Annotated provisional agenda. Sixth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

Provisional agenda. Sixth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development

CEPAL Review No. 139

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 4

The COVID-19 pandemic and social policy narratives in Costa Rica: the story of a (fleeting) opportunity

Did the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic embolden ideas favourable to inclusive social policy in Latin America? This article addresses that question by examining the emergency cash transfer programme that was implemented in Costa Rica in 2020. Drawing on legislative debates and interviews with senior officials and analysts, the study reveals the fleeting emergence of ideas in favour of expanding non-contributory social protection. The new programme was quickly reined in by a discourse that assimilated fiscal responsibility to cutting social spending rather than expanding revenues. Avoid…

Education during the pandemic: an opportunity to transform education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant a prolonged economic and social crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, with profound consequences on the population’s well-being and a silent and devastating impact on education. The abrupt transition to distance learning, with one of the most extended school closures in the world, has had an unequal impact and highlighted pre-existing gaps in the region. The crisis has resulted in paradigm shifts, innovations and lessons learned concerning adapting to remote education, which impede education systems from returning to how things were and force them to restr…

The importance of time-use surveys in guiding social policies: the gendered impact of COVID-19 on paid and unpaid work in the Caribbean

Recognizing the importance of unpaid work is critical to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which is Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Like most SDGs that are focused on the people dimension of the 2030 Agenda, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed some of the gains made in gender equality and women’s empowerment. Following the onset of COVID-19, many women have been forced to devote greater time to unpaid work activities, the extent of which has not been previously well-documented in the Caribbean. In this study, we evaluate how women and men allo…

The Role of Data for SDG Advancement in the Caribbean

Emergency social protection against the impacts of the pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean: evidence and lessons learned for universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems

This paper addresses the emergency non-contributory social protection measures announced in Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2020 and 2021 in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The rapid reaction of the region’s governments and the innovations implemented were key to reaching a large percentage of those affected and containing the adverse effects on poverty and inequality of the measures adopted to contain the pandemic. This process yielded fundamental lessons to advance in the development of mechanisms to provide efficient emergency social protection. The aim is…

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 2

Innovative financing instruments in Latin America and the Caribbean

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis (2008–2009), the external financing needs of Latin America and the Caribbean increased significantly, reflecting a process of external debt accumulation in all developing regions, exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19. The region is now the most indebted in the developing world, with a debt profile that makes it highly vulnerable to changes in international lending conditions and to perceptions of risk. This has placed a major constraint on government responses to the COVID-19 emergency and undermines their capacity to build forward better. This…

Report of the twenty-ninth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Financial openness, financial fragility and policies for economic stability: a comparative analysis across regions of the developing world

This book presents a comparative analysis of the policy responses of developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean to the challenges that greater external financial openness and price and exchange-rate flexibility pose to economic stability. Greater external openness has significantly narrowed developing economies’ policy space, while at the same time increasing the potential for financial fragility and instability. These challenges, which have come to the fore since the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, are also manifest in the profound impact of the COVID-19 pa…

Improving broadband quality and affordability in the Caribbean: Policies to advance digital inclusion in the subregion. Policy Brief

In this digitally transforming world, digital inclusion is becoming increasingly important to social inclusion and sustainable development. Affordable access to broadband is an essential precondition to digital inclusion. Internet quality, as measured by speed and other indicators, is also important, as digital inclusion is ultimately about ensuring equal access to the benefits and opportunities offered by digital technologies and the Internet. This policy brief provides insight into Internet speed and affordability across the Caribbean, and offers some recommendations for policymakers working…

Caribbean Outlook 3: Economic recovery and repositioning in the era of COVID-19. Policy Brief

The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…

The Hummingbird Vol. 10 No. 1

The impacts of the pandemic on the health and well-being of children in Latin America and the Caribbean and its effect on child-sensitive social protection systems

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound impact on health, economic and social conditions in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, affecting different population groups in various ways. While children have not been among the main direct victims of the virus, the crisis triggered by the pandemic has placed children in a situation where they face obstacles to exercising their rights to health and education, social security, a standard of living that allows for their full development and protection from all forms of violence. These challenges are compounded by th…

Digital Divides and Inclusion in the Caribbean “New Normal”

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2022: Transforming education as a basis for sustainable development

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022 has four chapters. Chapter I presents the relevant macroeconomic background in terms of the evolution of per capita GDP, employment, household income distribution and the consumer price index, and looks at how income inequality and poverty have changed over the past two decades (2002–2021). The chapter also discusses changes that occurred in social stratification during the pandemic. Chapter II addresses the worrying silent crisis of education as another of the pandemic’s major consequences, as well as the successive crises that have acc…

United States economic outlook: Inflation trends post COVID-19

The United States has witnessed historic inflation since the economy began to reopen in 2021 following the lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The United States economic outlook: inflation trends post COVID-19 looks at the forces behind this surge in prices and the trade-offs and risks for the policy response. The report examines inflation trends and drivers, as well as labour market trends since the economy reopened; economic policies implemented by the United States in response to the pandemic, and more recently to inflation; and the possible impact of these p…