Ukraine conflict could wipe out years of socio-economic progress

UNDP specified that another 62% would be added to these forecasts at high risk of falling into poverty in coming 12 months.

In an initial assessment of the Ukraine situation, the UNDP considered that if Russia´s special operation persisted there would be a setback in the socio-economic progress, both in Ukraine and the eastern Europe region.

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, in addition to inconceivable human suffering and the need for immediate humanitarian aid, there are also serious effects on development derived from a protrected military operation.

UNDP´s stay in Ukraine is aimed at deploying specialized military equipment in waste management, damage assessment and livelihoods in an emergency context.

The World Food Program (WFP), on the other hand, is currently working to play down the side effects of rising food and energy prices, and seeks to expand operations in Ukraine to reach 3.1 million people.

“As famine directly threatens Ukraine, the consequences of the war will ripple across the world. Russia and Ukraine together export about 30% of the world’s wheat,” the WFP Executive Director David Beasley stressed. This could spell a disaster for millions of people, as WFP’s forecasts for 2022 warned that it would be a year of catastrophic hunger, with 44 million people in 38 countries on the brink of famine.