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LATIN AMERICA |
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Inequality
remains Latin America's great challenge: ECLAC
SANTIAGO - Inequality
remains a great obstacle in the development
of Latin America and the Caribbean region, a
report published by the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
said Wednesday.
Inequality in income, assets, land, capital,
health, education and technology is holding
back the region from achieving 2014 goals
set in earlier editions of the conference,
the report revealed. The report was
published by ECLAC's Executive Secretary
Alicia Barcena during the two-day
International Conference on Population and
Development.
The ECLAC conference, subtitled "Key
Progress and Action in the Implementation of
the Cairo Action Plan, 15 Years On," was
opened on Wednesday in Chile's capital
Santiago.
"Despite some important achievements, we
should not be complacent," Barcena warned.
"There are still unacceptable levels of
social inequality and segmentation in our
region, above all in employment matters."
During the conference, Mari Simonen, deputy
executive director of the United Nations
Population Fund, said that "Latin America
has much to celebrate. But the biggest
challenge remains reducing disparities."
"We have only five years to accelerate
progress toward the Cairo Action Plan
goals," she added.
Although poverty has been reduced from 44
percent of Latin America's population to 33
percent in the last five years, 181 million
people live in comparative poverty, while 70
million live in deep poverty.
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