Latest news with #UN-sponsored
HKFP
2 days ago
- Business
- HKFP
ADB acting on US concerns over China, bank chief says
The Asian Development Bank was trying 'very hard' to accommodate US concerns over lending to China, the bank's president told AFP, including by slashing loans to the world's second-largest economy. Global development institutions are in Spain this week for a UN summit on financial aid for the world's poorest overshadowed by Washington's gutting of poverty and climate change programs. The United States is a major donor to multilateral banks like the ABD, but Washington's future commitment to development lenders has been in doubt since the election of President Donald Trump. In April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged ADB President Masato Kanda 'to take concrete steps' to end loans to rival China. Kanda said lending to Beijing was 'radically decreasing' and had already halved from $2 billion in 2020 to $1 billion in 2024. 'We are already on… a declining trajectory,' the Japanese head of the Manila-based lender told AFP in an interview in Paris on Friday. 'Probably — I can't promise — but probably this declining trajectory will be continued, and someday may be zero,' he added, stressing that such a decision would ultimately be decided by the bank's shareholders and board of directors. Kanda said US demands that ADB curtail financing for China were hardly new and probably 'one of the very few agendas across the aisle in the US Congress'. 'Even under the Biden administration, it was the same request,' Kanda said, referring to the last administration under President Joe Biden. The United States and Japan are the largest shareholders of ADB, which helps bankroll projects in the Asia-Pacific region that lift living standards and promote economic growth. China, India and Australia are also significant members. 'Universal' challenge Kanda said ADB's efforts to raise lending without asking more of taxpayers in donor countries 'was very much appreciated by the United States and others'. 'I try very hard to accommodate the issues of the United States,' he said. Kanda is among thousands this week attending the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, the biggest event in a decade on the crisis-hit aid sector. The United States in snubbing the UN-sponsored conference, underlining the erosion of global cooperation on combating hunger, disease and climate change. Trump's cuts have come under particular scrutiny but Germany, Britain and France have also slashed foreign aid while boosting spending in areas such as defence. With budgets in doubt, multilateral development banks have come under particular pressure to step up financing for projects that tackle global warming and prepare poorer countries for climate disaster. Last year, rich countries committed $300 billion annually by 2035 for climate finance in the developing world — well short of the $1.3 trillion that experts say is needed. Last year, the ADB committed to channelling half its annual lending to climate-related projects by 2030 and Kanda said it was likely this would grow in time. The bank was navigating a level of global uncertainty not seen in many decades but it was critical to consider the most vulnerable on the rocky road ahead, he added. 'This is not just a short-term phenomenon of one country, but it is rather universal,' he said. 'This is a really difficult situation. And as long as we don't improve the root cause of this situation — for instance, a more fair society — it will not be so easy.'
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
ADB Acting On US Concerns Over China, Bank Chief Tells AFP
The Asian Development Bank was trying "very hard" to accommodate US concerns over lending to China, the bank's president told AFP, including by slashing loans to the world's second-largest economy. Global development institutions are in Spain this week for a UN summit on financial aid for the world's poorest overshadowed by Washington's gutting of poverty and climate change programs. The United States is a major donor to multilateral banks like the ABD, but Washington's future commitment to development lenders has been in doubt since the election of President Donald Trump. In April, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged ADB President Masato Kanda "to take concrete steps" to end loans to rival China. Kanda said lending to Beijing was "radically decreasing" and had already halved from $2 billion in 2020 to $1 billion in 2024. "We are already on... a declining trajectory," the Japanese head of the Manila-based lender told AFP in an interview in Paris on Friday. "Probably -- I can't promise -- but probably this declining trajectory will be continued, and someday may be zero," he added, stressing that such a decision would ultimately be decided by the bank's shareholders and board of directors. Kanda said US demands that ADB curtail financing for China were hardly new and probably "one of the very few agendas across the aisle in the US Congress". "Even under the Biden administration, it was the same request," Kanda said, referring to the last administration under President Joe Biden. The United States and Japan are the largest shareholders of ADB, which helps bankroll projects in the Asia-Pacific region that lift living standards and promote economic growth. China, India and Australia are also significant members. Kanda said ADB's efforts to raise lending without asking more of taxpayers in donor countries "was very much appreciated by the United States and others". "I try very hard to accommodate the issues of the United States," he said. Kanda is among thousands this week attending the International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, the biggest event in a decade on the crisis-hit aid sector. The United States in snubbing the UN-sponsored conference, underlining the erosion of global cooperation on combating hunger, disease and climate change. Trump's cuts have come under particular scrutiny but Germany, Britain and France have also slashed foreign aid while boosting spending in areas such as defence. With budgets in doubt, multilateral development banks have come under particular pressure to step up financing for projects that tackle global warming and prepare poorer countries for climate disaster. Last year, rich countries committed $300 billion annually by 2035 for climate finance in the developing world -- well short of the $1.3 trillion that experts say is needed. Last year, the ADB committed to channelling half its annual lending to climate-related projects by 2030 and Kanda said it was likely this would grow in time. The bank was navigating a level of global uncertainty not seen in many decades but it was critical to consider the most vulnerable on the rocky road ahead, he added. "This is not just a short-term phenomenon of one country, but it is rather universal," he said. "This is a really difficult situation. And as long as we don't improve the root cause of this situation -- for instance, a more fair society -- it will not be so easy."
DW
20-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
UNHCR reports record displacement in West and Central Africa – DW – 06/20/2025
Nearly 13 million people have been uprooted from their homes in West and Central Africa. The UN Refugee Agency blames migration trends and conflict for creating a "perfect storm" of mass displacement. About 12.7 million forcibly displaced and stateless people are in West and Central Africa, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). "From conflict to climate shocks, protection risks are rising — particularly for women and children, who represent 80% of the the forcibly displaced," said Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, the UNHCR's regional bureau director for West and Central Africa. Gnon-Konde said the UN's data also showed that displaced people are "returning home in increasing numbers where conditions allow." Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Cameroon are home to about 80% of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. Drought, flooding, and chronic violence and insecurity have forced people to seek shelter in other regions within their countries. According to the United Nations, more than 194,200 internally displaced persons returned to their homes in Mali from April through January 2025, and 64,700 in the Central African Republic UN-sponsored voluntary returns Chad is providing refuge to almost 780,000 people who have fled Sudan's civil war, with another 250,000 expected to arrive by the end of the year. The country also hosts large numbers of refugees from the Central African Republic to the south and Niger to the west. Each group of displaced people faces unique dangers, and Chad is struggling to host all of them. The United Nations has been sponsoring voluntary returns to countries of origin within West Africa. Eleven thousand refugees returned to countries such as Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Mali from January through April 2025. "Humanitarian crises are, first of all, political crises," Alpha Seydi Ba, a UNHCR spokesperson based in Dakar, Senegal, told DW. "Unless we are able to make peace, there won't be a situation where the returns are possible." Ba said repatriations were carried out whenever and wherever possible and on a voluntary basis. As a result, the UNHCR says resettlement departures rose by 34% in 2024 (4,000 individuals). Repatriation often means relative safety has been achieved in refugees' home countries Image: Elena Lauriola/UNHCR "I think it's always good news when people are able to go back home," Ba said. "Exile, it's not a choice. Being a refugee is not a choice, when someone leaves their home and everything behind." "We're seeing those people returning and rebuilding," Ba said. "I think it's one of the best things that can happen in the humanitarian person in his career." 'Migrants become stranded' Though repatriation efforts have yielded some positive results, the UN's regional resettlement quota has been reduced by 64% in 2025. To complicate matters, the UNHCR's regional budget overall has been reduced by 50% between 2024 and 2025. "Our operations are very severely impacted," Ba said. "Meaning less food, less shelter, less health care, less clean water, less gender-based protection, which makes overall protection systems or displaced people more fragile," Ba added. "That's why the UNHCR in the region is at a tipping point." "The number of migrants, be it internally displaced people or migrants, is increasing," Luisa de Freitas, who leads the Regional Data Hub in Dakar for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told DW. "We are seeing that, overall, more and more people are on the move." Though many people move to foreign countries because of climate disasters, armed conflict or instability, the IOM reports that economic needs are also a key driver of migration. Chad 'opened the doors to all the refugees from Sudan' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Over 70% to 72% of the individuals that we survey at our flow monitoring points in 2024 were there because of labor or economic reasons," de Freitas said. De Freitas said migration routes had become increasingly dangerous as EU nations and their partners within Africa have sought to stem the flow of migration to Europe. However, this has not deterred migrants from attempting to do so. "People move when they feel they have no other option," de Freitas said. "They will take routes that are less and less traveled. So what is happening is that a lot of these migrants become stranded." New strategies needed Simply putting up barriers or investing in forced removals of migrants is not the solution. Instead, de Freitas advised European nations to adopt a different approach that fosters and incentivizes regular migration, benefiting both home and destination countries. "Spain has just launched two initiatives: one to regularize migrants per year, and they've also launched system where Senegalese can apply for temporary travel visas to go and work in Spain," de Freitas said. Many EU countries desperately need workers in sectors such as agriculture, she added. "Circular migration allows migration on a temporary basis to address labor shortages in destination countries, while providing migrants with access to employment and education opportunities. "Basically, try to make migration a win-win situation for both ends," de Freitas said. Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu
Shafaq News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
UN General Assembly to vote on Gaza ceasefire
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a draft resolution urging an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages held by Hamas, and the opening of Israeli crossings to enable the delivery of food and urgent humanitarian supplies. Drafted by Spain, the resolution includes a strong condemnation of starvation as a method of warfare, describing its use against civilians as a grave violation of international norms. The vote takes place amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where UN agencies estimate that 93% of the population is experiencing extreme food insecurity. Ongoing airstrikes have destroyed farmland, fisheries, and essential infrastructure, further deepening the emergency. Although Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month, the flow of aid has remained minimal. For the more than two million residents of the territory, conditions remain critical. Diplomatic sources expect the 193-member assembly to adopt the resolution by a wide margin. Israel, however, has urged member states to reject the measure, calling it a 'politically motivated and futile spectacle.' While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they are widely seen as barometers of global opinion and carry symbolic political and moral weight. The vote also comes ahead of an UN-sponsored conference next week, aiming to reenergize global engagement with the two-state solution, as efforts toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continue to face significant obstacles. Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has maintained his refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, calling for continued military operations targeting Hamas and opposing negotiations over any potential hostage agreement. Smotrich has also dismissed proposals to reinstate direct Israeli control over the enclave, calling them 'nonsense' and urging officials to block any initiative that could lead to renewed political dialogue.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
El Salvador holds trial for army killing of Dutch journalists
A former defense minister and two colonels went on trial in El Salvador Tuesday for the killings of four Dutch journalists 43 years ago, an NGO assisting the victims' families said. Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while filming a television documentary during El Salvador's civil war. The accused are General Jose Guillermo Garcia, 91, former police colonel Francisco Antonio Moran, 93, and ex-infantry brigade commander Mario Reyes Mena, 85. In 1993, a UN-sponsored Truth Commission found the journalists had walked into an ambush planned by Reyes, who lives in the United States, and with the knowledge of other officers. The Salvadoran Supreme Court approved an extradition request for Reyes in March, but there has been no progress so far. Garcia and Moran are under police surveillance in a private hospital in San Salvador. The hearing in the northern city of Chalatenango is expected to conclude on Wednesday with a verdict from a five-member jury. If convicted, the defendants face prison sentences of up to 30 years. The trial was closed to the media, but activist Oscar Perez of the Fundacion Comunicandonos confirmed from the courtroom that it was under way. The NGO and the Salvadoran Association for Human Rights hailed the trial as a "decisive step" in the search for truth and justice. "We trust that this trial sets a historic precedent in the fight against impunity," they said in a joint statement. The Netherlands' Costa Rica-based ambassador to Central America, Arjen van den Berg, was in court. The case remained unresolved for decades after the presiding judge received threats in 1988, prompting her to seek refuge in Canada. It was reopened in 2018 after the Supreme Court declared an amnesty law for civil war crimes unconstitutional, but relatives of the victims still had to wait years for the main hearing. Evidence such as a statement from a former US military attache and a military expert's report "directly points" to the defendants' responsibility, said lawyer Pedro Cruz, who represents the victims' families. More than 75,000 people were killed in El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war pitting the military against leftist guerrillas. cmm/fj/dr/md
