Twenty years of knowledge that transforms

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) now have a bank of historical information, based on evidence and supported by diagnoses and expert analysis, which enables public and private decision-makers to act on behalf of the most vulnerable people.

This information bank is made up of twenty years of publications of the Report on Economy and Development (RED) that CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean - began publishing in 2004 and that constitutes one of the most solid sources for consulting the region's reality, its challenges, possibilities and opportunities.

For two decades, the RED report has become a tool to support decision making in the region, through exhaustive empirical diagnoses and rigorous analysis of evidence, in order to offer clear and feasible public policy recommendations from and for the region.

CAF commemorates two decades of work with the book Knowledge that Transforms: Twenty Years at the Service of a Prosperous, Inclusive and Sustainable Future, which offers a comprehensive vision to understand and address the problems of the region, exploring the triple challenge of growth, inclusion and environmental protection.

The bank explains that it is an interactive book that comprehensively addresses the problem of economic development in LAC, revisiting accumulated learning, but with an eye to the future, supported by the analysis of internationally renowned experts from across the region, who give context to the figures and research with their own experience.

In five chapters, the document explores and analyzes the Lights and shadows of the elusive development of Latin America and the Caribbean, Policies for productive development, Balance and prospects for social inclusion to build more equitable societies, Solutions from the region for environmental sustainability, and Latin America and the Caribbean: toward sustainable development in the 21st century.

Researchers, government officials and citizens in general will find an interactive book in which figures such as the fact that 30% of the region's population lives in poverty, that 86% of young people whose parents did not have a university education will not complete higher education or that 78% of the wealth is in the hands of only 10% of the population are contextualized and enriched with the diagnoses and evidence accumulated in the region over the last two decades.

According to CAF's presentation, "the text combines rigorous diagnoses with innovative proposals that lay the foundations for a more just, sustainable and resilient development, and the authors' analysis is enriched with the perspectives and audiovisual testimonies of the experts invited to reflect on the region's most pressing problems".

Promoting discussions

Since its inception, the RED report has served the purpose of supporting CAF's operations and facilitating evidence-based decision making, as well as fostering informed policy discussions on key regional development issues. Each edition has addressed a highly relevant issue, providing a comprehensive and rigorous diagnosis, reviewing the best available evidence and closing knowledge gaps through original research.

After twenty years, the RED report has become an indispensable reference for those who design and implement public policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, contributing to the effective development of the region.

The commemorative book reports on the remarkable progress that Latin America and the Caribbean have made: per capita GDP has grown by 40% in Latin America and 16% in the Caribbean since 1970; democracies, in general, have been consolidated; and poverty has been significantly reduced.

But it also addresses the deep challenges that persist in the countries: one out of every three inhabitants still lives in poverty; the region remains one of the most unequal in the world and faces critical problems such as insecurity, labor informality and weak state capacities.

Five learning chapters

Chapter 1 addresses the challenges, the historical features that condition evolution, the opportunities and the importance of knowledge for closing gaps.
According to the document, "development requires success in three interrelated areas: economic growth, inclusion and environmental sustainability. The region shows partial progress in each".

The publication shows that while evidence points to macroeconomic stability and greater resilience to shocks, the challenges remain enormous. Although poverty has fallen, for example, almost 30% of Latin Americans and Caribbeans continue to live in poverty and 10% in extreme poverty.

The document analyzes the incomplete development of the region, and highlights as challenges the high level of informality, infrastructure gaps and criminality. LAC must work for its socioeconomic evolution in a world dominated by digital technologies, accelerated aging and the green transition.

The book documents why the current model of production and consumption in the region is unsustainable and addresses the negative impacts of climate change, which make it necessary to prioritize adaptation policies in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure and interventions for vulnerable populations.

It also provides an understanding of the opportunities presented to the region's economies by the potential for green electricity generation and the high costs of an energy transition in a region with limited fiscal space.

One of the chapters deals with opportunities amidst persistent challenges. It discusses how to take advantage of new and old opportunities, the pending agenda and the role of institutions, as well as the role of multilateral development banks in fulfilling these tasks.

The fourth industrial revolution with technologies, artificial intelligence and knowledge management and its role in agriculture and manufacturing is documented in the real panorama of the region. It discusses LAC's natural advantages and the challenge posed by automation and digitalization in terms of low-skilled labor.

CAF hopes that this document will allow countries to understand the importance of taking advantage of the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) operating in the region as platforms for knowledge dissemination. And in this scenario, the arrival of different information products to the forums will take place, so that evidence can guide public policies and open the possibility of scaling cost-effective solutions to the region's problems.

Despite unquestionable progress over the last three decades, LAC's development process remains incomplete. The RED report seeks to remain a tool to enable informed and documented, evidence-based decisions to address the high levels of inequality and poverty, high rates of violence, weak states and institutions, high informality, and the persistent wide per capita income gap with the developed world.

As explained at the launch of the commemorative book, "a challenging context, marked by the fight against climate change, the digitalization of economies and an uncertain geopolitical environment, obliges our region to turn these challenges into opportunities for sustainable development, supported by access to financing and an effective, evidence-based roadmap."