(Fighting against New Crown Pneumonia) 60 million people may fall into "extreme poverty" 

  China News Agency, Beijing, May 23, comprehensive news: The new crown epidemic not only caused a serious global public health crisis, but also seriously hurt the global economic and social development. According to predictions by many international agencies, the lives of poor people worldwide will be severely affected during the epidemic, especially in Africa, Latin America, and India.

  The World Bank recently said that the epidemic may cause up to 60 million people in the world to fall into "extreme poverty", that is, the daily living cost per person is less than 1.9 US dollars (about 13.5 yuan). The economic contraction caused by the epidemic will erase the progress made in reducing poverty in recent years.

  The United Nations ’" Mid-year report on the world economic situation and outlook for 2020 "released on the 13th of this month shows that the new pandemic epidemic is likely to cause 34.3 million people to fall into extreme poverty in 2020, of which 56% will occur in Africa. By 2030, there may be 130 million people joining the ranks of the extremely poor, which is a heavy blow to the global effort to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger.

  UN human rights experts have recently warned that the epidemic ’s threat to Africa is particularly serious. In addition, the African continent ’s fragile economies are burdened with heavy debt, which may further consume African countries ’reserves, weaken employment opportunities, and achieve social development and industrialization. Millions of people have fallen into poverty, with disastrous consequences for the most vulnerable people, including women and children.

  The World Bank predicted last month that sub-Saharan Africa will suffer the worst losses, and at least 23 million people will go to extreme poverty. 39 of the 100 countries currently funded by the World Bank come from this region.

  According to WHO's news on the 22nd, South America has now become the epicenter of the new global new crown epidemic. The epidemic has put the local poor people through the same severe test.

  The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said last month that nearly 29 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean will fall into poverty this year, putting the region ’s efforts to eliminate economic inequality back for more than a decade.

  According to ECLAC forecasts, by the end of this year, the poverty rate in Latin America and the Caribbean will rise to 34.7%, the highest level since 2007. It is estimated that the extreme poverty population will increase by 16 million to 83 million.

  In addition, the World Bank predicts that India, a country with a large population, will also experience a substantial increase in the number of poor people, affecting about 12 million people.

  As of the morning of the 23rd, more than 125,000 people in India have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, and the epidemic situation is not optimistic. British media reported on the 22nd that the suspension of classes during the epidemic made many poor middle school girls in India face a "sanitary napkin crisis." A 14-year-old girl living in a slum said that she used to receive a pack of sanitary napkins from the school every month under the government's "menstrual hygiene plan", but the suspension of classes stopped the supply. (Finish)