UNITED NATIONS: The world has witnessed its first rise in extreme poverty in 20 years, accompanied by sharply increasing inequality, as a series of shocks, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused setbacks in key indicators of social development progress. This is according to a report released by the United Nations on Thursday, as reported by Xinhua.
According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, while there are signs of macroeconomic recovery, extreme poverty remains stubbornly high, particularly in countries facing special challenges, highlighting deep-rooted structural vulnerabilities. By the year 2022, extreme poverty levels had mostly returned to their pre-pandemic state, except in low-income nations, as noted in the World Social Report 2024. This report, titled “Social Development in Times of Converging Crises: A Call for Global Action,” was launched by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The report outlines that unemployment rates have remained notably high in low-income countries,
with the employment gap increasing from 20 percent in 2018 to 21 percent in 2023. These developments have further intensified existing global income and wealth disparities. In 2022, the poorest half of the world’s population owned a mere 2 percent of the global wealth, while the wealthiest 10 percent held 76 percent.
The report suggests that the ongoing crises could lead to a cumulative economic output loss exceeding 50 trillion U.S. dollars between 2020 and 2030, reflecting missed opportunities for investment in social development. However, as countries gradually emerge from these overlapping crises, there lies an opportunity to minimize long-term impacts on social development and to foster more resilient societies.
The report stresses that in the current global policy climate, shocks are more likely to turn into crises that transcend borders, necessitating international cooperation. It calls for urgent global action to bolster national efforts aimed at addressing the setbacks caused by recent global crise
s and to prevent future shocks from escalating into crises.
Furthermore, the report highlights the urgent need for reforming and refocusing international development finance to support country-level responses to global crises and to create the fiscal space required to drive social progress. It also evaluates measures to alleviate the debt burden of developing nations and explores how official development assistance, through grants and concessional loans, as well as meaningful short-term debt relief and a strengthened sovereign debt architecture in the long term, could promote social development.
“This report underscores the vital role of multilateral action in supporting national-level efforts to find fiscal space to combat poverty, generate employment, and ensure equitable opportunities for all,” said Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
The World Social Report serves as the flagship publication of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs concerning major social d
evelopment issues, identifying current and emerging social trends, and offering analysis on significant development issues at both national and international levels.