Options for rural poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean

Although most of the total population and the majority of the people living in poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean are in urban centres, poverty is, in relative terms, still a rural phenomenon in the region. The incidence of poverty and of extreme poverty is much larger in rural areas than in urban settings. As recently as 1997, more than half of all rural households were living in poverty, and close to a third of them were in extreme poverty conditions. Moreover, the fragile economic situation of most countries in the region during the past two years may well have worsened those figure…

Mortgage loans and access to housing for low-income households in Latin America

On the basis of a study on mortgage loan options available in eight Latin American countries, this article identifies two pending tasks for most of the countries: the need to make long-term funds available to mitigate the risk of a mismatch of maturities and rates, and the need to harmonize profitability criteria for lenders with the criterion of access to credit for the low-income population. The paper recommends the creation of linkages between the housing finance market and the capital market through secondary mortgage markets, for which the housing finance market must use instruments other…

Palabras de inauguración de la séptima reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible (en inglés)

Lines of research for policy decisions on the eradication of critical poverty

Towards an integrated vision for dealing with instability and risk

This article puts forth a hypothesis and a challenge. The hypothesis: structural change in the international economy and in the management of public policy has brought about changes in economic performance, affected employment, poverty, and equity and resulted in greater insecurity and uncertainty. The challenge: coping with this insecurity and uncertainty despite public policy's abandonment of its historical role and the lack of success thus far of the new approaches. This study points to the greater vulnerability today stemming from the labour market as well as asymmetries in trends in …

Advancing the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

The Regional Coordination Mechanism for the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy

Clausura de la Séptima Reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

Estimada Sra. Laura Fernández Delgado, Ministra de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica de Costa Rica, en su calidad de Vicepresidenta del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible Distinguidos delegados, representantes de los países, Amigos y amigas de los organismos, fondos y programas del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, Estimados y estimadas Coordinadores Residentes, Estimados Representantes de la sociedad civil, de los jóvenes, de la academia y el sector privado, Colegas de la CEPAL, Estamos terminando hoy nuestra cita anual en la q…

Clausura de la octava reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

Estimado Embajador Jorge Félix Rubio, Director General para Asuntos Económicos del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Perú, en su calidad de Presidente del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible, Distinguidas ministras, ministros y representantes de los países, autoridades nacionales y cuerpo diplomático, Estimados y estimadas colegas de los organismos, fondos y programas del sistema de las Naciones Unidas, Estimados representantes de la sociedad civil, de los jóvenes, de la academia y del sector privado, Colegas de la CEPAL …

Making infrastructure reform in Latin America work for the poor

Ten years of infrastructure reform in Latin America can teach us a lot about how to make privatization work for the poor. There are macroeconomic and microeconomic transmission mechanisms through which such reform may affect those sectors. This paper discusses policy instruments to increase their access to services and make the latter more affordable for them. The advantages and disadvantages of each instrument are evaluated and examples are given. The ways in which policy-makers should go about setting social priorities in infrastructure reform and choosing the most appropriate policy instrum…

The Role of Data for SDG Advancement in the Caribbean

Inauguración séptima reunión del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible

PALABRAS JOSÉ MANUEL SALAZAR-XIRINACHS, SECRETARIO EJECUTIVO DE LA CEPAL, EN LA INAUGURACIÓN DE LA SÉPTIMA REUNIÓN DEL FORO DE LOS PAÍSES DE AMÉRICA LATINA Y EL CARIBE SOBRE EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE (Santiago, 16 de abril de 2024) Muy buenos días. Estimada Laura Fernández, Ministra de Planificación Nacional y Política Económica de Costa Rica, en su calidad de Vicepresidenta del Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible. Estimada Amina Mohammed, Vicesecretaria General de las Naciones Unidas Estimado Guy Ryder, Secretario General Adjunto de Políticas …

Foro sobre personas mayores pide aplicar políticas públicas con enfoque de derechos en la región

Ver galería de fotos (6 de junio, 2014) El Segundo foro internacional sobre los derechos humanos de las personas mayores, que concluyó hoy en Ciudad de México, consideró deseable y viable aplicar un enfoque de derechos en las políticas públicas dirigidas a este grupo social en América Latina y el Caribe para avanzar en la reducción de la pobreza, la desigualdad y la discriminación de las personas de edad avanzada. Este segundo foro, organizado por la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) y el Gobierno de la Ciudad de México, dio continuidad a la primera reunión celebrada t…

Virtues and limitations of census maps for identifying critical deficiencies

Critical deficiency maps, conceived as objective, uniformly applicable technical tools that could be employed to make social expenditure more efficient and effective, constitute the most ambitious and successful method devised to date for using census data for social planning in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, while their importance and potential as a policy tool have gained increasing recognition, questions have arisen concerning their virtues and limitations and on how they could be made to serve the need for more complex social information or to reveal the changing forms that…

Social protection for the poor in Latin America

Confronted with recurrent macroeconomic shocks, governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have increasingly been concerned about establishing or strengthening systems of social protection and safety net programmes. The goal of these programmes is to help mitigate the impact of shocks on the poor before they occur, and to help the poor cope with the shocks once they have occurred. In this paper, we focus on publicly funded or mandated safety nets functioning as risk-coping mechanisms. The paper reviews the characteristics of a good safety net, in comparison with the main types of safety ne…

Foro de Desarrollo Sostenible en América Latina y el Caribe: ejemplo de multilateralismo en acción

El Foro de los Países de América Latina y el Caribe sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible es ejemplo de multilateralismo en acción y de la capacidad de convenir voluntades, buscar acuerdos y alianzas, y avanzar en agendas comunes de cooperación, coincidieron hoy representantes de países de la región, de agencias de las Naciones Unidas y organismos regionales, multilaterales y de la sociedad civil presentes en la octava reunión de la plataforma, que finalizó este viernes 4 de abril en la sede principal de la CEPAL en Santiago de Chile. A cinco años de que se cumpla el plazo de la Agenda 2030, los…

Economic growth with equity: challenges for Latin America

The publication of this book was made possible by the contributions of the Ford Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The funds of the latter institution are managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). This is an ECLAC and Palgrave Macmillan copublication. Preface From time to time, Latin American countries experience growth spurts, like in the period 2004-05, when the region achieved the highest biennial growth rate of the past 25 years. However, sustained growth has been elusive in the last quarter …

Social policies and socioeconomic indicators for transitional economies

As part of the United Nations Development Programs thematic focus on poverty eradication and Poverty Strategy Initiatives, the UNDP, in cooperation with the Armenian Government, the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), organized a workshop on Social Indicators to be held at Yrevan, Armenia on November 13-14, 1997. In accordance with the United Nations Global Conferences and their goals, the workshop pursued as its goal the elaboration of poverty initiatives to alleviate poverty, preserve the human capital and adjust it to new market conditions, wh…

The Millennium Development Goals: Challenges for the Caribbean

The Time for Latin America

Read op-ed by ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena…