The UN has projected that 235 million people will require assistance in 2021. That figure, which marks a 40% increase from this year, is "almost entirely because of COVID-19," the agency has warned.
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Needs for humanitarian assistance have surged to unprecedented levels this year because of COVID-19, the UN humanitarian office said on Tuesday.
The UN has projected that a staggering 235 million people will require help in 2021, resulting from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including conflicts, forced migration and the effects of global warming.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expects a 40% increase in the number of people in need of assistance in 2021 compared to this year. Over $35 billion (€29 billion) would be needed in 2021 to help those in need.
"The increase arises almost entirely because of COVID-19," the United Nations emergency relief coordinator, Mark Lowcock, said.
Next year, one in 33 people will be in need of aid, the report said, stressing that if all of them lived in one country, it would make up the world's fifth largest-nation.
The coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 1.45 million people worldwide, has disproportionately hit people living in poverty.
The money requested in the appeal would be enough to help 160 million of the most vulnerable people across 56 countries, the UN said.
For the first time since the 1990s, extreme poverty is set to rise substantially, while life expectancy will fall and the annual death toll from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria could double.
Feeding the jobless in Spain
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The threat of famine
"Possibly the most alarming thing ... is the threat of the return of famines, potentially in multiple locations," said Lowcock. By the end of 2020, the number of acutely food-insecure people worldwide could grow to as much as 270 million — an 82% increase over the pre-pandemic figure.
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Mass starvation had previously appeared to have been "assigned to the dustbin of history," he said, but now, "the red lights are flashing and the alarm bells are ringing."
"The picture we're painting this year is the bleakest and darkest perspective on humanitarian needs we've ever set out, and that's because the pandemic has reaped carnage across the most fragile and vulnerable countries on the planet," he said.
He added that he thinks the UN appeal will probably raise a record $20 billion by the end of the year. The UN aims to reach about two-thirds of those in need, with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations trying to meet the rest.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said humanitarian aid budgets are now facing dire shortfalls as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen, and said extreme poverty has risen for the first time in more than a generation.
"The lives of people in every nation and corner of the world have been upended by the impact of the pandemic,'' he said. "Those already living on a knife's edge are being hit disproportionately hard by rising food prices, falling incomes, interrupted vaccination programs and school closures.''
Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos to become world's richest person
Tesla CEO's wealth has soared over the past year thanks to a meteoric rise in the electric vehicle maker's market value. Musk is not the only billionaire adding to his riches during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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World's richest person
Elon Musk's Tesla produces cars, but on the stock exchange, it gets treated like a tech high flier. Musk's firm has profited from the market hype around tech stocks during the pandemic and from investors betting on a greener future. The South African-born entrepreneur has overtaken Amazon's Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person with a total worth of $195 billion (€160 billion).
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How rich can you get?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (pictured with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez in front of the Taj Mahal) is in a class of his own. His e-commerce company has done brisk business during the pandemic, pushing Amazon shares to new records. Bezos, who is worth $185 billion, would have remained the world's richest person had it not been for a $38 billion divorce settlement in 2019.
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Zooming in on Yuan
The growing number of people working from home during the pandemic is a big boon for Eric Yuan. The founder of Zoom moved from China to the US when he was 27-years-old. After some years with rival WebEx, he launched his own video communications platform, with Zoom going public in 2019. Since the coronavirus crisis, shares have exploded. Yuan is estimated to own some $17 billion.
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Fit for success
Distancing rules and closed workout studios have played into the hands of John Foley. Back in 2013, he was still touting his connected workout equipment at Kickstarter. Today, people are willing to spend a lot on Peloton's at-home gym equipment. The company's shares have tripled during the pandemic, unexpectedly turning the almost 50-year-old Foley into a billionaire.
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Conquering the whole world
Shopify enables traders to create their own online shops — a concept developed by Tobias Lütke. Born in Koblenz, Germany, he emigrated to Canada in 2002 and started out in a garage like so many other North Americans. Meanwhile, Shopify is Canada's most valuable enterprise, with its share price having doubled since March. Forbes magazine says 39-year-old Lütke is worth some $10 billion.
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Billionaire overnight
As early as January this year, Ugur Sahin started backing the right horse by working on a COVID-19 vaccine. The drug developed by his Germany-based company BioNTech could soon secure medical approval. The vaccine has pushed Sahin, who hails from Turkey, into the public spotlight and made him super-rich. The value of the shares he holds is estimated to be $5 billion.
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Ingredients for success
Food services company HelloFresh is booming. Profits have more than tripled during the pandemic, figures from the latest quarterly earnings report showed in early November. Co-founder and shareholder Dominik Richter has been making the most of restaurants being closed. He's not quite in the same league as the richest pandemic profiteers, but he's got the right ingredients to catch up with them.
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Amazon one more time
Jeff Bezos isn't the only one who's grown even richer through Amazon. Thanks to the shares she owns, Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie Scott hit it big and climbed to top spot on the world's richest women list. She's estimated to be worth some $56 billion and obviously happened to be with the right partner at the right time.
Image: Dennis Tan Tine/Star Max//AP/picture alliance
