Our Mission

The number of refugees globally rose to 25.9 million in 2018, up from 25.4 million in 2017, and setting a new record, according to newly released UNHCR report and World Bank estimates. The number of people seeking international protection outside of their country of origin has increased 70% since 2011.

Countries producing the largest numbers of refugees include (in order) the Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, and Sudan. More than half (56%) of the world’s refugees in 2018 came from these six countries. The number of refugees from Syria, South Sudan, and Myanmar has increased rapidly over the last couple of years. Read More.

For the first time in five years, global gas flaring increased. Newly released estimates from satellite data show a 3% increase in 2018 to 145 billion cubic meters (bcm), which is equivalent to the total annual gas consumption of Central and South America. Read more

Rising debt levels are increasingly a concern. Many emerging and developing economies have borrowed heavily and their hard-won reductions of public debt before the global financial crisis have eroded. Emerging and developing economy debt has climbed by an average of 15 percentage points to 51 percent of GDP in 2018, the World Bank’s June 2019 Global Economic Prospects: Heightened Tensions, Subdued Investment reports. Read More.