UN-World Bank partnership in crisis settings: Increasing support to the most vulnerable during a devastating year Image Children wear masks to protect themselves against COVID-19 while attending class in Fada, Burkina Faso. Photo: Frank Dejongh/UNICEF For countries already affected by conflict and crisis, 2020 was a devastating year. The health and socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic came on top of complex and growing threats, from the regional spillover of violent extremism to the effects of climate change. An estimated 19 to 30 million additional people in fragile and conflict-affected settings were pushed into extreme poverty, while the number of food insecure people more than doubled to 270 million globally in 2020.