Latin America and the Caribbean Rapid Gender Analysis for COVID-19

As of May 18, the WHO was reporting 510,261 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). LAC countries have varied in their responses to the crisis with the majority declaring some form of a state of emergency, and adopting preventive measures to limit transmission, throughout March and April 2020. Restrictions are set to continue in several LAC countries throughout May and June, while others began loosening restrictions by the beginning of May.

The LAC region has the highest levels of inequality in the world, with wide gaps in living standards across countries, regions, sectors, and socio-economic spheres. Access to quality health, education and employment services were therefore already limited for a large number of people. The region also faces continuous challenges related to high levels of social and political conflict, increasing rates of criminality and corruption, deterioration of human rights and several pressing humanitarian situations; all of these combined with persistent population flows and economic decelerations over the last few years.