Today, representatives of international organizations called for adopting new social and fiscal pacts in Latin American countries to address social security challenges in an unfavorable context of high insecurity in the region.
“The current economic situation is tough, with setbacks in the social sector in the region’s countries. We are concerned about the indicators of poverty, inequality, and wealth of the population,” said the acting executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Mario Cimoli.
Cimoli opened Tuesday at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile, the second Regional Seminar on Social Development, with the participation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which practically lasts until Thursday.
The meeting will also be attended by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the international associations of the European Commission (EC), among others.
Cimoli pointed out that this meeting “aims precisely to maintain dialogue with governments, promote cooperation and call for action through new social and fiscal pacts.”
On an opening day, on the theme “Social security and the ongoing crisis: an opportunity to address inequality in the context of a welfare state in Latin America and the Caribbean,” countries discussed ECLAC’s projections of low economic growth in the region’s expected in 2022.
The estimates are compounded by inflationary pressures that exacerbate the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic, low momentum in job creation, a decline in investment, and growing social demands in the face of rising poverty and inequality.
In this context, ECLAC pointed out that social security and social protection “are essential for a major push toward sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean,” as these systems can reduce insecurity and structural weaknesses in the region.
The organization called on countries to establish universal, comprehensive, sustainable, and resilient social protection mechanisms within the framework of a welfare state that promotes inclusive and transformative development, supports gender equality, and ensures the financial sustainability of policies to address inequality, ECLAC concluded.