivaled amount of natural resources especially oil reserves, Venezuela is suffering from a historic economic crisis. There are many speculations from different media sources, but what is common between all of them is that the main cause of Venezuela’s economic disaster is extremely

An estimated 2 billion people lack access to essential medicines, most of them living in Asia and Africa, according to the World Health Organization(WHO). While progress has been made in the past three decades, thanks in part to a renewed focus placed on diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria and polio, much remains to be done to

Every year, July 18th – the day Nelson Mandela was born – is marked as Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom since 2009. Nelson Mandela International Day is more than a celebration of his life and legacy. It is a global movement

Across the world, over 12-million children under the age of fifteen are blind because of preventable causes. Blindness can be caused by several factors, but the leading cause in these cases is poverty and poor access to healthcare, especially in early childhood development. One of the more specific causes of high rates of blindness amongst

While United Kingdom was in the mired in conflict and controversy whether to leave the European Union (EU) two weeks before the Brexit vote, the African Union (AU) announced a new electronic passport that will grant visa-free access to all members of the AU. The plan will be officially launched in the upcoming African Union

Preparations for Habitat III — a major global summit, formally known as the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, taking place in October in Quito, Ecuador — are moving fast, both in terms of the summit’s expected results and the mobilization of all actors. While national governments are central to the

Land ownership and involvement in the agricultural systems exemplify the significant gender gaps and inequalities that exist today. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that if women were given access to the same resources as well, yields could rise by 20-30 percent and country agricultural output could rise by 2.5-4 percent, resulting in lifting

July 11th was World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. This year, the United Nations urged governments, businesses, and civil society to support and invest in teenage girls. UNFPA concluded six points of why we should focus on investments in teenage girls: There are more young

With only 24 percent of the sub-continent having access to power (World Bank), energy production in Sub-Saharan Africa leaves a lot to be desired – 1.2 billion people to be exact. This gap would be best filled by alternative energies due to the continents geographical landscape. These renewable energies would provide the most cost-effective and

World Day for Cooperatives brought attention to the importance of agricultural, social and financial cooperatives in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), cooperatives have seven major characteristics: Voluntary and open membership Democratic member control Member economic participation Autonomy and independence Provision of education, training and information Cooperation

With an energy poverty crisis and severe climate change, India is placing greater efforts on developing sun power. The World Bank Group (WBG) is also helping India deliver on its plans with more than $1 billion in lending over FY 2017. This is the Bank’s largest-ever support for solar power in any country. Currently nearly

The Brexit has had serious aftereffects on the political economy throughout the world. The S&P’s credit rating of UK was stripped down to two levels from AAA to AA, and at the same time that of the European Union (EU) has fallen from AA+ to AA. Currency rates throughout the world had plunged and the

On June 23, Britain voted to make a momentous decision to leave the European Union (EU) after a nearly half-century of membership plunging the country into unchartered political and economic territory and spelling the end of U.K. Prime Ministers David Cameron’s political career.   Just after the wee hours in the morning the BBC declared