From Exclusion to Opportunities: Three Complementary Perspectives

The initiative included three meetings that addressed different, yet interrelated issues. The first meeting was the presentation of the Economy and Development Report (EDR) 2022, entitled “Inherited Inequalities: The Role of Skills, Employment and Wealth in the Opportunities of New Generations.”

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most unequal regions in the world. This inequality is not only high, but also very persistent. Despite the great strides made in different economic and social development indicators in recent decades, the challenge of achieving a better distribution of income, wealth and educational and job opportunities in the region remains.

Qualified specialists analyzed the results of the Report and discussed the policies needed to ensure access to better opportunities for new generations in the region.

According to Lucila Berniell and Dolores de la Mata, who presented the report, “while indicators of intergenerational mobility in education show positive results in the region, there are still lags in the equitable formation of human capital. Additionally, improvements in education have not clearly impacted performance at work, which suggests that intergenerational income persistence remains very high in the region. A wide range of policies are required to meet the challenge of inclusive growth, and we need to work on the necessary consensus to implement them.

The second event was a conference entitled “Youth: Protagonists of Change in Latin America and the Caribbean,” which brought together experts in the field who shared their experiences on youth leadership in Chile and Colombia to discuss and analyze the challenges they face today. The panel analyzed the role of the private sector, public institutions and multilateral banks as key partners in designing the youth agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Between 140 and 160 million people in LAC are young, and account for approximately 25% of the population. In addition, in recent years, youth leadership in the region has played a pivotal role in the public agenda of countries. CAF is committed to creating these spaces for dialogue and reflection on young people, which is one of the region’s most important assets and a driver of development for Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to Eddy Bermúdez Marcelín, coordinator of CAF’s Inclusion area, “this forum is part of CAF’s commitment as an organization that wants to adapt to a new era of constant changes, where we need to have an optimistic and disruptive vision in the face of the development issues facing Latin Americans. Therefore, young people are key partners in coming up with new proposals, with dynamic and innovative solutions in the complex situation that our region is experiencing.

Lastly, the third activity consisted of the presentation of CAF’s inclusion and diversity strategy, which focused on raising awareness about issues put forward by the Gender, Inclusion and Diversity department, and where recognition of ethnic-racial diversity and the inclusion of people with disabilities are advanced as drivers of development for our region.

During this meeting, Juan Pablo Salazar and Eddy Bermudez Marcelín, coordinators of CAF’s Inclusion and Diversity Agenda, presented the focus of each of these themes, emphasizing the main challenges, opportunities, and thematic axes of action of each strategy.
The launch of the strategy for inclusion of people with disabilities is a fundamental milestone, as it allows governments and civil society in the region to learn the details of our work, in order to replicate it in other countries. It was also a pleasure to have these events in Chile, where we are already operating under one of the pillars of this strategy,” said Juan Pablo Salazar.

The three meetings were also part of a broader work agenda followed during the 177th quarterly meeting of CAF’s Board of Directors, composed of ministers of Economy and Finance of the shareholder countries of the multilateral organization, in addition to presidents of Central Banks.

CAF’s 177th Meeting of the Board was held in Chile for the first time, after the nation’s historic re-accession to the credit institution, after a 45-year hiatus.