June 06, 2020
Global economic losses will likely cause an estimated 34.3 million additional people to fall below the extreme poverty line in 2020, derailing shaky progress on the 2030 development agenda, a UN report on the world economic situation shows.
The coronavirus is expected to slash the global economic output by $8.5 trillion over the next two years, according to the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects mid-2020 report, which the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs released on Wednesday.
The report also shows that the global economy is projected to contract by 3.2% this year, marking the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s. While high-income economies will contract by 5% in 2020, low-income countries will shrink by 0.7%.
Already, the majority of the 17 goals were off track in 2019, well before the pandemic. The economic losses will create additional roadblocks for the scattered advancements on the entire 2030 agenda.
It is clear that the COVID-19 crisis is affecting different groups in different ways, and there are groups that are already behind that will fall really behind.
Countries, including Myanmar, that are already struggling with poverty, conflict, or natural disasters are being hit by COVID-19.
Like other countries, we are also facing a huge challenge in managing the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to prepare to tackle unemployment problems leading to poverty during and post COVID-19.
After a five month period fighting COVID-19, it has been found that we have defeated the COVID-19 to a certain extent thanks to the health workers and volunteers who are doing their duties with compassion, governmental staff who are performing their duties daily to keep the governmental machinery in operation, donors who contributed their assistance with loving kindness and Cetana to the areas which required their help, and volunteers with golden hearts for their efforts in patiently solving social problems and conflicts. To overcome the challenges ahead, we need to understand that “people’s participation is a must”. We are confident that our people can come through this crisis with resilience and understanding.
GNLM
