The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Alicia Barcena, emphasized that today’s inequality conspires against recovery, development, nutrition, health, education and employment, and that is why we must address it from all sides.
Santiago de Chile. – The President of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) spoke about the region’s challenges, its economic, social and environmental situation after the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the prospects for recovery. .
She explained in her presentation that it is not enough to grow to achieve equality, because you cannot grow without equality, and the health crisis has increased poverty, unemployment and informality, which has had significant effects, especially for women.
He pointed out that the fabric of inequality is production heterogeneity, structural gaps, low innovation, investment, and productivity, which he defines as unfair, ineffective and conspiring against sustainable development.
Barcena emphasized that this is mainly reflected in the levels of poverty and extreme poverty, which increased in 2020 for the sixth consecutive year, and in 2021, despite the recovery, experienced a 27-year relapse with 86 million people victims of that scourge. at risk of starvation.
He noted that in 2022, Latin America and the Caribbean will grow 2.1 percent (after registering 6.2 percent in 2021) in an international context of armed conflict, less trade, the possibility of withdrawing monetary stimuli that would increase the cost of financing, and uncertainty about the evolution of Covid-19.
He noted that in the face of this scenario, recovery represents a historic opportunity for a new social agreement that provides protection, certainty and confidence, and thus progress toward a state of well-being through a significant boost to sustainability.
The conference of the highest authority of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, at the regional headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization, in Santiago de Chile, was a tribute to his career, a few days after he left the Executive Secretariat of that organization, where his career was considered fruitful and essential. (latin press)
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