The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis that is already having devastating impacts on the world economy –both directly and through necessary measures to contain the spread of the disease. These impacts are also being felt by the food and agriculture sector. While the supply of food has held up well to date, in many countries, the measures put in place to contain the spread of the virus are starting to disrupt the supply of agro-food products to markets and consumers, both within and across borders. The sector is also experiencing a substantial shift in the composition and –for some commodities –the level of demand.

The COVID-19 outbreak and its containment measures including the lockdown of much of the world's population has put corporate balance sheets under tremendous pressure. As observed during the financial crisis 12 years ago, governments are finding it necessary to engage in multiple rescue operations involving companies deemed to be systemically important. Unlike the previous crisis where government interventions mostly concerned ailing banks, interventions relating to COVID-19 have so far mostly focused on insolvency and illiquidity in industry sectors hard hit by the virus, such as aviation and tourism. Other sectors seem bound to follow as the fallout from the crisis spills over into the second half of the year.

Co-ordinating  government policies will make crisis response more effective. A wide array of international regulatory co-operation approaches can be used to align government responses, including international evidence gathering and sharing to aid in the design of emergency rules, aligning regulations or using mutual recognition to expedite administrative processes and facilitate the trade of essential products, such as protective equipment, for example. International organisations provide essential platforms to promote such co-operation

La integridad pública es clave para responder de forma contundente a lacrisis delCOVID-19, asegurandoque la accióngubernamentalbeneficiaa quienes lonecesitan. Esta crisis crea oportunidades para diversastrasgresionesa laintegridad y podría intensificar el fraude y la corrupción, particularmente en la contratación pública, en los paquetes de estímulo económico y en las organizaciones públicas. Esto podría socavar significativamente la acción gubernamental. Se necesitan medidas de corto y largo plazo para abordar estos riesgos, centrándose enestrategiasde contratación, los recursos de las funcionesde auditoría interna y las estrategias de integridad de las organizaciones públicas, entre otroselementos. Este documento analizalos principales desafíos a la integridad y recomienda medidas que pueden ayudar a los gobiernos a garantizar una respuesta y recuperación efectivas antela crisisdel COVID-19. Integridad pública para una respuesta y recuperaciónefectivasante el COVID-19

Most Latin American and Caribbean countries have been hit by the Covid-19crisis in the context of low potential growth, high inequalities and rising social discontent. Policy reactions to the crisis have been bold, but further measures will be needed. In the immediate term, the priority must be to prevent contagion and support most vulnerable families, workers and firms. In the phasing out of the containment and lockdown measures, continued income support to stimulate consumption and support inclusiveness, as well as investment efforts to promote activity are fundamental to spur a swift economic recovery. In the medium term, the aftermath of this crisis must be turned into an opportunity to redefine the social pact, putting well-being at the center, based on stronger social protection systems, better healthcare, more robust and inclusive public finances and implementing inclusive development strategies. Co-coordinating a global response to address the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the region remains vital.

Fragile contexts are beginning to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of these countries are insufficiently prepared to cope with the spread of the disease and its consequences across the multiple dimensions of fragility. The most vulnerable have difficulty in accessing hospitals and rely on poor public services. Confinement measures are hardly applicable and the mobilization of security actors to enforce them creates further risks. The crisis highlights social inequalities and governance issues in many contexts. While the pandemic has created new peace dynamics, most conflicts continue unabated as peace keeping missions and humanitarian response are extremely constrained

Policymakers often have a linear view of the world, where pulling the right levers will get the economy and society back on track after shocks and crises. This paper argues that such an approach ignores how systems interact and how their systemic properties shape this interaction, leading to an over-emphasis on a limited set of characteristics, notably efficiency. The emphasis on efficiency in the operation, management and outcomes of various economic and social systems was not a conscious collective choice, but rather the response of the whole system to the incentives that individual components face. This has brought much of the world to rely upon complex, nested, and interconnected systems to deliver goods and services around the globe. While this approach has many benefits, the Covid-19 crisis shows how it has also reduced the resilience of key systems to shocks, and allowed failures to cascade from one system to others. A systems approach based on resilience is proposed to prepare socioeconomic systems for future shocks

The consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for the labour market are likely to be severe. Many firms are struggling to stay afloat during the often strict confinement measures, and large numbers of workers have already either been involved in various forms of short-time work schemes or laid off. Public and private employment services (PES) will play a crucial role in preventing the labour market from seizing up during the crisis and in promoting a fast recovery once confinement measures start to be lifted. They will need to provide support on an increasingly virtual (i.e. not face to face) basis to an unparalleled inflow of job seekers. This will include ensuring that benefits are paid out without delay, providing information, and seekers to stay active even if there are fewer vacancies. In the short-term, the economic impact of the pandemic is shifting labour demand across sectors and regions, and it remains to be seen if this will lead to more permanent re-allocation of labour across sectors and regions. Therefore, the PES in each country will not only be facing a surge in the number of jobseekers but also the need to potentially reallocate many of them across occupations, sectors and regions. This requires providing them with good labour market information and support for skills development. In order to fulfil these particularly challenging tasks, PES need to be agile and quickly adapt to the new situation. This policy brief provides guidance on how this can be done

This note provides evidence on the importance of local action to help address the short-term and long-term consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It estimates that the share of jobs potentially at risk during confinement ranges from 15% to 35% across regions within 30OECD and 4non-OECD European countries. It explains why the local role is essential for the recovery, and explores the potential game changing nature of this outbreak for local development going forward

El presente análisis se centra en las accionesinmediatas que pueden adoptar los distintos gobiernos con el fin de asegurarse de que las medidas excepcionales implementadas antela crisis causadapor el coronavirus (COVID-19) no echen por tierrasus esfuerzos porencontrar una solución eficaz a los problemas medioambientales másapremiantes, si no por el contrario mejoren la salud ambientaly laresilienciade las sociedades

This policy brief discusses how competition policy can help address the immediate challenges raised by the COVID-19 crisis whilst looking to the post-pandemic future and the contribution of markets to medium and long-term economic recovery. It describes competition principles that governments can follow when designing support measures for the economy, including exit strategies. The note also outlines actions competition authorities can take to address the practical, theoretical and evidentiary challenges of the current crisis

This note examines how governments across the OECD are managing public servants in response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. It summarises the principles underpinning the most common measures taken across the OECD, and identifies initial opportunities for managing and harnessing change. The content of this note was developed through a Special Session of the Working Party on Public Employment and Management held on15 April

The initiative allows MSMEs to access electronic commerce easily and free of charge. The "OAS Plan for MSME Digitalization" is available to all micro and small companies in the country, as well as to any entrepreneur, regardless of whether or not they are formalized. Through digitization and foray into electronic commerce, it is intended that non-formalized companies become professionalized and formalized.

Given the importance of communications and with the aim of promoting debate, cooperation and regional coordination in the field of telecommunications that facilitate the fight against COVID-19, A space will be added on the CITEL website to share the actions that governments and companies are carrying out. In this way, best practices can be shared and citizens will be kept informed. CITEL members are invited to share the information or links related to these actions to make them public on our portal, by email [email protected]

Digital  technologies,  in  particular  mobile  and  biometric  applications,  are  being  adopted  in innovative ways to improve the effectiveness of government front-line responses to COVID-19.·The resulting information and trends are invaluable for governments seeking to track the COVID-19outbreak, warn vulnerable communities, and understand the impact of policies such as social distancing and confinement.· Disclosures of personal information can allow the public to better identify potential COVID-19 infections and track the spread over time. However, current digital solutions for monitoring and containment have varying implications for privacy and data protection. ·Fully transparent and accountable privacy-preserving solutions should be embedded by design to  balance  the  benefits  and  the  risks  associated  with  personal  data  collection,  process  and sharing. Data should be retained only for so long as is necessary to serve the specific purpose for which it was collected

Today, AI technologies and tools play a key role in every aspect of the COVID-19 crisis response: o    understanding the virus and accelerating medical research on drugs and treatments    detecting and diagnosing the virus, and predicting its evolution    assisting in preventing or slowing the virus' spread through surveillance and contact tracing    responding to the health crisis through personalized information and learning    monitoring the recovery and improving early warning tools.  •To help facilitate the use of AI throughout the crisis, policy makers should encourage the sharing of medical, molecular, and scientific datasets and models on collaborative platforms to help AI researchers build effective tools for the medical community, and should ensure that researchers have access to the necessary computing capacity. •To realize the full promise of AI to combat COVID-19, policy makers must ensure that AI systems are trustworthy and aligned with the OECD AI Principles: they should respect human rights and privacy;  be  transparent,  explainable,  robust,  secure  and  safe;  and  actors  involved  in  their  development and use should remain accountable

Digital technologies, in particular mobile and biometric applications, are being adopted in innovative ways to improve the effectiveness of government front-line responses to COVID-19.·The resulting information and trends are invaluable for governments seeking to track the COVID-19outbreak, warn vulnerable communities, and understand the impact of policies such as social distancing and confinement. ·Disclosures of personal information can allow the public to better identify potential COVID-19 infections andtrack the spread over time. However, current digital solutions for monitoring and containment have varying implications for privacy and data protection. ·Fully transparent and accountable privacy-preserving solutions should be embedded by design to balance the benefits and the risks associated with personal data collection, process and sharing. Data should be retained only for so long as is necessary to serve the specific purpose for which it was collected

Trade facilitation is critical in the current crisis to ensure the swift movement of essential medical, food and IT supplies. Implementing reforms in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement can help. In particular, governments can do three things: First, they can ensure that all formalities are transparent and accessible to all traders, especially Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises; Second, they can expedite standard formalities to leave room for necessary additional COVID-19 related controls;  Third, they can digitize all possible processes as much as their infrastructure allows to speed up processing and reduce the need for physical contact between border agencies and traders

ECLAC released new growth projections for Latin American and Caribbean countries. It underscores that in the medium term, this crisis will provoke structural changes in the organization of production, international trade, and the current globalization model.

La pandemia decoronavirus (COVID-19) pone de relieve la necesidad de desarrollar una estrategia global e integrada para proteger la salud humana. El mejoramiento de la salud ambiental a través de una buena calidad del aire, del agua, de los servicios de saneamiento y de la gestión de los residuos, junto con la protección dela biodiversidad, reducirá el grado de vulnerabilidad de las comunidades en caso de pandemia y, en consecuencia, aumentará el bienestar general de la sociedad, al tiempo que reforzará nuestra resiliencia frente a futuras pandemias. La exposición a la contaminación atmosférica (exterior) y del aire (interior) en espacios cerrados y viviendas aumenta el riesgo de padecer enfermedades cardiovasculares, respiratorias y trastornos del desarrollo, aparte del riesgo de muerte prematura, acentuando la vulnerabilidad de la población frente al COVID-19. El acceso al agua corriente, la eficacia de los servicios de saneamiento y la conservación de la vida silvestre en su hábitat natural son fundamentales en la lucha contra la propagación de las pandemias; la gestión eficaz de los residuos se revela igualmente imprescindible para minimizar posibles efectos colaterales en la salud y el medio ambiente