U.N. News: Conflict and climate change challenge sustainable development effort: U.N. report
“Although more people are leading better lives than a decade ago, persistent poverty and hunger, as well as rapid urbanization, are challenging global efforts to create a more just and equitable world, according to a United Nations report launched on Wednesday. The study provides a snapshot of progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by world leaders nearly three years ago…” (6/20).

Reuters: Conflict, climate change choke efforts to cure poverty, inequality: U.N.
“…Progress has been hampered by climate change-related extreme weather and by violence and war, said Francesca Perucci, assistant director of the Statistics Division at the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). ‘Countries face mounting challenges — a fast-changing climate, increased numbers of conflicts and inequality, and persistent pockets of poverty and hunger,’ she said at a U.N. news conference…” (Wulfhorst, 6/20).

Xinhua News: Conflict, climate change major factors behind growth in hunger, displacement: U.N. report
“…The newly launched Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 said that there was an increase of 38 million more hungry people in the world, rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, and that conflict is one of the main drivers of food insecurity in 18 countries. … At the same time, the report found that overall more people are leading better lives than before, as the proportion of the world’s workers living with their families on less than 1.90 U.S. dollars a day declined from 26.9 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent in 2017. The under-five mortality rate dropped by almost 50 percent between 2000 and 2016 and in the least-developed countries, the proportion of population with access to electricity more than doubled during that same period, the report said…” (6/20).