Regional perspectives on digital disaster management in Latin America and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

The impact of structural reforms on growth in Latin America and the Caribbean: an empirical estimation

Includes bibliography

Savings in Latin America after the mid 1990s: determinants, constraints and policies

Includes bibliography

Renewable energy sources in Latin America and the Caribbean: situation and policy proposals

Includes bibliography

Caribbean forum: Shaping a sustainable development agenda to address the Caribbean reality in the twenty-first century

Includes bibliography.

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.

The effects of climate change in the coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Impacts

The regionwide study of the effects of climate change in the coastal areas of Latin America and the Caribbean has been divided into four main parts in line with the comprehensive risk-assessment methodology that was developed as research progressed. The outputs of this regional study are presented in four core documents: an analysis of the factors that are driving climate change, a study on the vulnerability of coastal areas, an evaluation of the impacts of climate change and an exploration of how all these different factors can be brought together in an assessment of the risks associated with some of the impacts of climate change on the region’s coastal areas.