As COVID-19 hits the fossil fuel industry, a new UN report published on Wednesday shows that renewable energy is more cost-effective than ever – providing an opportunity to prioritize clean energy in national economic recovery packages and bring the world closer to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In a post COVID-19, context we foresee an exponential growth of gaps in the access to rights and services. As such, the States must guarantee equal opportunities, by prioritizing in a crosscutting manner, with an intersectional and inclusive focus, those groups of citizens whom prior to, during and even more so after the pandemic, are and will remain excluded from our societies and face stigmatization: the so-called groups in situation of vulnerability.

The Department of Social Inclusion of the OAS Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity invite civil society organizations  to participate in this consultation.  The results will enable us to have more complement information on the impact of this pandemic on groups in situation of vulnerability in the Americas, and gather their recommendations and inputs to provide a more specific technical support to Member States to develop inclusive programs and policies for the post COVID-19 period.

This survey will be open to the public until June 30th, 2020.
A similar survey will be submitted to the Member States. 
We thank you for your valuable contribution!

When borders around the globe close, every country suffers, but those without territorial access to the sea are affected in unique ways, said a United Nations statement urging governments to provide smooth transit transport for landlocked neighbors.

Even in normal times, functioning and efficient transport networks and procedures are crucial to connect these vulnerable nations to world markets, as their exports and imports must transit through at least one neighbouring state and often have to change the transport mode – making trade much more complex and costly.

“In these unprecedented times, there is an even more urgent need to ensure smooth transport of goods to and from these countries,” the statement said.

UNCTAD and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reiterated calls for governments to promote crew well-being by allowing crew changes and ensuring seafarers and other maritime personnel have access to documentation and travel options so they can return home safely.

Maritime transport depends on the 2 million seafarers who operate the world’s merchant ships, which carry more than 80% of global trade by volume, including most of the world’s food, energy, raw materials and manufactured goods.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the most severe recession in nearly a century and is causing enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook.

As restrictions begin to ease, the path to economic recovery remains highly uncertain and vulnerable to a second wave of infections. Strengthening healthcare systems and supporting people and businesses to help adapt to a post-COVID-19 world will be crucial, it says.

By standing with their people to build a trusted relationship, national governments can mitigate the worst threats of misinformation, and in turn more loss of lives and livelihoods.

Advice about COVID-19 changes swiftly as medical understanding evolves, and this rapid evolution and the crippling impact on lives and livelihoods have led to a public thirst for information. Social media, informal news sources and fringe journalism have filled the void, often sowing fear, stigmatization, discrimination and confusion.

Across the globe, Governments are now confronted with the major challenge of putting in place appropriate exit strategies to come out of COVID-19 pandemic. What is the role of trade unions during lockdowns, shutdowns and re-opening? Learn more here...

Investment flows are expected to slowly recover starting 2022, led by global value chains (GVCs) restructuring for resilience, replenishment of capital stock and recovery of the global economy.

The increasing spread of the coronavirus across countries has prompted many governments to introduce unprecedented measures to contain the epidemic. These are priority measures that are imposed by a sanitary situation, which leave little room for other options as health should remain the primary concern. These measures have led to many businesses being shut down temporarily, widespread restrictions on travel and mobility, financial market turmoil, an erosion of confidence and heighted uncertainty. In a rapidly changing environment, it is extremely difficult to quantify the exact magnitude of the impact of these measures on GDP growth, but is clear that they imply sharp contractions in the level of output, household spending, corporate investment and international trade. This note provides illustrative estimates of the initial direct impact of shutdowns, based on an analysis of sectoral output and consumption patterns across countries and an assumption of common effects within each sector and spending category in all countries.

Migrant workers can be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation during migration and employment due to factors including unethical recruitment, migration status, fear of deportation, or the inability to find alternative employment, particularly during the current COVID-19 crisis.

The Montreal Recommendations on Recruitment: A Roadmap towards Better Regulation provides clear guidance to policymakers on how to protect migrant workers during recruitment, migration, and employment. It is designed to help develop comprehensive, multi-faceted approaches to promote ethical recruitment, enhance transparency and accountability, and improve the migration and employment outcomes for all stakeholders.

The expanded facility includes both a one-time temporary coverage of COVID-19 given the unprecedented magnitude of the present outbreak, and a longer-term ex ante coverage for future pandemics and epidemics. The expanded facility seeks to improve countries’ public contingent liabilities management. For the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, countries can request up to $90 million or 0.6% of GDP, whichever is less. Beyond the present outbreak, countries can request coverage for future public health emergencies for up to $100 million or 1% of GDP, whichever is less.

Latin America’s criminal groups have leveraged the coronavirus pandemic to win the goodwill and support of local populations by delivering humanitarian assistance and co-opting public service provision in communities underserved by state institutions. Such levels of “criminal charity” could complicate the future efforts of Latin America’s weakest states to dismantle and defeat organized crime groups, whose power has grown in recent years.

Kremer and the Institute’s Director General, Manuel Otero, will discuss the opportunities available to increase agricultural productivity through the use of digital tools: a fundamental way to support the sector within the context of the current pandemic as well as transform rural areas into areas of progress that generate job opportunities.

"Covid-19 has not only created a health crisis, but also an economic crisis in the long term. For many people, the pandemic is also generating a food security crisis. In the midst of this situation and the emergency measures that have been adopted, we must look ahead and find opportunities to shape the future”, explained.

“La igualdad es una declaración política. Tenemos que huir de la cultura del privilegio, que naturaliza las desigualdades y hace creer que las personas no son iguales. Necesitamos un nuevo pacto social, un nuevo Estado de bienestar que consagre la protección social universal, con acceso a sistemas de salud de calidad, y reconstruir con igualdad y sostenibilidad”, declaró Alicia Bárcena.

First, countries should designate food and nutrition services as essential, while also implementing protections for those who work in the sector.

“It means preserving critical humanitarian food, livelihood and nutrition assistance to vulnerable groups”, the Secretary-General continued, “and it means positioning food in food-crisis countries to reinforce and scale up social protection systems.”

Mr. Guterres added that relief and stimulus packages must reach the most vulnerable, including small-scale food producers and rural businesses.

The PAHO Director noted, “In South America, our response to the pandemic will be impacted by the arrival of winter, while hurricane season will complicate our efforts in North and Central America, and especially in the Caribbean.”

“This is a problem for patients because respiratory illnesses leave them at greater risk of severe COVID-19 infection. It’s also a challenge for strained health systems that will have to cope with the dual burden of a coronavirus pandemic and a spike in other respiratory illnesses. It does not help that the similar symptoms will make diagnosing COVID-19 even harder,” Dr. Etienne told journalists in a briefing.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a budget support loan to El Salvador of $250 million to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of public policy and fiscal management to address the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

The program supports the introduction of temporary measures to protect the income of vulnerable households and to increase the liquidity of firms during the health and economic crisis, among which the allocation of a monetary contribution to low-income households, suspension temporary payment of domiciliary services, and the postponement of the payment of taxes for certain groups of companies and shops.

“Our increasingly unsustainable use of marine resources for economic activities has hurt the health of our oceans, seas and coasts,” said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, UNCTAD’s director of international trade. 

“The COVID-19 crisis offers an opportunity to turn this around as we rebuild sectors of the blue economy,” she added.

Back in September, the world committed to a landmark political declaration on universal health coverage. Now, in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly has reiterated the importance of investing in health as “an investment in human capital, social and economic development and the empowerment of all people”.

The PAHO guidance notes that these groups face singular challenges, such as higher poverty levels, lack of access to some basic services such as water and sanitation, and cultural barriers, including language barriers. Other factors that can increase their vulnerability include health service access barriers, a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, less access to social safety nets, mistrust caused by a history of racism, and high levels of informal labor among members of these communities.