EUROsociAL+ and CLACSO present the report “Mapping Initiatives by Civil Society Organisations to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic”
This document, which was presented on 17 June, establishes recommendations to strengthen the links between civil society organisations (CSOs), their deployed actions and public policies, based on the scope of intervention and the results framework of the EUROsociAL+ programme.
The presentation was made in the format of a webinar and was attended by Fernando Rueda Koster from the EUROsociAL+ programme office, Karina Batthyány the executive secretary of CLACSO, Pablo Vommaro CLACSO Research Director, Luis Bonilla the investigation coordinator and Mariela Solórzano Aguilar the report researcher. The meeting was moderated by Mario Germán Sánchez from the EUROsociAL+ programme office.
In preparing the report, 296 initiatives were identified which were implemented by 711 CSOs working in one or more of the 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The COVID-19 virus reached Latin America and the Caribbean in mid-February 2020, while its rapid evolution into a global pandemic required a restructuring of the functioning of entire countries and cities. From the outset, CSOs implemented various initiatives to place themselves at the forefront of providing support for people, deploying an intense agenda that has been key to tackling the most urgent effects of the pandemic, alleviating the social and economic consequences of the crisis in different ways in different countries in order to better monitor, accompany and strengthen public action.
The initiatives deployed by the CSOs during this period represent a broad body of knowledge, capacity for reaction, organisation and links with people in the region that stands as proof of the validity of this type of organised social action in Latin American countries. It is also represents a social capital that can contribute to public policy and social reform in the countries in the region and a way of thinking about a sustainable recovery process.
