BEIRUT, April 1 (Xinhua) -- An additional 8.3 million people will fall into poverty in the Arab region after the COVID-19 outbreak, said a statement of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on Wednesday.

"Increased poverty could raise the number of undernourished people by some 2 million. With today's estimates, a total of 101.4 million people in the region would be classified as poor, and 52 million as undernourished," according to the statement.

ESCWA's Executive Secretary Rola Dashti said that the consequences of this crisis will be particularly severe on vulnerable groups, especially women and young adults, and those working in the informal sector who have no access to social protection and unemployment insurance.

ESCWA reported that the lack of social protection floors and non-inclusive social protection schemes in some Arab countries are bound to leave the most vulnerable with no means to make it through the pandemic -- one that disrupts global food supplies, impacting food security in many Arab countries because of their high dependence on food imports.

It added that the region is losing around 60 billion U.S. dollars annually owing to food loss and waste.

It also noted that a reduction of food loss and waste by 50 percent would increase household income by some 20 billion U.S. dollars while the region would significantly improve food availability, reduce food imports and improve its trade balance in the process. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)