Decades of development progress now reversed

01 Aug, 2022
Image: UNICEF/ Sebastian Rich

The head of the U.N. body promoting development is warning that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the war in Ukraine have led to “an unprecedented reversal” of decades of progress in combatting global poverty and hunger and ensuring quality education for children everywhere.

Collen Kelapile, who is president of the Economic and Social Council known as ECOSOC, said there is growing concern that funding for critical U.N. development goals including ending extreme poverty and hunger by 2030 might be neglected by Western donor nations supporting Ukraine militarily and financially in its war against Russia.

Making a mistake and sidelining these issues, Kelapile warned, could lead to higher costs in the future if they escalate “because there is no longer attention to them.”

ECOSOC, one of the six main organs of the United Nations, is focused on advancing development on three fronts – economic, social and environmental – and on coordinating efforts to achieve the 17 goals for 2030 that the 193 U.N. member nations agreed to in 2015. The U.N. body has 54 member nations and over 1,600 non-governmental organizations with consultative status.

Source: The Associated Press

Image: UNICEF/ Sebastian Rich

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