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In 2008, as the cost of foodstuffs reached record levels, FAO launched a series of input supply projects to help farmers grow more food and earn more money, via its Initiative on Soaring Food Prices. In Nepal - a country reeling from a decade-long conflict and struggling with drought-induced food shortages - this effort helped generate more resources. One such project, funded by the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund, has helped keep thousands of vulnerable Nepalese farmers from falling deeper into poverty and hunger.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University today launched a new index to measure poverty levels which they said give a “multidimensional” picture of people living in hardship, and could help target development resources more effectively.

The United Nations labour agency is calling for urgent action to tackle the crisis of youth unemployment, which has increased significantly in the wake of the global economic slowdown and has repercussions for the economy as well as social cohesion.

China's rapid growth is slowing as the impact of its massive stimulus eases and Beijing clamps down on a credit boom.

Until recently, Spain was the prosperous "Iberian Tiger," the biggest creator of jobs among Europe's 16-nation single currency zone.

The United Nations today hailed the 2010 World Cup as a great success for the Government and people of the host nation South Africa, as well as the entire African continent, adding that the event also served as a vital tool to promote development and peace.
“Irrespective of the result of the final, the real victor of the 2010 World Cup is Africa and the South African people,” according to a press release issued by the world body after the end of the month-long tournament in which Spain took home the top prize.

While Israel and Lebanon have enjoyed the longest period of stability in their recent history, not enough progress has been made on key obligations under the Security Council resolution that ended the hostilities of 2006, according to a new United Nations report released today.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today warned of the risks posed by inaction on climate change, as the high-level group he set up earlier this year to mobilize financing to help developing countries combat global warming reported that they have made progress on the issue.

One of the defining ideals of the European Union has been its social support system, often referred to as the European welfare state. The shared belief among EU nations that the state has a responsibility to care for its citizens has become a kind of common culture, unifying 27 different nationalities.

Six months ago Haiti was rocked by a 7.0 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, left more than 1.5 million homeless and destroyed the country's capital and surrounding areas.