NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing the systemic inequalities of our global economic system, and threatening progress towards equality and the advancement of human rights.

The UN University estimated that the economic fallout could push an estimated half a billion people into poverty and take global development progress back three decades, primarily in emerging economies. In higher income countries, stimulus packages are unlikely to reach those already excluded from the economic mainstream. Last week, the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that the steep decline in the ability to work and operate due to the pandemic is threating the livelihoods of 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, almost half of the global workforce.

Photo courtesy of David Weekly.