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Thomson Reuters Foundation

The novel coronavirus outbreak has starkly exposed inequalities worldwide and could set back human development for the first time since 1990, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
It said the crisis had, though, revealed the strength of collective action in the face of a common threat and urged the world to show the same force on climate change.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is unleashing a human development crisis,” the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report.
Other shocks – such as the financial crisis of 2007-2009 or the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016 – have dealt a blow but did not prevent year-on-year development gains overall, said UNDP head Achim Steiner.


“Covid-19 – with its triple hit to health, education, and income – may change this trend,” he added.
Besides deaths from Covid-19, which have now topped 320,000, the crisis could indirectly mean an extra 6,000 children die each day from preventable causes in the next six months, UNDP said.
Six out of 10 children globally are not getting an education due to school closures, and with deep recessions hitting most economies, the decline in UNDP’s human development index would be equivalent to erasing all the progress of the past six years.
The decline is affecting rich and poor nations, but is expected to be far steeper in developing countries that are less able to cope with the pandemic’s social and economic fallout.
Coronavirus: French, Italian doctors report inflammatory syndrome in children
“If we fail to bring equity into the policy toolkit, many will fall further behind,” said Pedro Conceição, director of the UNDP office that produces its annual Human Development Report.
“This is particularly important for the ‘new necessities’ of the 21st century, such as access to the internet, which is helping us to benefit from tele-education, telemedicine, and to work from home,” he added in a statement.
UNDP estimated that 86 per cent of children in primary education are effectively out of school in countries with low development, because they lack the tools for web-based learning, compared with just 20 per cent in the wealthiest nations.
Expanding access to the internet in low- and middle-income countries would cost US$100 billion – about 15 per cent of the income they will lose this year and 1 per cent of the fiscal stimulus the world has committed in response to Covid-19, the report said.


“Today, this is a timely investment that would facilitate the recovery and welcome half the world’s population to some of the opportunities of the 21st century,” it added.
The same problem affects poorer households in rich countries too, with more than 300,000 students in New York City lacking access to any computer to do schoolwork, it noted.
The city sought to address by problem by distributing 175,000 laptops, iPads and Chromebooks before remote learning kicked in, and one internet provider offered some households free Wi-fi and broadband for a time.
Coronavirus threatens to undermine China’s anti-poverty drive
UNDP said the coronavirus pandemic showed it was possible for people to rally together in confronting threats – a lesson that could be applied to climate change.
“If we needed proof of concept that humanity can respond collectively to a shared global challenge, we are now living through it,” the report said.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic may reverse human development for first time in 30 years, UN says

United Nations Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner speaks during an interview in Khartoum, Sudan in January. Photo: AFP

Coronavirus latest: world hits ‘tragic milestone’ of 5 million Covid-19 cases after WHO reports record daily surge

A child wearing a face mask is seen next to an Italian flag in Milan on Monday. Photo: Reuters

In this May 17, 2020 photo, Cheering mannequins are installed at the empty spectators' seats before the start of soccer match between FC Seoul and Gwangju FC at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. A South Korean professional soccer club has apologized after being accused of putting sex dolls in empty stands during a match Sunday in Seoul. In a statement, FC Seoul expressed "sincere remorse" over the controversy, but insisted that it used mannequins, not sex dolls, to mimic a home crowd during its 1-0 win over Gwangju FC at the Seoul World Cup stadium. The signs read " Go! FC Seoul." (Ryu Young-suk/Yonhap via AP)

TOPSHOT - Randi Bates cuts hair during the Michigan Conservative Coalition organized "Operation Haircut" outside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan on May 20, 2020. - The group is protesting Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's mandatory closure to curtail the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

Coronavirus: as global lockdowns ease, return to ‘normal’ looks anything but

Passengers wait to board their flight at Christchurch Airport in New Zealand, where most remaining lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Photo: AP

epa08433287 People at Porta Palazzo market during the Phase 2 of the COVID-19 emergency, Turin, Italy, 20 May 2020. Italy is gradually easing lockdown measures implemented to stem the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. EPA-EFE/TINO ROMANO

A student raises his hand in a classroom at the College Rosa Parks school during its reopening in Nantes as a small part of French shoolchildren head back to their schools with new rules and social distancing during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, May 20, 2020. REUTERS/Stephane?Mahe

10 May 2020, Slovakia, Bratislava: Priests wearing face masks hold a Sunday service in St. Martin's Cathedral, following the relaxation of the conditions imposed to contain the coronavirus. Photo: Jakub Kotian/TASR/dpa

People sunbathe at the Barceloneta beach in Barcelona on May 20, 2020 during the hours allowed by the government to exercise, amid the national lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. - Barcelona opened its beaches and parks for walks, in a slight relaxation of lockdown measures. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)

Senior students wait for class to begin with plastic boards placed on their desks at Jeonmin High School in Daejeon, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. South Korean students began returning to schools Wednesday as their country prepares for a new normal amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kim Jun-beom/Yonhap via AP)

‘Bad to worse’: tragedy unfolds in Brazil as coronavirus threatens Latin America

A gravedigger rests in the Vila Formosa cemetery, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: EPA

A COVID-19 patient uses his phone as he is treated inside a non-invasive ventilation system named the "Vanessa Capsule" at the municipal field hospital Gilberto Novaes in Manaus, Brazil, Monday, May 18, 2020. The field hospital set up inside a school currently has nearly 150 beds and is operating near its limit as it treats patients both from the capital and from rural areas of Amazon state. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, wearing a mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic, briefly shuts his eyes during an event promoting a government campaign against domestic violence at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, May 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

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Crisis will erase all progress of past six years, according to report
Six out of 10 children globally not getting education due to school closures



Crisis will erase all progress of past six years, according to report; six out of 10 children globally not getting education due to school closures.


Coronavirus pandemic may reverse human development for first time in 30 years, UN says

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Crisis will erase all progress of past six years, according to report Six out of 10 children globally not getting education due to school closures

Crisis will erase all progress of past six years, according to report

Six out of 10 children globally not getting education due to school closures