COVID-19 has put societies all around the world under enormous pressures, and jeopardized the core principle of the Sustainable Development Goals – leaving no one behind, both globally and in China. Vulnerable groups who were already at risk before COVID-19 are now at even greater risk, making achievement of the SDGs even more challenging.

To better understand the implications of the pandemic beyond its health dimensions and support China’s socio-eco­nomic recovery, UNDP and CICETE have jointly initiated this research under the support of the Office of the Resident Coordinator, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Population Fund. The aim was to gather information on how the pandemic has affected impoverished regions and, in particular, vulnerable groups in those areas. The first-hand data and information collected through this assessment are being used to inform the design of UN programmes in the immediate future and provide evidence for local governments in how best to address the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic on their populations.