Much media coverage surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic focuses on impacts to American society and economy. However, little to no attention has been given to the world population most at risk of suffering the greatest from the disease and its secondary impact — the global poor.
We are already seeing massive changes to our everyday lives and our interaction with our economy. Those changes, however, will be massively amplified for those considered impoverished when the pandemic began.
Based on estimates made by the International Monetary Fund, “all the progress in reducing poverty since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 has been lost.” This means COVID-19 has set the fight against global poverty back nearly five years. In fact, according to the same estimates, “2020 will be the first time this century that the number of poor people will rise.”
There will have to be herculean efforts made in the coming years to mitigate the devastation COVID-19 will have on the global poor. It’s easy to see how this crisis is impacting our own lives, but it is always important to keep a sense of perspective and continue working to fight the many factors opposing the most impoverished communities.
Justin Romer
