Current Affairs - International

The latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery was published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and international human rights group Walk Free.

Major Findings

• In 2021, some 50 million people were living in modern slavery: 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriages.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2022 was recently released by the World Economic Forum.

It compares countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions:

• Pillar 1 Economic Participation and Opportunity

India held the first-ever Security and Defence Consultations with European Union on 10th June 2022 at Brussels, capital city of Belgium.

• The two sides reviewed the entire gamut of their defence relations and evolving security situation in Europe, India’s neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific.

During the recent visit of Indian Defence Minister to Vietnam, the two countries signed the 'Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030', which will significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation.

• Also, a Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Logistics Support was also inked.

Recently, UNICEF published a Child Alert report, Severe wasting: An overlooked child survival emergency, which shows that in the light of rising levels of severe wasting (Wasting is low weight for a child's height) in children and rising costs for life-saving treatment, global financing to save the lives of children suffering from wasting is also under threat.

• According to the Report, India has 5,772,472 children below five years affected by severe wasting — the most in the world.

A day before the QUAD leaders' meeting in Tokyo on May 24th, 2022, India and 12 other countries joined the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) unveiled by US President Joe Biden.

• The framework envisions a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific Region.

The 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

• At this event, Abidjan Declaration on achieving Gender Equality for Successful Land Restoration was issued.

On 2nd April, 2022, India and Australia signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The negotiations for India-Australia ECTA were formally re-launched on 30 September 2021 and concluded on a fast-track basis by the end of March 2022.

India and the Report

• India may be one of the fastest growing economies of the world, but it is among the least happy countries according to the latest World Happiness Report 2022.
• The World Happiness Report 2022 ranked India 136th out of 146 countries. In 2021, India was ranked 136th out of 149 countries.

On 11th March, 2022, India and Canada held the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment (MDTI) in New Delhi.

• The robust trade and economic relationship between India and Canada was highlighted and both countries resolved to further strengthen the bilateral ties and economic partnership.