Latin America, Caribbean most unequal region socially, economically: UNDP report

Latin America and the Caribbean have the biggest social and economic inequality in the world, and this will continue if no actions are taken, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said Thursday in a report.

In its first human development report for Latin America and the Caribbean presented in Lima, the UNDP said countries in the region have lower development levels than in the 1990s despite general improvements in the past 20 years.

"The inequality in the region is not only high but also persistent," the report's coordinator Isidro Soloaga said, adding that there is a connection between inequality and territory, gender, ethnical origins and access to services.

"The inequality is produced at home because there is a political service which does not assist the sectors with less voice, and this generates less human development in society," Soloaga said.

According to the report, Uruguay had the most even distribution of wealth in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Bolivia had the most uneven distribution of electricity, while Peru had a much more uneven distribution of drinking water than Uruguay, according to the report.

The UNDP suggested more social investment and more public policies that can cover more people as the region's economic growth rate is expected to reach 4.5 percent by 2011.

These policies should offer equal opportunities, improve secondary income distribution and regulate monopolized industries. The education sectors, basic services and infrastructure must be included, the UNDP said.

Source: Xinhua