Rights of urban children

Urban children in Latin AmericaThis issue of Challenges addresses a topic deserving of special attention: the high proportion of children and adolescents in the region's urban areas who live in precarious conditions. Their disparate living conditions are examined with a look at the moderate deprivation (housing deficiencies, monetary poverty or low level of education) and severe deprivation (a combination of two or more of the aforementioned deficits) affecting urban dwellers. It is estimated that about 29.0% of children and adolescents in these areas live in conditions of severe deprivation and 27.6% experience moderate deprivation for an average of eight countries.In severely deprived rural and urban areas a higher proportion of children are not immunized against measles, and a greater percentage of adolescents are neither studying nor economically active, and are already parents.These disparities call for differentiated policies with a strong local focus and the potential to improve living conditions, lower the risk of infant morbidity and mortality, and reduce rates of adolescent pregnancy and school dropout. Significant initiatives and policies designed to produce healthy and inclusive environments have already been put in place in some of the most vulnerable areaswith a view to improving the quality of life among these groups.In addition to the featured article, the issue includes information on relevant meetings and conferences held in the region over the year, children's and adolescents' testimonies, and expert opinion.

Los derechos de la infancia urbana

Los niños y niñas de la ciudad en América Latina y el Caribe La precariedad en que vive un alto porcentaje de niños, niñas y adolescentes de zonas urbanas en la región merece especial atención, por lo que en este número de Desafíos se abordan los contrastes en sus condiciones de vida. Luego, se muestra la precariedad media (déficit habitacional, pobreza monetaria o bajo nivel educativo) o precariedad alta (combinación de más de uno de los déficits mencionados) entre quienes viven en zonas urbanas. Se estima que cerca del 29,0% de niños, niñas y adolescentes de estas zonas vive en condiciones de precariedad alta y un 27,6% en precariedad media para un promedio de ocho países.En zonas rurales y zonas urbanas de precariedad alta, hay mayor incidencia de niños y niñas no inmunizados contra el sarampión, y de adolescentes que no asisten a la escuela secundaria ni son económicamente activos, y que son madres y padres.Dichas disparidades exigen políticas diferenciadas con fuerte arraigo local, que impacten positivamente en las condiciones de vida y en el riesgo de morbimortalidad infantil, embarazo precoz o deserción prematura del sistema educacional.Existen importantes iniciativas y políticas dirigidas a producir entornos saludables e inclusivos en zonas de mayor vulnerabilidad, con el fin de mejorar la calidad de vida de estos grupos.Junto al artículo central, se informa sobre encuentros y conferencias en la región durante el año acerca de este tema, se entregan testimonios de niños, niñas y adolescentes y opiniones de expertos en la materia.

El derecho a la identidad: Los registros de nacimiento en América Latina y el Caribe

El derecho a la identidad: Los registros de nacimiento en América Latina y el CaribeUn rostro sobrecogedor de la vulnerabilidad de niños, niñas y adolescentes en América Latina y el Caribe es no estar registrados como nacidos y nacidas y, con ello, carecer de toda identidad legal. Esto implica no poder ejercer derechos ciudadanos básicos y enfrentar trabas en el acceso a prestaciones sociales, al sistema de justicia, al reconocimiento como personas en plenitud, al derecho al bienestar, al desarrollo de capacidades, al acceso a empleos productivos y a la participación política.

Pactos para la igualdad: Hacia un futuro sostenible

Este documento forma parte de la "Trilogía de la Igualdad"

Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future

The document which ECLAC presents on this occasion explores further the theme of equality addressed at the two previous sessions of the Commission, in Time for Equality: Closing Gaps, Opening Trails (2010, Brasilia), and Structural Change for Equality: An Integrated Approach to Development (2012, San Salvador). The document prepared for the thirty-fifth session, entitled Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future, discusses the two major challenges to development in Latin America and the Caribbean today: to achieve greater equality and to make development sustainable for future generations. The various chapters examine the social, economic, environmental and natural resource governance constraints on sustainability, as well as the challenges associated with strategic development options. They also further explore the equality approach developed by ECLAC at previous sessions, treating the world of work as a key arena. Consumption is analysed as it relates to the economic, social and environmental spheres, highlighting its potential to increase well-being as well as its problematic externalities in terms of environmental sustainability, the fiscal covenant and the production structure, among others. The dynamics existing between production structures and institutions are explored, drawing attention to ways in which the efficient organization of institutions can help to maximize contributions to development. The document concludes with a set of medium- and long-term policy proposals that need to be enshrined in social covenants and policy instruments for implementing, in a democratic context, the policies and institutional reforms that the Latin American and Caribbean countries need to resolve the dilemmas they face at the current crossroads.

Cambio estructural para la igualdad: Una visión integrada del desarrollo

Incluye bibliografía.

Handbook for disaster assessment

Incluye bibliografía.

International trade and inclusive development: Building synergies

Foreword by Alicia Bárcena.

Report of the thirty-fifth session. Lima, 5-9 May 2014

Attendance and organization of work .-- Agenda .-- Summary of proceedings .-- Resolutions adopted at the Thirty-Fifth Session of the Commission: 676(XXXV) ECLAC calendar of conferences for the period 2015-2016 .-- 677(XXXV) Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 678(XXXV) Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 679(XXXV) Support for the work of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning .-- 680(XXXV) Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee .-- 681(XXXV) Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 682(XXXV) Establishment of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 683(XXXV) Admission of Sint Maarten as an associate member of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 684(XXXV) Programme of Work and priorities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean for the 2016-2017 biennium .-- 685(XXXV) Activities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals and implementation of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields .-- 686(XXXV) Application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean .-- 687(XXXV) The regional dimension of the post-2015 development agenda .-- 688(XXXV) South-South Cooperation .-- 689(XXXV) Place of the next session .-- 690(XXXV) Lima Resolution .-- 691(XXXV) Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Derechos de la infancia en la era digital

La brecha digital exacerba desigualdades en el acceso a información y conocimiento, socialización con pares, visibilidad y manejo de herramientas básicas para desempeñarse en la sociedad. Reducir esta brecha permite sinergias virtuosas de inclusión social y cultural entre niños, niñas y adolescentes, con impactos positivos en el desarrollo de capacidades y generación de oportunidades para toda su vida. Si bien las nuevas generaciones están conectadas y sus miembros son nativos digitales, persisten desigualdades entre grupos socioeconómicos, aun cuando se han reducido gracias a los programas de conectividad en las escuelas públicas de la región. El artículo central de esta edición de Desafíos aborda –con información actualizada– las brechas y los avances en esta materia. El acceso es solo un primer paso; luego, es necesario proteger a niños y adolescentes contra los riesgos de la conectividad y potenciar los aprendizajes pertinentes y plenos de sentido, promoviendo usos más articulados con el currículo educativo. Por último, el artículo plantea que hay que vincular las políticas de conectividad con el cumplimiento de los derechos de la infancia en el marco de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño. Junto al artículo central, y como es habitual, se informa de encuentros y conferencias en la región durante el año y de publicaciones recientes en la materia. También se presentan buenas prácticas en el Perú para reducir brechas de género y una iniciativa conjunta de los operadores móviles y el UNICEF para proteger a la infancia en la era digital. En Puntos de vista se incluye la opinión de especialistas acerca de la potencialidad de las TIC como una herramienta a tener en cuenta para el ejercicio o vulneración de los derechos de niños, niñas y adolescentes.

The economics of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean: Paradoxes and challenges of sustainable development

The robust growth of Latin American and Caribbean economies in recent years has led to an improvement in economic and social conditions in the region. It has also had collateral negative effects, however, such as more air pollution in urban areas and a serious deterioration of various natural assets, including non-renewable resources, water resources and forests. There are economies and societies within the region that are highly vulnerable to all sorts of adverse impacts of climate change, and whose production structures and consumption patterns still tend to leave a large carbon footprint. This situation has reached the point of undermining the foundations of the region’s economic buoyancy. Latin America and the Caribbean therefore needs to make the transition in the years to come towards a sustainable form of development that will preserve its economic, social and natural assets for future generations and leave them with a legacy of a more equal, more socially inclusive, low-carbon form of economic growth. Viewed from this standpoint, the climate change challenge is also a sustainable development challenge, and if it is to be addressed successfully, a global consensus that recognizes the asymmetries and paradoxes of the problem will have to be reached..

Children’s rights in the digital age

The digital divide exacerbates inequalities in access to information and knowledge, making it more difficult to socialize with peers and limiting awareness of and the ability to use basic tools for life in society. Reducing this gap sets in motion virtuous synergies of social and cultural inclusion for children and adolescents, facilitating skills development and generating lifelong opportunities. Although the younger generations are connected digital natives, inequalities persist among socioeconomic groups, though these have been tempered by connectivity programmes in public schools in the region. The main article of this edition of Challenges uses current information to examine the progress made and the gaps that remain in this area. Providing children and adolescents with access is merely a first step. They then need to be protected from the risks associated with information and communications technologies (ICTs), which must be harnessed for purposes of meaningful learning, promoting uses that are more in line with the educational curriculum. Lastly, the article posits that connectivity policies must be linked to the fulfilment of children’s rights in the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As is customary, this issue also contains information on meetings and conferences held in the region during the year and recent publications in this field. Mention is also made of good practices from Peru in reducing gender gaps and a joint initiative between mobile operators and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to protect children in the digital age. Viewpoints includes expert opinion on the potential of ICTs as tools that can facilitate the exercise of the rights of children and adolescents, but also lead to violations of these rights.

Autonomía y dignidad en la vejez: teoría y práctica en políticas de derechos de las personas mayores

Prólogo de Alicia Bárcena

Biennial report (2012-2013)

Includes resolutions adopted at the thirty-fifth session of the Commission, held in 2014.

Employing knowledge networks as tools for the development of Caribbean Small Island Developing States

Expertise, skills, experiences, understandings and capabilities (knowledge) aid development, not just by informing decision-making, but also by providing ideas for actions and activities that can be taken. Due to their size, and economic and environmental vulnerabilities, Caribbean Small Island developing States (SIDS) faces special challenges when working towards their economic, social and environmental development goals. These challenges have contributed to the creation of knowledge gaps, and that which is already available is located in isolated pockets, throughout the Caribbean. Migration of skilled persons compounds the issue, thereby removing much needed knowledge to beyond the traditional borders of the Caribbean. It is necessary to find ways to connect these dispersed knowledge resources. Knowledge networks are tools that can connect the existing skills, expertise, experiences and understandings accessible and create new ones to move towards greater development in the Caribbean. The purpose of this paper is to explore and highlight the role that knowledge networks can play as an aid in the development of Caribbean SIDS. It offers, with Caribbean examples, definitions and discussions of the components, types, and the advantages and disadvantages they hold for the subregion. The paper goes further to provide some ideas on assembling and analysing the different types of knowledge networks. It concludes with a few recommendations geared toward improving the availability of knowledge in the Caribbean.