This Policy Brief focuses on the vital role of biodiversity for human life and the importance of integrating biodiversity considerations into the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The Brief first outlines how biodiversity loss is a key driver of emerging infectious diseases and poses a variety of other growing risks to businesses, society and the global economy. Investing in the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity can help to address these risks, while providing jobs, business opportunities and other benefits to society.

The COVID-19 crisis will dramatically increase the poverty rate for women and widen the gap between men and women who live in poverty, according to new data released today by UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The poverty rate for women was expected to decrease by 2.7 percent between 2019 and 2021, but projections now point to an increase of 9.1 percent due to the pandemic and its fallout.

Con hasta 100 millones más de personas que son arrastradas a la pobreza extrema en 2020, 1,4 mil millones de niños y niñas afectados por el cierre de escuelas y un desempleo récord, COVID-19 es un gran impedimento para el progreso humano. El PNUD ha predicho que el desarrollo humano mundial va camino de retroceder este año por primera vez desde que se introdujo el concepto.

The Organization of American States (OAS) is partnering with WhatsApp Business to provide micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Latin America and the Caribbean access to digital tools and customized training on WhatsApp's Business app, to help them better position themselves in the marketplace.

Global trade is showing signs of bouncing back from a deep, COVID-19-induced slump, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said, with the caveat that any recovery could be badly disrupted by the future course of the pandemic and how societies react.

ECLAC’s Executive Secretary participated in a regional conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, focused on the prospects for triangular cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

ECLAC launched its Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020, an annual report in which it reaffirms that international cooperation, through better distribution of global liquidity, must underpin the expansion of policy space in the region.

One priority, then, is to reenergize the organization—to act rather than react. Even as the COVID-19 crisis continues to create a world of uncertainty, the goal must be to rebuild for the longer term. Companies that are strong and resilient will be better placed to survive and prosper. Those are qualities that can’t be taken for granted; they need to be cultivated.

States of Fragility 2020 finds that progress on several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – including the crucial Goal 16 relating to peace, justice and strong institutions – has stagnated or declined in fragile locations in recent years. The coronavirus crisis is hurting incomes and stability in already poor and vulnerable countries, as well as health and education – two key building blocks of sustainable development in fragile states.

Reopening societies before health systems are ready “would risk a handful of cases in one area becoming a full-blown outbreak,” PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne said today. “As leaders across the world face pressure to resume social and public life, it’s important that they avoid making decisions in a vacuum. Data about the virus’s spread and the state of health systems and services must guide each country’s plans to reopen, including the mix of preventive measures that should remain in place to keep people safe,” she told a media briefing today.

If the threat from COVID-19 fades more quickly than expected, improved business and consumer confidence could boost global activity sharply in 2021. But a stronger resurgence of the virus, or more stringent lockdowns could cut 2-3 percentage points from global growth in 2021, with even higher unemployment and a prolonged period of weak investment.

Presenting the Interim Economic Outlook, covering G20 economies, OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone said: “The world is facing an acute health crisis and the most dramatic economic slowdown since the Second World War. The end is not yet in sight but there is still much policymakers can do to help build confidence.”

Many countries are making “green” recovery measures a central part of stimulus packages to drive sustainable, inclusive, resilient economic growth and improve well-being in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. However some countries are also implementing measures that risk having a negative environmental impact and locking in unsustainable growth, according to new OECD analysis discussed by member country ministers today. New OECD analysis, Making the Green Recovery Work for Jobs, Income and Growth, indicates that OECD member governments have committed USD 312 billion of public resources to a green recovery, according to a preliminary estimate that will be refined in the coming months. However, a number of other measures within broader recovery packages are going into “non-green” spending such as fossil fuel investments.

The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa F. Etienne, said “Action is required at all levels” from local communities to national levels, and from regional to global levels to combat a triple crisis in the Region: a health crisis, a social crisis and an economic crisis. “It is only through concerted and collective action that we will address COVID-19, suppress its transmission and recover onto the path of sustainable development,” Etienne told a Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) conference yesterday.

Caribbean micro, small and medium-sized businesses, operated by youth and women, are preparing and building capacities to enable them to profit from international and intraregional trade in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The impact of the pandemic in the Caribbean has brought to light the urgency of moving away from training based on generic concepts, with a business planning and food processing-related focus, towards specialized, applied training, tailored to the current situation.

The number of ships pulling into ports to unload and load containers rebounded in many parts of the world in the third quarter of 2020, according to new UNCTAD calculations. This offers a hopeful sign for world merchandise trade, which suffered a historic year-on-year fall of 27% in the second quarter.

La pandemia del COVID-19 representará una contracción del 9% en América Latina a pesar de los esfuerzos de los gobiernos, las empresas y los trabajadores. La reactivación económica de la región requiere fuentes de financiación que sobrepasan las capacidades actuales, por ello CAF –banco de desarrollo de América Latina- además de otorgar una cifra récord de USD 16.000 millones este año, propone con el apoyo de sus 19 países accionistas, la estructuración de un fondo para el financiamiento de proyectos de infraestructura de integración y digital.

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.

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.