Amid the continuing spread of the coronavirus around the world, a new study on the effects of the pandemic has warned of a “high damage” scenario that would see hundreds of millions of people pushed into poverty.
The recovery from COVID-19 would be contracted, and development experts anticipate that 80 per cent of the pandemic-induced economic crisis would continue for over a decade.
Releasing the new study, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) says an additional 207 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030.
That would spike the total number to more than a billion worldwide.
At the same time, the study says a focus on achieving the UN-set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could slow the rise of extreme poverty.
That would enable countries to lift 146 million from its grip – and even exceed the development trajectory the world was on before the pandemic.
The body calls the approach ambitious but feasible and says it could narrow the gender poverty gap, and reduce the female poverty headcount, even taking into account the current impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other end, the authors of the study say the “Baseline COVID” scenario, based on current mortality rates and the most recent growth projections by the International Monetary Fund, would result in 44 million more people living in extreme poverty by 2030.
Achim Steiner, the UNDP Administrator, highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic is a “tipping point” and the future would depend on decisions made today.
“As this new poverty research highlights, the COVID-19 pandemic is a tipping point, and the choices leaders take now could take the world in very different directions. We have an opportunity to invest in a decade of action that not only helps people recover from COVID-19, but that re-sets the development path of people and planet towards a fairer, resilient and green future.”
The study stems from a collaboration between the UNDP and the Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver.
