The impact of COVID-19 on indigenous peoples in Latin America (Abya Yala): Between invisibility and collective resistance

The health and socioeconomic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the countries of Latin America hard and laid bare the profound inequities about which numerous international, regional and national reports have sounded warnings in recent decades. In this context, the historical political and economic exclusion and marginalization of the more than 800 indigenous peoples in the region has been accentuated as a result of insufficient State responses to the crisis, which have not adequately considered the collective rights of these peoples and have had little cultural relevance. This …

Non-Communicable Diseases and their Impact on Sustainable Development

Demographic Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean 2020. COVID-19 mortality: Evidence and scenarios

This edition of the Demographic Observatory analyses the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on mortality in the countries of the region. In addition, by means of a simulation exercise based on different scenarios of COVID-19 prevalence rates, it estimates the impact of COVID-19-related deaths on life expectancy at birth for the 38 countries and territories of Latin America and the Caribbean. The information used to prepare this edition of the Demographic Observatory corresponds to official information on deaths and causes of death available at 31 October 2020, as well as population …

Statistical disclosure control for Caribbean census tables: A proposal to expand the availability of disaggregated census data

Among Caribbean statistical offices, there is widespread awareness of the issue of statistical confidentiality which has often led to quite strong restrictions on the availability of detailed and disaggregated census tables. In North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, statistical offices use disclosure control methods, particularly methods involving some form of data perturbation, to safely publish detailed and disaggregated census tables. These methods are not used in the Caribbean (or Latin America) but could safely facilitate the release of much more detailed census tables than has…

People of African descent and COVID-19: unveiling structural inequalities in Latin America

COVID-19 is exposing social inequalities of all kinds in the world and the region, as well as the overrepresentation of Afrodescendants among the group living in poverty who are employed in informal and caregiving jobs. As Afrodescendants have worse indicators of well-being than their non-Afrodescendent peers, they are seen as one of the groups most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of both infection and mortality. Accordingly, this document analyses the specific situation of Afrodescendent populations and the effects that COVID-19 might be having on them, based on up-to-date empir…

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 1

CEPAL Review no. 132. Special Issue. COVID-19 and the socioeconomic crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean

Brazil: the effects of COVID-19 and recovery

This article analyses the effects of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Brazil’s population and economy, including its high mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants and its slow stabilization. A brief comparison is made with what is happening in a similar Latin American country, Argentina, where the results in terms of mortality per 100,000 inhabitants have been better, and in France, where the recovery has been more robust. The article also assesses the efficiency of expenditures and notes that the comparison is also not favourable for Brazil. Lastly, it addresses the problem of financing and ar…

The health economy in Mexico

The global health crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the important connection between the economy and health. This relationship exists at the microeconomic, macroeconomic and institutional levels, as health markets tend to suffer from market failures; health expenditure tends to increase as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and its financing has long-term implications for public finances. In the case of Mexico, the creation of a public health system that is segmented —as a result of the social protection scheme applied since 1943, which has…

Challenges for the protection of older persons and their rights during the COVID-19 pandemic

The health and economic crisis like no other in the past 100 years that has been caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has thrown socioeconomic inequalities and unequal access to health and social protection services into even sharper relief. It has also posed socioeconomic challenges that expose the most vulnerable groups in the population to even more severe risks and adversities than they were already facing. One of the most vulnerable groups is older persons, whose quality of life and rights are being directly impacted by the pandemic. Scientific evidence on the evolution of the pandemi…

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 12

The impact of COVID-19: An opportunity to reaffirm the central role of migrants’ human rights in sustainable development

In terms of migration, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has come at a time already characterized by involuntary migration and growing intraregional movements, resulting in a migrant population estimated at more than 40 million. This situation has been marked by increased emigration from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a new migration route from Haiti to South America, and various vulnerabilities associated with the route that crosses Central America, Mexico and the United States. During a pandemic, the vulnerabilities that pervade the migration cycle are heightened, such as th…

Demographic transition: Opportunities and challenges to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean

The region of Latin American and Caribbean has witnessed rapid demographic, social, economic and political transformations in the last 50 years. Despite the reduction in poverty, the progress made in the provision of essential services to the population and the improvements in education, health and gender equality, many problems remain. In particular, levels of both inter- and intragenerational inequality are high. Also, in most cases, the demographic transition has outpaced societies’ ability to create conditions for sustainable development. Well-being measures vary by age, gender and other d…

Resolution 743(XXXVIII) Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 10

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

Policy Brief: Planning for resilience: an integrated approach to tackle climate change in the Caribbean

The Caribbean subregion is exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Vulnerability is a key multidimensional concept at the heart of resilience building, relating to each country’s multiple spatial and socioeconomic risks and conditions. In fact, due to its geographical location and concentration of population and activities in low-lying coastal areas, the Caribbean is the second most hazard-prone region in the world...Moreover, impacts of extreme weather events on Caribbean small economies are of national proportions. For example, in the hurricane s…

Advancing the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol.7 No.5

Final assessment report. Assessment of development account project 1617 AO: Demographic transition: opportunities and challenges to achieve the SDGs in Latin America and the Caribbean