Time to reform UN Security Council, Bretton Woods system outdated: Guterres

Can’t ignore vast majority of countries suffering a deep financial crisis, UN Secretary-General says at G7 meet

The World Bank used to cause untold harm — but 30 years ago it started reforming. What went right

The bank supported some projects that were environmentally and socially damaging

Horn of Africa likely to witness failed rainy season for sixth consecutive time: International agencies

Humanitarian crisis brewing; communities will need years to recover from this historically severe drought

Turkey and Syria earthquake: Long-term funding is needed to support search-and-rescue after major disasters

 Until having an effective earthquake early warning, we need to rely on building codes and urban and physical planning

Cochlear implants can bring the experience of sound to those with hearing loss, but results may vary — here’s why

Scientists are investigating a number of potential ways to improve the effectiveness of cochlear implants.  

2022 too short, too far: How did the economy fare last year

Down To Earth recaps the primary environment, health and developmental news from 2022

COP27 diary (November 7): ‘World on a highway to climate hell, with our foot on the accelerator’

A round-up of what went on at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit  

Generous aid to Ukraine is diverting resources away from other refugee crises around the world

Even before the current Ukraine crisis, a gap between global humanitarian needs and requisite funding to address them was growing.  

Towards zero hunger in Africa: 5 steps to achieve food security

Without transformative change like the Asian Green Revolution, African food systems will continue to impede human development

‘Cancel all debt’: Activists disrupt IMF, World Bank annual meet

Call for reparations as solution for stabilising global economy during debt restructuring panel

Food affordability improved over last 50 years; but what about nutrition

Vast majority of people living in rural and traditional countries and over three billion people globally cannot afford a nutritious diet

Most number of people in need of aid in Ethiopia, Yemen, DRC & Afghanistan in 2021

Need for humanitarian aid reached an all-time high during January 2018-December 2021

UN funds insufficient to help victims of climate disasters: Oxfam

UN humanitarian aid appeals increased 819% in 20 years  

Taliban take-over: Afghanistan already battling drought, hunger, COVID-19

The now-absent government at Kabul had declared drought on June 22; half of its 30 million people are below the poverty line while 7,000 …

Every 4th person to suffer hearing loss by 2050: WHO

At least 700 million people will suffer from disabling hearing loss

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: How global and local experience would play out in WTO top job

Okonjo-Iweala would be in a position to use her multifaceted experiences to energise the WTO’s 164 members to work harder to achieve the …

Still unprotected: COVID-19, underfunding plagues child protection aid

African countries among the worst affected: Funding for child protection dropped to 38% in 2019 from 88% in 2018 in South Sudan 

Mauritius oil spill: Potential government failures should be investigated

The government was well aware of the risk. Since the 1990s, Mauritius has received substantial capacity-building assistance to prevent an oil …

Drought, literature and the lessons

It is imminently important for us to spend considerable time researching the water woes plaguing India and the indigenous solutions, existing in …

Public good, private concerns

Odisha is becoming a testing ground for ADB’s aggressive water sector reforms

By spending just 3% more on infra, developing nations can save $4.2 trillion: World Bank

Making assets climate resilient can help these countries earn $4 for each $1 spent, according to the report

How this Gujarat man came to be celebrated as a Biblical character

Bharat Patel gets the fisherfolk of Kutch, affected by a coal power plant funded by the World Bank, a historic victory in the US Supreme Court

Drought, but why: Area under cultivation has halved in Andhra Pradesh's Ananthapuramu

Decades of deficit rainfall, monoculture in agriculture and perpetually mounting farmer debts have left the district in the lurch

Branding my life?

The unabashed penchant for branding is not only giving donors a bad name but also assaulting the dignity of the poor

34% of environmental indicators under SDGs lack standards

Lack of standards means there is no benchmark from which to calculate the Sustainable Development Goals