Green Revolution and Ecological Transition: Italy's Response to the Pandemic

As a consequence of the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, Italy and other member States of the European Union have suffered consider-able economic damage. To redress this situation, the European Commission authorized the return of a large amount of financial resources to European countries, in the form of loans and subsidies, as means for implementing the Next Generation EU, an ambitious program allowing member States to launch significant public spending policies. According to these initiatives, Italy ad-opted the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr), which includes six primary missions to modernize the country. The second mission, called the green revolution and ecological transition, is one of the pillars of the EU Next Generation project and constitutes an essential guideline for the future development of the country.

When the State calls you: Quality in early childhood care services in the Pandemic. Case of the JUNTOS program

In Peru, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on various dimensions of human and national development. While it is true that children have not been affected in terms of mortality, there is evidence of a negative impact on their development in the short and long term. In this sense, in Peru, timely and quality care through access to the integrated package of services of the Ministry of Health was severely affected, reducing its coverage and generating risk scenarios for the physical, emotional and mental development of children in the future. In this context, the State promoted temporary interventions through Emergency Decree 095-2020, including interventions aimed at early childhood development through the National Program of Direct Support to the Poorest "JUNTOS”. This article aims to examine the implementation of these interventions by "JUNTOS”, analyze the challenges and results achieved, and propose working hypotheses for research. It proposes to explain the success of the implementation through: i) innovation in the face of implementation challenges;ii) the relevance of intersectoral coordination;and, iii) improving the quality of public services through universal mechanisms of affiliation and accompaniment to families. © 2022, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 vaccination and governance in the case of low, middle and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: Global crises, regardless of the place where they started to spread or of the factors that triggered them, require a comprehensive approach, primarily based on good communication, cooperation and mutual support. No individual and no institution should remain indifferent to crises but, on the contrary, be fully aware that any involvement in curbing them matters. Although humanity can be affected by various types of crises, in this paper we refer to the one related to COVID-19 pandemic. There are certain reasons that come to justify our choice: first of all, being a shock with a strong impact on people, its analysis should be performed from several angles; this may bring to light an image with its disparate propagation and measures to counteract it both in developed countries, and especially in those with a shortage of resources. Secondly, in the context of the emergence of vaccines against COVID-19, it is helpful to have an overview of COVID-19 through the lens of the relationship between the vaccination process and the elements that characterize governance, with a differentiated dashboard by country categories worldwide: low, middle and high-income countries. Our study is far from capturing the complexity arising from such social problem, but rather aims to outline the defining role of governance when it comes to providing firm reactions to the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: Given that our sample consists of a large number of countries, namely 170, first, examined all together, and then, split into three groups (high, middle and low-income), it is challenging to address governance in association with COVID-19 vaccination, in order to see how much they interact and how each of the six aggregate governance indicators of the World Bank (Worldwide Governance Indicators) is reflected in this process. Even if they do not oscillate strongly over relatively short periods of time, reporting on health issues requires a sequential inventory, considering closer time intervals, so as to be able to act promptly. Thus, to better distinguish how the COVID-19 vaccination process evolved in low, middle and high-income countries, but also how it was imprinted by governance, we present the situation quarterly (March, June, September and December), in 2021, the year when the immunization campaigns were the most intense at the global level. Regarding the applied methods, we mention both OLS regressions with robust estimators and a panel model, used to investigate the determinants of COVID-19 vaccination, some of them describing the good governance, as well as other dimensions. RESULTS: The findings point out that the influence of governance on COVID-19 vaccination differs depending on whether a country belongs to high, middle or low-income typology: the strongest determinism of governance on vaccination is encountered in high-income countries, and the weakest in low-income ones; in some cases, governance does not matter significantly. However, exploring the three groups of states included in the research, it is observed that the most relevant factors in this relationship are government effectiveness, regulatory quality and control of corruption. CONCLUSIONS: Besides the order of importance of governance indicators on COVID-19 vaccination, our study indicates that, overall, governance positively shapes the vaccination rate at the level of the chosen sample. In normative terms, these findings can be translated particularly by the fact that they can serve as information to raise awareness on the relevance of the existence of an institutional framework that allows the formulation of strategies according to the patterns of each country, especially since the actionable tools depend on the available resources. As a general conclusion, public policies should be designed in such a way as to strengthen trust in vaccination regulations and in governments, to reduce the multifaceted negative effects of this health crisis and to hope for its total end.

The irruption of the political after the pandemic: The case of Panama.

This article analyzes the emergence of new political agendas as a result of the social mobilization that took place in Panama during the pandemic and how these were finally translated into a new institution for the negotiation of public policies –The Single Roundtable for Dialogue (Mesa Única de Diálogo). Analytical narratives are used based on secondary sources. To this end, the literature and various indicators were examined and a newspaper search was conducted on the phenomenon studied. The hypothesis is that, although there have been previous protests in the Panamanian nation, there is a before and an after in relation to the one that occurred in July, 2022, in terms of the meaning and scope of the demands of mobilized actors. It was a moment of political irruption, in which those who do not usually have a voice demonstrated that they have one. This text characterizes the conditions of public policies in the Panamanian political system;describes the social and economic effects of COVID-19;and describes the process of political irruption and emergence of new agendas during the mobilization. The conclusions illustrate how the aforementioned protests constituted an interruption of the previous equilibrium of the country, where the notion of the public had been distorted and needed to be reformulated. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] En este artículo se analiza la emergencia de nuevas agendas políticas producto de la movilización social ocurrida en Panamá durante la pandemia y cómo estas se tradujeron, finalmente, en una nueva institución para las negociaciones de las políticas públicas: la Mesa Única de Diálogo. Se emplean las narrativas analíticas basadas en fuentes secundarias;para ello se revisó la literatura y distintos indicadores y se realizó una búsqueda hemerográfica sobre el fenómeno estudiado. Como hipótesis se plantea que, si bien han ocurrido protestas previas en la nación panameña, existe un antes y un después en relación con la ocurrida durante julio de 2022 en términos del sentido y el alcance de las reivindicaciones de los actores movilizados: se trata de un momento de irrupción de lo político, en el cual quienes no suelen tener voz se manifiestan por tenerla. En el texto se caracterizan las condiciones en que se han dado las políticas públicas en el sistema político panameño, se describen los efectos sociales y económicos de la covid-19, así como el proceso de irrupción de lo político y la emergencia de nuevas agendas durante las movilizaciones. En las conclusiones se ilustra cómo las mencionadas protestas constituyen una interrupción de los equilibrios previos de un país, donde la noción de lo público ha estado deformada y requiere ser replanteada. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of FLACSO Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

"Sobre llovido, mojado”. Problems, strategies, and demands of the Argentine popular, social, and solidarity economy during the pandemic.

The emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic reactivated numerous debates on the social protections required for distinct labor groups and the need to guarantee work and income for the population. This article focuses on the experiences of people who work without ties to an employer and who self-identify as part of the popular, social, and solidarity economy (EPSS) in Argentina. It aims to contribute to the academic debate by identifying the conditions that favored the sustainability and organization of their work beyond the context of the emergency. In particular, we seek to examine whether the situation opened up by the pandemic led to new processes of recognition, institutionalization, and protection for these labor groups or not. A qualitative research process was developed based on interviews with representatives of 14 organizations of EPSS of Greater Rosario (primary sources) and the review of emergency measures and programs implemented by the three levels of government –national, provincial, and local– beginning with the declaration of the health emergency until December 2021 (secondary sources). In the final reflections, the main results are highlighted, positing that the state's responses did not give rise to new institutions, rights, and protections, but rather "organized” and "administered” the institutionality that already existed. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] La emergencia provocada por la pandemia de la covid-19 reactualizó numerosos debates sobre las protecciones sociales requeridas para los diferentes grupos laborales y la necesidad de garantizar el trabajo y los ingresos de la población. Este artículo se centra en la experiencia de personas que trabajan sin vínculos con un patrón y que se autoidentifican como parte de la economía popular, social y solidaria (EPSS) en Argentina. Se propone abonar al debate académico al respecto identificando aquellas condiciones que favorecieron la sostenibilidad y la organización de sus labores más allá del contexto de la emergencia. En particular, se busca reconocer si la situación abierta por la pandemia devino en nuevos procesos de reconocimiento, institucionalización y protección para estos colectivos laborales. Se desarrolló un trabajo de investigación cualitativo basado en entrevistas a referentes de 14 organizaciones de EPSS del Gran Rosario (fuentes primarias) y la revisión de las medidas de emergencia y los programas implementados por los tres niveles de Gobierno –nacional, provincial y local– desde la declaración de la emergencia sanitaria hasta diciembre de 2021 (fuentes secundarias). En las reflexiones finales se recuperan los principales resultados fundamentando que las respuestas del Estado no dieron lugar a nuevas instituciones, derechos y protecciones, sino que "organizaron” y "administraron” la institucionalidad que ya existía. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of FLACSO Ecuador (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

E-mail: eduardordecastro@hotmail.com

The article aims to analyze the (legal) appropriateness of judicial decisions on requests for the supply of drugs, treatments or even the adoption of social isolation and lockdown measures during the Covid-19 Pandemic period. We will try to answer the following problems: Given the scenario of uncertainty about the safety and efficacy of the proposed drugs and the scarcity of available resources, has the Judicial Power constitutional legitimacy to compel the Executive Power to provide medicines and treatments for patients diagnosed with Covid-19? What is the permissible scope of judicial intervention in the case of demands aimed at the implementation of public policies of social isolation? The following hypotheses will be investigated: a) the supply, through the Judiciary, of medicines for the treatment of COVID-19, in the current scenario of things, is a measure that must be removed;b) the provision of ICU beds or infirmary is legally acceptable, provided that certain requirements are met;c) the granting of social isolation and lockdown measures through the courts is not possible. The research method is the hypothetical deductive.

Energy sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and climate change in Cuba: between public policies and civil society projects from 1959 to the pandemic stage

The search for solutions to global environmental change has been a concern of the Cuban State and government since the early years of the revolutionary process. Fact that is evidenced in the environmental projection, through the conception of public policies aimed at reversing its deterioration and promoting sustainable practices from the ecological, economic, social and cultural aspects, even in difficult contexts such as the well-known Special Period and the current pandemic generated by the Covid-19. The country's bets are not only made from a centralized and vertical approach, which respond to national and international scenarios and specific situations, but also through self-managed processes from civil society where horizontality and multi-actor dialogue prevail in in order to achieve a system based on social and environmental justice that articulates multiple institutions and collective subjects. The following work, from a qualitative and quantitative methodology, addresses the concrete impacts and the transformative capacity of the public policies outlined by the country, from the revolutionary triumph to the context of the pandemic in terms of energy sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and climate change. Analysis that is enriched with the visibility of projects created from civil society in pursuit of achieving the necessary eco-social transformation. Imbrication that provides an overview of the progress and challenges of public policies in conjunction with projects promoted by civil society in environmental matters, and has the novelty of interrelating processes aimed at reversing environmental conditions framed within dissimilar historical contexts, thus reflecting the broad struggle in the face of global environmental change within the revolutionary process.

Inequalities and pandemic in Paraguayan indigenous communities

This article discusses the measures introduced by Paraguay to respond to the health crisis between March and December 2020 and problematizes its impact on indigenous communities. Starting from a historicization of the origins of inequalities, it demonstrates that the marginalization that Paraguayan indigenous communities are currently experiencing is the result of a historical and institutional continuity that is rooted in a logic of dispossession of indigenous people and their territory. We argue that the interaction between previous structural conditions and the political choices emanating from the struggle against Covid-19 has not allowed for an institutional change in these relationships. Indeed, in Paraguay, the unprecedented health crisis and governmental responses accelerated the pre-existing trajectories affecting indigenous communities, resulting in institutional continuity in the formulation of public policies. © 2022 Institut des Hautes Etudes de l'Amerique Latine (IHEAL). All rights reserved.

Managing pandemics: A POM perspective and directions for future research

COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how unprepared operations and supply chain professionals are for "abnormal” conditions. Understanding how the production and operations management field can affect the trajectory and especially the remediation of pandemics is a critical, but understudied, area of research from descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive perspectives. Fourteen research articles in this special issue have attempted to fill this gap with rigor. We first summarize these articles in six categories, (1) public policies and government interventions, (2) hospital capacity, (3) propagation of pandemics, (4) humanitarian operations, (5) private partnerships, and (6) vaccine production, by drawing out the themes addressed. As we look ahead at pandemics yet to come, we note there is still much research needed and conclude by discussing emergent interest in promising themes for studying pre-pandemic, during pandemic, and post-pandemic operations. © 2023 Production and Operations Management Society.

Information and Communication Technology in Brazilian Public Schools: A Sustainable Legacy of the Pandemic?

The present study aimed to analyze the sustainability of the post-COVID-19 pandemic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) legacy. The survey was conducted using raw secondary data from three census studies, one carried out before the pandemic and two after the return to in-person classes. The descriptive survey focused on Brazilian public schools and used a comparative intersectional design. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the raw data. The poorest conditions in terms of the availability of technological resources were found in municipal public school systems. The amount of equipment available, bandwidth, and Internet data transmission rate in most public schools were far below desirable, despite advances in 2021 compared to 2019. Although there have been important improvements in ICT in Brazilian public schools, there was no evidence of inherited ICT resources as a legacy of the Government's COVID-19 policies related to education. The study highlights the need for government to implement enduring public policies that guarantee the use of sustainable ICT resources to improve education, irrespective of global or national health challenges.

COVID-19 impacts on school sports events: an alternative through E-sports

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many sectors of society, including sports. Measuring the effects of an ongoing pandemic poses a complex task, given the incipiency of government actions and studies addressing the impacts on sports. In view of this, the purpose of this commentary is to explore how COVID-19 impacted school sports policies. To this end, we analyze how the government of the State of Paraná, Brazil, has responded to the effects of the pandemic in school sports policies, as well as identifying which solutions have been outlined. Although professional sports managed to implement complex and rigorous safety protocols, these are economically unviable in school and non-profit multi-sport competitions. We found that school sports competitions have been widely affected and unable to resume due to inconsistencies and difficulties in the implementation of safety protocols appropriate to this new scenario. Another finding was the development of immediate remote alternatives (E-sports competitions), which may impact school sports and affect the reconfiguration of the sports system. In conclusion, this commentary highlighted the impacts of the pandemic on school sports as well as the actions outlined to tackle them, in particular E-sports initiatives by the government of Paraná.

The systemic competitiveness of latin american MSMEs under Covid-19

Competitiveness has become essential to business survival. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to study the competitiveness of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Latin America under the systemic competitiveness model under COVID-19. Documentary research was conducted, based on reports from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, among others. The main findings reveal an alarming deterioration at the macro, meso, and meta levels, which requires the design of public policies that consider the situation of MSMEs as essential for reducing poverty and unemployment affecting the region. Although MSMEs hold some advantages at the micro level, they need to receive direct support to enable them to stay afloat and make productive and technological investments. © 2022 Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.

Connectivity and Inclusion: The Argentine Panorama of Precariousness

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a strong and accelerated reconversion of educational systems. Internet connectivity was crucial to cope with this unprecedented worldwide emergency. This situation exposed the precariousness of the educational system in Argentina. In this article we will analyze the level and the extent of connectivity for educational purposes in the Argentinean territory. Our analysis is based on three sources: 1) Quantitative data about access to the Internet connection;2) Public policies for digital inclusion and the difficulties found for an effective implementation;3) A qualitative survey of the opinions of teachers regarding their possibilities to afford the new circumstances and continue offering virtual classes during the pandemic. The triangulation of data allowed us to arrive at the following results: Deficient and precarious connectivity depending on the geographical area of the country where each educational institution is located, fragmented or discontinued public policies that did not guarantee a right to connectivity, a teaching staff with little training in virtuality and poorly provided. © 2022 FahrenHouse. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 crisis and the automotive industry in Mexico: public policies and firm strategies

The automotive industry's performance in Mexico was affected by the health and economic SARS-CoV2-crisis. As part of the complex North American supply chain, several factors influenced decision-making on crisis management. We determined the multilevel governance mechanisms to characterise the process of implementing activities. The productive performance of the industry, capacity utilisation rate per plant, employment, and foreign direct investment were evaluated. The federal government's support was scarce, although subnational governments were more sensitive to cooperate with stakeholders. Companies had to adapt to pandemic conditions and also to changes in the political and institutional environment driven by the USMCA and tensions between the USA and China. As a result, inward FDI flows and nearshoring practices are growing in the northern Mexican regions, stabilising the supply chains.

Relationship between Burden, Quality of Life and Difficulties of Informal Primary Caregivers in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of the Contributions of Public Policies.

The study aimed to characterize and understand the difficulties experienced by informal caregivers from a bio-psychosocial and environmental perspective, taking into account the socio-demographic and health characteristics of the informal caregiver and the person cared for, quality of life, perceived burden, social support, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the informal caregiver and the person cared for. The participants were 371 informal primary caregivers, 80.9% female, aged between 25 and 85 years, mean 53.17 (SD = 11.45) years. Only 16.4% of the informal caregivers benefited from monitoring and training for informal caregiver skills; 34.8% received information on the rights of the person being cared for; 7.8% received advice or guidance on the rights and duties of the informal caregiver; 11.9% of the caregivers benefited from psychological support; and 5.7% participated in self-help groups. A convenience sample was used, and data were collected via an online questionnaire. The main findings show that the major difficulties experienced by caregivers are related to social constraints, the demands of caring, and the reactions of the person cared for. The results reveal that the burden of the main informal caregivers is explained by the level of education, quality of life, level of dependence of the person cared for, level of difficulties, and social support. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted caregiving by increasing the perceived difficulty of accessing support services, such as consultations, services, and support; causing distress feelings in the caregiver, such as, anxiety and worry; increasing the needs and symptoms of the person cared for; and increasing the degree of isolation, for both, the informal caregiver and the person cared for.

Public assistance, survival, and household trust during the containment period of the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Togo.

This paper analyzes the impact of public assistance during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic with regard to household survival, using data from a two-round survey of 1274 respondents in Togo conducted by the National Institute of Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studies. The analysis uses the propensity score matching method, the probit model, and the discrete endogenous regressor. The first result shows that more than two thirds of respondents experienced income shocks due to the health crisis. The second result shows that public assistance programs have enabled the beneficiary populations to overcome the impact of shocks.

Slums and pandemics.

How do slums shape the economic and health dynamics of pandemics? A difference-in-differences analysis using millions of mobile phones in Brazil shows that residents of overcrowded slums engaged in less social distancing after the outbreak of Covid-19. We develop and calibrate a choice-theoretic equilibrium model in which individuals are heterogeneous in income and some people live in high-density slums. Slum residents account for a disproportionately high number of infections and deaths and, without slums, deaths increase in non-slum neighborhoods. Policy analysis of reallocation of medical resources, lockdowns and cash transfers produce heterogeneous effects across groups. Policy simulations indicate that: reallocating medical resources cuts deaths and raises output and the welfare of both groups; mild lockdowns favor slum individuals by mitigating the demand for hospital beds, whereas strict confinements mostly delay the evolution of the pandemic; and cash transfers benefit slum residents to the detriment of others, highlighting important distributional effects.

Educational Technology in Time of Covid-19, Experiences in Latin American Countries

COVID-19 imposed radical changes in the ways of teaching and learning in all countries, knowing the alternatives used by the states for the use of ICT in education and thus continuing with the training pro-cess requires a study of the emerging bibliography about the topic. For this, a descriptive study of bi-bliographic review was developed in open databa-ses, reports from international institutions and the written press. The revision of documents was used as a technique and through the logical processes of thought, conclusions, inferences and generalizations were established about the role of ICT in training. It concludes by assessing the relevance of these tools during the most difficult stage of COVID-19 and their future application.

Impact of COVID-19 on Liver Transplant Activity in the USA: Variation by Etiology and Cirrhosis Complications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the care of patients with liver disease. We examined impact of COVID-19 on liver transplant (LT) activity in the USA. METHODS: LT listings in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database (April 2018-May 2021) were analyzed to examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the LT activity based on etiology: hepatitis C virus (HCV), alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), alcoholic hepatitis (AH), and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) complications: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) grade 2 or 3) and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. Joinpoint regression models assessed time trend changes on a log scale. RESULTS: Of 23,871 recipients (8,995 in the COVID era, April 2018-February 2020), mean age 52 years, 62% men, 61% Caucasian, 32% ALD, 15% HCC, 30% ACLF grades 2-3, and mean MELD score 20.5), monthly LT changes were a decrease of 3.4% for overall LTs and 22% for HCC after September 2020, and increase of 4.5% for ALD since 11/2020 and 17% since 03/2021 for ACLF grade 2-3. Monthly MELD scores increased by 0.7 and 0.36 after June 2020 for HCV and HCC respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted LT activity, with a decrease of LTs especially for HCC, and an increase of LTs for ALD and severe ACLF. Strategies are needed to reorganize cirrhosis patients to overcome the aftereffects of COVID-19 pandemic.

INSTITUTIONAL VULNERABILITY: TRAINING AND CARE OF INTERVENTION TEAMS AS MEANS TO MANAGE RISKS. ANALYSIS BY A TEAM OF ARGENTINE RESEARCHERS

As a contribution to the concept of resilience and its construction at the local scale, the article explores the actions developed by the municipalities of the Province of Mendoza during the period of Preventive and Mandatory Social Isolation (ASPO) that was imposed in the Argentine Republic through the Decree 260/2020, between March 20 and July 17, 2020;in relation to preparation, organization, prevention, response and recovery in the face of the Health Emergency by COVID-19. The policies are organized into categories and subcategories that allow analyzing decision-making at different scales and months in relation to Risk Management with corrective and prospective approaches. Subsequently, these actions are classified according to their importance, in relation to the process of building resilience, allowing conclusions to be drawn and proposals to be generated in this regard. © 2023, Corporation for the Management and Reduction of Disaster Risk in Chile (GRID-Chile). All rights reserved.