Drought is one of the greatest hydrological challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean, causing enormous economic losses, mainly in the agricultural sector, with repercussions on food security. While climate system science has made remarkable advances in weather and climate monitoring, modelling and prediction, providing valuable information for decision-making, there is still a significant gap between the availability of information and its application by stakeholders. This has led to an abundance of publicly available data and information on the potential impact of climate change, but a lack of user expertise has limited the use of this information to effectively develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies at the local level. This mismatch needs to be addressed in order for vulnerable water-stressed communities to benefit from the foresight provided by climate science. One tool that can be of great use to decision-makers is the determination of vulnerability to drought, which can be determined by different mechanisms and indices.

On 16 December, a virtual event will take place to present the publication "Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on cultural and creative industries: A joint initiative of MERCOSUR, UNESCO, IDB, SEGIB and OEI", which gathers the results of the project implemented during July and November 2020 to analyse the effects of the pandemic on the cultural and creative industries sector in MERCOSUR countries and Latin America.