The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present on Thursday, March 4 its flagship annual report entitled Social Panorama of Latin America 2020, which examines the social impact of the unprecedented crisis prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides the most recent figures available on poverty, inequality and employment in the region.
Furthermore, the document analyzes trends in public social spending in the region’s countries, the social protection measures adopted by governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to address the pandemic’s effects, the role of the care economy, and the social discontent that existed in the region prior to the crisis.
The report will be presented during a virtual press conference held by Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, speaking from Santiago, Chile at 11:00 a.m. local time (UTC/GMT -3:00).
According to the report, due to the pandemic – and despite the emergency social protection measures that have been taken to halt this phenomenon – poverty and extreme poverty will reach levels unseen in recent decades. Estimates also point to an increase in the inequality of total income per person, as well as a sharp contraction in employment.
The press conference will be transmitted live via Zoom at the following link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VKof4E1TRaum-Ki3atocXw
Journalists interested in participating must register in advance. They will receive an automated email with instructions for joining the event.
The press conference will also be transmitted online via the institution’s website and its social media accounts on Twitter (@cepal_onu) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu). Journalists will be able to submit their questions ahead of time to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary will respond to them once she has finished presenting the document. Questions will only be taken until 11:30 a.m. local time.
Members of the media are invited to participate in this virtual press conference. Journalists must connect via the Zoom system (prior registration is required) as of 11:00 a.m. local time (UTC/GMT -3:00). Accredited journalists will be able to send their questions in writing via the Zoom platform’s chat while the event is taking place. They can also send their queries to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org. Questions will only be taken until 11:30 a.m. local time on Thursday, March 4.
The presentation will also be transmitted on ECLAC’s website and at https://live.cepal.org/.
The full electronic version of this new annual report by ECLAC, along with a press release and the presentation by Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena, will be available on ECLAC’s website and on the webpage of the COVID-19 Observatory in Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday, March 4, as soon as the press conference has concluded.
What: Launch of ECLAC’s flagship annual report Social Panorama of Latin America 2020.
Who: Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
When: Thursday, March 4, 2021, 11:00 a.m. local time in Chile (GMT -03:00).
Where: Virtual connection via the Zoom platform (prior registration required).
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VKof4E1TRaum-Ki3atocXw
Also via ECLAC’s website and at https://live.cepal.org/.
For queries and to arrange interviews, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit.
Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040.
