Catherine MAIA
The Latin American countries afflicted by the greatest amount of
social conflict are also those suffering from broad inequality and
limited capacity to manage unrest, according to a United Nations report
launched on April 16.
Marking the release of a new UN Development Programme (UNDP) report
held in New York, Heraldo Muñoz, UNDP Director for Latin America and
the Caribbean, stressed that the presence of conflicts within a country
can ultimately determine the effectiveness of that country’s political
process. “Democracies, as opposed to authoritarian regimes, enable social
conflict as a constructive tool for peoples’ demands for improved
quality of life,” he said in a press release.
The report – entitled Understanding Social Conflict in Latin America
– points out that social, institutional, and cultural tensions in Latin
America are numerous compared to other regions and tend to be
complemented by a high degree of citizen participation.
Depending on how they are managed, therefore, social conflicts can just
as easily become gateways for change as opposed to destruction, Mr.
Muñoz said. “If they are managed through dialogue and negotiation and their causes
are addressed, they are great opportunities for profound transformations
– and for a more equitable and just Latin America.”
During the course of the one year study, conducted from October 2009 to
September 2010, UNDP examined more than 2,300 social conflicts,
eventually concluding that Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina were the
countries with the highest number of social conflicts while Costa Rica,
Chile and El Salvador had the lowest.
The report added that the bulk of social unrest affecting Latin American
countries involve declarations, demonstrations, and strikes with
demands running a wide gamut of issues from health, labour and education
to human rights and ecological matters.
Although they rarely reach the point of violence, certain instances of
conflict, such as the Honduran coup d’etat in 2009, trigger what UNDP
called a “profound institutional rupture and crisis in democratic
governance.”
Nevertheless, along with a reduction in poverty and inequality over the
last decade, Latin America also witnessed wider access to technology for
millions in the region, with Internet and mobile telephones
increasingly accessible, allowing the voices of marginalized groups to
be more easily heard.
According to the research undertaken by UNDP, almost 60 per cent of the
organizations and individuals who took part in social conflicts had a
presence on the Web, although such presence ranged widely from country
to country.
“The Internet and other communications technologies allow social
movements to interact, spread messages through videos and raise funds,”
the UNDP news release stated. “Such tools have also been increasingly important for historically marginalized groups, including indigenous peoples,” it added.
Source : ONU
MULTIPOL - Réseau d'analyse et d'information sur l'actualité internationale (http://reseau-multipol.blogspot.com)
4 mai 2013
RAPPORT : UN report suggests social conflict in Latin America linked to inequality
Libellés :
Développement/Environnement
Inscription à :
Publier les commentaires
(
Atom
)
Aucun commentaire :
Enregistrer un commentaire