#Coronavirus: Pandemic may plunge 8.3 million Arabs into poverty

Millions of people around the world face economic uncertainty as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, but a UN office focused on the Middle East has warned that the Arab world will be particularly afflicted, with about 8.3 million people expected to fall into poverty. Such a massive increase would bring the total number of people in the Arab world ranked as poor to 101.4 million, including 52 million who are classified by the UN as "undernourished". According to Wednesday's report by the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the number of undernourished people would increase by about 2 million.According to the agency, undernourishment is the biggest risk to health worldwide - greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined - with about 821 million people not getting enough food to be healthy and live an active life.