In the media
Poverty estimates featured in worldwide media

In a recent paper for UNU-WIDER, economists estimated that close to half a billion people could fall into poverty as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This would set back progress on ending poverty by at least a decade. In some countries, poverty rates could return to levels not seen for thirty years. 

This was the headline of a major report from international aid group Oxfam advocating for a 2.5 trillion USD global response to mitigate the negative economic impacts of the pandemic on lower-income countries and vulnerable peoples. Oxfam released the report in advance of a series of major meetings by global leaders from the IMF, the World Bank, and the G-20. 

The study - WIDER Working Paper 43/2020 'Estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty' by Andy Sumner, Chris Hoy, and Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez - was cited in well over 2500 print and digital news sources. The story was covered globally by Reuters, Al Jazeera, the Associated Press, the New York Times, and others.    

Andy Sumner, co-author, UNU-WIDER Senior Non-resident Research Fellow, and Professor at King's College London, discussed the findings for features in The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Slate, and DevEx.

An interview with co-author Chris Hoy, of the Australia National University, was the feature story on Voice of America radio, the United States' largest international broadcaster, broadcasting on over 2500 radio stations and reaching an audience of over 240 million people weekly. The study's findings were The Guardian's Top Story on 9 April 2020. UNU-WIDER and it's ongoing work in development economics was mentioned in 306 unique media outlets.