Road to 5**：UN urges wealthy nations to assist developing countries
【明報專訊】◆News summary
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic could result in an increase in the global population living in poverty to 500 million. He urges the richest countries worldwide to assist less prosperous countries by raising funds so as to relieve their economic distress.
◆Source A
The World Bank estimates that the pandemic will cause the number of people living in poverty to rise for the first time since 1998. Experts are worried that past achievements in poverty reduction are facing great threats.
Guterres cites a report from the International Labour Organization, stating that more than 300 million jobs have been lost to the pandemic worldwide, raising the number of people living in poverty to about 500 million, which translates to about 8% of the global population.
According to the World Bank's definition, individuals whose daily income is less than US$1.90 (about HK$15) are considered to be in extreme poverty. In 1990, there were 1.9 billion people living below the international poverty line, which translates to about 36% of the global population. In 2016, the number of people living in poverty decreased to 734 million, which is about 10% of the global population. The World Bank estimates that the current percentage of people living in poverty is 8.6%, rising for the first time since 1998. It is estimated that about 40 to 60 million people will plunge into extreme poverty due to the pandemic.
Source: Ming Pao, 2020.06.01
■Mock examination question
．Global poverty rate before and after COVID-19 outbreak(％)(diagram)
According to the graph, describe and explain changes in the global poverty rate.
According to the graph, before the outbreak of the pandemic, the global poverty rate had continued to decrease. It dropped significantly by 7.6 percentage points from 16% in 2010 to 8.4% to 2018. Before the pandemic, it was estimated that the global poverty rate would continue to decrease to 7.6% in 2021, a decrease of 8.4 percentage points within ten years, with the total percentage reducing by more than half . However, after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, the poverty rate forecast rose immediately for the first time in nine years. It is estimated that the global poverty rate will rebound to 8.6% in 2020, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in 2018.
In addition, there is a significant gap between the poverty rate forecasts before and after the pandemic. Take 2020. The global poverty rate was estimated to be 7.8% before the outbreak but 8.6% after the outbreak, a difference of 0.8 percentage points.
According to the information provided, the International Labour Organization reported that more than 300 million jobs have been lost worldwide due to the pandemic, and the outbreak has resulted in the collapse of the global economy. In the past, the decline in global poverty rates was mainly due to economic development in China and South Asia regions. However, as the pandemic affects the global supply chain, related job positions have decreased, which not only slowed down poverty reduction, but also directly caused global poverty rates to increase rather than decrease.
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