* situations in different regions/countries
* different views
GLOBALLY/IN GENERAL
Coronavirus is a devastating blow to children in poverty
Save the Children, 26 March 2020
* COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, is now present in virtually every country on earth. Each at different stages of the pandemic, there is a sense of foreboding that for many, the worst is yet to come. As the number of cases in fragile contexts begins to rise, we are starting to see the impact this will have on the most vulnerable children in all communities across the world.
COVID-19 and the 5 major threats it poses to global food security
Insight, 30 March 2020
* Today, over 800 million people face chronic undernourishment and over 100 million people are in need of lifesaving food assistance. The novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, risks undermining the efforts of humanitarian and food security organizations seeking to reverse these trends.
Developing countries face economic collapse in COVID-19 fight: UN
Aljazeera, 30 March 2020
* $220bn in lost income; nearly half of all jobs in Africa wiped out; UNDP warns of economic devastation for poor nations.
The coronavirus could topple governments around the world
Foreign Policy, 31 March 2020
* The coronavirus pandemic might not disrupt politics in wealthy Western democracies, but it is likely to unleash political instability—and even regime change—in developing countries already suffering from an economic crisis.
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD
PART 1: AFRICA
IN GENERAL
Watch: Will Covid-19 soon become a poor man's burden?
IOL, 29 March 2020
* At end of the first day of South Africa’s 21-day lockdown in reaction to the novel coronavirus virus, there was outrage that many people in the country’s poorer areas did not heed the call that they must stay at home in order to reduce infections. Individuals and the media expressed their displeasure and encouraged the police and soldiers to use their power to bring delinquency to an end.
* What is not clear though Is whether the concern is for the people themselves or it is the usual response from privileged classes that the poor will spread the disease. If this is not guarded, the poor and poverty are going to be scapegoats should the situation get out of control. And as it is the case with everything else, people in Africa will bear the brunt. It is coming!
EGYPT
COVID-19 comes with a high cost to Egyptian economy
The Arab Weekly, 29 March 2020
* “The COVID-19 outbreak is paralysing all sectors of the economy,” said Yumn al-Hamaqi, a professor of economics at Ain Shams University.
NIGERIA
Nigeria's north: Coronavirus in the world's poverty capital
The Africa Report, 26 March 2020
* To date, there has been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Northern Nigeria.
* But the North accounts for almost 90 per cent of all the poor people in Nigeria. Only 24 percent of households have access to basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation. Compounded with that is the fact that about ten million children remain out of school and roam the streets begging as part of an Almajiri system of religious education.
* An outbreak in the region will be catastrophic.
SOUTH AFRICA
Covid-19: Central Bank must print more money for the poor - expert
Power, 1 April 2020
* In the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown, businesses are going under, people are going to lose jobs and the unemployed and vulnerable will bear the greatest brunt of the strain.
* This has prompted academics and economists to sound a clarion call to the government to relieve the poor and vulnerable with R1000 grants.
Covid-19: Redirect consumption from the rich to the poor to avert a humanitarian crisis
Mail & Guardian, 31 March 2020
* South African survey data suggest that eight million workers are not registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund. As a consequence, under the lockdown, these workers will lose much of their income and, in turn, will not be able to sustain the basic needs of an additional 13-million household members they directly support.
The biggest battle we face apart from COVID-19 is poverty
Activate, 31 March 2020
* For many households, getting water continues to stretch budgets and create stress – R20 used to cover more than a week supply of water (20-25 litre of bucket cost over R20) but with the growing anxiety and municipal trucks unable to deliver water daily, the struggle seems to continue.
Zandspruit on Covid-19: Life goes on no one cares for us (video)
Eyewitness News, 29 March 2020
* There's nothing enjoyable about staying in a small roomed structure made of corrugated iron for 21-days while left in despair about how you're going to pay the next month's rent. This is the reality for many South Africans living in informal settlements.
UGANDA
Shutdown in Uganda over COVID-19 hits poor hard
AA, 1 April 2020
* Times tough not only due to fears of infection but also because of poverty, says shop owner.
PART 2: ASIA
IN GENERAL
East Asia and Pacific: Countries Must Act Now to Mitigate Economic Shock of COVID-19
The World Bank, 30 March 2020
* Developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), recovering from trade tensions and struggling with COVID-19, now face the prospect of a global financial shock and recession.
Mitigating the impact of COVID-19: Poverty and food insecurity in the Arab region
Reliefweb, 1 April 2020
* An additional 8.3 million people will fall into poverty in the Arab region, according to a new policy brief issued today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on the impact of COVID-19.
The Coronavirus pandemic could force Asia below the poverty line
Industry Global News, 1 April 2020
* The world on the brink of extinction may not be the case likely but a world that is on the verge of poverty is not exaggerated. According to a report released by the World Bank on March 31, the economic fallout of the pandemic could usher in poverty to an estimated 11 million people.
CHINA
China’s poorest pay the price of coronavirus outbreak
Financial Times, 15 March 2020
* Data suggest that the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 80,000 people in China, is being brought under control. However, months of restrictions on travel, work and daily life are putting enormous pressure on families at the margins of Chinese society.
INDIA
1.3 billion people. A 21-day lockdown. Can India curb the coronavirus?
Science, 31 March 2020
* Modi’s lockdown had social and economic impacts even sharper than lockdowns in richer countries. Millions of Indians who depend on each day’s wages for their daily meal were thrown out of work. Migrant workers packed buses and trains home, potentially taking the virus into rural areas. And as transport options dried up, many families in New Delhi and other major cities simply began to walk to their distant villages, with little access to food.
Coronavirus lockdown leaves India's poor jobless and struggling to eat
IOL, 26 March 2020
* Some of India's legions of poor and people suddenly thrown out of work by a nationwide stay-at-home order began receiving aid distribution Thursday, as both the public and private sector work to blunt the impact of efforts to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
India: World's biggest Covid-19 lockdown leaves poor starving (video)
ABC News, 28 Marc 2020
* There are fears that the world's biggest lockdown in India could leave millions of the poor to starve and die.
LEBANON
COVID-19: Almost half of Lebanon now lives below poverty line
Aljazeera, 1 April 2020
* Lebanon's cabinet has approved financial aid for low-income families as pandemic deepens what was already the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
PHILIPPINES
Aljazeera, 31 March 2020
* The Philippines's most populous island, Luzon has been under quarantine for two weeks. That has left many of its poor unable to go out and work. And they have little in the way of a social safety net or savings to protect them.
PART 3: EUROPE
ITALY
Italy issues foodstamps as coronavirus threatens millions with poverty
The Times, 29 March 2020
* Italy will distribute €400 million in food stamps as fears grow of social unrest triggered by rising poverty during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.
SPAIN
Poor and vulnerable hardest hit by pandemic in Spain
The Guardian, 1 April 2020
* Rate of infection in less affluent neighbourhoods near Barcelona is nearly seven times higher than in upmarket areas.
* The coronavirus pandemic in Spain is taking a disproportionate toll on the poor, the elderly, the marginalised and those working in low-paid but vital jobs, experts have warned.
UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph Coronavirus Appeal: To get through this crisis, the poorest need hard cash for basics now
The Telegraph, 28 March 2020
* Fourteen million people live in poverty in the UK. That figure – shocking enough – was before Covid-19 turned so many peoples’ finances upside down. In the coming weeks, it will rise exponentially due to sickness and job loss. Already there is talk of more than one million unemployed and that is just the start.
PART 4: OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA
Coronavirus Could Push More Australian Women Into Poverty, Experts Say
Global Citizen, 1 April 2020
* CEO of YWCA Australia Michelle Phillips has warned the Australian government that its initiative for tax-free withdrawal from superannuation savings could push women into poverty and homelessness. Instead of leaving at-risk women with no other option but to draw on their small retirement funds, YWCA has called for distinct funds to be made available.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand's coronavirus stimulus leaves the working poor most exposed
The Guardian, 17 March 2020
* The downturn is going to cause economic chaos, and it will see job losses.
PART 5: THE CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA, NORTH AMERICA & SOUTH AMERICA
CANADA
PM Trudeau on poverty reduction, COVID-19, rail blockades (video)
cpac, 5 March 2020
* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a news conference in Toronto after visiting the Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough to highlight his government's poverty-reduction measures.
LATIN AMERICA
Coronavirus hits rich and poor unequally in Latin America
APNews, 30 March 2020
* From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile, the coronavirus is taking root in the world’s most unequal region, where many of Latin America’s first cases arrived with members of the elite returning from vacations or work trips to Europe and the United States.
* Many of the wealthy are already recovering, but experts warn that the virus could kill scores of the poorest people, who must work every day to feed their families, live in unsanitary conditions and lack proper medical care. Some countries are making payments to informal workers — maids, street sellers and others who have been told to stay home to reduce the spread of the virus, but the effort is patchwork and doesn’t apply to everyone who needs help.
MEXICO
COVID-19 leaves migrants in limbo near the U.S.-Mexico border (video)
CGTN America, 26 March 2020
* Migrants are living in limbo near the U.S.-Mexico border. The new reality is putting pressure on the Mexican city of Tijuana and its already stressed population.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Americans struggle with job losses amid virus (video)
Associated Press, 19 March 2020
* A growing number of Americans are suddenly losing their jobs as the coronavirus shuts down industries, businesses and schools.
U-M’s Poverty Solutions releases Michigan COVID-19 Pandemic Resource Guide
Michigan News, 27 March 2020
* A new Michigan COVID-19 Pandemic Resource Guide provides information on how to access various resources aimed at supporting Michiganders through the coronavirus pandemic and related economic slowdown.
* While everyone is affected by the restrictions on public gatherings, business closures and public health concerns, it is low-wage hourly workers, people with little savings or disposable income and people living in poverty who will have the most difficult time weathering the economic disruption accompanying the COVID-19 crisis, says H. Luke Shaefer, founding director of Poverty Solutions and a professor of social work and public policy at the University of Michigan.