China praised as COVID-19 hinders global anti-poverty efforts

The COVID-19 pandemic has set back global progress in curbing poverty by up to a decade, worsening food security and health conditions in the world's poorest regions, according to the 2022 Annual Report of International Poverty Reduction.

Worldwide, the pandemic-induced disruptions have pushed more than 71 million people back into the mire of extreme poverty, as measured by the international poverty threshold of $2.15, said the report released on Friday by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC), an international organization jointly funded by the Chinese government and several United Nations agencies.

Outbreaks worldwide have also delayed the global goal of eliminating "multidimensional poverty" by eight to 10 years, it said. The benchmark is used by the World Bank to assess poverty standards beyond monetary deprivation, such the lack of access to education and basic infrastructure.

The pandemic's impact has been especially acute in some regions, with new cases of impoverishment surfacing in North and sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, the five-chapter report said.

With COVID-induced hardships ranging from inadequate food security to mass unemployment and medical supply shortages, "China's experience and practices in consolidating and expanding the achievements in poverty reduction and promoting rural revitalization has provided Chinese samples and solutions for global poverty reduction progress and rural development," it said.

The report was unveiled alongside a collection of 41 case studies of successful poverty alleviation programs solicited from the global community at the International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships.

The seminar — co-organized by the IPRCC along with partners including the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme — was held in Beijing with a panel of Chinese and UN officials and experts attending in person or online.