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Repository

The topics for discussion on this portal have already been analyzed by multiple actors. In this repository, the GS / OAS brings together some of them, as one more contribution to the discussion. This repository has two sections: In the Policy section, we will integrate information on policies relevant to the issues under discussion that are being implemented by Member States, Observer States and other States of the world. In Studies we will include analyzes, reports and reports published by academic institutions, think tanks, international and multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations and private entities, all of them of recognized prestige, which are relevant to the conversation. The OAS will publish these articles and reports in their original language.

ONU - La salud, el trabajo y la comida: lo que el COVID-19 se llevó en los países más pobres

  • 13 October 2020

El trastorno económico y social causado por la pandemia es devastador en todo el mundo, pero especialmente en los países en desarrollo o con crisis humanitarias. El coronavirus ha dejado millones de enfermos, decenas de millones de personas en riesgo de caer en la pobreza extrema y el desempleo, un aumento sin precedentes de la desnutrición, y ha irrumpido en los sistemas alimentarios, afectando desde agricultores hasta consumidores.

UNHCR - COVID-19 Crisis Underlines Need for Refugee Solidarity and Inclusion

  • 7 October 2020

While the COVID-19 pandemic has “profoundly tested” global commitment to protecting refugees and forcibly displaced people, it has also shown the value of including refugees in national responses and safety nets to the benefit of all, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs said today. 

UNHCR - As COVID-19 Pandemic Roils Latin America, Venezuelans Face Wave of Evictions

  • 2 October 2020

Governments throughout the region have put in place temporary bans on forced evictions amid the pandemic. But some of these regulations either have already expired or are slated to in the coming weeks, raising concerns over a spike in evictions.

Where such measures remain on the books, they are not always enforced, with many landlords simply throwing tenants who are behind on the rent out onto the streets – where keeping safe from the coronavirus is that much more difficult. 

ACNUR - A medida que la COVID-19 sacude a América Latina, los venezolanos se enfrentan a una ola de desalojos

  • 2 October 2020

Los gobiernos de la región han impuesto prohibiciones temporales a los desalojos forzosos en medio de la pandemia. Pero algunas de estas regulaciones ya han expirado o se espera que expiren en las próximas semanas, lo que genera preocupaciones sobre un aumento en los desalojos.

Donde tales medidas de prohibición de desalojo permanecen, no siempre se aplican, ya que muchos propietarios simplemente arrojan a los inquilinos que están atrasados ​​en el alquiler a las calles, donde mantenerse a salvo del coronavirus es mucho más difícil.

PAHO - People Over 60 Have Been Hardest Hit by COVID-19 in the Americas

  • 30 September 2020

Health systems in the Americas are not adequately responding to the needs of older adults and must be adapted in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, say experts at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). For the International Day of Older Persons on October 1, the organization is calling for comprehensive, person-centered, integrated care and primary health services that are responsive to older people´s needs. 

IDB Supports Jamaica’s Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases Program

  • 21 September 2020

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a programmatic policy-based loan of $100 million to support the strengthening of Jamaica’s health systems to better prevent and manage the care of non-communicable diseases.

The main objective of this program is to contribute to the improvement of the health of Jamaica’s population by bolstering comprehensive policies for the reduction of Non-Communicable (Chronic) Diseases (NCDs) risk factors.  It also aims to improve access to an upgraded and integrated primary and secondary health network in prioritized areas, with an emphasis on chronic disease management. The idea is to provide more efficient and higher quality care.

OECD - Global development efforts should increase focus on fragile states in light of COVID-19 crisis

  • 17 September 2020

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.

PAHO - Despite large numbers of cases, countless people not yet exposed remain vulnerable to COVID-19 infection in the Americas

  • 16 September 2020

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.

UNHCR Report: Coronavirus a dire threat to refugee education – half of the world’s refugee children out of school.

  • 3 September 2020

In a report released today, titled “Coming Together for Refugee Education,” UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, predicts that unless immediate and bold action is taken by the international community to beat back the catastrophic effects of COVID-19 on refugee education, the potential of millions of young refugees living in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities will be further threatened.  The data in the report is based on the gross enrolment figures from the 2019 school cycle.

IDB Helps Uruguay Protect Vulnerable Population Amid COVID-19 Crisis

  • 2 September 2020

The program will finance special money transfers to households that hold the Uruguay Social Card (Tarjeta Uruguay Social in Spanish) and people that benefit from the Equity Plan Family Allocations (Asignaciones Familiares-Plan Equidad). As part of this effort, the plan will also support the creation of a One-Stop Digital Window designed to improve the efficiency of selecting and recertifying those who receive such money transfers.

The Uruguay Social Card seeks to guarantee basic access to food and other essentials for people living in extreme poverty. Equity Plan Family Allocations provide economic assistance to complement the income of families that live in precarious conditions and are raising children. They also seek to keep children in school and provide incentives to ensure that they get health check-ups.

IDB supports health care system of Nicaragua as it responds to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • 1 August 2020

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.

IMF - The One Factor That Could Determine Whether you Keep or Lose Your Job During a Recession

  • 30 July 2020

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.

UNHCR Warns of Increased COVID-19-Related Trafficking Risks for Refugees, Displaced and Stateless

  • 30 July 2020

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.

Reporte del BID analiza la preparación y resistencia de las empresas andinas ante pandemia

  • 29 July 2020

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.

ECLAC - Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples is Being Lost, Warns UN Latin America Chief

  • 29 July 2020

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.

UNHCR Expands Support to Refugees and Host Communities in Brazil as COVID-19 Takes its Toll

  • 24 July 2020

Brazil is host to more than 345,000 refugees and asylum seekers, for whom the consequences of the pandemic are especially harsh.

In an effort to limit the spread and impact of the virus, UNHCR is enhancing community awareness efforts, including through information campaigns and preventive information sessions in the different indigenous languages. Hygiene promotion has also been scaled up in temporary shelters: hand-washing stations have been installed and soap distribution continue to take place since the beginning of March.

UNHCR is also addressing rising humanitarian and health needs among refugees living on the streets, and in overcrowded shelters and unsanitary conditions in the northern regions of Brazil, including in Amazonas, Roraima and Para states.

Temporary Basic Income to Protect the World's Poorest People Could Slow the Surge in COVID-19 Cases, Says UNDP

  • 23 July 2020

The report Temporary Basic Income: Protecting Poor and Vulnerable People in Developing Countries estimates that it would cost from $199 billion per month to provide a time-bound, guaranteed basic income to the 2.7 billion people living below or just above the poverty line in 132 developing countries.

The report concludes that the measure is feasible and urgently needed, with the pandemic now spreading at a rate of more than 1.5 million new cases per week, particularly in developing countries, where seven out of ten workers make a living through informal markets and cannot earn money if they are at home.

Bolivia respaldará la sostenibilidad de las MiPyME ante crisis COVID-19 con apoyo del BID

  • 23 July 2020

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.

IMF Executive Board Approves a Temporary Increase in Annual Access Limits to Financial Support

  • 22 July 2020

The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economic conditions has resulted in an unprecedented number of member countries seeking financial support from the IMF. As of July 13, 2020, 72 countries have already received financial assistance from the IMF’s emergency financing instruments since the onset of the pandemic, facilitated by the doubling of annual access limits under these facilities approved by the Executive Board on April 6. Further requests for assistance, the majority of which are likely to be met through the IMF’s regular lending instruments, are expected in the months ahead.

Three out of 10 People in the Americas are at Increased Risk of Severe COVID-19 Because of Underlying Conditions, PAHO Director Says

  • 21 July 2020

Certain underlying, chronic conditions like diabetes, kidney disease and hypertension, as well as infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, or immunosuppression, place people at increased risk for more severe COVID-19 disease.

“Unfortunately, many of these medical conditions are widespread in the Americas, which leaves

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