KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 13 2024 (IPS)* – Much higher interest rates – due to Western central banks – are suffocating developing nations, especially the poorest, causing prolonged debt distress and economic stagnation.
US Fed-induced stagnation
After the greatest US Fed-led surge in international interest rates in more than four decades, developing countries spent $443.5 billion to service their external government and government-guaranteed debt in 2022.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
The World Bank’s last International Debt Report showed most of the poorest countries in debt distress as borrowing costs began to surge.
The increase has cut into scarce fiscal resources, reducing social spending on health and education.
Debt-servicing costs for all developing countries in 2022 increased by 5% over 2021. The US Fed continued to raise interest rates through 2023, compounding debt distress, while the European Central Bank warns against ‘prematurely’ lowering interest rates.
(UN News)* — Any assault by Israeli forces on the densely populated city of Rafah where 1.5 million have sought shelter following mass displacement, will hugely increase the risk of atrocity crimes, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights warned on Friday[].
Spokesperson for Volker Türk in Geneva, Jeremy Laurence, told journalists that an already catastrophic situation could “slide deeper into the abyss” in the coming days if Israeli forces make their move on the southern border city, carrying through with their threat to invade, unless Hamas militants hand over remaining hostages by the start of Ramadan.
(UN News)* —Days from the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and with no ceasefire agreement in sight for Gaza, UN humanitarians reiterated deep concerns on Thursday [] that a growing number of children are dying of starvation.
“The situation is appalling. Every minute, every hour, it is getting worse,” the UN agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, said in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter.
The Malaysian government is detaining about 12,000 migrants and refugees, including 1,400 children, in conditions that put them at serious risk of physical abuse and psychological harm.
(UN News)* —The plan by Israel’s Government to build more than 3,400 housing units in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank was condemned on Thursday [] by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
(UN News)* —At the current rate of investment, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, according to UN Women.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day on 8 March by investing in women, we look at what needs to be done to improve the economic situation of women around the world.
“This year’s theme – invest in women – reminds us that ending the patriarchy requires money on the table,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement for the International Day.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 6 2024 (IPS)* – Brazil is beginning to test the effectiveness of a gender pay equality law passed in July 2023, a new attempt to reduce inequality for women in the world of work. | En español
Women march for their rights on Mar. 8, 2023, in Brasília. Every International Women’s Day, Brazilian women take to the streets in towns and cities to protest against sexism, racism and other factors of gender inequality. CREDIT: Lula Marques / Agência Brasil
This Friday, Mar. 8, International Women’s Day, is the deadline for companies with more than 100 employees to publish their first half-yearly salary transparency reports, with comparative data on remuneration and the distribution of hierarchical functions between men and women, and between different ethnic groups, nationalities and ages.
(UN News)* — Life is rapidly being choked out of northern Gaza. After enduring nearly five months of bombing, starvation, illness, pain and suffering, many of the last survivors have finally had enough, according to some of the displaced who have been speaking to UN News.
For months, the UN has been warning of a looming famine, particularly in northern Gaza as everything needed to sustain life has either been destroyed or simply run out.
This is now being translated into, not as a result of shells and bullets, but for lack of proper nutrition – or any nutrition at all.
“Everything that benefits the body, internally and externally, is not available in the north.” With these words, Abdullah Qarmout explained why he was forced to leave his home in the Jabalia refugee camp, where he had spent his whole life.
Geneva/ Berlin, 6 March 2024 (IOM)* -– At least 8,565 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2023, making it the deadliest year on record, according to data collected by IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.
In the ten years since the Missing Migrants Project was established, more than 63,000 deaths and disappearances have been documented worldwide. Illustration: Roberta Aita, IOM GMDAC
The 2023 death toll represents a tragic increase of 20 per cent compared to 2022, highlighting the urgent need for action to prevent further loss of life.
“As we mark the Missing Migrants Project’s ten years, we first remember all these lives lost. Every single one of them is a terrible human tragedy that reverberates through families and communities for years to come,” said IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels.
UNICEF’s Appeal: Children in Gaza need life-saving support
UNICEF/UNI521729/El Baba
(UNICEF)* — The escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip is having a catastrophic impact on children and families. Children are dying at an alarming rate – thousands have been killed and thousands more injured.
Around 1.7 million people in the Gaza Strip are estimated to have been internally displaced – half of them children. They do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine. Their homes have been destroyed; their families torn apart.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 