To cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, international cooperation and multilateral financial assistance is needed. However, the liquidity available is not enough to meet financing needs on a global level. That is why subregional development banks in Latin America should take bolder measures, since they play a critical role in this area of work, Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, indicated today at a high-level event organized by CAF - Development Bank of Latin America in the context of its 50th anniversary.

Enhancing the involvement of Latin American and Caribbean rural youth in the political, economic and productive spheres, in efforts to rebuild in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, is the aim of a series of virtual forums, organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), beginning on June 12.

The forums will engage youth throughout the region, as part of IICA’s actions to assist in toppling barriers that are restricting this sector’s access to education, technology, employment, production resources, land ownerships and health services, to name a few.

El Premio Nobel de Economía Joseph Stiglitz explicó que una de las claves de los bancos de desarrollo es su perspectiva a largo plazo, teniendo en cuenta la disparidad entre el rendimiento social y privado, y que desempeñan un papel muy importante para responder a los desafíos del cambio climático y velar por el desarrollo sostenible. “Uno de los problemas para cerrar las brechas en infraestructura en América Latina es el acceso a recursos y CAF juega un rol estratégico para atraer recursos para este sector, acceso a la tecnología y capital humano especializado”, puntualizó.

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.

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.

Hay una demanda creciente de un mejor Estado que sea más efectivo, eficiente y transparente. Esta institucionalidad debe acompañarse de entidades fiscalizadoras que respondan a las crecientes demandas ciudadanas de más y mejor acceso a la información oportuna y confiable, así como de mayor participación en las decisiones que les afectan, afirmó hoy Alicia Bárcena, Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

“Cambiará nuestra preocupación por lo que consumimos y cómo nos relacionamos, al ser más conscientes que ante determinadas circunstancias todos somos iguales”, dijo el ministro uruguayo Carlos María Uriarte. En el ámbito internacional, “seguiremos preocupados por el acceso a los mercados”, en particular por el cierre temporal de China ante la pandemia.

The contraction responds to the continuation of a downward trend that began in early 2019, when exports from the region declined by 2.2 percent, and to the first effects of the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The downturn in global demand hit the region through both the price and volume channels, according to the latest edition of Trade Trend Estimates for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Hay una demanda creciente de un mejor Estado que sea más efectivo, eficiente y transparente. Esta institucionalidad debe acompañarse de entidades fiscalizadoras que respondan a las crecientes demandas ciudadanas de más y mejor acceso a la información oportuna y confiable, así como de mayor participación en las decisiones que les afectan, afirmó hoy Alicia Bárcena, Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

MigApp is IOM’s global app for migrants. A quarter of its users are in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

A new section in Migapp’s Medical tab highlights official health recommendations to prevent the virus’ spread.  News and Migration Tips sections are updated to capture changes across countries—such as border restrictions, COVID-19 hotlines or migration status changes. 

MigApp also features mini surveys, which allow IOM to run simple questions to better understand the issues affecting migrants.

“I would certainly characterize that Central and South America in particular have very much become the intense zones of transmission for this virus as we speak, and I don’t believe that we have reached the peak in that transmission. And at this point, I cannot predict when we will”, he said.

The biggest rise in caseloads can be found in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Argentina and Bolivia.

“While the numbers are not exponential, in some countries we are seeing a progressive increase in cases on a daily basis”, said Dr. Ryan.

“And countries are having to work very hard to both understand the scale of infection, but also health systems are beginning to come under pressure across the region.”

Estimates point to a decline in global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 that will be the largest in decades (by 2%) and to significant contractions in the volume of global trade (by between 13% and 32%).The drop in economic activity, particularly in China, the United States and Europe, is hurting trade volumes and prices in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially for commodities. Some key production sectors in countries of the region form part of global value chains in which the United States and China are fundamental. In addition, many countries will be severely affected by reduced remittances from migrants and the decline in tourism. The deterioration in global financial conditions has increased volatility in the region to record levels, and there have been massive capital outflows from emerging markets, most currencies have depreciated against the dollar and sovereign risk has risen sharply (ECLAC, 2020c).

41.000 personas en 9 países respondieron a una encuesta remota sobre cómo la COVID-19 ha afectado sus medios de vida, seguridad alimentaria y acceso a mercados. Las principales preocupaciones de las personas que aceptaron completar la encuesta realizada en línea fueron: incapacidad para cubrir sus necesidades alimentarias, pérdida parcial o total de ingresos debido a la crisis generada por la pandemia, y miedo a la propagación del virus.

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.

With school closures, UNDP estimates of the “effective out-of-school rate”—the percentage of primary school-age children, adjusted to reflect those without Internet access—indicate that 60 per cent of children are not getting an education, leading to global levels not seen since the 1980s. The combined impact of these shocks could signify the largest reversal in human development on record.

This is not counting other significant effects, for instance, in the progress towards gender equality. The negative impacts on women and girls span economic - earning and saving less and greater job insecurity -, reproductive health, unpaid care work and gender-based violence.

Many live in isolated or remote areas, where they lack access to health services, clean water and soap. Others live in cramped dwellings or in informal urban settlements without access to protective equipment. Most of the border indigenous groups are threatened by physical and cultural extinction because of insufficient food and severe malnutrition that can increase the risk of contagion. These areas have lacked adequate health services which can now exacerbate the current situation.

Towards this end, IDB and AFD have exchanged on the modalities of the support to be brought to Latin American countries both in their immediate to rather short terms responses to COVID-19, and on the medium to long-term recovery plans. These could be developed further, leading to a potential joint-cooperation aligned with climate and SDGs objectives, key drivers of the IDB-AFD partnership.

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has exposed the economic model’s structural problems and the failings of social protection systems and welfare schemes. Hence, a “new normality” is not the way forward; we must rethink the development model and consolidate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, leaving no one behind, Alicia Bárcena.

Los ingresos tributarios en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC) alcanzaron 23.1% del PIB en promedio en 2018, según la nueva edición de Estadísticas Tributarias en América Latina y el Caribe publicada hoy. Sin embargo, el aumento de la carga tributaria se ve amenazado como resultado del deterioro de las perspectivas fiscales de la región, que se ha exacerbado por la pandemia del COVID-19 y la crisis económica mundial.