La CEPAL propone dinamizar sectores claves para la infraestructura y la sostenibilidad de la vida. Uno de ellos es la economía del cuidado y otro, la potencialización de sectores bajos en emisiones de carbono, donde las mujeres debieran tener una participación muy activa, afirmó hoy Alicia Bárcena.

Durante su intervención, afirmó que, sin duda, la feminización de la pobreza es uno de los grandes temas de esta región. Y en estos tiempos de pandemia hay un impacto desproporcionado en las mujeres trabajadoras. Además, aseguró que en estos tiempos le preocupa que se vean mermados los presupuestos de las entidades de género.

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.

Economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink 7% in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade, and finance have been severely disrupted. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5% this year, their first contraction as a group in at least sixty years. Per capita incomes are expected to decline by 3.6%, which will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year.

It has taken a global pandemic to raise the world’s awareness of the importance of handwashing and access to clean water – basic services that more than 2 billion people in the world still lack.

Humble handwashing has gone mainstream because it is the first defence against COVID-19. It literally saves lives. But, the simple act of handwashing is unachievable for far too many people. For the more than one-in-three on the planet who lack basic water access, handwashing is not just a lifesaver, it is a privilege.

While the pandemic arrived after it had already devastated Europe (and now the United States), everybody in the human rights field knew that health and social services in Latin America had been dismantled progressively, mostly via privatisation and the shrinking of public programmes and spending. Hence the pandemic will affect principally the vulnerable people who can’t access basic public services.

While a global pandemic has been a looming risk for decades, COVID-19 has come as a shock to society, health systems, economies and governments worldwide. In the midst of extraordinary challenges and uncertainty, and countless personal tragedies, leaders are under pressure to make decisions on managing the immediate impact of the pandemic and its consequences, decisions that will shape the state of the world for years to come. What might be the silver linings in the crisis and how might leaders use this moment to build a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable world?

“During a pandemic, we must overcome the structural inequalities that limit access to services. This means establishing mechanisms that support universal access to health regardless of income, pooling resources with the private and not for profit sector, eliminating payment at point of service and setting up emergency hospitals that add surge capacity where it is most needed.”

The World Bank Group today announced its emergency operations to fight COVID-19 (coronavirus) have reached 100 developing countries – home to 70% of the world’s population. Since March, the Bank Group has rapidly delivered record levels of support in order to help countries protect the poor and vulnerable, reinforce health systems, maintain the private sector, and bolster economic recovery. This assistance, the largest and fastest crisis response in the Bank Group’s history, marks a milestone in implementing the Bank Group’s pledge to make available $160 billion in grants and financial support over a 15-month period to help developing countries respond to the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and the economic shutdown in advanced countries.

Promoting the employability and income opportunities of people working in the informal economy is highly critical for inclusive societies, and more so in times of crisis. Innovations to facilitate outreach, the recognition of prior learning or digital solutions are highly needed, requiring new financing models and partnerships with employers and workers’ organizations.

La pandemia del COVID-19 tiene fuertes efectos en el ámbito de la salud y profundas implicaciones sobre el crecimiento económico y el desarrollo social. Llega a América Latina y el Caribe en un contexto de bajo crecimiento —como fue analizado en anteriores informes especiales sobre la materia (CEPAL, 2020a y 2020b)— y, sobre todo, de alta desigualdad y vulnerabilidad, en el que se observan tendencias crecientes en la pobreza y pobreza extrema, un debilitamiento de la cohesión social y manifestaciones de descontento popular.

In an article by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, the situation is analyzed on the assumption that the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed disruption and devastation around the globe, bringing into sharp focus our global connectedness and the interdependencies between economic, social and environmental outcomes. Economies have slowed to a trickle; daily routines are suspended; enterprises are in hibernation; millions of people are unemployed; and more than a hundred thousand lives have been lost. As is often the case, the most disadvantaged are expected to be the most affected. The UNDP points out that this international health crisis is only the latest in a series of events to expose how vulnerable poor and marginalized communities are and how fragile our planet’s ecosystem is.

recientes análisis demuestran que la crisis económica provocada por el coronavirus podría sumir en la pobreza a 500 millones de personas, si no se toman medidas drásticas y urgentes. Este virus afecta a todo el mundo, incluidos estrellas de cine y miembros de las realezas. Sin embargo, el componente de igualdad acaba ahí. Si esta crisis no se aborda de manera adecuada, exacerbará las desigualdades extremas entre ricos y pobres, países desarrollados y en desarrollo y hombres y mujeres, causando un profundo sufrimiento.