ECLAC Warns of Increase in Extreme Poverty in Latin America

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) indicated this Thursday that the number of people in extreme poverty in the region increased from 81 to 86 million as a consequence of the social and health crisis derived from the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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 According to its annual report, this would mean that the extreme poverty rate in Latin America rose from 13.1 percent of the population in 2020 to 13.8 percent in 2021, a 27-year setback.

ECLAC ranked Latin America as the most vulnerable region globally concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, in a context where between 2020 and 2021, the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by nearly five million.

The regional body assessed that "despite the economic recovery experienced in 2021, the estimated relative and absolute levels of poverty and extreme poverty have remained above those recorded in 2019, reflecting the continuation of the social crisis. "

Estimates made by ECLAC confirm that both poverty and extreme poverty increased for the sixth consecutive year. The continent is one of the regions in the world with the most extended interruption of face-to-face classes. 

Another consequence of Covid-19 is that the region has the highest number of deaths reported for this disease globally, with 1,562,845 deaths until December 31, 2021. After the United States, Brazil is the country in Latin America and the Caribbean with the highest number of reported infections, with 24,311,317 and 623,843 deaths, according to data provided by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). 

One of the challenges highlighted by ECLAC is to strengthen vaccine purchase programs and regional cooperation mechanisms, in line with the Health Self-Sufficiency Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean approved by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

As of January 26, 2022, the organization estimated that 62.3 percent of Latin America and the Caribbean population, around 408 million people, have a complete vaccination schedule.

 For this reason, ECLAC calls for increased efforts so that by mid-2022, all countries in the region will have immunized 70 percent of their population with the full schedule.

"The pandemic is a historic opportunity to build a new social pact that provides protection, certainty and trust. A new social contract must advance and strengthen the institutional framework of social protection systems and promote their universality, comprehensiveness, sustainability and resilience," said the regional body in its report.

Similarly, ECLAC indicates that in 2020 the proportion of women who do not receive their own income increased and poverty gaps persist in rural areas, indigenous peoples and children.

 Precisely because the Covid-19 pandemic came to uncover the inequalities in the region, it is urgent, as ECLAC points out, "to restructure health systems, move towards universal coverage, with timely and quality care for the entire population, and for the State to act as guarantor of the right to health."