Beyond the immediate human impact, violence against women and girls also costs billions of dollars a year, be it in lost work, damaged children, hospital fees or police time. The global cost of violence against women and girls was estimated at $1.5 trillion in 2016 – making everyone across the world at least $200 poorer that year.
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Blog: Ending violence against women and girls can add trillions to economy
Main page for this area of work
1 December 2020 to 3 December 2020
Event
The Annual Meeting of the New Producers Group will be held virtually from 1-3rd December 2020.
Trade ministers and business leaders from across the Commonwealth will gather virtually to examine how they can work together to spur a digitally-inclusive and green recovery in the face of devastating economic impacts linked to COVID-19.
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Commonwealth private sector targets green, digital recovery
30 November 2020 to 30 November 2020
Event
Researchers, data scientists and statisticians from the Commonwealth are invited to a workshop for learning about using data for informing policy.
Data Skills to Inform Policy and Decision-Making.
Data Skills to Inform Policy and Decision-Making.
More than 90 government officials from 11 nations have gained new skills that will help them make sound decisions on petroleum field development plans submitted by oil companies, to ensure they promote sustainable development.
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Officials trained to assess multi-billion dollar petroleum investments
Event
Commodity exports constitute a large share of world merchandise trade for many developing and developed countries. In 2019, of the US$18.9 trillion merchandise trade, around one third comprised commodities – 25 per cent and 30 per cent for developed and developing countries, respectively.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General has called for “swift, coordinated, multilateral action” to support the world’s poorest nations, which are now even more vulnerable in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Secretary-General urges support for poorest countries
Foreign ministers from across the Commonwealth met today in their first ever virtual meeting. The 20th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) would usually take place alongside the United Nations General Assembly but was held virtually this year due to the limitations of the COVID19 pandemic.
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Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting 2020
21 October 2020 to 23 October 2020
Event
The COVID-19 crisis is wreaking havoc on development progress. It also presents an opportunity for rethinking the economic vulnerability of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and developing countries more generally.
Pacific Trade officials have wrapped up a two-day virtual workshop on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement aimed at reinvigorating intra-regional and global trade post Covid-19.
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Pacific officials discuss regional trade facilitation
A new online portal launched by the Commonwealth Secretariat will help member countries easily find the right type of financial support to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters.
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Disaster funds easier to access with new web portal
Commonwealth Finance Ministers have today issued their first joint statement in over a decade, in which they called on the G20, Paris Club, World Bank and IMF to extend financial support to vulnerable nations given the deep and widespread economic impact of the COVID19 pandemic.
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Commonwealth Finance Ministers call for extended financial support for vulnerable nations
An innovative toolkit to help countries unlock the potential of financial technology to deliver inclusive economic progress has been launched by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Commonwealth countries look to unlock potential of FinTech
The Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have joined forces to create a pioneering resource to support countries facing tough decisions on public debt.
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Debt data quality tool to support better decision-making on public debt
Event
Ministers and senior officials will meet in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly on September 24 to discuss the urgent need for improved access to financial resources and debt relief for small states.
28 September 2020 to 2 October 2020
Event
The Commonwealth Secretariat is hosting its first Fintech Week from 28 September to 2 October.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has hailed India’s leadership in supporting vulnerable nations in the Commonwealth, describing it as an “area of hope” for all member countries.
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India-UN Fund offers ‘opportunity and hope’ for vulnerable Commonwealth states
Commonwealth countries are at risk of losing foreign investment and trade from not having modern dispute resolution systems available to their business communities.
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Arbitration study urges countries not to lose foreign investment and trade
In Africa, micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) in the informal economy are particularly vulnerable to economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Blog: Five ways governments can help small businesses in the informal sector survive COVID-19
The Commonwealth has launched a new Financial Technology, or fintech, programme to boost governments’ capacity and knowledge of the industry.
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Commonwealth Secretariat partners with Universities of Oxford and Cambridge to offer fintech training to member states
Eligible countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can better manage debt relief from international lenders, using the Commonwealth Secretariat’s specialised software.
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Commonwealth Meridian software helps countries manage debt relief for COVID-19
When countries shuttered their shops, closed their markets, and cordoned off places of gathering to help ward off the coronavirus, they did so out of immediate concern for the health and wellbeing of their citizens.
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Blog: What is lost in the smoke of COVID-19
John Maynard Keynes became popular after his death for his teachings now called Keynesian economics, which are applied in most economic crises.
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Blog: COVID-19 Crisis Responses: the Conundrum for Developing Countries
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many countries to question their reliance on the tourism industry. But what options remain for economic growth outside of tourism?
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Blog: Pandemic in Paradise: The Challenges and Future Prospects of the Tourism Industry
Imagine a world without the internet and erase the last few decades of technological advancement. Then imagine how governments, schools and businesses would have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Blog: Making technology an effective weapon in the battle against COVID-19