• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Sci-tech

Pandemic fills ranks of extreme poverty worldwide

1 December 2020, 9:04 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
It said countries around the world had made steady advances since the 1990s in reducing extreme poverty

It said countries around the world had made steady advances since the 1990s in reducing extreme poverty

Image: Reuters

It said countries around the world had made steady advances since the 1990s in reducing extreme poverty

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the number of people worldwide who need humanitarian assistance to survive to new highs, the United Nations said on Tuesday, dramatically increasing the ranks of extreme poverty in just one year.

One in 33 people will need aid to meet basic needs like food, water and sanitation in 2021, an increase of 40% from this year, the UN reported in its Global Humanitarian Overview 2021.

That’s 235 million people worldwide, with concentrations in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, it said.

“The crisis is far from over,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement. “Humanitarian aid budgets face dire shortfalls as the impact of the global pandemic continues to worsen.”

Countries gave a record $17 billion in 2020 for collective humanitarian response, reaching 70% of the people targeted for aid, an increase of 6% compared with 2019, the report said.

But the UN warned that it has raised less than half of the $35 billion needed to stave off widespread famine, fight poverty and keep children in school and called on the world’s wealthy countries for financial contributions.

“The rich world can now see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock in a statement. “The same is not true in the poorest countries.”

It said countries around the world had made steady advances since the 1990s in reducing extreme poverty – defined by the World Bank, a multilateral development lender, as living on $1.90 a day or less.

The UN calculations showing one in 33 people needing assistance compared with one in 45 people this year, already the highest figure in decades, it said.

School closures have affected nine out of 10 students worldwide, with almost 24 million children at risk of not returning to school in 2020, the UN said.

And as the pandemic impedes on food systems, hunger is on the rise, and the UN projected that by the end of 2020, as many as 270 million people will lack reliable access to food.

The cost of meeting food aid needs this year was $9 billion, up from $5 billion in 2015, the report said.

The coronavirus has infected 62.6 million people and killed 1.46 million people worldwide, according to a Reuters tally.

Share article
Previous Post

Palesa Madiba’s murder case resumes

Next Post

Andile Lungisa granted parole

Related Posts

Shell petrol station

Activist group accuses Shell of misleading investors on renewables

1 February 2023, 3:40 PM
Researchers studying the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis test samples in a laboratory run by South African biotech company TASK in Cape Town, South Africa, May 11, 2020.

SA admitted to a prestigious international science program

1 February 2023, 8:53 AM
File Image: Hospital bed in a ward.

Gauteng Health battles with surgical backlogs

1 February 2023, 6:10 AM
A member of the Incident Management Team coordinates the search for a radioactive capsule that was lost in transit by a contractor hired by Rio Tinto, at the Emergency Services Complex in Cockburn, Australia, in this undated handout photo. Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Australian nuclear body joins search for missing radioactive capsule

31 January 2023, 10:13 AM
A man wearing a protective face mask walks past an illustration of a virus outside a regional science centre amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Oldham, Britain August 3, 2020.

WHO maintains highest alert over COVID, but sees hope ahead

30 January 2023, 7:18 PM
FILE PHOTO: Smoke billows from the chimneys of Belchatow Power Station in Poland, Europe's biggest coal-fired power plant, in this May 7, 2009.

Prof Marwala urges leaders to address challenges posed by climate change

30 January 2023, 6:42 PM
Next Post
Under his parole, the Department of Correctional Services says Andile is expected to comply with a specific set of parole conditions and will be subjected to supervision until his sentence expires.

Andile Lungisa granted parole

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • King of Bacardi music ‘Vusi Ma R5’ killed in Soshanguve
  • Committee wants to halt planned demolition of North West hospital
  • Bapedi kingdom commemorates Kgosi Mampuru II, still hoping to find his remains
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • At least 10 people killed in Bhityi area, Eastern Cape
  • Zimbabwean embassy in SA to launch bid for the return of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit holders
  • DA wins cadre deployment case against ANC
  • Mashatile set to become a MP
  • LIVE: EFF leader Julius Malema and bodyguard back in court

LATEST

Tiger cubs in a zoo
  • South Africa

Call for banning of private keeping of big cats


ANC supporter holds the party's flag
  • Politics

DA wins cadre deployment case against ANC


British fighter jets in the air.
  • World

‘No magic wand’ in Ukraine war, says UK’s Wallace on question of supplying jets


View of the Council Chambers for Ekurhuleni Metro
  • Politics

ANC accuses DA of using delay tactics in Ekurhuleni


Zimbabwean flag
  • Africa

Helping Zimbabwean permit holders not a political ploy: Ambassador


Electricity pylons  in South Africa.
  • Eskom rolling blackouts
  • Business

Eskom anticipates lower stages of load shedding by the weekend


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Palesa Madiba’s murder case resumes
Next Andile Lungisa granted parole