The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit Latin America and the Caribbean in a period of economic, social and environmental vulnerability. Tackling the health crisis -which has outlasted initial forecasts- and its deleterious economic and social effects will require political and social compacts built on broad multi-stakeholder participation that universalize social protection and health and, above all, refocus development on equality and on fiscal, production and environmental policies for sustainability. Compacts must be directed towards laying the foundations for a welfare state that, among other things, ensures universal access to health, redistributive taxes, increased productivity, better provision of public goods and services, sustainable management of natural resources and more substantial and diversified public and private investment.

Introduction .-- A. The rule of law and human rights at the centre of recovery .-- B. Strengthening democracy and its principles .-- C. Boosting the action of subnational governments .-- D. Including civil society, academia and the private sector .-- E. Crisis recovery scenarios .-- F. The need for transformational leadership.

Regenerative and Sustainable Futures for Latin America and the Caribbean explores how to build sustainable futures for Latin America and the Caribbean, presents recommendations for policy and decision-makers to shape sustainable futures, and reflects on the value of collective action for a region that deserves a better tomorrow.

Foreword -- Executive summary -- Equality and sustainability at the current development crossroads in Latin America and the Caribbean -- Introduction -- Equality and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean -- The world of work: The master key for equality -- Introduction -- Equality, sustainability and well-being in the sphere of consumption -- Development style and environmental sustainability: An unsolved equation -- Natural resource governance for structural change with equality -- Politics, policy and the importance of compacts

Gender inequality has historically been a structural feature of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is at the root of the unsustainability of the prevailing development model. In addition to exacerbating the structural challenges of gender inequality, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the unfair organization of care within society and the need to put care and sustainability at the centre of the development model. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has therefore called for faster progress towards economic, climate and gender justice and a transition to a care society1 that prioritizes the sustainability of life and care for the planet and guarantees the rights of people who require or provide care; that takes into account self-care; that works to reduce the precariousness related to the care sector; and that raises awareness of the multiplier effects of the care economy on well-being and its ability to drive a transformative recovery with equality and sustainability.At the various sessions of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, the governments of the region have committed to overcoming inequality through public policies that guarantee women's rights and contribute to women's physical, economic and decision-making autonomy and to achieving gender equality in legal frameworks and in the results of policy implementation; in short, commitments have been made to achieving formal equality and substantive equality. The sixty-first meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean will include a high-level panel to address the challenges and opportunities of moving towards a care society for recovery with gender equality and sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Foreword .-- Introduction .-- Part 1. Social policy institutions. -- Chapter I. Institutional framework for social development / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Chapter II. Social development and social protection institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: overview and challenges / Rodrigo Martínez, Carlos Maldonado Valera .-- Part 2. Components and institutional framewoek of social protection. -- Chapter III. Labour market regulation and social protection: institutional challenges / Mario D. Velásquez Pinto .-- Chapter IV. Institutional aspects of Latin America's pension systems / Andras Uthoff .-- Chapter V. Care as a pillar of social protection: rights, policies and institutions in Latin America / María Nieves Rico, Claudia Robles .-- Part 3. Policies for specific populations and their institutional framework .-- Chapter VI. Life cycle and social policies: youth institutions in the region / Daniela Trucco .-- Chapter VII. Disability and public policy: institutional progress and challenges in Latin America / Heidi Ullmann .-- Chapter VIII. Latin American Afrodescendants: institutional framework and public policies / Marta Rangel.