A/64/279 20. The outcome document of the General Assembly session on the crisis, which took place in June 2009, illustrates this. It specifically mentions the need to address the human costs of the crisis, adding that these have serious developmental consequences on the human security of those affected. 6 Similarly, Governments of the G-20 countries agreed that they had a “collective responsibility to mitigate the social impact of the crisis to minimize long-lasting damage to global potential”. 7 21. Such human costs or social impacts for example, hunger, malnutrition, poor health, a lack of access to social security, the absence of education, also represent a lack of enjoyment of the human rights to food, water and sanitation, health, social security, education, and, in general, the right to an adequate standard of living. A. Overall impact of the crisis 22. The current crisis started as a crisis within capital markets in developed countries but quickly transformed into a major crisis for the real economy of the whole world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that global activity will contract by 1.3 per cent in 2009, the worst contraction since the Second World War. While impacts may be difficult to quantify, there is no doubt that the financial crisis has already had a severe impact on the enjoyment and realization of human rights. The impact of the crisis on the enjoyment of human rights is both evident and alarming. 23. The living conditions of the extreme poor, who were already greatly affected by the dramatic rise in 2008 of food and energy prices, have worsened. More than 125 million people have already been pushed into poverty as a result of the food price crisis and estimates project that the current crisis may push 55 to 90 million more into extreme poverty in 2009. 8 24. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the global number of unemployed persons could increase by between 20 million and 50 million in 2009 over 2007. 9 Not only will there be more unemployment, but labour conditions are also very likely to worsen owing to the shortage of employment opportunities. 25. According to the most recent assessment of progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, there are areas where progress has slowed or reversed. 10 Estimates indicate that in some of the most vulnerable and low-growth economies of sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, regions in which the majority of people are living in extreme poverty, both the number of poor and the poverty rate are expected to increase. 11 26. While all countries have been affected by the crisis, developing countries face additional difficulties in coping with the crisis owing to their limited technical and institutional capacity to respond. In low-income countries public budgets may __________________ 6 A/RES/63/303, annex, para 3. 7 “The global plan for recovery and reform”, G-20 communiqué (2 April 2009), para. 25. World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2009: a development emergency (Washington, D.C., 2009), pp. 1 and 2. See International Labour Organization, Global Employment Trends, January 2009 (Geneva, 2009). United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009 (New York, 2009), p. 4. Ibid., p. 7. 8 9 10 11 09-45276 7