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Nepal continues to face a serious challenge in eliminating child labour, with national estimates indicating that 1.1 million children are engaged in work, including 220,000 in hazardous occupations. Despite progress, child labour persists in sectors such as brick kilns, woollen carpets, and entertainment, highlighting the need for stronger, coordinated action across all levels of government…. [Read More]

Ghana’s garment sector is currently valued at around US$400 million, with the government aiming to grow it to over US$2 billion and create 150,000 jobs by 2033, alongside expanding cotton production across 50,000 hectares. Despite this potential, more than 70 percent of textiles and garments consumed in the country are imported annually, limiting the sector’s… [Read More]

Montenegro’s green transition is increasingly influencing how businesses compete, invest, and create jobs. For employers, sustainability is no longer just a regulatory obligation—it is emerging as a driver of resilience, market access, and long-term growth. Companies that strategically adopt climate-conscious practices can gain commercial advantages while mitigating risks associated with regulatory changes, shifting investor expectations,… [Read More]

The World Bank has approved a $35 million, six-year project in Laos aimed at improving the performance of frontline workers in education and health. The initiative, titled Improving Frontline Workers Performance in Education and Health, seeks to address long-term human capital challenges by enhancing staff management, professional development, and training systems. In the education sector,… [Read More]

The World Bank has approved $286 million in financing for a program aimed at improving healthcare access and quality for over 90 million people in West Bengal. The initiative seeks to enhance life expectancy and quality of life by addressing both service gaps and systemic constraints in the state’s health system. West Bengal has achieved… [Read More]

Sudan has endured over 1,000 days of brutal conflict, creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, with no immediate end in sight. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has reached more than 10 million of the most vulnerable women, men, and children since the resurgence of civil conflict in April 2023, providing emergency… [Read More]

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has completed a £1 billion fixed-rate benchmark bond issuance, marking its largest-ever transaction in sterling and its first benchmark issuance in the currency for 2026. Investor demand for the bond exceeded £2.2 billion, more than double the amount issued, reflecting strong confidence in the Bank’s credit quality and its long-standing… [Read More]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) have signed a $30 million financing package to develop a 300-megawatt solar power plant and a 75-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system in Guzar City, Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan. The project will also include 1.6 kilometers of transmission lines and a 220-kilovolt substation to integrate… [Read More]

In Champhira, Mzimba, young farmers like Levi Kaunda are learning life lessons from bees while building livelihoods. As a member of the Zandonda and Tupwenge cooperatives, Levi carefully tends to honeycombs, seeing bees as models of hard work, calm, and collaboration. His perspective reflects a broader transformation enabled by the Empowering Women and Youth in… [Read More]

In Haiti, Hurricane Melissa devastated the coastal town of Petit-Goâve, destroying homes, livelihoods, and taking lives. Families lost livestock, suffered injuries, and experienced unimaginable grief, with rivers bursting and mud burying entire communities. The storm highlighted the devastating consequences of underfunded humanitarian aid in a country where more than half the population is acutely food… [Read More]

As 2026 begins, sharp cuts in humanitarian assistance are leaving deep and sometimes irreversible impacts on the world’s most vulnerable communities. The World Food Programme (WFP) posed a question to its country directors in emergency hotspots: what if funding were sufficient to not only save lives but transform them? In the Democratic Republic of the… [Read More]

Forty-five women from Kamara Town never imagined that they could collectively manage thousands of dollars or own such wealth as a group. In Kpo-River, rural Montserrado County, a seed capital of $2,000 USD in 2025 launched the community’s first Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLA). Within the first year, the women raised 769,655 Liberian Dollars,… [Read More]

In early July, a long-feared reality materialized for millions in the development aid ecosystem when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ceased operations. As the world’s largest single aid donor, disbursing around $72 billion in 2023 and accounting for over 40 percent of UN-tracked humanitarian aid in 2024, USAID’s absorption into the U.S…. [Read More]

When the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted in February 2022, global supply chains were disrupted, sending shockwaves through Africa’s agricultural sector. In Zambia, farmers faced skyrocketing fertilizer prices and dwindling supplies, threatening their livelihoods. The country relied heavily on imports from Russia and Ukraine, spending over $110 million annually, yet in 2022, it required 632,529 metric tonnes… [Read More]

This case study examines how farmer training under India’s Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management (FARM) project is enabling a large-scale transition toward safer and more sustainable agricultural practices. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the initiative promotes reduced reliance on harmful chemicals and plastics by… [Read More]

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lesotho, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, reflects on how a coordinated national response to gender-based violence (GBV) is strengthening protection systems and expanding support for survivors across the country. Drawing on the establishment of Lesotho’s first integrated multipurpose centre for survivors, she highlights how decisive leadership, strong partnerships and effective coordination… [Read More]

In February 2026, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) will launch a new US$10 million investment to support biodiversity conservation in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. Spanning five years, the initiative will focus on selected conservation corridors across Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) serving… [Read More]

Despite more than four decades of intensive research, an effective and widely available HIV vaccine remains out of reach. One of the central challenges lies in the virus’s extreme genetic diversity and its ability to evade immune responses, even when vaccines are precisely designed to hit known targets. HIV vaccine development focuses on the virus’s… [Read More]

The Global Health Studies group at Northwestern University is hosting a public talk titled Global Health Politics in the Post-USAID Era: Lessons from the US’s Global Gag Rule and its Impact on NGOs in Kenya on Friday, January 23, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM CT. The event will take place at 555 Clark… [Read More]

Over the past five years, Sol Systems has significantly expanded its investment in community impact, increasing funding and growing its network to more than 30 community-based organizations working to strengthen resilience across the United States. This approach is grounded in the belief that meaningful and sustainable community impact can only be achieved by working in… [Read More]

In an era where data-driven governance is central to sustainable development and effective public policymaking, national statistical systems face growing complexity. Rapid societal change, economic integration, and digital transformation demand new approaches to how data is collected, managed, and used. Against this backdrop, the Republic of Moldova has embarked on an ambitious transition toward a… [Read More]

From Crisis to Resilience: Climate Solutions for Positive Peacebuilding, brings together real-world case studies that demonstrate how climate action can strengthen peace, security and social cohesion in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Spanning diverse regions and contexts, the studies highlight practical, conflict-sensitive solutions that integrate environmental sustainability with inclusive development and peacebuilding. In Iraq’s marshlands, clean… [Read More]

Not long ago, the idea of using almond shells, forestry residues or sewage sludge to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere sounded futuristic. Today, it is becoming a reality as a growing number of companies develop innovative ways to transform waste into climate solutions. A new wave of startups is advancing biomass carbon removal… [Read More]