Building forward better: Action to strengthen the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Fourth report on regional progress and challenges in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

In an increasingly uncertain world, the decade of action for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a reference point and a road map. In the face of growing tensions at both the domestic and international levels, the SDGs are an organizing framework that reflects the broad consensus of governments and civil society around sustainable development with equality at the centre and conflict reduction. This document recognizes that key reference, proposes strategies to bring Latin America and the Caribbean closer to achiev…

Provisional agenda. Tenth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Committee on South-South Cooperation

Economic Survey of the Caribbean 2020: Facing the challenge of COVID-19

This survey examines the economic performance of economies of the Caribbean in 2019 and the first half of 2020 and comprises six chapters. The first chapter gives an overview of global, regional and subregional economic performance in the Caribbean. The second provides an analysis of the subregion’s fiscal performance and debt burden. The third looks at monetary policy and their imapcts. The fourth is focused on the external sector. The fifth chapter focuses on the COVID-19 lockdown measures implemented globally as well as in Caribbean countries and their impact on the tourism and energy secto…

Annotated provisional agenda. Tenth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Committee on South-South Cooperation

Financing for development in the era of COVID-19 and beyond

In 2020, the Latin American and Caribbean region faced the worst crisis on historical record and the sharpest economic contraction (-7.7% and -20%, respectively, in GDP and investment growth for 2020) within the developing world. The available data also show that the contraction of investment relative to that of GDP was greater in Latin America and the Caribbean than in other developing regions. The pandemic has magnified the structural and institutional gaps of Latin America and the Caribbean. The crisis has severely impacted productive structures, resulting in the closure of more than 2.7 mi…

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 …

Capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: 2020 year-in-review in times of COVID-19

Capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean: 2020 year-in-review in times of COVID-19 presents and analyses the developments concerning capital flows to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020. This report is published three times a year and provides an overview of bond issuances from Latin American and Caribbean issuers, including of green, social and sustainability bonds, as well as bond spreads and credit ratings.…

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

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

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 3

Non-Communicable Diseases and their Impact on Sustainable Development

Free competition in the post-pandemic digital era: The impact on SMEs

This study was conducted in the framework of the United Nations Development Account project “Global Initiative towards Post-COVID-19 Resurgence of the Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector” (under the “Access to markets” cluster), which aims to analyse the actions of competition authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and facilitate their recovery. This document analyses the role of competition policy in the digital economy, with an emphasis on the relation between business strat…

Santiago Commitment: A regional instrument to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with gender equality

In the current context of multiple crises caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Santiago Commitment, adopted by the member States of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the fourteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020,2 is particularly relevant as a regional tool to address the structural causes of gender inequality and to foster policies to respond to the pandemic in the short, medium and long term. In the Santiago Commitment, the governments of the region agreed to implement gender-se…

Provisional agenda. Sixtieth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Competition institutions in Mexico in relation to COVID‐19 and the economic recovery

This study is part of the activities envisaged under the “Enhance access to markets” cluster of the Development Account project “Global Initiative towards post-COVID-19 resurgence of the MSME Sector”. Its main purpose is to analyse the measures adopted by the competition authorities of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean in support of small and medium-sized enterprises during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in order to facilitate their recovery. The aim of this study is to examine the main policy actions implemented by Mexican competition authorities to address the …

Annotated provisional agenda. Sixtieth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Digital infrastructure for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Republic of Korea

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant share of the exports of the Republic of Korea, in large part thanks to the sophisticated digital support infrastructure available to these firms. This document analyses how the government implemented this infrastructure over the last decades in close coordination with the private sector. It also presents the prominent institutions and their digital SME export support instruments. Lastly, it identifies some future challenges and recommendations for Latin America and the Caribbean.…

Integrating Latin America and the Caribbean: Potential effects of removing tariffs and streamlining non-tariff measures

This study analyses the impact of reducing intraregional trade barriers in the context of a free trade agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean. It concludes that a full tariff reduction and elimination of non-tariff measures would have positive impacts on trade, production, welfare and employment across the region.…

The economic autonomy of women in a sustainable recovery with equality

The crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on employment and labor conditions for women in Latin America and the Caribbean, generating a setback of more than a decade in terms of the progress achieved in labor market participation. The rate of job market participation by women was at 46% in 2020, while for men it was 69%. It is further estimated that the unemployment rate for women reached 12% in 2020, a percentage that rises to 22.2% if we factor in women’s participation in the labor force in 2019. In 2020 there was a mass exodus of women from the labor force, who ha…

Addressing the adverse impacts of non-communicable diseases on the sustainable development of Caribbean countries

The high prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Caribbean calls for sustained efforts to control these diseases and their risk factors. Such efforts are envisaged in several global, regional and national frameworks that exist to address the problem of NCDs, including the disease and economic burdens that they pose to countries around the world. In the Caribbean, the Heads of Government have long articulated the relationship between health and development, a position that aligns well with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s commitments to ensure that individuals fulfil …