The United Nations logo is seen at the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York, September 23, 2019, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S. Dec 1 Reuters -- Urban poverty is on course to triple in Myanmar, pushing more than half of the population below the poverty line next year, as the twin impact of the epidemic and a military coup threatens progress made in the past decade, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The army seized power from the elected civilian government of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, sparking political and economic turmoil as it tried to crush opposition and hurting efforts to fight the coronaviruses.
The UN Development Program said Myanmar was poised to return to levels of deprivation that had never been seen since 2005, before democratic reforms began.
The collapse of the middle class could be a bad omen for any rapid recovery from the crisis, said Kanni Wignaraja, director of the UNDP bureau for Asia and the Pacific, in a statement.
In the worst-case scenario, the United Nations estimates that the number of people living below the poverty line could double to 46.3% from 24.8%, while urban poverty is projected to triple by 2022, to stand at 37.2%, compared to 11.3% in 2019.
Half of the respondents in urban areas said they had no savings left, while about a third reported having sold a motorbike, often a family's main means of transport.
There was a rising trend of households eating less food and increasing high school drop-out rates.
Major cities like Yangon and Mandalay, formerly home to a growing middle class, have seen disruptions to small businesses and sectors, from construction and hospitality to retail and textiles, bringing job losses and reduced wages, the UNDP said.
In October, the investment minister of junta told Reuters that military authorities were trying to revive the economy, and blamed foreign-backed economic sabotage for the crisis, but gave no details.
If there is no action taken, you're going to see this carried through an entire generation, said the UN official, Kanni Wignaraja.
She told Reuters that you lose a generation not only because of war, but because of the impairments and disabilities that come from a lack of food, poor nutrition, and extreme poverty.
The World Bank projected economic growth in Myanmar despite COVID 19 but now forecasts the economy to contract by more than 18% this year, far outstripping its neighbours.
After the military overthrew the elected government, Myanmar's campaign against the disease began, along with the rest of the health system.
Services at public hospitals collapsed after many doctors and nurses joined a civil disobedience movement at the forefront of opposition to military rule and sometimes on the frontline of protests that were quashed.
More than 1,200 people have been killed by junta troops, according to a monitoring group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and the protests have grown into an armed uprising that has brought clashes countrywide.