The world faces an unprecedented threat from COVID-19. It is more than a global health crisis–it is a socio-economic crisis, which has exacerbated existing inequalities and created new inequalities that are hitting the most vulnerable people the hardest.

With up to 100 million more people being pushed into extreme poverty in 2020, 1.4 billion children affected by school closures, and record-level unemployment and loss of livelihoods, it is clear that the impact of COVID-19 will massively curtail development gains–United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has predicted that global human development is on course to decline this year for the first time since the concept was introduced.

As the UN’s technical lead agency on socio-economic impact and recovery, UNDP is working with governments to help countries recover from the COVID-19 crisis, putting forward practical help and solutions. UNDP’s Photoville exhibit will explore the effects of the crisis on the most vulnerable in developing countries–those who rely on the informal economy, women, migrants and the displaced, as well as those that suffer from stigma.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Fluxus Foto is a group of Latin-American visual storytellers and educators that believe in collective work as a strategy to document realities through a diverse, critical, and positive gaze. They build relationships with the individuals, while developing the stories based on respect and empathy.

Ziyah Gafić is an award-winning photojournalist based in Sarajevo, who has covered major news events in more than 50 countries and been widely exhibited in leading galleries and photo festivals. He has published in TIME magazine, La Repubblica, The Telegraph magazine and Newsweek. He is a member of VII Photo Agency.

Nyimas Laula is an Indonesian photojournalist based in Jakarta and Bali, Indonesia. Her works focuses environmental and human rights issues across the country. She began her journey in 2015 and has since worked with Reuters, The New York Times, National Geographic, and VICE.

Dina Litovsky is a Ukrainian photographer based in New York City. She is a regular contributor to National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, TIME, The New Yorker and GQ. In 2020 she won the Nannen Prize, Germany’s premier award for documentary photography.

Cynthia Matonhodze is a documentary photographer based in Harare. She has spent most of her career photographing social issues in Zimbabwe. She is a founding member of the Zimbabwe Association of Female Photographers, and a Magnum Foundation Social Justice Fellow. She has been published by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Guardian.

Nadège Mazars is a French photographer who has been based in Colombia since 2007. She has focused her lens on migration, healthcare, and natural resource extraction. She has been published in The New Yorker, Le Monde, Libération, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.

Dhiraj Singh is a freelance photographer based in Mumbai, India. He has a long-standing working relationship with UNDP India, and he has been published in Newsweek, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Burn Magazine, MSNBC, The Guardian, L’Equipe, Respekt magazine, and more.

Nichole Sobecki is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is a contributor to Everyday Africa, a collection of everyday images shot on mobile phones. Her work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year, the One World Media Awards, and the Alexandra Boulat Award for Photojournalism, among others. She is a member of VII Photo Agency.