December 19, 2022
Member Feature: Joseph Mshana
Joseph Mshana is a Project 17 National Director living in Tanzania, a country in East Africa. From his work, he truly embodies Project 17’s shared ideals of building a more sustainable, productive, and healthier future for all.
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Goal 11 of UN SDGs aims to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable”. In countries and regions with poor economic development, such as sub-Saharan Africa, “less ⅓ of the city dwellers have convenient access to public transportation”. According to another meta-study, a staggering 99% of the world’s urban population currently breathes polluted air. Waste management must also be taken care of in the current era of growing globalization, urbanization, and population. Only 82% of global municipal solid waste is collected, and only 55% is managed in controlled facilities as of 2022. In order to improve this situation and to increase safety, resilience, sustainability, and inclusivity globally, the government must focus intensively on improving the conditions of over 1 billion slum dwellers worldwide. Positive actions, however, are indeed being seen. The countries with local disaster risk reduction strategies increased from 51 to 98 between 2015 and 2021, nearly doubling. However, actions utilizing more efficient resources must be taken to catch up with the speed of global development.
Inflation in 2023: experts predict ‘worst is yet to come’ as recession looms | Reuters Inflation– the highest in decades– is rapidly growing, raising prices of essentials like food, heating, transportation, and accommodation. A peak may be in sight, but effects may get worse in 2023. Pandemic and war brought about this spike, ending a long period of low inflation and low interest rates prior to the pandemic. During COVID-19, governments and banks kept households and businesses afloat, keeping the economy from crashing entirely. However, in 2021, trillions of dollars worth of stimulus money overwhelmed the global trading system, causing labor shortages, insufficient production to meet demand, and a spike in energy prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February led to Western Sanctions on oil and gas, raising fuel prices even higher. Double digit inflation is known as a “tax on the poor” because it exacerbates inequalities globally, hitting those on low incomes the hardest. The World Food Programme estimates an extra 70 million people have been driven closer to starvation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in what it calls a “tsunami of hunger”. Central banks around the world have embarked on steep interest rate hikes to tame inflation, but a smooth cooling-off may be elusive. The IMF’s October outlook was one of the bleakest in the last few years, stating: “In short, the worst is yet to come and for many people, 2023 will feel like a recession.”
International Equal Pay Day 2022: Can pay transparency measures help reduce the gender pay gap? The gender pay gap–women being paid 20% less than men– is a longstanding problem, further exacerbated by the covid pandemic. Actions to resolve the issue are demanded at the business and government level. On September 18, the International Equal Pay Day, the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) explained how transparency and information sharing can be a viable solution. It was suggested that transparency is “an effective tool in identifying existing pay differences between men and women, and as such can be vehicles to address the gender pay gap and reduce broader gender inequalities in the labour market.”
Further Reading
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