In the media
UNU-WIDER experts and the WIDER Development Conference featured in the media

Kalle Hirvonen, Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER, was interviewed by YLE for a news article published on 10 March 2022 on the effects of the Ukraine war on global food security. ‘The war in Ukraine is causing a major supply shock to the world food market. Such a supply shock will drive up prices drastically in the short term and probably also in the medium term. More bad news is expected as energy prices are rising and this will cause more pressure on the food prices, which are usually reflected in the consumers’ shopping carts’, Kalle Hirvonen said. Read the full article here (in Finnish).

UNU-WIDER Senior Research Fellow Patricia Justino was interviewed by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE on the link between the rising food prices and the war in Ukraine. Her interview was broadcast on the national evening news on the 27 April 2022, and also published as part of a longer feature on the YLE website on the same day. The article asked whether the rising food prices could lead to similar protests seen during the Arab spring in 2011. Professor Justino commented that ‘Rising food prices, according to research, can lead to increased tensions and unrest, but it occurs through many different channels and can also be a slow process’. Read the full article here (in Finnish).

The recent WIDER Development Conference The puzzle of peace – towards inclusive development in fragile contexts received mentions in the international media. Marcela Melendez, who chaired a parallel session on economic development and recovery, wrote an op-ed in El Tiempo, the largest newspaper in Colombia with over one million daily readers. Her column on state legitimacy and trust, published on 23 May 2022, was inspired by Tim Besley’s keynote address at the conference as well as her own experience in Finland. Read the article here (in Spanish).

Lebanon-based TV channel Al Mayadeen also featured the Puzzle of peace conference as part of a longer reportage on conflict on 24 May 2022. Watch the programme here (in Arabic).