A new joint report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reveals that economies of the Region will only be reactivated if the curve of contagion of the COVID-19 pandemic is flattened. The report proposes a three-phase approach that includes the adoption of health, economic, social and productive policies that aim to control and mitigate the effects of the pandemic, reactivation with protection, and rebuilding in a sustainable and inclusive way. 

The program will help organize and more efficiently execute policies and programs that support government priorities for crisis management and preparing for economic recovery in response to the impacts of COVID-19. In addition, it will improve the management and performance of priority government policies with a direct impact on the services provided to citizens.

In this sense, it will focus on the quality of planning, monitoring, decision-making and evaluation of strategic government programs, and will contribute to strengthening innovation capacities and promoting innovative practices on public policies in public administration, with the participation of the private sector and civil society.

Entre los principales hallazgos destacan que, dentro de la región andina, las empresas de Perú y Colombia se encontraban mejor posicionadas para enfrentar el choque del COVID-19, mientras que las de Ecuador y Bolivia estaban menos preparadas.  En todos los casos, las empresas grandes y medianas son las que tenían mayor preparación, en comparación con las pequeñas y, sobre todo, con las microempresas debido a diferencias importantes en aspectos como el acceso a crédito, el uso de tecnologías, la propiedad del espacio en el que operan, el peso de los costos fijos y la productividad laboral.

El Gobierno de la República reitera que las medidas aquí descritas tienen como fin único la preservación de la vida, la salud, así como la preservación de losempleos e ingresos de las familias hondureñas.

“This conversation was an important opportunity to discuss how the Caribbean will build back better from the COVID-19 crisis. We heard about timely and comprehensive social protection interventions by the region’s governments – many with the support of the private sector – to address economic hardship and job losses, as well as initiatives to support families. At UN Women, we are committed to continuing to support the Governments and the people of the Caribbean in developing policies and programmes that address the needs of women, both in the private sector and in the informal sector, to ensure no one is left behind in the rebuilding of the region’s economies,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women.

El presidente ejecutivo de CAF, Luis Carranza Ugarte, afirmó: “Seguimos trabajando para traer recursos a tasas y plazos más favorables para mejorar el bienestar de la población, mantener las ganancias sociales logradas en las últimas dos décadas y promover la reactivación económica de la región de la mano de un  aliado como es el BBVA”.

Parte de adaptarse a la "nueva normalidad" es encontrar formas de vivir nuestras vidas de manera segura”, explicó Tedros Adhanon Gebreyesus.

“Se trata de tomar buenas decisiones. Estamos pidiendo a todos que tomen las decisiones sobre dónde ir, qué hacer y a quién ver como si fueran decisiones de vida o muerte; porque lo son. Puede no ser tu vida, pero tu elección puede marcar la diferencia entre la vida y la muerte de alguien a quien amas o de un extraño”, dijo.

“We must remember that most people are still susceptible to this virus. As long as it’s circulating, everyone is at risk”, said Tedros (Adhanom Ghebreyesus), adding, “just because cases might be at a low level where you live, that doesn’t make it safe to let down your guard.”

“In recent years we’ve seen young people leading grassroots movements for climate change and racial equality. Now we need young people to start a global movement for health – for a world in which health is a human right, not a privilege”, he suggested.

Rebeca Grynspan, Ibero-American Secretary General (SEGIB), and Cassio Luiselli, member of the Advisory Council for Food Security in the Americas, discussed these scenarios and proposed adequate responses for strengthening cooperation between countries and mitigating the effects of the pandemic.

They noted that, in order to drive economic reactivation and food security in the Latin American and Caribbean region, it will be necessary to capitalize on the potential of multilateralism, maintain the flow of goods, minimize trade barriers, foster production chains with greater value added, improve food marketing and distribution, and strengthen family farming.

El Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) aprobó un préstamo de US$130 millones para apoyar la sostenibilidad financiera de corto plazo de las Micro, Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (MiPyME) como sostén del empleo en Bolivia frente a la crisis del COVID-19 y sus efectos en el tejido productivo.

El programa espera beneficiar como mínimo a aproximadamente 12.000 MiPyME afectadas por la crisis, mediante créditos que se otorgarán a través de las Instituciones Financieras elegibles, destinándose un monto superior al 30 por ciento del total de los recursos a empresas propiedad de mujeres.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged clinicians, public health authorities, companies and governments to quickly develop new capabilities for supporting recovery, maintaining health security, and building resilience. Digital tools and strategies have become crucial in this effort.
This document is an update of the Early Compendium of Technology Responses to COVID-19 published in April 2020. It more than triples the number of solutions, providing better visibility into the diverse uses of technology for the COVID-19 response.

At one point, Spain was among the countries impacted most by COVID-19. At the outbreak’s peak, close to 10,000 new cases were reported in a single day in Spain. Since then, intensive efforts, led by robust surveillance, testing, contact tracing, treatment and isolation, have managed to suppress transmission.

Dr Tedros said this shift was due to the leadership shown by Spain and the strong resolve shown by the Spanish public to adhere to strict restrictions, including lockdowns, physical distancing and other critical measures to contain transmission. These efforts, combined, have successfully changed the course of the country’s outbreak.

Reducing inequality and improving social mobility, identifying new forms of growth, and focusing on new measures of economic performance are among the biggest challenges facing the global economy as countries emerge from lockdown. Current unemployment figures are likely a better barometer of economic health than financial market valuations, and the deglobalization of supply chains may force emerging markets to reconsider growth models. These are some of the findings of the World Economic Forum’s Chief Economists Outlook, published today.

New analysis from the World Economic Forum shows that some of Latin America’s and the Caribbean’s tourism strengths are less important than before to a competitive tourism economy during COVID-19. The onset and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the factors that make a country’s travel and tourism sector competitive. Certain factors, such as healthcare capacity and digital travel offerings, are increasing in importance during the pandemic. Other factors, like international openness – a primary strength of Latin America – are now less important.

A $76.2 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will help finance efforts to contain the pandemic, mitigate its effect on poor households, and promote counter-cyclical policies that will ease the crisis' short-term effect on the economy.

The latest OECD Economic Survey of the United States says that even as some businesses reopen with the lifting of coronavirus confinement measures, hard-hit sectors like hospitality and leisure will continue to need support, as will newly unemployed or displaced workers who may need to look for jobs in different sectors. The recent extension of the US Paycheck Protection Program by five weeks to August 8 is a welcome move to help small businesses struggling with the crisis. Extending exceptional unemployment benefits beyond the end-July cut-off date would offer a similar lifeline to the millions of households at risk of falling into poverty, as would assistance for job search (such as employment placement services) and support for geographic mobility.

Alicia Bárcena explained that ECLAC is proposing five, very concrete recommendations: a debt relief initiative through a debt for climate change adaptation swap, which includes the creation of a resilience fund; a debt service standstill and a change in international financial institutions’ (IFIs) eligibility criteria for granting concessional funding; stage contingency bonds, especially with hurricane clauses; green and blue bonds; and liquidity support via the issuance of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

The report – Extreme Outlier: The Pandemic’s Unprecedented Shock to Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean – launches a new global Tourism Dependency Index for countries, including 35 Latin American and Caribbean economies. It urges governments to take unprecedented measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and to support citizens and economies through this shock to the most tourism-dependent region in the world. 

“Timing is critical. At national or at local level, we must open gradually, taking a phased approach that relies on robust surveillance, data, and expanded testing and contact tracing capacity.  If the situation changes and infections rise, localities and countries must adjust course quickly" Carissa Etienne said.

Public health (prevention of the spread of Infectious Disease) (COVID-19) regulations, 2020.