The emergence of COVID-19 has posed a huge challenge for the world, in particular for the Latin American and Caribbean region. According to the UN Report on the impact of COVID-19 on the region, prior to the pandemic, the region's development model already faced serious structural limitations: high levels of inequality, balance-of-payments constraints and exports concentrated in low-tech sectors, recurrent exchange rate and debt crises, low growth, high levels of informality and poverty, with this health crisis exacerbating the situation by deepening inequalities and disparities.
The COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to be the cause of the region's biggest economic and social crisis in decades, with very negative effects on employment, combating poverty and reducing inequality.
Governments in the region were forced to deal with the pandemic, which affects all sectors of society through containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus and mitigation measures to manage the impact and alleviate its effects. They reacted to the emergency in all areas, redefining plans and re-seizing resources to respond to the health, economic, social and environmental crisis, took steps to strengthen the capacities of health systems, protect the most vulnerable, and support the economy to avoid collapse. As pointed out in OECD's study "An overview of government responses to the crisis", the scale of this effect and the possible recovery in the coming years will depend on the ability of governments to revive their economies while mitigating health challenges.
The pandemic has highlighted the chronic shortcomings of state action and offered a great opportunity to strengthen the region's responsiveness and correct existing dysfunctions.
One year after the onset of this crisis, it is necessary to evaluate the results and consider long-term policies. That is why the OECD, SELA and PAHO have considered it important to conduct an online seminar, in order to present the region's response to the COVID-19 crisis in the social, economic, health, and governance field, which can serve as a starting point for an analysis of what was done, what was no longer done, what was done well, and what should be improved.
Participants will also address the issue at the heart of everyone's attention today: vaccines. How the countries of the region have considered access to vaccines and how they plan to bring it to all their inhabitants. Recovery will depend on the ability of governments to revive their economies while addressing the public health crisis, which means that the vaccine is accessible to all.