UN: Because of the sudden rise in prices, 71 million people fell into extreme poverty

Due to the sharp rise in food and energy prices in the world since March, in just three months, 71 million people from the poorest countries have fallen into extreme poverty, according to a report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP ) published on Thursday.

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This accelerated fall into poverty is “significantly faster than the shock caused by the covid 19 pandemic”, says the UNDP statement, in which the blame for the sudden rise in prices is partly attributed to the war in Ukraine , which Russia denies.

Make ends meet

According to the UNDP program, “direct transfer of money to households is fairer and more cost-effective than general energy subsidies”. At the same time, UNDP believes that the affected countries will need multilateral support in order to “make ends meet”.

–  While interest rates are increasing, in response to a jump in inflation, there is a danger of creating new poverty caused by a recession that would worsen the crisis, even more, accelerating and deepening poverty in the world – warns UNDP in the report.

An analysis of 159 developing countries showed that price increases this year have already hit hard in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, Asia, and other parts of the world, UNDP director Achim Steiner said.

The threat of increasing social unrest

Among the countries facing the most dramatic consequences of price, increases are Armenia , Uzbekistan , Burkina Faso , Ghana , Kenya , Rwanda , Sudan , Haiti , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Ethiopia , Mali , Nigeria , Sierra Leone , Tanzania , and Yemen .

–  The unprecedented jump in prices means that for many people in the world, the food they could afford is no longer available – said Achim Steiner in a UNDP statement.

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Due to this increase in the cost of living, many people have fallen into poverty, “with the danger of terrible hunger”, and in parallel with that “the threat of increasing social unrest is increasing day by day”, he asserted.