Nearly 71 Million individuals are now facing the struggle of poverty due to rising inflation and the other aspects of economic uncertainty that have stemmed from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Nations Development Program report today. It is estimated, through the report, that 51.6 Million people fell into poverty in the first three months of the Russia-Ukraine war. Globally, 9% of the world is in poverty as an additional 20 Million individuals have dropped to the poverty line ($3.20/day).

Families are spending 42% of their income on food in low-income countries. Ukraine’s blocked ports matched with the rising prices for commodities such as wheat, cooking oil, and sugar have been the reasoning behind this.

“The cost of living impact is almost without precedent in a generation... and that is why it is so serious.”

Achim Steiner, the United Nations Development Program administrator, said.

The economic downfall is actually slower than the rate of individuals reaching the point of being in poverty. 125 Million people experienced poverty in the span of 18 months of Covid lockdowns compared to the 71 Million in three months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. George Molina, the United Nations Development Program’s chief economist stated “The speed of this is a very quick rate.”

Countries hit hard and suffering from massive amounts of reported poverty are:

• Sudan

• Ghana

• Kenya

• Sri Lanka

• Haiti

• Argentina

• Turkey

• Philippines

• Rwanda

• Egypt

• Uzbekistan

• Iraq

5 Billion people now are already living in poverty or are very vulnerable to meeting the threshold.

Another shocking report released by the United Nations is the World Hunger report which found that within the last year, 2.3 Billion people are now facing moderate or severe difficulty to obtain enough to eat. The United Nations Development Program is recommending governments target expenditure to reach those most impacted through targeted cash transfers that can in turn prevent a further 52.6 Million individuals from falling into poverty.

Achim Steiner said this is not only an “act of charity,” but also “an act of rational self-interest” to avoid other trends such as an economic collapse in the countries mentioned.