{"id":85679,"date":"2020-07-08T09:47:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T13:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=85679"},"modified":"2020-07-08T09:49:17","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T13:49:17","slug":"un-report-finds-covid-19-is-reversing-decades-of-progress-on-poverty-healthcare-and-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2020\/07\/un-report-finds-covid-19-is-reversing-decades-of-progress-on-poverty-healthcare-and-education\/","title":{"rendered":"UN report finds COVID-19 is reversing decades of progress on poverty, healthcare and education"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The effects of the pandemic have devastated the most vulnerable and left them further behind <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>New York, 7 July\u2014<\/strong>The 15-year global effort to improve the lives of people everywhere through the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 was already off track by the end of 2019. And now, in only a short period of time, the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented crisis, causing further disruption to SDG progress, with the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable affected the most, according to a new report released today by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.<\/p>\n

According to the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020<\/em>, the world had been making progress\u2014although uneven and insufficient to meet the Goals \u2014 in areas such as improving maternal and child health, expanding access to electricity and increasing women\u2019s representation in government. Yet even these advances were offset elsewhere by growing food insecurity, deterioration of the natural environment, and persistent and pervasive inequalities.<\/p>\n

Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has quickly become the worst human and economic crisis of our lifetime, spreading to all countries, with the global death toll exceeding 500,000 and the number of confirmed cases at more than 10 million people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Member States recognized at the SDG Summit held last September, global efforts to date have been insufficient to deliver the change we need, jeopardizing the Agenda\u2019s promise to current and future generations,\u201d said UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres. \u201cNow, due to COVID-19, an unprecedented health, economic and social crisis is threatening lives and livelihoods, making the achievement of Goals even more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General stressed that COVID-19 was not affecting everyone the same. \u201cAlthough the novel coronavirus affects every person and community, it does not do so equally. Instead, it has exposed and exacerbated existing inequalities and injustices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using the latest data and estimates, this annual stocktaking report on progress across the 17 Goals shows that it is the poorest and most vulnerable \u2013 including children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees \u2013 who are being hit the hardest by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women are also bearing the heaviest brunt of the pandemic\u2019s effects.<\/p>\n

Among the key findings:<\/strong><\/p>\n