Issue LI | April 2022
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
ISSUE #51
Global Development Update is a monthly bulletin that informs readers about the events, ideas, and people that are shaping an emerging world community. It is produced by The Global Citizens' Initiative- a non-profit working to help develop a sustainable world community for all. Click below to sign up for a free Global Development Update subscription.
FEATURED STORY
Poverty, race, and COVID-19

During the pandemic, in the US, people living in poorer counties died at nearly two times the rate of people who lived in richer counties. This is one of the key findings of the new A Poor People’s Pandemic Report: Mapping the Intersections of Poverty, Race and COVID-19. The report aggregates data from more than 3,200 US counties to connect information about COVID-19 deaths to other demographic characteristics, including income, race, health insurance status, and more. Read on.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The UN General Assembly suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council

This month, United Nations members voted to strip Russia from its seat at the Human Rights Council, over alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. The proposal was backed by 93 countries. This is the second time in the history of the Council that a sitting member has been kicked out. Read on.
GENDER EQUITY
2022 International Women of Courage Award recipients announced

In March, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken hosted the annual International Women of Courage Awards to honor twelve extraordinary women working to build a better world. Among them, for instance, there is Rizwana Hasan, a lawyer who demonstrates exceptional courage in her mission to protect the environment and defend the dignity and rights of marginalized people in Bangladesh. Read on.
ENVIRONMENT
Planet Earth is turning into Planet Plastics

Approximately 400,000,000 metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide annually. The available indicators on the production, consumption, recycling, reuse and disposal of plastics all point to the same outcome: a catastrophic transformation of the environment. However, it is not too late to take action and stop this crisis. Read on.
Water: a matter of survival in conflict zones

Access to drinking water is a major problem around the world, but nowhere is it more challenging to ensure it than in conflict-hit regions: “where [SDG 6] is most important, but also most challenging to achieve, is precisely in conflict contexts.” Read on.
Global wind and solar growth on track to meet climate targets

In 2021, solar and wind energy accounted for 10.3% of total global electricity generation, up 1% from 2020. According to a new report, both renewable sources can grow enough to limit global warming to 1.5C if the 10-year average compound growth rate of 20% can be maintained to 2030. Read on.
UN Warns it’s ‘now or never’ to limit global warming

The recent IPCC report on climate change indicates that harmful carbon emissions have never been higher in human history. The world is on a “fast track” to disaster and “it’s now or never to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.” Read on.
POVERTY REDUCTION AND INCOME INEQUALITY
An assault on the world’s most vulnerable people and countries

The ongoing war in Ukraine is also an assault on the world’s most vulnerable people and countries, as food, fuel, and fertilizer prices are skyrocketing. Moreover, Ukraine alone provided more than half of the World Food Programme’s wheat supply. The conflict is also undermining development aid provided by Western nations to some of the world’s poorest nations. Read on.
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE & CONNECTIVITY
Global Migration is not abating. Neither is the backlash against it

Around the world, far-right populist parties continue to stoke the popular backlash against global migration, driving some centrist governments to adopt a tougher line on immigration. Read on.
GLOBAL PEACE & JUSTICE
Growing number of financial institutions against investing in nuclear weapons

A new report profiles 101 financial institutions with policies that restrict investments in the companies involved in the manufacture, development, deployment, stockpiling, testing, or use of nuclear weapons. "There is a correlation between the growing understanding of the private sector’s involvement in nuclear weapons programs, and the number of policies excluding the companies involved." Read on.
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