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A sharp rise in global food and energy prices has led to widespread poverty, affecting 71 million people in low-income countries in the three months to March.

In a report, the United Nations Development Program warned that this acceleration in poverty was “much faster than the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic”, listing the war in Ukraine as one of the factors behind the inflation, which Russia denies.

“Targeted financing to households is generally more equitable and cost-effective than measures to support energy in general,” the UN program considers.

He stressed that the countries concerned would need the support of the multilateral system to “protect their interests”.

The plan continued in its report, “At a time when interest rates are rising in response to rising inflation, there is a risk that deflation will result in new poverty, which will worsen the crisis. Acceleration and deepening of poverty in the world.”

The report dealt with the situation of 159 countries, and the countries experiencing the most dangerous situations are located in the Balkans, the Caspian Sea and sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the Sahel region.

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in a statement, “Unprecedented price increases mean that for many people around the world, the foods they had access to yesterday are no longer available today.

He believed that “this cost-of-living crisis is driving millions of people into poverty,” threatening to “spread famine with astonishing speed,” adding that “the risks of increasing social unrest are increasing day by day.”

Ethiopia, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Haiti, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Tanzania are among the countries facing the most severe consequences of price increases.

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