New Delhi: New study of the United Nations (UN) on coronavirus has found that pandemic could push over one billion people in extreme poverty by 2030.
The study assesses the impact of different COVID-19 recovery scenarios on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), evaluating the multidimensional effects of the pandemic over the next decade.
The study is part of a current partnership between the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pardee Center for International Futures at the University of Denver.
“Severe long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty on top of the current pandemic trajectory, bringing the total to over one billion by 2030,” noted the study.
The baseline covid-19 scenario is based on current mortality rates and the most recent growth projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As per Baseline COVID scenario – more than 44 million people could face extreme poverty and the ‘High Damage’ scenario is likely to push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty by 2030.
The study also finds that “A focused set of SDG investments over the next decade in social protection, governance, digitalisation and a green economy could not only prevent the rise of extreme poverty but actually exceed the development trajectory the world was on before the pandemic.”
UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said that “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 to recover from COVID-19 but that re-sets the development path of people and planet towards a more fair, resilient and green future.”
UNDP said that “This ambitious, yet feasible SDG Push’ scenario would lift an additional 146 million people out of extreme poverty, narrow the gender poverty gap and reduce the female poverty headcount by 74 million, even taking into account the current impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The proposed interventions also focus on global collaboration for climate actions, additional investments in COVID-19 recovery and the need for improved broadband access and technology innovation, UNDP said.
_Vinayak