The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, will present on Tuesday, August 31 the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2021: Labour dynamics and employment policies for sustainable and inclusive recovery beyond the COVID-19 crisis, one of the institution’s most important flagship annual reports, which takes stock of the region’s economies in the last year, especially regarding the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, and provides outlooks for 2021 and 2022.
The latest iteration of this document – which has been published by the United Nations regional commission every year since 1948 – sums up the regional economy’s performance in 2020 and analyzes its evolution in 2021. This 73rd edition of the report will also offer updated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projections for 2021 and 2022 for each of the region’s countries.
The publication will be presented during a virtual press conference held by Alicia Bárcena from Santiago, Chile at 11:00 a.m. local time (UTC/GMT -4:00).
The event will be transmitted live via Zoom at the following link:
https://cepal-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Zn_LG17zTpSzoJ3vhrupQQ
Journalists interested in participating must register in advance. They will receive an automated email with instructions for joining.
The press conference will also be transmitted online via the institution’s website and its social media accounts on Twitter (@cepal_onu) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu). Journalists will be able to submit their questions ahead of time to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary will respond to them once she has finished presenting the document. Questions will only be taken until 11:30 a.m. local time.
According to the report, beyond the recovery that is forecast for 2021, the crisis prompted by COVID-19 exacerbated the region’s structural problems: low levels of investment and productivity and high rates of informality, unemployment, inequality and poverty, which makes it difficult to achieve a sustainable and dynamic recovery. The second part of the document examines the repercussions of the crisis in the region’s labour markets and offers a historical comparison with those markets’ past trajectory, putting special emphasis on evaluating the pandemic’s unequal impact on women and young people. The detailed figures that show the magnitude of these effects in the region will be unveiled by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, during the launch.
As is customary, the third part of the Economic Survey will be available after the presentation on ECLAC’s website (www.cepal.org), and will contain notes on the economic performance of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020 and the first half of 2021, along with the respective statistical annexes. The information that will be presented has been updated through July 30, 2021.
Members of the media are invited to participate in this virtual press conference. Journalists must connect via Zoom (prior registration is required) as of 11:00 a.m. local time (UTC/GMT -4:00). Accredited journalists will be able to send their questions in writing via the Zoom platform’s chat while the event is taking place. They can also send their queries to the email address conferenciaprensa@cepal.org. Questions will only be taken until 11:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, August 31.
The presentation will also be transmitted on ECLAC’s website and at https://live.cepal.org/.
The full electronic version of this new annual report by ECLAC, along with a press release and the presentation by Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena, will be available on ECLAC’s website and on the webpage of the COVID-19 Observatory in Latin America and the Caribbean on Tuesday, August 31, as soon as the press conference has concluded.
What: Launch of ECLAC’s flagship annual report Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2021: Labour dynamics and employment policies for sustainable and inclusive recovery beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Who: Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary.
When: Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 11:00 a.m. local time in Chile (UTC/GMT -04:00).
Where: Virtual connection via the Zoom platform (prior registration required).
https://cepal-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Zn_LG17zTpSzoJ3vhrupQQ
Also via ECLAC’s website and at https://live.cepal.org/.
For queries and to arrange interviews, contact ECLAC’s Public Information Unit.
Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040.
