The EU-LAC Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organised a Keynote Conference on „The state of human development in Latin America and the Caribbean“, which took place virtually on 11 November 2021.
In June 2021, the UNDP published the “Regional Human Development Report 2021” for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), describing a scenario of weak economic performance and widening social inequality in the region. In light of this important study, this Conference reviewed fundamental human development issues identified by UNDP which underly the region’s stagnated productivity, such as the concentration of economic and political power, the prevalence of violence in all its forms and distortive elements in the social protection systems.
The event started with welcome remarks by the EU-LAC Foundation´s Executive Director, Dr Adrián Bonilla and the State Secretary of Hamburg, Ms Almut Möller. Subsequently, Dr Luis Felipe López Calva, UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean presented an overview of the complex interaction of factors resulting in a “development trap” in the LAC region. This was followed by an analysis and commentary by Marc Litvine, Senior Expert, Head of Sector, Regional Programmes for Latin America and the Caribbean, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), European Commission, and Dr Merike Blofield, Director of the Institute for Latin American Studies at the German Institute for Global and Regional Studies (GIGA).
The initiative aimed at identifying the key socioeconomic challenges and opportunities for mobilisation in LAC in the present context of post-pandemic recovery. The conference will also look at the adaptations that must be undertaken in the EU-LAC bi-regional partnership in aspects such as social cohesion, sustainable development and digitalisation.
This Keynote Conference formed part of the “Latin American and Caribbean Fall Festival” in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, an annual activity coordinated by the EU-LAC Foundation. The Festival aims to improve the visibility and knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean in Hamburg through a programme of activities that allows the interested public to participate in the discussion of social, economic and political issues and, at the same time, brings the public closer to the cultural diversity of this region.
