Ukraine imposes temporary restrictions on the entry of foreigners and stateless persons to Ukraine. The restrictions will apply onward from 00:00, August 28 until 00:00, September 28, 2020. At the same time, exceptions have been made for the broadest possible list of traveler categories, in order to mitigate the impact on people-to-people and business contacts.

Confianza, tecnología, recuperación económica, protección social, seguridad y equilibrio de poderes son los principales retos que tiene la región para que la democracia no salga tan afectada por el impacto de la pandemia, que seguirá presente en las próximas elecciones en diversos países. La contienda electoral en Estados Unidos y sus efectos en América Latina también se abordó en la tercera jornada de la 24 Conferencia Anual CAF.

La Comisión Interamericana de Mujeres (CIM) de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA), con la cooperación de la Unión Europea a través de su programa EUROsociAL+, presenta y pone a disposición de los Estados Miembros de la OEA, de organizaciones de la sociedad civil y sector privado el documento “COVID-19 en la vida de las mujeres: Emergencia global de los cuidados”, en respuesta a la profundización de la desigualdad en la distribución de las tareas domésticas y de cuidado y al incremento de la carga de trabajo no remunerado que están realizando las mujeres. El texto analiza el rol de las mujeres en el funcionamiento de la vida doméstica y productiva y los impactos en sus vidas y en la economía.

Financial markets can tell us a lot about the economic recovery ahead, based on their direction of travel and how confident investors feel about the future. This is important as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is much debate about whether the economic recovery will be a V-shape, indicating a short-lived economic downturn with a quick return to previous levels of output. Or if the recovery will take longer, following a U-shape. Or it could be more like an L-shape, with no near-term recovery and ultimately taking many years or even decades..

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption to education in history and prolonged school closures could further entrench inequalities in access to learning, the UN Secretary-General said on Tuesday, underlining the need for “bold steps” to address the crisis.

The speed at which measures were adopted and the scientific guidance were two main characteristics of Uruguay’s COVID-19 response. It started testing early and in large scale, developing its own diagnostic tests and contagion tracking technologies. Combined with community tracing in outbreak areas, this facilitated timely detection of the virus spread.

Gracias a gestiones realizadas por el Gobierno del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) hizo llegar al país en las últimas horas 46 toneladas de ayuda humanitaria compuesta de insumos para Equipos de Protección Personal, valorados en 1,8 millón de dólares, destinada a los profesionales de la salud que en este momento están en primera línea de atención de casos de COVID-19 en el país.

With the goal of boosting the response capacity of the Nicaraguan health care system, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reiterates its support to the country providing USD$43 million from its Immediate Response of Public Health to Contain and Control Coronavirus and Mitigate its Effect on the Provision of the Service in Nicaragua. The actions of the program will contribute to reduce the rates of morbidity and mortality from the coronavirus and ease the indirect health care effects of the pandemic, with special emphasis on the most vulnerable populations. The project will focus on three areas: boosting detection and monitoring of COVID-19 cases, strengthening efforts to break the chain of transmission of the disease, and enhancing the country's ability to provide services.

As countries around the world battle the coronavirus pandemic, a troubling gap has come to light: there simply aren’t enough face masks, ventilators and test kits to go around. Demand for face masks is estimated to be four times the world’s current manufacturing capacity, according to the World Health Organization. For ventilators, demand is 10 times bigger than existing capacity. Over the next four months, the world is likely to face a shortage of more than 300 million test kits, according to the WHO and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Under the new terms, donors are allowed to count the rescheduled or forgiven amounts as ODA, with the amount reported capped to the nominal value of the original loan: this means that the value of a dollar of a loan and its subsequent debt treatment in OECD ODA statistics would never be equal to or more than the value of a dollar that had been granted (given rather than lent). This aims to encourage donors to reschedule or cancel poor countries’ debt when they are not able to repay, while applying strict conditions of fairness and transparency in terms of reporting.

There has been much discussion in recent months about how workers who transitioned to working from home—and those who were deemed “essential”—are less affected by the layoffs and job losses brought on by lockdowns than are workers in “social” jobs that require closer human interaction, like restaurant workers. However, our new IMF staff research suggests that this does not tell the full story.

These guidelines outline suggested actions to be considered to ensure health and safety while ensuring the continuation of education. In particular, the guidelines focus on preparations to meet the challenges of the new school year. The guidelines should help countries to identify their strengths and gaps in responses, survey the existing structures and processes in places that can be leveraged to fill gaps, and prioritise actions for the short and medium term.

Ciclo de webinarios: Trata de personas en tiempos de COVID-19

With COVID-19 increasing needs and vulnerabilities of refugees and internally displaced and stateless people, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned that the impacts of the pandemic are also heightening their risks to trafficking and exploitation. “Enforced measures to control the pandemic and worsening socio-economic conditions are having serious implications for those forcibly displaced. Those now faced with lost livelihoods and abject poverty can be targets for traffickers that are unscrupulously exploiting and profiteering from their vulnerabilities,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

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.

Alicia Bárcena, the head of ECLAC, the UN body for the region – together with the Caribbean - who worked with Maya communities early in her career, is concerned by the health risks faced by indigenous people, as well as poverty in Latin America, which is rising, following years of progress.

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.