As many as 71 million more people are reported to be in poverty as a result of increased food and energy prices.These prices rose in the weeks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said in a recent report.The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more people may have fallen into a poverty level defined as living off of $1.90 a day or less in the first three months after the war.An additional 20 million people dropped to the poverty line of $3.20 a day.UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said at the launch of the report, “The cost of living impact is almost without precedent in a generation... and that is why it is so serious.”Precedent means a similar event that happened at an earlier time.The speed at which this many people experienced poverty went beyond the economic pain felt during the worst part of the pandemic.The UNDP noted that 125 million additional people experienced poverty over about 18 months during lockdowns and closures.
