Latin America and the Caribbean exports to the United States: Analysis of the competition with China and other regions at product level, 2002-2018

This research looks at Latin America and the Caribbean exports trajectory in the United States market in the almost two decades that followed China's accession to the WTO and compares it with that followed by China and other regions. The analysis exploits product-level United States imports data collected from the United States Census Bureau. The dataset contains information on more than 30.000 products per year for almost 200 countries.…

2020 Port Report: the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the shipping trade, trans-shipment and throughput of container ports in Latin America and the Caribbean

This Bulletin on the Facilitation of Trade and Transport in Latin America and the Caribbean (FAL Bulletin) outlines how activity in container terminals and ports in Latin America and the Caribbean has changed in 2020 compared to 2019, with a view to analysing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international shipping trade in the region.…

Report of the Tenth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Committee on South-South Cooperation

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 7

Technologies for adapting to climate change: A case study of Korean cities and implications for Latin American cities

This document presents the climate adaptation technologies applied in cities in the Republic of Korea and their implications for Latin American cities. This case study sets forth the implications to be considered when Latin American cities use technologies as part of efforts to adapt to climate change. Firstly, national and local institutional environments need to be reformed by aligning them with national and regional climate-related policies as well as international initiatives. Secondly, since cities are where adaptation challenges must be faced, support for local governments needs to be en…

United Nations survey on Latin American and Caribbean youth within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the entities of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean that are members of the Working Group on Youth of the Regional Collaborative Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean launched an online survey. The aim was to learn about how young people are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and their concerns regarding the present and the future. The survey was conducted between May and June 2020 among young people aged 15–29, with more than 7,700 respondents from 39 countries and territories in the region. Th…

Committee on South-South Cooperation of ECLAC: Compendium of resolutions and agreements, 2004–2021

Capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: First four months of 2021

Latin American and Caribbean debt issuers reached a historic milestone in the first quarter of 2021, with the highest quarterly issuance on record (US$ 52 billion) in international bond markets. Including April, regional bond issuance in international markets totalled US$ 65.5 billion in the first four months of 2021. In addition, green, social and sustainability bond issuance reached a new high of US$ 16.6 billion at the end of April, which included a surge in sustainability-linked bonds. Capital Flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: First four months of 2021 presents and analyses the dev…

Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Decent work for platform workers in Latin America

The crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had severe repercussions on the region’s economy and labour markets in 2020. The year ended with a 7.1% decline in GDP, which translated into a sharp drop in employment and an increase in the unemployment rate, to 10.5%. Unlike in previous crises, withdrawal from the labour market was high, primarily in the second quarter of 2020, and the contraction in informal employment was greater than that of formal employment. With the gradual easing of lockdown measures, labour force participation has picked up and employment is recovering…

Environmental Big Push in the Caribbean

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 6

Speculation and price volatility in the coffee market

Green coffee growers, most of whom are smallholders, have suffered from the significant volatility and fall in the international price of this commodity over the past decade. It is therefore crucial to understand the factors that drive price volatility, which has been studied extensively for other commodities but not for coffee. This study looks into the determinants of the conditional volatility of green coffee prices in three different markets: spot, futures and physical.…

Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean N° 18: Digitalising agriculture for an inclusive transformation of rural societies

The digitalisation of agrifood systems has made progress; still, it remains a pending topic in the region, especially among smaller producers and traders in rural areas. Accelerating the digitalisation process is not an easy task. To begin with, there is an urgent need to improve the environment in which these technologies are developed and implemented. This requires a state policy that fosters dialogue and collaboration between civil organisations and the public and private sectors, with the ultimate aim of ensuring that the benefits of digitalisation reach everyone, in particular smaller pro…

Multilateral development banks in Latin America: Recent trends, the response to the pandemic, and the forthcoming role

The COVID-19 crisis has hit Latin America and the Caribbean harder than any other developing region. In 2020 the regional GDP will experience its greatest decline in 120 years. The pandemic represents a formidable social challenge, exposing all the regions’ endemic problems. Against this backdrop, this paper analyses the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) response to the COVID-19 crisis and their post-pandemic role and prospects in LAC. Some basic information is presented on the major MDBs that serve the region and their main trends during the last decade to provide an adequate context.…

Selected online learning experiences in the Caribbean during COVID-19. Policy Brief

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread closure of schools and disruption of education systems worldwide, requiring unprecedented adaptation to ensure learning continuity for students. In place of classroom learning, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been adopted to support online distance learning – with mixed results. While Caribbean governments have piloted a range of online learning modalities, many children in the subregion, especially those from poor and rural households, were not able to leverage those facilities. As a result of a lack of access to the Internet …

Provisional agenda. Executive meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Annotated provisional agenda. Executive meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

The territorial dimension in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A methodological guide for strategic planning in a territory

The purpose of this document is to make available a methodological guide to the territory’s actors in order to promote reflection on development practices in the field, taking the subnational level as the unit of analysis. That could be a municipality, an intermunicipal area, or a cross-border area, among others. This proposal offers a minimum of content and methodology that can be maximized by reading other texts suggested in the bibliography.…

United States supply chains resiliency: The key role Latin America and the Caribbean could play

This paper focuses on the impact on three industries to exemplify the disruption that took place in supply chains during the global pandemic; and the measures taken by the United States government to confront the disruption in the short run and protect the health and livelihood of its citizenry.…

Afrodescendants and the matrix of social inequality in Latin America: challenges for inclusion. Summary

This document, a summary of the study “Afrodescendientes y la matriz de la desigualdad social en América Latina: retos para la inclusión”, provides new and updated information on the living conditions of Afrodescendants. Progress has been made in various areas of development, but not enough to overcome the racism and deep structural inequalities that still exist. These findings highlight the urgent challenges facing States and society at large. Accordingly, a set of policy recommendations is offered for consideration in the necessary processes of transformation and deepening of democracy in th…