A year after the Covid -19 pandemic struck the world, the crisis affected countries saw rising poverty rates, rise in domestic and other forms of violence and erosion of trust between citizens and state, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The report Overcoming the Setbacks: Understanding the Impact and Implications of COVID-19 in Fragile and Conflict-affected Contexts finds that fragile and conflict-affected countries are more vulnerable to shocks from crises, and less able to address critical impacts.
The UNDP launched the report as part of its Development Futures Series. The report analysed six dimensions of fragility – economic, social, human political, security and environmental. It pointed out that secondary impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic would likely push tens of millions into extreme poverty in crisis contexts. It will also rise commodity prices and threaten loss of livelihoods. This will make even essential everyday items unaffordable to several people, the UNDP said in the analysis,. The UN agency gives examples substantiating this. It said that 50 percent of surveyed families in Lao People’s Democratic Republic reduced food consumption because of the pandemic. In Syria, remittances more than halved from 2017, affecting 1.2 million people.
It also reports of rising authoritarianism, ethno-nationalism and democratic backsliding. The UNDP said that civil unrest including protests rose above 2019 levels. Gender-based violence also rose during the time, it added.
Development Dialogues
From March through June 2021, the development dialogues will bring together leading actors and thinkers to discuss the new approaches needed to move from crisis to resilience in the areas of prevention preparedness and early warning, confronting the climate crisis, tackling inequality, strengthening social cohesion, improving access to services for all, peace building and institutional strengthening. The Dialogues are organized around five themes: peace, prosperity planet, people, and partnerships for development.
