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Coping with Covid-19: The Impact on the Extreme Poor - Research Paper 1 - Overview of Findings

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1.0 Introduction

Following the rapid escalation of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in early 2020, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern at the end of January, and a Pandemic on 11 March, by the WHO. Although global in nature, the pandemic unfolded in different ways in different countries and it quickly became apparent that adopting a standardised set of interventions would have unexpected and disproportionate impacts on the poorest people in the poorest regions.

While immediate health concerns remain the primary focus of attention in many countries, the expected health impact has not materialised, for reasons that are still not completely clear. On the other hand, the secondary economic, food, nutrition and educational impacts have quickly come to prominence, requiring urgent attention. The loss of up to six months income and over 200 days of education have been devastating for the poorest and will take a long time to recover from; elsewhere the impact at a global level has been described as a setback of about 25 years in about 25 weeks. At the same time, attitudes towards Covid-19 in many of the countries Concern Worldwide works in are changing; shifting from early widespread fear to a perception that Covid-19 is finished, meaning people start to prioritise other issues and disregard the guidelines being put in place It is expected that extreme poverty will rise globally by up to 150 million over the next year, but those who were already the poorest will continue to fall further behind. If the world is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, a massive investment in these people’s lives will be required. The pandemic has also shone a harsh light on many existing challenges such as the impact of conflict on the poorest; poorly functioning markets; badly targeted social protection systems; and elite capture of support, underlining the need to continue targeting systemic drivers of extreme poverty.

This piece draws on a series of case studies from four countries where Concern Worldwide works: Bangladesh, Malawi, Somalia and Sierra Leone. The report itself focuses on the secondary impact of Covid-19 and the in-country response on people’s livelihoods, their access to food and water, changes in prices, and their access to health care and children’s access to education. It also looks at how people are coping and how they have engaged with formal support programmes that have been provided.