According to a United Nations Development Program report, 71 million more people around the world are living in poverty as a result of rising food and energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine.
Uzbekistan is also among the 20 countries most affected by inflation like Haiti, Argentina, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Philippines, Rwanda, Sudan, Ghana, Kenya and Sri Lanka.
The report says that in the first three months after the Russia-Ukraine war, 51.6 million more people fell into poverty, living on $1.90 a day or less.
Another 20 million people live on $3.20 a day.
In developing countries, families spend 42 per cent of their income on food.
Ukraine's blocked ports and inability to export grain to low-income countries have driven up prices and pushed tens of millions of people into poverty.
The UNDO data presents the total number of people who are poor or vulnerable to poverty is more than 5 billion, or just under 70 per cent of the world's population.
Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan in Africa, Haiti in Latin America, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia are the most severely affected by the crisis.
Instead of spending billions on energy subsidies, the United Nations Development Program recommends that governments shift costs to those most affected through targeted cash transfers.
This would prevent another 52.6 million people from falling below the subsistence level of $5.50 a day.
Comments (0)