The Human Development Impact of COVID-19

UNDP is the leading UN Agency tasked with socio-economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global human development is on course to decline this year for the first time since UNDP developed the concept and its measurement in 1990. Two out of three COVID-19 deaths are happening in developing countries. Seven out of ten workers make a living through informal markets and cannot earn money if they are at home; while the burden of unpaid care work at home - borne mostly by women and girls - has increased dramatically.

Half of the world – 4 billion people – are trying to survive COVID-19 without any social protection. COVID-19 is unforgiving and the long-term impact will be far-reaching.We need to work together to prepare, respond, and build forward better; and design a future that looks beyond recovery, towards 2030.