UN: The pandemic has plunged 77 million people into extreme poverty
The severe economic shock that the coronavirus pandemic did to the world last year brought another 77 million people to extreme poverty and contributed to many countries being unable to recover economically, the United Nations said.
The report of the World Organization states that rich countries could help the poorest to recover, through loans with minimum interest rates.
However, the poorest countries have spent billions of euros on debt service and faced much higher borrowing costs, so they can not invest in education, health, the environment and reducing inequality.
According to the United Nations, in 2019 812 million people in the world lived in extreme poverty, and by 2021 due to the pandemic that number increased to 889 million.
The report is a financial plan to achieve the UN Development Goals by 2030, including ending poverty, providing quality education for all young people and achieving gender equality.
UN Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohammedsaid the plan comes at a time of growing environmental and climate crises, a long-running coronavirus pandemic and the global impact of the Ukraine war.
The UN analysis also shows that 1,7 billion people are facing increased spending on food, energy and fertilizers as a result of the war in Ukraine.