The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian crisis that demands a peaceful resolution. At the same time, economic damage from the conflict will contribute to a significant slowdown in global growth in 2022 and add to inflation.
The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian crisis that demands a peaceful resolution. At the same time, economic damage from the conflict will contribute to a significant slowdown in global growth in 2022 and add to inflation.
The International Monetary Fund slashed its forecast for global economic growth by nearly a full percentage point, citing Russia's war in Ukraine, and warning that inflation was now a "clear and present danger" for many countries.
Economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 5.2% in 2022, the fastest rate since 2016, on the back of oil-price windfalls benefitting the region’s oil exporters. But heightened uncertainty surrounds this forecast due to the war in Ukraine and ongoing threats from COVID-19 variants.
The UN’s trade and development body has downgraded its global economic growth projection for 2022 to 2.6% from 3.6% due to the Ukraine war and to changes in macroeconomic policies made by countries in recent months.
Attacks on water and sanitation facilities in conflict zones around the world are putting the lives of millions of children around the world in danger, and are a much greater threat than violence itself, warns the UN Children’s agency, UNICEF, in a report.
The Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating already existing protection needs and unveiling new ones. In eastern Ukraine, already exhausted by the ongoing conflict, the vulnerabilities are particularly high due to the high proportion of elderly population, damaged infrastructure and deteriorating healthcare and water supply systems.
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.
As a complement to agency-wide efforts across all its IDP operations, UNHCR’s engagement in internal displacement will be further concretized, supported and driven forward on a focused and demonstrative basis in nine target operations, which span the internal displacement spectrum from emergency preparedness, to response, and to solutions.
