2023 saw Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools becoming widely available to the general public, leading to the generation of new works of art, songs, text, and computer code. This explosion in new outputs has led to much excitement around AI’s potential, but
also brought to the forefront concerns about countries and communities being left behind, and the technology’s potential to harm individuals and societies. This issue of FOCUS magazine discusses the potential impact of AI on the Caribbean, and avenues
to develop tailored AI policies, governance systems, and to engage with AI issues at the int…
The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…
“The hallmark of equality and its key impact on the development process of countries in the region and on human progress distinguish the legacy of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) over the last decade,” Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the United Nations regional Commission, said today during the presentation of a special edition of the journal El Trimestre Económico dedicated to analyzing ECLAC over the last ten years.
“The issue we are presenting today is the result of a generous invitation that we interpret as sincere recognition of the work …
La impronta de la igualdad y su incidencia clave en el proceso de desarrollo de los países de la región y el progreso humano marcan el legado de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) en la última década, afirmó hoy Alicia Bárcena, Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión regional de las Naciones Unidas, durante la presentación de una edición especial de la revista El Trimestre Económico dedicada al pensamiento de la CEPAL en los últimos 10 años.
“La edición que presentamos hoy es resultado de una generosa invitación que interpretamos como un reconocimiento sincero a la labo…
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 …
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…