[ti:UN Report: 71 Million More People Reported to be in Poverty] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]As many as 71 million more people are reported to be in poverty [00:06.92]as a result of increased food and energy prices. [00:11.20]These prices rose in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, [00:17.48]the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said in a recent report. [00:24.48]The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more people [00:30.40]may have fallen into a poverty level [00:33.60]defined as living off of $1.90 a day [00:38.24]or less in the first three months after the war. [00:43.68]An additional 20 million people dropped to the poverty line of $3.20 a day. [00:51.92]UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said at the launch of the report, [00:57.96]"The cost of living impact is almost without precedent [01:01.96]in a generation... and that is why it is so serious." [01:06.72]Precedent means a similar event that happened at an earlier time. [01:12.16]The speed at which this many people experienced poverty [01:16.84]went beyond the economic pain felt during the worst part of the pandemic. [01:22.92]The UNDP noted that 125 million additional people [01:28.92]experienced poverty over about 18 months [01:32.92]during lockdowns and closures. [01:36.04]In comparison, around 71 million hit poverty [01:40.36]in just three months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February. [01:47.12]"The speed of this is very quick," said George Molina, [01:51.32]UNDP chief economist and writer of the report. [01:56.20]Among the countries hit hardest by inflation are Haiti, [02:00.88]Argentina, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and the Philippines. [02:07.08]Rwanda, Sudan, Ghana, Kenya, Sri Lanka [02:12.20]and Uzbekistan are also in the group. [02:16.40]More people in these countries, some of which have had [02:20.48]political problems like Sudan and Sri Lanka, [02:23.96]are facing poverty, noted the UNDP. [02:28.60]In countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Yemen, [02:34.72]the effects of inflation are felt deeply [02:37.68]by those already at the lowest poverty line. [02:42.20]In Ghana, where the daily minimum wage is $1.80 a day, [02:47.80]people are struggling under the weight of inflation. [02:51.56]Albert Kowfie, a 27 year-old security guard in Accra, Ghana, [02:57.56]said a loaf of bread costs over $2 [03:01.44]and travel to work costs another 20 cents. [03:05.48]"It means that by the end of the first week, [03:08.76]everything is gone," he said. [03:11.40]Kowfie expressed frustration at the government [03:15.08]for not doing more to deal with the issue. [03:18.12]"I don't answer my mother's calls anymore [03:21.60]because I know she needs help [03:23.68]since she is not on any pension, but what can l do?" [03:28.72]Another U.N. report released Wednesday [03:31.44]said world hunger rose last year with 2.3 billion people [03:36.36]facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat [03:41.28]— and that was before the war in Ukraine. [03:45.76]The UNDP's Steiner said the world economy needs to step up. [03:50.80]There is enough wealth in the world to deal with the crisis, he argues. [03:55.76]"But," he said, "our ability to act in unison and rapidly is a constraint." [04:03.16]The UNDP advises that governments spend more to reach [04:07.76]the most affected people through targeted direct payments to them. [04:12.28]These payments are known as cash transfers. [04:16.56]For developing countries to do such transfers, [04:20.32]the UNDP called for an extension of debt payments [04:24.60]that had been in place during the pandemic [04:27.24]among the world's richest nations. [04:31.04]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM