Around 75-95 Million People Globally On Verge Of Extreme Poverty Amid Climate Change, Pandemic & Conflicts: Report

The current climate crisis, the ongoing pandemic and the growing number of conflicts around the globe could lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people surviving in extreme poverty in 2022, in comparison to the pre-pandemic estimates, as per The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, released by the United Nations (UN).

According to the report, almost 1 in 10 people across the globe are currently suffering from hunger, and about 1 in 3 people lack access to adequate food regularly. Immunisation coverage went down for the first time in 10 years, and malaria and tuberculosis (TB) deaths also increased significantly.

As per the latest statistics provided in the report, the pandemic has wreaked massive havoc across the Goals, and its effects are far from over. The worldwide "excess deaths" directly and indirectly attributable to COVID surpassed 15 million come 2021 end.

"More than four years of progress in alleviating poverty have been wiped out, pushing 93 million more people worldwide into extreme poverty in 2020. An estimated 147 million children also missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years," The New Indian Express quoted the report as saying.

Nature And Impact Of War

Regarding the effect of climate change, the report states that energy-related CO2 emissions for 2021 went up by 6 per cent, reaching their highest ever level and totally diminished pandemic-related declines.

"To avoid the worst effects of climate change, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025 and then decline by 43 per cent by 2030, falling to net-zero by 2050. Instead, under current voluntary national commitments to climate action, greenhouse gas emissions will rise by nearly 14 per cent over the next decade," the report added.

Meanwhile, the Ukraine war is also creating one of the biggest refugee crises of the modern era. Until May 2022, more than 100 million people were displaced forcibly from their homes after Russia decided to launch its military invasion. A 0.9 per cent point also hit projected global financial growth for 2022 amid the Ukraine war, potentially due to new pandemic waves.

Result Of Pandemic & Conflicts On Child Education

The world is currently heading towards the midway point of the pursuit to acquire the transformational 2030 Agenda, a goal set by the UN. The current progress report, however, implies that we are far off track from meeting the Goals by 2030, and sinister incidents have been noted from various parts of the globe.

The interim school closures during the pandemic left around 1.6 billion kids unable to learn, 91 per cent of students globally, including almost 369 mn who depend on school meals for their daily nutrition.

There is a need for a largescale transformation of the current education systems for those that place student needs at the centre of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Students in low and middle-income nations also lack proper access to learning equipment and the internet.

Pre-pandemic, 17 per cent of youth were out of secondary and primary school. Between March 2020 and February 2022, schools were partially or entirely closed, on an average of 41 weeks, with nearly 147 million kids missing half of their in-person instruction.

Furthermore, nearly 10 mn girls may be pushed into child marriage by the end of the decade due to this too. An estimated 100 mn individuals have fallen into the poverty bracket, with 9 mn also at risk of child labour by 2021 end.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world faces nothing less than an education crisis amid budget cuts, student dropouts and teachers leaving the profession due to poor conditions, low salaries and unmanageable workloads.

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