To promote a collective reflection that offers guidance for the response to the COVID-19 health crisis and its economic and social effects on our societies. The UNDP Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean launched the series of documents compiled in this book.

The first volume reflects on aspects of the problem common to all countries.

UNDP offers this book as an input to the current public policy debate under the conviction that solutions based on evidence, experience, and reasoned political intuition, will be essential to moderate the shock and build forward better.