ECLAC: Covid19 will make people poorer

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is calling for greater regional co-operation and co-ordination to address the socio-economic impacts of the covid19 pandemic.

At a meeting of social development ministers earlier this week, ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena said it was the leaders responsible for social welfare who are charged with finding solutions to the needs of those living on the street, people with disabilities, migrants, and senior citizens. She said social protection systems are coming under considerable pressure with the implementation of mitigation strategies to control the spread of covid19 in the Caribbean

The meeting recognised that the crisis will affect several social sectors, including health, labour and education, with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable people with underlying health conditions, older people, unemployed youth, underemployed, women, unprotected workers and migrant workers.

The Commission expects covid19 will affect the job market by increasing unemployment and underemployment, as well as impact the quality of work by reducing wages and access to social protection for the most vulnerable groups, such as informal sector workers. It said the loss of labour income will translate into lower consumption of goods and services and could drive many workers into poverty.

It said covid19 will have a significant impact on learning, especially for children in rural areas due to existing disparities in access to digital devices and broadband Internet. More generally, the limited access to ICT implies a low level of readiness in the subregion to operate in a virtual environment in the current crisis.

It said additional challenges in terms of food security are posed due to the Caribbean’s high dependency on food imports, further aggravated by the specific vulnerability of the Caribbean to climate-related natural disasters. The looming 2020 hurricane season, which starts in less than three months, places the subregion and its people at greater risk, even as it grapples with the impacts of the pandemic.

Of additional concern to ECLAC, medical and health facilities in the Caribbean are insufficient for the level of potential demand and are heavily dependent on imports of equipment and inputs, which is a major problem because 24 countries around the world have restricted exports of medical equipment, medicines or their ingredients to date.

The virtual meeting was attended by ministers and senior decision-makers from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.