Nearly nine months into the covid 19 pandemic, more than three quarters of displaced and conflict affected people have lost income and the devastating economic is tipping many into a hunger, homelessness and education crisis, a recent study said.
The “Downward Spiral”, a detailed survey in 14 countries, including a multi-country survey of 1,400 conflict and displacement-affected people in eight countries, was brought out by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
The report said that 77 per cent of people surveyed had lost job or income since March. The NRC said that 70 per cent had to cut the number of meals for their household, 73 per cent were less likely to send their children to school because of economic hardship. The report said that 62 per cent of those who had previously received remittances from family members from abroad said they were receiving less than before the pandemic. The report said that 68 per cent of the people were likely to move elsewhere because of a lack of work or income and 28 per cent reported receiving less assistance from NGOs or governments since the outbreak of the Covic-19 pandemic.
NRC secretary general Jan Egeland said that the world’s most vulnerable communities were in a dangerous downward spiral. The economic impact of the pandemic has pushed these people to catastrophe. Many of them were already forced out from their homes by violence and often with limited rights to work or access to government services, Egeland said.
The report said that Covic-19 related travel restrictions, closure of markets and businesses, and the general economic downturn have caused conflict and displacement affected populations to lose work and income. It said that the increased economic hardship is forcing many people from their homes, with many respondents reporting that they had been evicted or saying that they were likely to try to move elsewhere to find work.
Pointing out that donors and international financial institutions have responded to the crisis, the NRC warned that even a fully funded humanitarian response would not be able to meet the needs that are now emerging.
