According to the Sustainable Development Report 2020, by late 2019, the world was not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and COVID-19 has brought even more challenges in SDGs attainment. While China has lifted 750 million out of poverty over the last four decades and it is set to eliminate absolute rural poverty by 2020, more efforts are still needed in preventing those people sliding back to poverty. As of the end of 2019, about 5.51 million rural people in the country remained in poverty, while many others were no longer classified as poor, but are still close to the poverty line. These two groups are especially vulnerable during times of crisis, such as COVID-19, economically, socially and in terms of health.
To understand and respond to the effects of COVID-19 on these and other groups at risk, the United Nation Development Program and the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, jointly assessed the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on five officially designated poverty-stricken counties in China, with the support of Office of the Resident Coordinator, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund.
Full review
