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July is a month to start enjoying the harvest of fruits and vegetables for many in Europe and the topic of reducing food loss and waste becomes very urgent. In Serbia, agriculture is an important sector of the economy, contributing around 6% of GDP. In March 2022 food production accounted for 10.4…
The UNECE region is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Public procurement can be a powerful policy lever to accelerate progress. Some Governments in the UNECE region spend as much as 20 percent of GDP annually on procuring goods, services, and infrastructure.…
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have become one of the preferred mechanisms for financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in many countries in the UNECE region. Through its approach to PPPs for the SDGs, UNECE supports countries identifying, developing and implementing infrastructure…
Embracing sustainable infrastructure that is green, circular, inclusive, resilient, fiscally sustainable, and of high quality is crucial for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) can promote the development of such infrastructure projects by putting…
Infrastructure investment is long-term in nature and can lay the foundations for sustainable development in member States. To improve the sustainability of infrastructure and public services, such investments must be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) says the United Nations…
We probably all know what a potato is and how we prefer to eat it. But do you know what a seed potato is, and why seed potato certification matters? And did you know UNECE has a standard for seed potatoes?
Potatoes is one of the easiest vegetables to grow, as old potatoes that have grown buds can…
The Caucasus and Central Asia accounts for over 30 million hectares of forests and wooded lands, an area approximately the size of Italy Forest landscape restoration in this area is critical for supporting livelihoods and local economies, preventing soil erosion and desertification, enhancing…
COP26 was a positive step forward in the fight against climate change, but as the UN Secretary General pointed out in his comments: “it is not enough. We must accelerate climate action to keep alive the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.” The compromise deal reflects the…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about immense changes in how people move around the world. International travel ground almost to a halt at the onset of the crisis, as restrictions were imposed and borders closed. Internal migration, too, was restricted in many countries as lockdowns were declared…
Over the last two weeks at COP 26, governments, the private sector and a wide range of actors have unveiled plans for climate action in crucial areas ranging from methane, to forests, finance, fashion, transport and far beyond. As US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry put it in our…
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the world’s fragilities, including the weaknesses of our food systems which exacerbate hunger, obesity, poverty, political instabilities and economic crises. To overcome common and regional challenges, the five UN regional commissions have been working jointly on…
With the UN Food Systems Summit taking place next week under the auspices of the UN General Assembly (23 September 2021), we must recognize that the food systems we have built over recent decades are unsustainable. The food choices we make every day as consumers and producers of food are having a…
UNECE’s Expert Forum for Producers and Users of Climate Change-related Statistics took place in Geneva and online from 31 August to 3 September, in the run-up to COP26 later this autumn.
The annual UNECE expert forums bring together not only producers but also users of climate change-related…
The new UNECE Guide on producing CPI under lockdown, published today, helps national statistical offices to produce the Consumer Price index (CPI) under periods of lockdown and other emergencies.
The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, is a key economic indicator in most countries, giving a …
The heads of national statistical offices of 59 countries and 24 international organizations are gathering this week in Geneva and around the globe for the 69th plenary session of the Conference of European Statisticians, the decision-making body for statistical matters in the UNECE region and…
Both innovation and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are essential drivers of economic development, environmental sustainability and social inclusiveness.
The UNECE region was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, not only because of the health crisis itself but also, even as the threat recedes…
A team of expert labour statisticians is to be convened by UNECE for the Conference of European Statisticians, to investigate how to reflect new ways of working in the employment figures we use every day.
Over the past year the work-from-home orders and business closure rules issued by many…
The importance of statistical information to help us cope with disasters has never been clearer than over the past year. As the Covid-19 pandemic has gripped the world, numbers have become our bread and butter. Yet the pandemic has also highlighted the challenges and imperfections in many systems; …
A small sub-set of small- and medium-sized enterprises – innovative, high-growth enterprises (IHGEs) – play an outsize role in innovation and structural transformation across the world. They spearhead experimentation with new ideas to create value, address challenges, and reduce transaction costs…
The Government of Ukraine is currently implementing a broad policy agenda aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pursuing a resilient, inclusive and sustainable post-COVID recovery. UNECE, together with UNDP, UNICEF and WHO, is supporting these efforts through a Joint…
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the economy hard. Global GDP is estimated to have fallen by 3.5 in 2020, and even more steeply in parts of the UNECE region. International trade has been disrupted. Progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals has slowed down at a time when it would be…
As globalization increases the diversity of innovative ways of doing business around the world, economies become ever more interdependent. Multinational enterprise groups, or MNEs, have operations in several countries, so counting up their economic impacts entails looking across borders to gather…
Director General of Statistics Finland Marjo Bruun has chaired the Conference of European Statisticians (CES), UNECE’s statistical body, since 2016. As she retires from Statistics Finland at the end of this month, she reflects on how leading this international statistical work has broadened her…
The UNECE region, in particular Europe and North America, has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the devastating impact on lives and health, countries in the region are suffering heavy socio-economic consequences. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to fall…
On 8 March, we celebrate International Women’s Day with this year’s theme “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. We still have a long way to go. In October 2019, UNECE hosted a regional meeting to review the progress and discuss the challenges in the implementation of the most…