Washington, United States -- Conflicts and related fatalities have more than tripled since the early 2000s, fueling extreme poverty, the World Bank said Friday. Economies in fragile and conflict-affected regions have become "the epicenter of global poverty and food insecurity, a situation increasingly shaped by the frequency and intensity of...
Tunisian bakers strike over unpaid subsidies
Subsidies on basic goods are a highly sensitive political issue in Tunisia, where a public finance crisis has caused repeated shortages of subsidised flour, sugar and other basic goods in recent months. The North African country is years into a grinding economic downturn exacerbated by inflation that hit nine percent...
UN says Ukraine war pushes 4m children into poverty
Paris, France— Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting economic fallout have thrown four million children into poverty across eastern Europe and Central Asia, the UN children's agency said Monday. "Children are bearing the heaviest burden of the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine," UNICEF said. The conflict "and...
Syrian pound hits record low on black market, aggravating hardships
The exchange rate reached more than 5,000 Syrian pounds to the US dollar for the first time since the start of the conflict more than a decade ago. Syria's official exchange rate has stood at around 3,015 pounds to the greenback since Sept-- compared to 47 pounds to the dollar...54 poor nations urgently need debt relief: UN
The agency's report, published ahead of meetings of International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and also of G20 finance ministers in Washington, highlighted the need for swift action. But UNDP chief Achim Steiner told reporters in Geneva that despite repeated warnings, "little has happened so far, and the risks have...
Oxfam says world failing to address ‘dangerous’ inequality
The UN and Oxfam have previously decried the unequal distribution of vaccines from richer Western countries to lower-income ones, particularly in Africa, putting lives at risk.Lebanon’s speaker asks Parliament to name new president
The term of Michel Aoun expires at the end of October. The session will mark the first attempt by lawmakers to elect a new head of state at a time when the country is in the grips of a financial crisis described by the World Bank as one of the...Third ‘armed bank withdrawal’ in a week in Lebanon
When a branch of the Byblos bank opened in the southern town of Ghaziyeh, a depositor, reported to be in his 50s, stormed the premises with his adult son. He threatened bank employs with a gun, which a Lebanese TV channel said may have been a toy, and demanded his...
Over 2,000 Tunisian minors reach Italy in 2022: rights group
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) said the minors were among a total of 10,139 Tunisian migrants to have made it to Italy since the start of 2022. More than 14,700 migrants, including many from sub-Saharan African nations, have been intercepted and turned back over the same...Sudan farmers resent government apathy to buy wheat
Over 18 million people, nearly half the Sudanese population, are expected to be pushed into extreme hunger by September, according to United Nations estimates.
Lebanon to restart issuing passports, after shortage concerns
Lebanon said Friday it will resume appointments to issue and renew passports next week after suspending such bookings in late April due to supply shortages that sparked nationwide alarm.One out of three Islamic Development Bank member living in poverty
President of the bank Dr Muhammed Al-Jasser, who was speaking at the 16th World Bank Forum, on Islamic Finance, said that more than half a billion people around the world who have fallen under the poverty line during the pandemic.
Sudan lifts state of emergency imposed since coup
Sunday's decision came after a meeting with senior military officials recommending the state of emergency be lifted and people detained under an emergency law be freed.Aggrieved workers drop lawsuit against Bangladeshi Nobel laureate
More than 100 lawsuits had been filed against GT by workers, along with three contempt-of-court charges against Yunus and another manager.Lebanon vote weakens Hezbollah bloc as reformists book gains
Scuffles and cases of voter intimidation were reported on polling day, although Interior Minister insisted when announcing partial results that their number was "very low".Lebanon votes in first election since crisis
Lebanon headed to the polls today for its first election since multiple crises dragged it to the brink of failed statehood, with the ruling elite expected to comfortably weather public anger. The parliamentary election is the first test for opposition movements spawned by an unprecedented anti-establishment uprising in 2019 that...Lebanon jobless rate almost triples since crippling economic crisis
The official unemployment rate in crisis-hit Lebanon jumped almost three-fold to reach 29.6 percent at the start of the year, a joint survey by the UN and the government said Thursday. "Lebanon's unemployment rate increased from 11.4 percent in 2018-2019 to 29.6 percent in January 2022, indicating that almost one...
Lebanon: small, multi-religious Mideast country
Lebanon is going through a severe economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the world's worst since the 1850s.
More than 40 migrants drown off Western Sahara: charity
At least 44 migrants drowned on Sunday when their boat capsized off the coast of the Western Sahara, migrant aid agency Caminando Fronteras said. Twelve others survived the tragedy, which happened when the boat sunk off the coast of Cap Boujdour, the agency's Helena Maleno tweeted. The bodies of seven...
Nigerian airlines suspend flights over soaring fuel prices
The cost of fuel has soared worldwide since Russia invaded its neighbor Ukraine in February and the West responded by slapping sanctions on Moscow. The rising price of fuel has caused prolonged power blackouts in Nigeria in recent weeks.Meat off the menu in crisis-hit Lebanon as poverty bites
The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value on the black market, more than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty.Ship rescues 128 migrants, finds two dead In Mediterranean
Migrants from African countries ravaged by war and poverty, make desperate bids to reach Europe through Mediterranean sea which is the world's deadliest migration route.
Living rough in Morocco, migrants dreams of Spanish enclave
Melilla and Ceuta, Spain's tiny enclaves, have the EU's only land borders with Africa that attracts desperate migrants to escape poverty, violence and hunger both at home.Lebanese long for IS-linked relatives stuck in Syria camps
Lebanese families are lobbying authorities to return their relatives held in Syria.
Lebanon turns to public libraries for entertainment as crisis drains joy
Weekly storytelling events are one of the last affordable pleasures in Lebanon, where a crashing local currency has rendered books something of a luxury.
Reducing poverty changes baby brain development: Study
The research team recruited 1,000 low-income mothers and their newborn babies in four US cities for the randomized control trial.
Taliban, Western envoys meet for Oslo talks
A Taliban delegation headed by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is meeting representatives of the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union, and Norway in their first visit to Europe after coming taking over to Afghanistan.World’s 10 richest men doubled wealth during pandemic, says Oxfam
Oxfam said the men's wealth jumped from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion, at an average rate of $1.3 billion per day, in a briefing published before a virtual mini-summit of world leaders being held under the auspices of the World Economic Forum.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah ready to return to cabinet meetings
Lebanese group Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement said Saturday they were ready to return to government meetings after three months of political deadlock that has exacerbated the country's economic crisis. Lebanon's government was formed in September after a 13-month political impasse.IMF official urges ‘deep reforms’ to Tunisian economy
Tunisia's debts have soared to nearly 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
UNRWA calls for long-term funds to help refugees in Palestine
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has acknowledged that stagnating donor funding for close to a decade remained below the amount needed to provide quality services. At the same time, as the refugee population continued to grow, poverty and vulnerabilities skyrocketed.World Bank pledges $37 million to help Lebanon teachers
The World Bank on Thursday said it agreed with its partners to repurpose $37 million in funds to help Lebanon's public school teachers survive a crushing economic crisis. The World Bank and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office would divert the money from the Lebanon Syrian Crisis Trust Fund,...
Plan to support 1.6 million Palestinians in 2022 in Gaza and West Bank launched
A $510 million Humanitarian Response Plan was launched on Thursday to support 1.6 million of the most vulnerable people in Gaza and in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during 2022. Palestinian media reports said the plan was launched by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Lynn Hastings....
Lira plunges as Turkey cuts interest rate again
The Turkish lira on Thursday hit fresh lows after the central bank fired the latest salvo in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "economic war of independence" by cutting interest rates for the fourth successive month. The reduction of the main rate to 14 from 15 percent comes in the face of...Syria approves $5bn budget for 2022 as economic crisis hits finances
Syrian lawmakers have approved a draft budget for 2022 of $5.3 billion, down from $6.8 billion this year, as a spiraling economic crisis hits public finances and threatens subsidies on essential goods. A decade of war, Western sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic have devastated the Syrian economy, pushing most of...
Growing health costs push over half a billion into extreme poverty: WHO-WB
UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message marking the International Universal Health Coverage Day said that with the third year of the pandemic fast approaching, "we must urgently strengthen our health systems to ensure they are equitable, resilient and capable of meeting everyone’s needs, including for their mental health.''North Syria feels the pinch as Turkey lira nosedives
Inflation in Syria is soaring just as fast as it is in neighboring Turkey, with basic food items such as bread selling at record prices and purchasing power at its lowest ever. And when the price of a bag of flatbread stops rising, locals say, the amount of bread inside...Lebanese army stops boat carrying 90 people off coast
Women and children were among the group intercepted Friday by a navy patrol off the coast of Qalamoun in northern Lebanon, the army saysEgypt questions new desert capital and its costs
Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is building a new capital, whose construction costs are already under a microscope.
Libya polls ‘essential next step’ to peace: UN chief
Libya has seen several political and security crises since Muammar Gadaffi was overthrown a decade ago.Lebanon is failing its people, says UN envoy
Lebanon's government, formed in September, has yet to take serious action to stop its downward spiral.Slow steps for Palestinian economic recovery: World Bank
The lack of progress towards peace and reconciliation and Covid-19 caused an unsustainable economic situation in the Palestinian territories.Egypt turns to apps in new age of money-pooling
Gameya is a cooperative system that allows people to save and borrow money, and is popular in several parts of the world, including Africa and Latin America. Participants put an equal amount each month in a pot and take turns to collect the sum that has accumulated.Poverty fuels despair in oil-rich south Iraq
Basra province gets only 1 trillion dinars out of the total Iraqi budget of 130 trillion Iraqi dinars ($89 billion), according to deputy governor Dorgham al-Ajwadi.Lebanon to soon give medicines for chronic, incurable disease for free
The Lebanese central bank has opened a credit line of $60 million for medicine importers.Award-winning Egypt film on poverty ruffles feathers
Feathers is a film about the struggles of a woman whose husband has been turned into a chicken.
Social unrest may spoil Mideast recovery: IMF
The fund also warned that the longer-term risk of the uneven recovery could permanently widen wealth, income, and social gaps.
UAE calls for joint international effort to achieve zero poverty
The UAE maintains a firm belief that the international community must work together to honor shared commitments towards achieving zero poverty.Lebanon’s telecom, internet sector could collapse in days
Telecom companies in Lebanon have joined the long list of at-risk industries and institutions because of the financial and economic crisis that has led to shortages of, among others, fuel to make electricity. Telecom services, including the internet, were intermittently suspended in several regions in recent months.
Lebanon reaches out to Arab countries
Lebanese Prime Minister has confirmed that his country has reached out to Arab and Gulf nations for help, but the much-needed financial and economic aid to crisis-hit Lebanon is still locked until the government accomplishes fundamental reforms.Three in four in Lebanon are living in poverty: UN body
That number goes up to 5 out of 6 people when one redefines poverty beyond the usual fiscal lines and adds social indicators to it.
