© UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe The COVID-19 NO POVERTY: pandemic WHY IT MATTERS will push an estimated What’s the goal here? in risk of being pushed back into extreme poverty To end poverty in all its - people living on less than 71 million forms everywhere by 2030. $1.90/day - causing the first increase in global poverty Why? in more than 20 years. additional In 2015, more than 700 mil- Even before COVID-19, lion people, or 10 per cent of people into baseline projections sug- the world population, lived gested that 6 per cent of in extreme poverty, strug- the global population would extreme gling to fulfil the most basic still be living in extreme needs like health, education, poverty in 2030, missing the and access to water and poverty target of ending poverty. sanitation, to name a few. However, the COVID-19 pan- Developing countries will demic is reversing the trend face a devastating social of poverty reduction with and economic crisis over tens of millions of people the months and years to come, with the pan- social cohesion, increas- are encouraged at all ages demic pushing millions of ing political and social to support transforma- workers into unemploy- tensions and, in some tional change in people’s ment, underemployment circumstances, driving lives and communities. and working poverty. instability and conflicts. Governments can help Having a job also does Why is social protection create an enabling envi- not guarantee a decent so important? ronment to generate pro- living. In fact, 7.1 per cent ductive employment and of employed workers The COVID-19 pandemic job opportunities for the and their families world- will have both immediate poor and the marginalized. wide lived in extreme and long-term economic The private sector has poverty in 2019, a posi- consequences for people a major role to play in tive decline compared to across the globe. Strong determining whether the social protection systems 2010, but the number is growth it creates is inclu- are essential for mitigating expected to rise in light sive and contributes to the effects and preventing of the long-term conse- poverty reduction. It can many people from falling quences of the pandemic. promote economic oppor- into poverty. Nevertheless, tunities for the poor. Why is there so much 55 per cent of the world’s population – about 4 bil- The contribution of sci- poverty in the world? lion people – did not bene- ence to end poverty has Poverty has many dimen- fit from any form of social been significant. For exam- sions, but its causes protection in 2016. Only ple, it has enabled access include unemploy- 22 per cent of unemployed to safe drinking water, ment, social exclusion, workers were covered by reduced deaths caused and high vulnerability unemployment benefits. by water-borne diseases, of certain populations and improved hygiene to to disasters, diseases So what can I do about it? reduce health risks related and other phenomena to unsafe drinking water Your active engagement which prevent them and lack of sanitation. in policymaking can make from being productive. a difference in addressing To find out more about Goal 1 and Why should I care poverty. It ensures that your rights are promoted other Sustainable about other people’s and that your voice is Development Goals visit: economic situation? heard, that inter- http://www.un.org/ generational knowledge is There are many reasons, sustainabledevelopment shared, and that innova- but in short, because as tion and critical thinking human beings, our well- being is linked to each other. Growing inequality is detrimental to economic growth and undermines