Covid 19 pandemic has worsened the gap between the rich and poor and poverty increased proportionally for the first time in decades, according to the United Nations.
The global body said that the pandemic had deepened the inequalities over the last one year, which has been endorsed by the various UN Agencies. The global agencies said that Covid 19 was not a health issue alone but also related to economic and labour. The International Labour Organisation had declared in February that two billion people working in the informal sector were exposed to the pandemic. ILO Director General Guy Ryder had declared that it was just not a global health crisis but a major economic, market and labour crisis that will have devastating impact on people.
In March 2020, the ILO projected that millions could be pushed into unemployment. Underemployment and working in poor conditions. The UN in April 2020 reported that poverty and hunger had worsened and countries already affected by food crises were highly vulnerable to the disease.
Women bear the brunt
Women were the most affected during the Covid 19 pandemic. They lost their income and even did not get the benefit of social protection measures. In September, the UNDP’s data pointed out that the women were facing the maximum crisis. The UNDP had said that poverty rate for women increased by more than nine per cent. This meant that about 47 million women were in poverty across the world. UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka pointed out that this showed the flaws how the society and economy are structured.
One in six children affected
The UN said that there was a sudden fall in the progress in reducing child poverty. The UNICEF and World Bank in October reported that about 365 million children were living in poverty before Covid 19 began. This could rise considerably in the coming days due to Covid, the report noted. The UN said that extreme poverty deprived millions of children of the opportunity to reach their real potential in
Aid reaches record numbers
The UN predicts that about 235 million people would require humanitarian assistance in 2021. This showed an increase of about 40 per cent from 2020. UN’s emergency relief chief Mark Lowcock stated that the situation was worse on humanitarian needs.
