Press Conferences | UNCTAD
Developing countries crippled by debt need urgent relief, stresses UN trade agency
Far too little constructive support has been provided to help developing countries escape from crippling debt related to the COVID-19 outbreak, leading UN economists said on Thursday.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), urgent measures are needed to head off what it has called a “looming debt disaster” in emerging economies.
It’s calling on international investors and creditors to agree to write off debt relief to developing countries.
Some welcome steps have already been taken, including the decision on 13 April by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel debt repayments due by the 25 poorest developing economies for the next six months.
This alone was estimated at around $215 million.
That IMF decision was followed two days later by the leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies (or G20), who announced the suspension of debt paybacks for 73 of the world’s poorest countries from May to the end of the year.
Welcoming these measures, UNCTAD economist Richard Kozul-Wright said that they would free up sorely needed resources which are needed to respond to the pandemic, and which are normally dedicated to paying off external debt.
But he insisted that more “systematic, transparent and coordinated measures towards writing off developing country debt across the board” are urgently needed.
A trillion dollar write-off would be closer to the figure needed to prevent economic disaster across the developing world, Mr Kozul-Wright added.
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Press Conferences | WMO
Sara Basart, WMO Scientific Officer, speaks.
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Press Conferences | IFRC , OHCHR , WHO , UNCTAD
Rolando Gómez, Chief of the Press and External Relations Section at the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the International Trade Centre, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization, and United Nations Trade and Development.
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Press Conferences | ITC
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Press Conferences | WIPO , UNICEF , UNHCR , WHO , IFRC
Rolando Gómez, of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the Organisation Internationale pour la Francophonie, and the GIGA Connectivity Forum.
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Press Conferences | HRC
Launch of the latest report of the Special Rapporteur "From economy of occupation to economy of genocide".
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Press Conferences | IFRC , WFP , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the United Nations in Iran, the World Food Programme, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Meteorological Organisation, and the International Federation of the Red Cross.
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Press Conferences | WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the World Health Organisation, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the World Meteorological Organisation.
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Press Conferences | OHCHR
Forms of sex-based violence against women and girls, and the concept of consent in relation to violence against women and girls
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Press Conferences | UNCTAD
How AI and the digital economy intersect with labor markets, policy gaps, and global equity – Background briefing ahead of Ai for Good Summit
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Press Conferences | OHCHR
Press conference by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
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Press Conferences | OHCHR
Call for Solidarity and Peace: Addressing the Normalization of Violence and Arctic Militarization Risks through Indigenous Peoples’ Examples, Including Insights from the Independent Expert’s Visit to Denmark and Greenland
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Press Conferences | ITU , OHCHR , UNCTAD , UNESCO , UNHCR
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the representatives and spokespersons of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Telecommunication Union, and the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization.