Committee on South-South Cooperation: annotated provisional agenda

Committee on South-South cooperation: provisional agenda

The Caribbean Outlook: Forging a people-centred approach to sustainable development post-COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in Caribbean society, including with regard to access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and education services, food insecurity, and the situation of women and girls given the significant increase in gender-based violence. It has also posed a considerable challenge to governments, already burdened by high levels of public debt and debt service payments, to provide support to struggling businesses and to the increasing numbers of unemployed, particularly those in the informal sector. This edition …

Political and social compacts for equality and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean in the post-COVID-19 recovery

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit Latin America and the Caribbean in a period of economic, social and environmental vulnerability (ECLAC, 2020a). Tackling the health crisis —which has outlasted initial forecasts— and its deleterious economic and social effects will require political and social compacts built on broad multi-stakeholder participation that universalize social protection and health and, above all, refocus development on equality and on fiscal, production and environmental policies for sustainability. Compacts must be directed towards laying the foundations for a…

Reconstruction and transformation with equality and sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has become the worst economic and social crisis in a century and has exposed significant structural gaps in the region’s development model. A profound transformation is necessary, eschewing the temptation to view the pandemic as an accident or a parenthesis instead of as the signal that a new direction must be taken because the world has reached what is increasingly seen as a transformative crossroads. A new social contract is needed and a new global pact must be forged. The regio…

Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean N° 15: Towards inclusive, responsible and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture

In Latin America and the Caribbean, fishing and aquaculture are fundamental in social, economic and nutritional terms: 85 percent of fish and seafood products that reach the tables of the region's households come from small-scale fishing. Besides, it represents the livelihood of 1.8 million families. Unfortunately, the crisis has heavily affected fisheries and aquaculture. The restrictive health measures have had adverse effects on the free operation of the sector, and the crisis has changed consumption habits. The sector needs short term action; it also needs to modify some aspects of th…

U.S. Economic Outlook: First Half 2020

The U.S. economy shrank at a 32.7% annual rate in the second quarter of 2020 and at a 5% pace in the first. The decline was driven by a big collapse in private consumption, concentrated in the services sector. Shutdowns to stem the spread of the coronavirus had a deep impact on the economy, particularly on the services sector. Economic forecasts project a rebound in the third quarter that would recoup about half of the output lost in the first half of the year. To return to the previous peak recorded in the final quarter of last year, the economy would need to grow at roughly the same pace in …

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020: Main conditioning factors of fiscal and monetary policies in the post-COVID-19 era

This edition, No. 72 of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, analyses the effects and challenges of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic for the region during 2020 and the outlook that is taking shape for the years to come. This study is divided into three parts. Part I outlines the region’s economic performance in 2019, then analyses the first six months of 2020 and the outlook for the remainder of the year. The external and internal impacts of the responses to the pandemic are examined, as are their effects on the region’s economic performance, focusing on growth pa…

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 10

Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean N° 14: Labour market response

Despite the extraordinary and often unprecedented measures introduced around the world, the damage caused by the COVID-19 crisis to labour markets is enormous and leaves policymakers facing significant challenges.…

Report of the twenty-eighth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean N° 13: Financing measures to overcome the crisis

This edition of the newsletter provides to its users a summary of the main sources and objectives of financing that are being implemented and discussed in the world and the region.…

Latin American Economic Outlook 2020: Digital transformation for building back better

The Latin American Economic Outlook (LEO) 2020 focuses on the role of digital transformation in helping to navigate through challenging times. The Covid-19 pandemic is having a profound impact on socio-economic conditions, accentuating the already complex scenario faced by a region with significant structural weaknesses. This unprecedented crisis comes at a time of high aspirations and reinforces the need to transform the very foundations of the development model in the region. The report explores how digital transformation can help to cope with the current socio-economic situation, boost prod…

Policy expansion in compressed time: Assessing the speed, breadth and sufficiency of post-COVID-19 social protection measures in 10 Latin American countries

The document analyzes the social protection responses of ten Latin American countries since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020. The first section outlines the social context at the time the pandemic hit, case selection of the ten countries examined, and data on existing social protections. The second section provides an overview of income protection responses in response to COVID-19, in the ten countries, assessing speed, breadth and sufficiency. The third section provides detailed country responses in paired comparisons: Argentina and Chile; Peru and the Plurinational State …

United States - Latin America and the Caribbean Trade Developments 2020

United States Trade Developments 2020 provides an overview of selected developments in United States trade relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and of measures that inhibit the free flow of goods among countries in the Western Hemisphere. This is an annual report elaborated by the ECLAC Washington Office. This year’s report has a special focus on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade related issues. Specifically, it provides information on the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. trade and migration flows, supply chains as well as some of the restrictions to the move…

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 9

Impact of COVID-19 on the United States economy and the policy response

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has upended the global and United States economies, exacting a large human toll and shutting down major economic sectors. While there is significant uncertainty about United States economic growth prospects, the impact of the pandemic is severe. The record-long United States economic expansion came to an end as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with forecasts of a deep recession in 2020. The outlook remains highly uncertain, as it is difficult to gauge the social and economic impact of the pandemic, which will depend on the success o…

Universalizing access to digital technologies to address the consequences of COVID-19

This Special Report is the seventh in a series by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on the evolution and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean. It examines the key role of digital technologies in the pandemic prompted by the coronavirus and how gaps in access, affordability and network speed deepen the inequalities and vulnerabilities of the region’s population. It also analyzes the advances and limitations of digitalization and assesses how digital solutions reduce the impact of measures aimed at containing the virus, such as loc…

Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean N° 12: Trade performance during the crisis

This issue of the FAO-ECLAC Bulletin delves into the behaviour of trade in agricultural and fishery products during the crisis, especially those destined for food, and we will try to identify the reasons for this evolution. We also highlight the main recommendations to strengthen a positive trend in marketing.…

Care in Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19: Towards comprehensive systems to strengthen response and recovery

The construction of comprehensive care systems is a fundamental factor in achieving the empowerment of women and gender equality, and it is a key element in socioeconomic recovery in that it creates jobs both directly and indirectly and enables other sectors of the economy to function adequately. For these reasons, UN Women and ECLAC are calling for the governments in the region to put care at the center of their responses to COVID-19, by creating incentive and recovery packages, promoting comprehensive systems that ensure access to care for people who need it, and guaranteeing the rights of t…