The Bay of Bengal (BoB) region is emerging as an important focal point for climate security risks. This is largely due to a multi-layered interplay of geopolitical, geostrategic, and climate-related regional dynamics. It forms the final leg between West and East Asia. The region is one of the most climate-vulnerable in the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent enforcement of mobility restrictions have created bottlenecks in the agri-food system. When the food supply chain is disrupted, economic loss occurs, putting rural households, already in poverty, into severe food insecurity.

People in the US, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar strongly support government action to prevent future pandemics. This survey comes as a larger, more in-depth follow-up to one conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Asia.

People in the US, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar strongly support government action to prevent future pandemics. This survey comes as a larger, more in-depth follow-up to one conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Asia.

Myanmar, a least developed country, has made significant achievements in poverty reduction over the last decade. Despite such achievements, analyses of available data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic show that millions of people in Myanmar had remained vulnerable and at risk of falling into poverty in the face of a negative shock.

Prior to 1 February 2021, 2.8 million people were considered food insecure in Myanmar. WFP estimates that 1.5 to 3.4 million additional people could be at risk of food insecurity and in need of assistance due to the economic slowdown provoked by the political crisis in the coming three to six months.

Amid extreme uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, economic policymakers have struggled to respond to rapidly changing circumstances with appropriate speed and scale. One policy obstacle is the dearth of real-time indicators of the pandemic’s economic impacts, especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs).

This report sheds light on one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the world - ASEAN. ASEAN is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy and the third most populous by 20230. Countries within ASEAN are in themselves diverse, with economic, political, and cultural nuances.

In recent years there has been an increasing drive for public financial management (PFM) to transcend its traditional role of financial control and function to a greater extent as an enabler of service delivery.

The impacts of this rapidly evolving health pandemic are now being felt in every corner of the world. UNOPS is working closely with the UN family, governments and other partners to support mitigation and response efforts. COVID-19 poses serious challenges to the capacity of health systems around the world. Medical personnel are under pressure.