Fifty days on, Jamaica struggles to rebuild after Hurricane Melissa’s unprecedented destruction

Current estimates place the total damage and loss between $8 billion and $15 billion – nearly a quarter of Jamaica’s gross domestic product (GDP), said Dennis Zulu, UN Resident Coordinator for Jamaica, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos. The hurricane affected more than 626,000 people and claimed 45 lives, underscoring its […]

Jamaica: International support ‘crucial’ to hurricane recovery says Guterres

António Guterres spoke by phone to Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness earlier in the day emphasising afterwards in a statement that “international support is crucial” as the country deals with the effects of the category 5 storm which brought rain, storm surges and catastrophic flooding. “He calls for the mobilisation of massive resources to deal […]

Hurricane Melissa leaves thousands displaced across the Caribbean

The hurricane caused widespread damage to homes, infrastructure and crops, leaving thousands displaced. However, extensive storm preparation by governments, assisted by UN agencies and other NGOs, appears to have helped lessen the impact and saved lives in many areas.  In Cuba, the hurricane struck the province of Santiago de Cuba with winds exceeding 200 km/h […]

World News in Brief: Global investment plunges, hurricane season in Haiti, rising cholera and hunger in South Sudan

World News in Brief: Global investment plunges, hurricane season in Haiti, rising cholera and hunger in South Sudan

Their latest data shows that the outlook for international investment this year “is negative”, a sharp course correction from January, when “modest” growth seemed possible. The reasons for this range from trade tensions and tariffs whose main effect has been a “dramatic increase in investor uncertainty”, said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan. She said that investment […]

World News in Brief: Global growth slows, deadly Ukraine attacks, Haiti hurricane hunger risk, legal migration for refugees

World News in Brief: Global growth slows, deadly Ukraine attacks, Haiti hurricane hunger risk, legal migration for refugees

Growth is projected to weaken to 2.3 per cent, or nearly half a percentage point lower than expected at the start of the year, according to the Global Economic Prospects report. “The global outlook is predicated on tariff rates close to those of late May prevailing,” it said. “Accordingly, pauses to previously announced tariff hikes […]

Haiti: WFP concerned over humanitarian situation as hurricane season begins

Haiti: WFP concerned over humanitarian situation as hurricane season begins

With roughly half the population, 5.7 million people, facing some sort of emergency level of hunger, Haiti is one of five countries in the world with catastrophic levels of hunger.   “Despite all the violence, displacement and collapse”, WFP remains in Haiti, Lola Castro, Regional Director in Latin America and the Caribbean, said during a briefing […]