Initial evidence that COVID-19 is reaching Afro descendant communities in Latin America is growing.

Jeremy Auger is the Chief Strategy Officer at D2L – a world leader in education technology. D2L works with national and sub-national governments to deliver learning and skills development to individuals anytime, anywhere. D2L is member of the 21^st Century Skills Coalition joined by different public and private organizations to promote the development of 21st century skills in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The emergency generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has put to the test the public and private sectors´ response capacity as never before.

Before the arrival of COVID-19, which led to our mandatory, preventive social isolation as a means to mitigate its outbreak, it was common to see elderly couples out on the streets of Buenos Aires, going about their daily lives at a leisurely pace. And whenever I saw them, I would wonder: Who is taking care of whom? The answer is particularly important today since we all know that older adults are the social group that is most at risk.

We all stand together during these difficult times. Some live in countries in the middle of the pandemic, others live in countries where the pandemic may be in an earlier stage.  Hopefully, preparedness and response systems are well underway.

And one day, suddenly, everything stopped. And, as Gabriel García Marquez would say in his novel, perhaps “It was inevitable”.

Rosita looks through the window of her house in Guayaquil and remembers her school, her teacher, and her classmates. She does not understand why she can no longer go out to play with her friends in the neighborhood or visit her grandmother, nor why her father has not come to visit her in almost a month.

A large body of research has shown the long-term effects of early life adversity. A nurturing and stimulating environment is essential for healthy child development and can reduce the harmful effects of risk factors related to poverty and lack of parental resources. Parental programs to promote nurturing environments such as the home-based Reach Up, program originally developed in Jamaica, have been successfully implemented in a range of low- and middle-income countries.

COVID-19 disproportionately affects indigenous peoples. This presents a major health challenge requiring immediate responses that account for indigenous peoples’ diverse cultural and linguistic contexts.