Latin America & the Caribbean

Overview

Poverty and inequity continue to be key issues in Latin America and the Caribbean . The region faces the greatest socio-economic inequalities in the world, and changes in the distribution of income during the period between 1990 and 2002 have been minimal. This partly explains why many countries are lagging behind in their efforts to meet the poverty reduction targets laid out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015. The region is also lagging behind in progress toward meeting the MDGs in the areas of HIV prevention and maternal mortality.

Some 222 million people (42.9 per cent) in the region are poor, with 96 million (18.1 per cent) living in extreme poverty. The determinants of poverty are manifold, and poverty reduction strategies need to intervene on several fronts simultaneously. However, a situational analysis of the region shows that the unmet need for reproductive health services is key. When women are capable of exercising control over their fertility, households are able to realize their desired family size and have the number of children they can comfortably support and nurture. Among poor women in the region, the gap between actual fertility and desired fertility is widest. In rural areas of Peru , for example, contraceptive prevalence of modern methods is only 33 per cent, and the gap between desired and observed fertility is 1.4 children. This pattern repeats itself in many countries of the region, especially among indigenous groups, people of African descent and rural women. more

UNFPA News

	Girls and Young Women Face Double Vulnerability, and Double Efforts Needed to Protect Them
	A Bumpy Ride Can Mean the Difference between Life and Death in Guatemala
	Experts Call for the Protection of the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Person with Disabilities
	UNFPA Provides Emergency Assistance in Wake of Noel, Asks Donors for $615,000
	HIV Epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean Rooted in Gender Inequality, says Regional UNFPA Director
	Providing Maternal Health Care in Ecuador's Amazon Region
	Preventing HIV Among Youth Living on the Fringes in Belize
	Latin American and Caribbean Women in the Labour Market: Equal Opportunity or Opportunities Lost?
	Do Real Men Take Care of the Kids? Changing Perspectives on Gender in Brazil
	OPEC Fund and UNFPA Train Thousands of Central American and Caribbean Youth in HIV Prevention

Where We Work

	Argentina
	Bolivia
	Brazil
	Caribbean (English-and Dutch-speaking countries) Belize, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turks and Caicos Islands
	Chile
	Colombia
	Costa Rica
	Cuba
	Dominican Republic
	Ecuador
	El Salvador
	Guatemala
	Haiti
	Honduras
	Mexico
	Nicaragua
	Panama
	Paraguay
	Peru
	Uruguay
	Venezuela