Sustainable inland transport connectivity indicators: Plurinational State of Bolivia, 2024

The Sustainable Inland Transport Connectivity Indicators (SITCIN) evaluate the efficiency of transport systems and the alignment of legal frameworks with international legal instruments for transport and border-crossing facilitation. SITCIN enables countries to track their progress in areas such as the implementation of regional or international conventions on transport, harmonization of national rules with UN legal instruments, achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Vienna Programme of Action. This tool was developed as part of the United Nations Development Account (UND…

Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024. Executive summary. Accessible version

Latin America and the Caribbean is mired in a decades-long growth trap, and further hampered by global and regional conditions that limit the space for macroeconomic policies to spur economic growth in the region. The results of the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024 reveal weaker job creation, especially in the formal sector, with young people, women, older persons, migrants and rural dwellers among the most likely to be informal workers. In addition, an intensification of climate change effects will drastically reduce the number of jobs created in the medium term if mit…

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024. Executive summary. Accessible version

This edition of the Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024 focuses on the challenges of non-contributory social protection in advancing towards inclusive social development in the region. Tackling the development crisis, inclusive social development gaps and changing risk structure demands progress towards universal, comprehensive, sustainable and resilient social protection systems. Non-contributory social protection policies are essential to fulfil the goals and functions of social protection systems: the protection of income, access to social services and labour inclusion.…

Guidelines for preparing accessible documents of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC): basic recommendations. Accessible version

The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy is the outcome of a process launched by the Secretary-General in April 2018 to strengthen system-wide accessibility for persons with disabilities and the mainstreaming of their rights. The Strategy includes a system-wide policy for the coming decade and aims to establish an institutional framework for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, among other international human rights instruments, and for the fulfilment of humanitarian and development commitments.…

Nearshoring in Mexico: diverse options for industrial upgrading

Mexico has been a “nearshoring” platform for the United  States (U.S.) economy on a regular basis in recent decades. However, the nature and degree of Mexico’s integration within North America, as well as its ability to create and capture value and innovation rents in its core domestic industries, have varied over time. Previous examples of nearshoring in Mexico in the automotive and textile and apparel industries, we well as regional trade agreements like NAFTA and USMCA and global trade conflicts such as the U.S.-China trade war, have made Mexico a likely candidate to take advantage of recen…

Road to Seville: reform proposals for FfD4 from the United Nations regional commissions

This policy brief, prepared by the five United Nations regional commissions, identifies the critical challenges faced by emerging and developing countries in closing the financing gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights systemic shortcomings in the global financing framework, including unmet development finance commitments, high public debt and a financial system misaligned with sustainability needs. The brief outlines key strategies for reform, focusing on enhancing domestic public resources, improving debt sustainability and fostering inclusive economic growth.…

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

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

Report of the Fortieth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Economic policy and climate change: carbon pricing in Latin America and the Caribbean

Carbon pricing is one of the public policy options for discouraging production activities and consumption patterns that generate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study provides an overview of carbon pricing in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with other associated economic policies. It reviews the situation regarding explicit carbon pricing via carbon taxes and emissions trading systems and the use of implicit pricing through the inclusion of the social price of carbon in public investment project evaluation procedures. It draws attention to the fact that very little use is being mad…

Exponential technologies for managing inland waterway transport

This FAL Bulletin addresses smart navigation systems, such as smart waterway systems and port community systems. The purpose of this analysis is to explore global experience in the digitalization of logistics and transport processes for application to waterway management in South America and empower national and regional public institutions to lead the digital transformation of external trade with a view to reducing operational risks and narrowing the digital divide between Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions.…

On the road to the Second World Summit for Social Development: contributions from the regional commissions

The joint document underscores the need to strengthen social policies and tailor them to a risk structure reconfigured by global crises. Alongside high levels of poverty, inequality and informal employment, profound transformations in demographics, climate, technology and the labour market are under way. Complementary actions beyond social policy are also needed, as progress is equally crucial in the economic and environmental dimensions. Regional frameworks and agreements have been instrumental in driving social policy change and must continue to be leveraged, including in the universalizatio…

Artificial intelligence readiness in the Caribbean: An exploratory review

The aim of this study is to consolidate the many sources of information on AI in the Caribbean, providing policymakers, academics and decision makers in the Caribbean AI space with a general overview of the AI landscape in the Caribbean, while making initial recommendations and suggesting areas for future research. Given the pace at which the field of AI is developing, and how quickly AI tools have become generally available to the public, data and research on the impacts of AI and AI readiness are limited. This study is therefore not comprehensive in its assessment. As a desk study, the resea…

Drivers of public debt reduction in the Caribbean: a case study of Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Suriname

The Caribbean’s long-running public debt challenge has been worsened by COVID-19. Recent international interest rate increases and the looming threat of climate change impacts place even more burden on Caribbean governments' budgets. While the Caribbean's average debt burden has risen in the past 13 years, some countries have been able to lower their debt ratios. This study closely examines the performance of two Caribbean countries which over the past 13 years, have seen a sustained downward trend in their debt ratios, Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis, and one country that has seen…

Progress and challenges in road safety in Latin America and the Caribbean

This FAL Bulletin concerns the work carried out by the Infrastructure Services Unit in the implementation of projects funded by the United Nations Road Safety Fund. This edition analyses progress and challenges in road safety in recent years, as well as the contributions of the Fund, which have had a positive impact in terms of reducing road accidents in the Latin American and Caribbean region.…

Progress and challenges of public-private partnerships and the importance of institutions for sustainable infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean

This FAL Bulletin sets out some of the characteristics of public investments in infrastructure through public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as challenges they face. It also looks at the performance of institutions and the importance of raising the standard of investments —whether public or private— under approaches oriented towards sustainable-development. The importance of stakeholder participation throughout the project life cycle is underlined as a particularly pivotal requirement for the sustainability of assets and their services.…

United States economic outlook: third quarter of 2024

The United States economy expanded at an annualized rate of 3.1% in the third quarter of 2024, above the economy’s long-term growth potential and the 3.0% growth recorded in the second quarter, driven primarily by consumer spending. The resilience of consumer spending has been supported by receding inflation and a robust labour market. Employment has increased for 47 consecutive months, but the labour market is softening. Progress in bringing down inflation has stalled over the past three months, with inflation rising from 2.4% in September 2024 to 2.7% in November. The Federal Reserve cut int…

United States-Latin America and the Caribbean Trade Developments 2024

United States trade in goods slowed in 2023, ending the recovery following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as goods exports and imports declined by 2.2% and 4.9%, respectively. The decrease in merchandise trade contrasts with significant improvements in services trade, as exports and imports of services rose by 8.2% and 4.8%, respectively. Recently, exports of digitally enabled services have considerably outpaced those of other services and goods, underscoring their growing importance in the global market. The relative weight of Latin America and the Caribbean in United States tra…

Guidelines for care policies from a gender, territorial and intersectional perspective

Latin America and the Caribbean is immersed in a care crisis that is having a disproportionate impact on women and especially those subject to various forms of intersectional exclusion. This crisis is reflected in increasing demand for care services that is linked to many different interrelated factors, such as the rapid ageing of the population, changes in the labour market, the effects of climate change, migration flows that alter the dynamics of care in places of origin and destination, and insufficient care services and infrastructure. Hence the urgent need to work on designing and strengt…

The Hummingbird Vol. 12 No. 1