WHILE RECENT international reports indicate an unprecedented decline in global development amid the coronavirus pandemic, experts say there are steps that can be taken in the fields of health and education to help developing countries bounce back. 

A report released in May by the United Nations Development Programme predicted that global human development – a combination of the world's education, health and living standards, according to an announcement news release – is on pace this year to decline for the first time in 30 years. A more recent report released Monday by the World Bank had a similarly dire outlook – the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to plunge most countries into a recession in 2020. Developing economies are forecast to contract by 2.5%, while more advanced economies are projected to contract by 7%.

"This is going to be the worst year for developing countries that they've had in three generations," says Masood Ahmed, the president of the Center for Global Development, a research-focused think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality.