Although only 9% of the world’s population lives in Latin America and the Caribbean, the region accounts for a third of the world’s homicides. The cost of crime and violence in our region is very high: crime takes large numbers of lives, affects people’s safety and welfare, and hampers economic development. As evidence of this, one out of three people in the region say crime is … [Read more...] about To Fight Crime, Increase Trust
Social Issues
Text Messaging Parents to Boost Student Performance
We've all known kids who joke around in class, get up to mischief, and even skip school altogether, yet manage to ultimately thrive. But they are glaring exceptions. Classroom misbehavior and absenteeism, along with failing grades, are strong warning signs that a student is likely to repeat a grade or give up on school altogether down the line. In Latin America, where only 53% … [Read more...] about Text Messaging Parents to Boost Student Performance
COVID-19 and the Rise of Telemedicine
Telemedicine—the delivery of medical services through electronic means of communication—is potentially transformative, mitigating transportation problems, bringing care to rural communities and decreasing waiting times and medical costs. But its adoption in Latin America has been slow. Insufficient communication infrastructure and status quo biases, among other factors, … [Read more...] about COVID-19 and the Rise of Telemedicine
Ensuring Demand for COVID-19 Vaccinations
Nearly a million people have died of COVID-19 in Latin America so far, and the region is still struggling to get enough vaccine supply to protect the lives of its citizens. While Chile has fully vaccinated around 40% of its population, roughly comparable to the United States, only between 9% and 18% have received their first vaccine dose in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and … [Read more...] about Ensuring Demand for COVID-19 Vaccinations
Changing Public Attitudes to Combat a Crime Epidemic
With 9% of the world's population and 33% of its homicides, Latin America and the Caribbean suffers from far too much violence. But government responses, heavily focused on punitive practices like mass incarceration, have fallen short. While incarceration has increased by 76% over the last decade, the region as a whole still has more than twice the homicide rate as the world … [Read more...] about Changing Public Attitudes to Combat a Crime Epidemic