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

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 …

Planning for disaster risk reduction within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

A disaster can cause countries to lose the economic and social ground that they have worked for decades to gain and can have even more severe impacts on the most vulnerable groups in their populations. The extent of its impacts will depend on the countries’ ability to identify and address their vulnerabilities. This study, which is intended for use by policymakers, in particular, explores the ways in which development planning can lay the foundation for a comprehensive transition from disaster management to disaster risk management. It advocates the adoption of system-based approaches, in keep…

The Hummingbird Vol. 8 No. 2

Public-private partnerships under the “people-first” approach

One of the structural problems that hinders fuller development in Latin America is a lack of infrastructure investment. Since the 1980s, when investment in economic infrastructure ceased to be almost entirely public, the private sector has played an important role, at times accounting for about half of the total. Such investments mainly take the form of concession contracts or other forms of public-private partnerships (PPPs). Traditional PPP initiatives for the provision and financing of infrastructure services have had varying success, resulting in contrasting perceptions of their performanc…

Caribbean in Brief: an information document for Caribbean Small Island Developing States

This brief is intended to provide general information on the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference on scaling up ocean actions based on science and innovation for the implementation of Agenda 2030 - Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), with a view to stimulating more active, engaged participation of the Caribbean in the discussions. The United Nations Ocean Conference will be co-chaired by Kenya and Portugal, and hosted by the Government of Portugal in Lisbon, during 2021. The objective of this conference is consistent with the 2017 UN General Assembly proclamation on the Decade of Oce…

The outlook for oceans, seas and marine resources in Latin America and the Caribbean: Conservation, sustainable development and climate change mitigation

Oceans are a vast source of solutions and opportunities which, unfortunately, are currently invisible, at risk or underutilized. For Latin America and the Caribbean, this reality is significant —more than 27% of the region’s population lives in coastal areas; the sea accounts for a larger share of territory than land for most countries, especially in the Caribbean; and the oceans are home to extraordinary biodiversity. Still, we are not yet on a path to achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 14 relating to life below water. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carib…

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 12

Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC2022)

Report of the activities carried out by the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), 1 July 2019-1 July 2020

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 11

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…

The environmental tragedy of Latin America and the Caribbean. Offprint

This book, of which we present an preliminary offprint version in English, is the result of a collective analysis undertaken at the invitation of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) as part of the discussions supporting preparations for the thirty-eighth session of the Commission. With the collaboration of Nicolo Gligo, it was possible to bring together a group of pioneers in the analysis of sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean whose thinking has been informing this field of the social and scientific disciplines since the 1970s. Their diffe…

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

A big push for sustainability in Brazil’s energy sector Input and evidence for policy coordination

Today, Brazil and many countries around the world are seeking to stimulate economic recovery and improve people’s quality of life. In this context, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) of the United Nations has been developing the Big Push for Sustainability, a renewed approach to support the efforts of the countries of the region to design more sustainable development models, by coordinating policies to promote investments that will transform existing models. The ECLAC office in Brasilia and the Center for Strategic Studies and Management (CGEE), in conjunction …

A Blue Path for the Caribbean: Ocean Sustainability for Prosperity and Resilience

The Hummingbird Vol. 7 No. 9

Rural roads: Key routes for production, connectivity and territorial development

This issue analyses, in particular, the role of rural roads in production, connectivity and territorial development in the region. It underscores the importance of the rural environment for sustainable development, which is often overshadowed by the excessive urban focus of public policies relating to road infrastructure. Specifically, improving connectivity in rural areas is fundamental to the achievement of various universal access targets enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.…

Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2020: Fiscal policy amid the crisis arising from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has generated a health, human and economic crisis without precedent in the past century. The region has responded rapidly, adopting packages of fiscal measures of diverse magnitude and scope. In this context, fiscal policy must play a key role in mitigating the human and economic impact in the short term, while also continuing to provide the impulse for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in a post-COVID-19 world. As well as analysing the fiscal policy challenges of the current crisis, the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 20…