The economic and health crisis caused by the pandemic coupled with the impacts of natural disasters in the interior of the country left millions in losses and increased extreme poverty in 2020 more than in 2014, this according to estimates by the Economic Commission for America America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The general secretariat of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, highlighted that the agency does not have a recent survey of living conditions in the country, but the projections they have on the situation of poverty are based on factors such as the variation of the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP), the dynamics of the labor market and the aid programs that have been implemented in the last year.
In Latin America
Despite the social protection measures adopted by the governments, poverty in Latin America reached its highest levels in 2020 in the last 12 years and 20 years, affecting 209 million people, 33.7 percent of the total population of the region of 654 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, extreme poverty affected 78 million people.
The general secretariat of ECLAC stressed that the most worrying thing is the situation of children between zero and 14 years old, since they have a poverty of 47.2 percent and extreme poverty of 19.6 with respect to other age levels. This is exacerbated in indigenous and Afro-descendant populations.
In addition, in this context, women were the most affected by their exit from the labor market, which means a setback of up to 10 years in the labor participation of women as a result of the pandemic.
For their part, non-profit organizations promoted by Juan José Gutiérrez Mayorga do their part by getting involved in launching aid programs for the families most affected by these ills.
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