At UNDP we understand that consolidating societies that are inclusive, resilient, and efficient means lifting people out of poverty. This is an integral element in implementing the 2030 Agenda and it requires taking significant steps forward in the interconnected areas of development, namely: productivity, inclusion, and resilience. Effective governance is a precondition. As such, SDG 16 is the enabler of sustainable development.

For middle-income economies, struggling to become middle-class societies, like those in Latin America and the Caribbean, governance turns out to be the most relevant instrument for creating opportunities for people to forge their own destinies and collaborate with each other. Governance is the process by which opportunities are generated (their application is linked to the practice of democracy as well as to political and civil rights that lead to sustainable development).

The current defining challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean is a COVID-19 recovery that reverses the rise in inequality and the increase of poverty, while social cohesion and peace are maintained. COVID-19 is a challenge but also presents an opportunity, to forge or redefine social contracts that secure peaceful coexistence, build trust, promote more meaningful participation, and improve the capacity of institutions to respond to the new demands from society imposed by COVID-19.

The region faces five structural challenges that will define the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development during this decade. These challenges are related to structural deficits with the rise of social media are becoming evident and trigger social, economic, and political tensions and social protests. These challenges are:

1. Effective Governance to enable the generation of equitable opportunities.
2. Change the rule of the game (i.e policies) to reduce inequalities.
3. Institutional transformations for digital solutions.
4. Tolerance to human rights.
5. Peaceful coexistence and citizen security.