Coronavirus takes the world into a critical state. As economic, political and especially health factors are more and more deteriorated by the Covid-19 pandemic health crisis, a report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), released this Wednesday May 20, shines a light on the social “price” to pay for populations across the world. Vital data since the beginning of the millennium, the Human Development Index is said – according to UN experts – to be “on the course to decline” with a -1.8% decrease. Since the 1990’s, the HDI has never been negative.
But perhaps are you wondering what the Human Development Index (HDI) is. If it rings a bell, it is that this indicator measures and combines all pertinent data for access to education, health, quality of life of a specific population or region. Of course, with the coronavirus epidemic, as half the world is isolated, this is a very useful indicator. According to the conclusions from the UN’s report, the development curve could reverse and this for the first time in 30 years. Experts expect the global per capita income to fall four percent for 2020.
Stronger inequalities between wealthy countries and developing countries
First of all, as for the quality of life, experts agree on an alarming assessment: countries would be richer than ever but confronting with deep fractures in terms of human development. The report stresses that if projections happen to be exact, human development would be declining even more and “developing countries […] will suffer the most, along with the already vulnerable all over the world”. One of the solutions found by the UN observers would be to improve Internet broadband which would enable to reduce inequalities of education or health, for instance.
Moreover, writers warn about the impact of the pandemic on the health of “poor” countries with a low gross domestic product (GDP). According to their data – updated mid-May 2020 – the daily number of people who died of coronavirus would be bigger in rich countries than of people who died of cancer or heart diseases. Even harder to bear, “poor” or developing countries would have to suffer an exponential growth of child mortality.
60% of children no longer go to school
Another consequence of the pandemic, the deterioration of the access to education, especially in the poorest countries. According to conclusions, the emergency is to enable every single child to go to school, knowing that today, 60% of them no longer go to class because of lockdown or fear. Moreover, they notice that in poor countries, 86% of youth have dropped out of schools, and the percentage would drop to 20% in wealthy countries. Overall, they predict an even more complicated situation in the next months.
By the way, when reading the study, we are told that during the health crisis, women have been more exposed. As much in the caregiver staff ranks “mostly” made of women as for house works, childcare, and even the increase of domestic abuse, the UNDP wishes to raise awareness to protect them better.
