Last year, the global level of extreme poverty increased for the first time in more than 20 years, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the UN Security Council meeting on maintaining peace and stability.
He stated that the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated previously existing negative trends. "In 2020, for the first time in 22 years, an increase of the extreme poverty level was registered. It is expected that a decline in economic activity in a fragile situation and in conditions of conflict will plunge an additional 18 to 27 million people into poverty," TASS quotes the head of the international organization as saying.
