Better Transportation Options to Relieve Inequality in Latin America

Last week, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) released its first Human Development Report for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The report, Acting On The Future: Breaking The Intergenerational Cycle Of Inequality (PDF in Spanish), focuses on policies that could help Latin America — the most unequal region in the world — escape from the inequality trap.

The report introduces a new indicator to measure human development while reflecting inequality, and it finds that the region’s Human Development Index would fall by between 6 and 19 percent, on average, if it were corrected to account for inequality.

Acknowledging that poverty reduction programs in the region have too often focused on specific, piece-meal solutions, rather than addressing the deep-seated roots of poverty and inequality, the report calls for more comprehensive public social policies across the region.