14 September 2017 – Noting that the world economy in 2017 &#8220is picking up but not taking off,&#8221 a new United Nations trade and development report has cautioned against fiscal austerity and harnessing finance to support job creation and infrastructure investment.

Put people before profits, UN urges in annual trade report

Noting that the world economy in 2017 &#8220is picking up but not taking off,&#8221 a new United Nations trade and development report has cautioned against fiscal austerity and harnessing finance to support job creation and infrastructure investment.

A combination of &#8220too much debt and too little demand at the global level has hampered sustained expansion of the world economy,&#8221 said Mukhisa Kituyi, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), launching its 2017 Trade and Development Report.

According to the report’s findings, growth this year is expected to reach 2.6 per cent, slightly higher than last year, but still well below the pre-financial crisis average of 3.2 per cent.

Most regions are expected to register small gains, with Latin America exiting recession and posting the biggest turnaround, even if only at 1.2 per cent growth. The Eurozone is expected to see a 1.8 per cent growth while the United States could witness 2.1 per cent.

However, with insufficient global demand, trade remains sluggish and only minor improvement is anticipated this year, primarily due to a recover in South-South trade (led by China).

Furthermore, in the absence of a coordinated expansion led by the advanced economies, sustaining the limited global economic acceleration hinges on lasting improvements in emerging economies, noted UNICTAD.

Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Photo: UNCTAD

An ‘age of anxiety’

Further in the news release, UNCTAD reported that &#8220debt explosion&#8221 and the rise of &#8220super- elites&#8221 (loosely identified as the top 1 per cent) &#8211 two of the largest socioeconomic trends in recent times &#8211 could be linked through the deregulation of financial markets, to the widening ownership gap of financial assets and a fixation on short-term returns.

&#8220As such, inequality and instability are hard-wired into hyperglobalization [making] for a world with insufficient levels of productive investment, precarious jobs and weakening welfare provision,&#8221 it noted, adding:

&#8220This has become self-perpetuating, with the run-up to a crisis driven by the ‘great escape’ of top incomes, while their aftermath is marked by austerity and stagnating incomes at the bottom.&#8221

The report also examined other factors leading to growing anxiety, pointing to increased automation through employment of robotics as well as gender dimensions, including discrimination based on gender in the job market, as factors causing much worry in economies.

It also warned that warns that failure to correct the excesses of hyperglobalization could not only jeopardize social cohesion but also diminishing trust in both markets as well as in political actors.

A global new deal for the 21st century needed

Drawing lessons from 1947, when the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the UN joined forces to rebalance the post-war global economy, the UNCTAD report called for an equally ambitious and collaborative effort to tackle the inequities of hyperglobalization to build inclusive and sustainable economies.

&#8220The successes of the New Deal of the 1930s in the United States owed much to its emphasis on counterbalancing powers and giving a voice to weaker groups in society, including consumer groups, workers’ organizations, farmers and the dispossessed poor,&#8221 said UNCTAD, stressing that the lesson still holds true today.

&#8220In today’s integrated global economy, governments will need to act together for any one country to achieve success,&#8221 it added, urging countries to seize the opportunity offered by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and put in place a &#8220global new deal&#8221 for the twenty-first century.

14 September 2017 – Marking the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the importance of justice to prevent conflict, promote peace and security, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

&#8220I am proud of the support UNODC provides to countries to tackle the interlinked problems of drugs, organized crime, terrorism and corruption,&#8221 said Mr. Guterres in a video message at a special event to commemorate the agency’s anniversary.

In his message, the UN chief also applauded the work and commitment of the agency’s staff and reaffirmed his support the UN agency.

Headquartered in the Austrian capital, Vienna, UNODC is mandated with assisting UN Member States in their fight against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. It was established in 1997 through a merger between the then UN Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention. Its work is translated to the field-level in all regions of the world through an extensive network of field presences.

In a keynote address, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedetov said that the anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on the changes, acknowledge the challenges and renew UNODC’s commitment to strengthen future cooperation.

&#8220We have come a long way in these past 20 years […] now we have conventions and instruments that have been ratified by nearly every country in the world,&#8221 he said, noting important progress in fighting heinous crimes.

In his remarks, Mr. Fedotov recounted benefits brought on by globalization but said that the world continues to grapple with persisting problems due to what he said was &#8220asymmetric globalization,&#8221 leaving many behind, undermining trust and creating instability.

In particular, he warned of a growing nexus between transnational organized crime and terrorism that encouraged cultural property trafficking and generated funds for terrorists.

&#8220Cybercrime has emerged as a truly borderless threat […] use of the dark net for drug trafficking is growing by leaps and bounds [and] cryptocurrencies are providing new avenues for moving and laundering criminal proceeds, straining the knowledge and capacities of law enforcement agencies to keep up,&#8221 he added.

In his remarks, the UNODC chief also spoke of the importance of the partnership between the UN agency and the private sector and civil society in the areas of drug prevention, anti-corruption initiatives, education and promoting fair play in sports.

&#8220So on this twentieth anniversary of UNODC, in these transformative times, I urge Member States and all of our partners to commit to working together and providing the needed resources, to advance our efforts to address crises, achieve the SDGs and build safer, more secure societies,&#8221 said Mr. Fedotov.

14 September 2017 – The security situation north-western South Sudan has improved with displaced people returning home, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the African country has said, holding he situation in Wau as a &#8220model&#8221 for other parts of the country where displacement rose so far this year.

&#8220I am pleased to see that the local authorities, the police and National Security have worked to improve the security environment,&#8221 the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to South Sudan, David Shearer, said while visiting Wau.

&#8220This collaboration could represent a new model for the return of displaced people,&#8221 he said.

&#8220It is important that people return to their homes voluntarily,&#8221 Mr. Shearer added, &#8220and for that to happen they need to feel safe and confident about their future.&#8221

The number of displaced people living in the UNMISS Protection of Civilians (POC) site has fallen from 38,000 to 32,500 over the last two months, he noted, adding that &#8220many of those people have returned home to cultivate their land.&#8221

Tens of thousands of people fled violence in April amid revenge attacks between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA-In Opposition fighters.

Speaking to reporters earlier today in Juba, Mr. Shearer credited more active patrolling by National Security and the police in Wau for helping to stabilize the area.

&#8220The POC sites were originally created because there was a need, and I’m convinced that we have saved thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives, by providing that sanctuary,&#8221 said Mr. Shearer.

About 213,000 of people are still sheltering at UNMISS Protection of Civilians sites across the country.

&#8220We know that the vast majority of those people want to return home,&#8221 Mr. Shearer said, &#8220so UNMISS and our humanitarian partners are always looking at opportunities to support their voluntary return.&#8221

Mr. Shearer said that the number of people displaced in South Sudan rose to nearly four million during the first half of this year.

&#8220That figure includes 1.9 million who have been internally displaced and two million who fled to neighbouring countries &#8211 one million in Uganda alone,&#8221 he told journalists, noting insecurity in Jonglei and Upper Nile, and the Equatorias.

The UN and its humanitarian partners have appealed for $1.64 billion to provide food, health care and education to help many of the 7.6 million estimated people in need in the country. So far, some 66 per cent of the budget is funded.

14 September 2017 – Amid an acute shortage of humanitarian supplies for the thousands of Rohingya arriving every day in Bangladesh, having fled violence in Myanmar, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is undertaking a &#8220massive&#8221 scale-up of its emergency operations to ensure that those most vulnerable are not endangered further.

Up to 400,000 Rohingyas have been sheltering in Bangladesh since violence erupted across the border in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state in end-August and, according to preliminary estimates, about 60 per cent of them are children.

&#8220There are acute shortages of everything, most critically shelter, food and clean water,&#8221 said Edouard Beigbeder, the head of UNICEF in Bangladesh.

&#8220Conditions on the ground place children at high risk of water-borne disease. We have a monumental task ahead of us to protect these extremely vulnerable children.&#8221

In its response, the UN agency has been dispatching trucks filled with emergency water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to Cox’s Bazar (located near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border), with a steady stream of supplies in the pipeline for the coming days and weeks.

Supplies include detergent powder, soap, and pitchers and jugs for storing water, along with nappies, sanitary napkins, towels and sandals.

UNICEF is also supporting the Department of Public Health Engineering with water treatment plants and carriers, and is working with partners on the ground to install and rehabilitate tube wells.

&#8220These items are part of a first wave of supplies that will massively scale-up our emergency response to the growing number of Rohingya children in Bangladesh,&#8221 Mr. Beigbeder added, noting that UNICEF has appealed for $7.3 million to provide emergency support to Rohingya children over the next four months.

Yesterday, speaking at a press conference, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his call on Myanmar authorities to suspend military action, end the violence and recognize the right of return of all those who had to leave the country.

He also underscored his call for &#8220an effective action plan&#8221 to address the root causes of the situation, which he said had been left to fester for decades and has now escalated beyond Myanmar’s borders, destabilizing the region.

14 September 2017 – Impacts of climate change and the global economic crisis are compounding the threats faced by people living in poverty around the world, a United Nations rights expert warned, calling on the international development community to put human rights at the centre of their work.

&#8220People in developing countries are paying a heavy price for global actions beyond their control,&#8221 said Saad Alfarargi, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, delivering his maiden report to the Human Rights Council &#8211 the highest intergovernmental forum in the UN system on rights issues.

&#8220We are witnessing some of the greatest challenges the world has ever seen, without the global commitment to deliver change,&#8221 he added.

In a news release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN expert stressed that even more than 30 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, many around the planet are still unaware of the existence of right to development, and it remains far from being universally recognized and even further from full implementation.

Mr. Alfarargi also noted increasing politicization of issues related to the right to development that has resulted in little promotion, protection and fulfillment of the right.

Adding to this, the multitude of challenges &#8211 ranging from new global pandemics, corruption, privatization of public services to austerity &#8211 on top of global financial and economic crisis, energy and climate crisis and an increasing number of natural disasters are further complicating the situation.

The worst impact is felt among the world’s poor and those living in Africa, in the world’s least developed countries, and in developing countries that either landlocked or small islands.

A means to remedy the plight, noted the Special Rapporteur is raising the low level of awareness, from grassroots organizations to governments, and to make sure they are all fully engaged in implementing the right.

The building blocks for change are already available, he highlighted.

Any group working for development &#8211 should put the right to development at the centre of their work

&#8220Global agreements are in place to deliver global solutions,&#8221 he said, noting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

&#8220All UN agencies, development agencies, financial and trade institutions &#8211 in short any group working for development &#8211 should put the right to development at the centre of their work,&#8221 he stressed.

&#8220There is an urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone.&#8221

Mr. Alfarargi is the first UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development. He was appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council at its 34th session in February-March 2017.

Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.