UN: Over 71 million people live in poverty!

The UN Development Program (UNDP) report, published on July 7, also warns of the risk of social unrest in some countries due to economic unrest.

Achim Steiner, the agency’s administrator, said analyzes of 159 developing countries show rising commodity prices this year that have hit parts of the Balkans, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and elsewhere.

“The cost of living is driving millions into poverty and even hunger is spreading at breakneck speed”he said through a statement.

“With this, the threat of increased social unrest is increasing day by day“, he added.

Ukraine is a major grain producer and exporter, and its food shipments are critical to many countries in the Middle East and Africa. But its Black Sea ports have been blockaded by Russian forces, driving up food prices and pushing tens of millions of people into poverty.

Russia and Ukraine together account for almost a quarter of global wheat exports and over half of sunflower oil exports.

Energy prices have also risen following uncertainty about the war, but also because Russia has cut off some oil and gas exports. Before the war, Russia was the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and the second largest exporter of crude oil.

Western sanctions against Russia, imposed to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, have also exacerbated inflationary pressures.

Several countries have been hit hardest by inflation, the UN agency said, including Haiti, Argentina, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sudan, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

In countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Yemen, the impact of inflation is greater, because these countries already have high levels of poverty.

The total number of people living in poverty or on the verge of poverty is over 5 million or under 70 percent of the world’s population, UNDP said.

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