Latin America most vulnerable by Covid-19 • Workers

A report issued by the International Labor Organization today warns that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed shortcomings and the need to improve the coverage, adequacy and sustainability of protection systems in Latin America.

The study by the International Labor Organization revealed that “the vast majority of the working population did not have unemployment insurance or other means of income compensation, especially those who were working in the informal sector”.

One of the lessons of this pandemic, the text says, is that a lack of social protection makes us more vulnerable.

The document reflected that before the onset of the pandemic, only 56 percent of the region’s population was covered by some form of social assistance, and contributory programs, which depend on contributions from workers and employers, had only 46 percent. One hundred employees.

It also raises the need to move towards comprehensive protection systems based on the social welfare floor with guarantees of universal access to health and economic security throughout the life cycle.

ILO Regional Director, Vinicius Pinheiro, said social protection is essential for social inclusion and cohesion, reducing poverty and social inequalities, while facilitating production transformation and improving productivity.

Likewise, the study notes that the most common strategies to protect jobs and incomes were food and nutritional care provision along with health-oriented policies.

However, spending focused on mitigating the Covid-19 crisis made it possible to counteract the greater increase in poverty and extreme poverty, due to the fact that countries that allocated more resources were able to better curb the increase of this scourge, according to the report.

In the current context of recovering from an unprecedented crisis, Pinheiro stressed that it is necessary to adapt and expand social protection, especially benefits, as they represent the first line of defense for those who lose their income, and at the same time constitute an important component. An engine to stimulate economic activity.

(taken from Prensa Latina)