The year of the coronavirus pandemic led to Latin America to almost unprecedented levels of social fragility, with 22 million new poor to add a total of 209 million in the region.
The data was released this Thursday by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) during a press conference in Santiago de Chile in which he presented his annual report. Although the region is used to economic and social problems, the report of what happened in 2020 was devastating.
“In 2020 we closed with a contraction of 7.7% of GDP, for 2021 we see a rebound of 3.7%. We are not able to recover the economic activity levels of 2019, nor in 2022. Maybe we will make it in 2023 “, explained the executive secretary of the agency dependent on the United Nations, Alicia Bárcena.
“There will be a rebound, but the region has not yet emerged from the pandemic emergency, we have not reached recovery. Many countries are trying to open up economic activity (…) and the vaccination process in the region is very uneven. ”
During the year of the pandemic, Latin America also worsened its inequality indices, its employment rate, and the labor force participation of women. Of the 209 million people living in poverty at the end of 2020, 78 million live in extreme poverty, an increase of 10% compared to 2019.
Bárcena pointed out that the time had come to face an “unsustainable” inequality, and called for the creation of “a true welfare state, a long-overdue task in the region.”
“Societies are demanding more equality (…) this is the key,” insisted the diplomat, who claimed “invest in health, education and nutrition to overcome structural gaps in the region “.
The executive secretary of ECLAC promised a report on the operation of vaccination programs in the region, which has been especially hit by Covid: with only 8% of the world’s population, Latin America accumulates 20% of cases.
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