The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said that nine out of 10 Ukrainians may face poverty and adverse economic instability due to the Ukraine-Russia war. It stated the longer this battle gets, the adverse outcome it will result into.
The UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, stated that his organization was collaborating with the Kyiv administration to prevent a worst-case scenario in which the economy fails.
It was designed to send cash payments to families so that they might buy food and maintain themselves from fleeing while maintaining basic services.
“If the dispute persists, if it were to continue, poverty rates will rise significantly,” Steiner said.
The final option, in which the economy collapses completely, is perfectly conceivable. “And it’s possible that up to 90% of people may be either below the poverty line or at high risk of (poverty) over time,” he added in a video presentation from New York.
In a video interview from New York, he defined the poverty line as “the purchasing capacity of $5.50 to $13 per person per day.” According to Mr. Voloshyn, prior to the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, about two percent of Ukrainians lived beneath the $5.50 line (approximately $1).
According to Ukraine’s top government economic adviser Oleg Ustenko, Russian troops have so far destroyed at least $100 billion in infrastructure and that half of Ukrainian businesses have closed down completely.
“We believe that Ukraine’s development gains could be totally destroyed in a period of 12 to 18 months,” Steiner added.
The aim is to use existing programmes that the UN has utilized in past conflicts, according to Mr. Steiner.