As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 165 million students were out of school and over 26 million jobs were lost in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Covid-19 also amplified LAC’s existing inequities across socioeconomic status, age, geography, race and ethnicity, digital access, and gender. In fact, job loss in the LAC region has disproportionately affected women and has increased inequities for informal workers (who make up 60 percent of LAC active workers), youth, lower-skilled workers, people with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples.
While the pandemic has shown successful models of how remote learning and work can help to level the playing field, flexible education and training will need to be further prioritized to provide people across the LAC region with quality learning and employment opportunities.
To close the skills gap, infrastructure and innovation will be top of mind, including broadening access and opportunities for remote learning and training. As we prepare for a post-Covid world, people across the region must be equipped with the capabilities, skills, and lifelong learning opportunities to prosper in the work of the future.
Now more than ever, solutions are needed to drive innovation and leverage technology to develop people’s potential to learn and obtain good jobs.