Mexico

127.5

Population 2022 (Millions)

0.76

HDI Score
2021 (Max. 1)

69.7

SDG Score
2023
(Max. 100)

0.31

Gender Inequality
Index Score
(Max. 1)

36

Internet Inclusivity
Index 2022
(100 countries)

Sources: 1. World Bank (2022), 2, UNDP (2021), 3. Sustainable Development Report (2023), 4. UNDP (2021), 5. Economist Impact (2022)

Overview

As the only Latin American country located in North America, Mexico has intrinsic and deep linkages with its northern neighbor (the United States). With a diverse population that includes those of European descent, mestizos and Indigenous peoples, Mexico enjoys an abundance of natural resources. However, despite many natural and geographic advantages, the country has been racked with instability, both politically and as a result of drug cartel violence. The latter has caused human suffering on a vast scale, with thousands killed every year. Additional challenges include high levels of inequality, government corruption, and the struggle by Indigenous groups to secure their rights.

Projects

CRM Design and Centralized Database for AbogadasMX
Open Algorithms (OPAL) for Public Data and Good

“Open Algorithm (OPAL) for Public Data and Good” seeks to merge different “privacy enhancing techniques” (PETs), such as federated learning, differential privacy, and negative databases, to allow trusted third parties such as researchers or official institutions to analyze censuses or national surveys’ microdata produced by national statistical offices (NSOs), as well as other administrative records, to derive indicators using these data, while avoiding privacy risks. A pilot is expected to be conducted in Mexico, and DPA plans to expand to additional NSOs and other public data holders in the future.

Professional Training Program “Big Data for Measuring the Digital Economy”

In partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), DPA offered a series of workshops particularly focused on Big Data and the Digital Economy in the Latin American and the Caribbean region designed for development practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. Five editions were delivered in: Santiago de Chile (March 2016), São Paulo (September 2017) —in partnership with Cetic.br—, Mexico City (October 2017) —in collaboration with the National Digital Strategy (EDN) program and the MIT Sloan School of Management—, Santo Domingo (April 2019), and Bogotá (May 2019) —in partnership with DANE.

EmpoderaData

EmpoderaData builds upon the success of the “Quantitative Step” (Q-Step) program, which was developed as a strategic response to the shortage of quantitatively-skilled social science graduates in the United Kingdom. Together, University of Manchester and Data-Pop Alliance expanded upon the program’s excellent results, exploring this model in the Global South as the “EmpoderaData Project”. The project aimed to promote a virtuous cycle of social transformation by fostering data literacy skills applied to addressing our society’s most pressing issues in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Parallel Worlds: Big Data and Inequality in Mexico City

“Parallel Worlds” is a project developed by the Data-Pop Alliance and Oxfam México, with the purpose to analyze inequality in Mexico City, using mobility data provided by Cuebiq’s Data for Good program. The project aimed to inform and influence public policy actors in making decisions that contribute to reducing social and economic segregation based on the privilege and marginalization associated with certain spaces in the city. More specifically, DPA analyzed urban inequality in Mexico City through the mapping of movement patterns in the city, using mobile data to identify segregation patterns, in terms of where people live, work, and consume. The report analyzes three dimensions of inequality: i) in access to education, ii) the right to the city, by analyzing exclusive spaces, and iii) in access to culture. A version of this paper was published in English by Projections, the Journal of the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Scoping Study for a Comparative Research on Crime Risk Factors Using Big Data

A study published by the Open Society Foundations has reported numerous “atrocity crimes” perpetrated in Mexico against the civilian population since 2006. Against this backdrop, with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) support, DPA sought to gain better insights into organized and interpersonal crime, by undertaking a scoping study to build a comparative research study in two cities: one heavily affected by organized crime violence and another with low organized crime rates, where violence is mostly interpersonal. To this end, this scoping study aimed at building a research proposal for two cities, according to data availability (i.e. traditional and Big Data sources) and crime dynamics; suggested methodology, and potential partners.

MEXICO

Information last updated: 26 May, 2020

Status

Non-essential activities suspended until May 30th. The gradual reactivation of activities will begin on June 1st following a the protocols for color-code system for categories (Eg. Schools, Work) that will be applied by regions.

Mexico is ninth country with more deaths due to the coronavirus, having reached 7,633 fatalities as of May 25.

As of April 22th, Mexico has entered Phase III of the contingency, which according the health authorities, signal to a rising number of cases up to the thousands (+9k cases confirmed). A nationwide “Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia” has been put in place until May 30th, and entails the suspension of non-essential activities in the public, private and social sectors. To date, Mexico has not put in place curfews or mandatory lockdowns. Government authorities have also declared a health emergency

Response set up and capacity

The Health Secretariat (Secretaría de Salud) is responsible for managing and guiding all health institutions. Additionally, the Health Secretariat, through the Epidemiological and Sanitary Intelligence Unit (UIES, Unidad de Inteligencia Epidemiológica y Sanitaria) of the General Directorate of Epidemiology, issues epidemiological warnings and monitors the pandemic. Furthermore, the National Epidemiological Surveillance System is the set of epidemiological strategies and actions that allow the production of useful epidemiological information for public health. The National Network of Public Health Laboratories and the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference are entities in charge of conducting testing and confirming cases. 

According to an OECD report published last November, Mexico has only 1.2 nurses for each doctor, whereas the average among OECD member countries is 2.7. It is estimated that the number of beds won’t cover the demand as projections show that 24,500 people would likely require hospitalization and just over 10,500 could need intensive care. Current capacity is estimated to be around 3,000 ICU beds, including those operated by public hospitals, social security services, Pemex, the army and navy. 

Stakeholder Mapping

Entities / Organizations

• Secretaría de Salud Federal
• Unidad de Inteligencia Epidemiológica y Sanitaria (UIES) de la Dirección General de Epidemiología
• Dirección General de Epidemiología Comité Nacional para la Vigilancia Epidemiológica (CONAVE)
• Comités Jurisdiccionales y Estatales para la Vigilancia Epidemiológica
• Red Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud Pública

Additional actors

• President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador
• Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion
• José Luis Alomía Zegarra, General Director of Epidemiology

Mitigating factors - What is being done?

  • 9 January – The General Directorate of Epidemiology published a Preventive Notice of Travel to China
  • 28 February – The first case in Mexico was confirmed (35-year-old male from Mexico City, with previous travel to Italy. 
  • 14 March – The Epidemiology General Directorate updated the Preventive Travel Notice to countries with local transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
  • 15 March – Mexico confirmed 41 confirmed in total, all tied to previous travel to Italy, the United States, Spain or Germany.
  • 17 March – The Federal government announces that 3,500 millions pesos (about 157 million USD) will be used to support the fight against the epidemic, mostly directed at acquiring medical supplies for hospitals.
  • 18 March Work meeting on COVID-19 between national committees of Emergencies and Health Safety; First death from coronavirus in Mexico.
  • 23 March –  Actions of “Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia” began to be carried out, which will last until April 19th.
  • 24 March Work from home is ordered to public servants, except for essential functions. Preventive measures are imposed on the public, private and social sectors; the government puts outs a recruitment call for medical personnel.   
  • 25 March Government authorities declared Phase 2 of the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico.
  • 27 March – Government implements extraordinary measures including allowing the extraordinary use of all medical and social assistance resources of the public, social and private sectors existing in the affected and neighboring regions;  eliminates public bidding procedures for all medical equipment, diagnostic agents, surgical and healthcare materials, hygiene products, amongst others; and puts in place measures to avoid price speculation
  • 30 March – A health emergency is declared. 
  •  April 16 – the extension of the Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia is extended until May 30th (from a tentative end date of April 30th. Lopez Gatell announces that by May 17, states and municipalities with low levels of infection can consider loosening these restrictions (i.e, opening schools).  
  • April 19 – Mexico City’s hospital are nearing full-capacity “after they received 100 more Covid-19 patients requiring intubation in just two days”.
  • April 22 – According to an assessment carried out by Oxfam México, the additional social programs promoted to protect by the President the most vulnerable populations are far covering the needs of the workers with fewer economic resources.
  • April 23 – Shanghái delivers a donation of medical materials to Mexico, including masks, face-masks and googles. // The public hospital systems (IMSS) publishes the guidelines to request a medical leave of absence from their work if they exhibit (not critical) symptoms of the virus.
  • April 24 – Authorities confirm that several private hospital have reached their full capacity or are already dealing with an overload of coronavirus cases.
    • In the State of Nuevo León, the authorities of the San Pedro Garza García municipality activated the Phase 4, which meant installing police filters to monitor entry of vehicles to the municipality. Everyone is subject to questions and can be denied entry if not residents of the place.
  • May 13 – The president announced the 3-stages plan for returning to a “new normality The first one starts on May 18 and involves reactivating activities (work, school, use of public spaces) on “Municipios Esperanza” (Hope municipalities) in which there have been no confirmed cases (over 200 hundred by then). The second stage goes from May 18 until May 31, a period of so-called “preparation” so that families, companies and institutions prepare protocols for reactivation. The third stage is marked to begin on June 1st with the application of a traffic-light system for regions that includes with four colors and five categories (Work, Use of Public Space, Vulnerable populations, School, and Measures of Public Health and Work). Each color indicates protocols and/or level of reactivation that should be followed for each of the categories in an specific region.
  • May 14Purchase of alcohol is prohibited in various delegations of Mexico City in an attempt to prevent domestic violence and the movement of people. The measure applies mostly during weekends.
  • May 24 – Coparmex reports that every minute 8 jobs are lost in Mexico and called for the government to subsidize the salaries of more than 19 millions informal workers affiliated to the public health system. 685,840 formal jobs were lost in March and 555,247 in April.
  • May 25 – The number of confirmed cases surpasses the 70,000 number, and over 50,000 of those were reported just during May. And even though the peak of the epidemic was expected to take place early in the month, the percentage of new daily cases continues to increase. // According to the Secretary of Economy, the economic reactivation of the country will not start until there is a vaccination and medicines against the virus, but showed hopes that the new commercial treaty between Canada, USA and Mexico helps to reposition the global price of oil.
  • May 26 – PEMEX (nationalized petrol company) reports 1,458 positive coronavirus cases within its employees and 204 deaths. // Several corporations in the country, including Cruz Azul cements, announced that they will be conducting their own Covid-19 tests in an effort to contribute to the detection and prevention of cases.

Risks, vulnerabilities, obstacles

  • Hospitals’ capacity and health system: On March 30th, epidemiologist López-Gatell modeled the estimated hospitalization burden arising from COVID-19 pandemic in two scenarios – with no interventions, and with actions similar to ‘stay at home’ orders. Without any intervention, it is predicted that Mexico’s ICU and hospital capacity would collapse at the end of April. Currently, several private hospitals have surpassed their capacity.
  • Health risks: A fundamental aspect putting the Mexican population at greater disadvantage and risk of contagion is that the country has one of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which is likely to be correlated to the elevated rate of coronavirus fatalities.
  • Poverty and inequality: 50% of Mexicans live below the poverty line, and 30 million Mexicans work in the informal sector – the economic repercussions of the pandemic make 30% more Mexicans vulnerable to fall under the poverty line, particularly as informal workers receive no social welfare benefits. It is estimated that if the economy plunges by 5 percent this year,  1.7m jobs could be lost, including 700, 000 in the formal sector. 
  • Migrants and remittances: Though migration from Mexico has slowed in recent years, the country received record remittances of $36bn last year from Mexicans abroad — a vital lifeline that will be hard hit as the US economy plummets.
  • Gender-based violence: Domestic violence has demonstrated to be one of the most concerning issues emerging from the confinement. Almost two months after the registration of the first COVID-19 case in Mexico and one month after the beginning of the “Sana Distancia” campaign, the Shelter Network observed an increase of 80% of GBV related calls and messages. Additionally, these centers have reached 80% to 110% of their capacity, especially in entities such as Guanajuato, the State of Mexico, and Chiapas. Despite the official campaigns to call for a contingence without violence (#ContingenciaSinViolenia), this remains a critical problem in Mexico.

Potential actions and demands

Key resources

The C-19 Global South Observatory is a collaboration between

Mexico

Overview

In 2015, homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) were four times higher than the world average, making it the most violent region in the world. Mexico in particular ranks amongst the most violent countries in the region, as the levels of violence in the country peaked in 2017, registering more than 29,000 homicides. At the same time, income inequality has risen, and remains one of the country’s biggest societal challenges. The 2017 earthquake that hit the capital showed in particular the differential impact of shocks on different income groups. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have exacerbated existing gender inequalities in the country. Every day, ten women are assassinated, and four months after the confinement measures started, the National Network of Shelters registered an increase of 81% in the number of people attended by the centers.

Against this backdrop and building on the unique breadth and depth of expertise of our work in the region, DPA is working to gain better insights into the complex relationship between crime and inequality in Mexico; inequality and spatial mobility, and gender based violence and its associated factors during and after the pandemic. The overall objective is to improve relevant policy decisions and contribute to a safer and fairer Mexican society.

Diagnose

Institutional Gender Assessment of Cinvestav

In partnership with the enter for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Cinvestav), this project aims to produce an analysis of the situation for women in an academic setting and the gender dynamics of the workplace in Cinvestav, a public institution with 10 research centers across Mexico. The goals of the project are: 1) to understand the impact that gender inequality has on the professional and educational lives of women that work or study in the institution; 2) propose recommendations and actions that contribute to the adoption of institutional policies with a gender perspective, and 3) promote gender equality within the community.

The project uses an iterative mixed-methods approach, with desk research and literature review, focus groups and an online survey to measure various gender indicators and obtain socio-demographic data on the working and student population. When concluded, a Final Report containing key insights and recommendations will be made available to the Cinvestav community. In addition, DPA will conduct a workshop with representatives from different populations groups to discuss key recommendations. This project was carried out between July and December 2021.

Mundos Paralelos: Big Data and Inequality in Mexico city

“Mundos Paralelos [Parallel Worlds]” was developed in 2020 by Oxfam México and Data-Pop Alliance to analyze inequality among the inhabitants of Mexico City from an spatial perspective, using human mobility data provided by Cuebiq’s Data for Good program. By analyzing how two distinct population groups –from opposite socioeconomic and geographical sectors of Mexico City– use and move across diverse spaces, the report takes a deep look into three particular dimensions of inequality: i) in the access to education, ii) in the right to the city, and iii) in the access to culture. 

Note: In accordance to its privacy policy, Cuebiq does not collect data from minors. Therefore, the “stays” reported in primary schools were inferred based on the activity of visitors that could potentially be parents, teachers, administrative personnel, etc.

Understanding the impact of crime shocks on individuals’ behaviors

Statistics on the direct human and material costs of crime phenomena exist (e.g.: death tolls of crime waves). However, the disruption and recovery dynamics of daily routines of local communities — such as disruption of mobility patterns and economic activity — has yet to be systematically analyzed.

With initial funding from the French Development Agency, DPA started a research line focused on the quantification, at a fine-grain and large scale, of the disruption and recovery dynamics induced by crime across population subgroups. As a result of the first research phase, DPA released the paper “Impact of Crime Shocks Across Gender and Socioeconomic Groups: A Large-Scale Mapping of Behavioral Disruption”. The paper was selected to be showcased at the 2018 Data For Good Exchange, organized by Bloomberg in NYC.

Mobilize

"Big Data, Digital Economy, and Sustainable Development"

In October, 2017, Data-Pop Alliance conducted a training in conjunction with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Mexico City. Over three days the more than 40 participants learned to develop and implement Big Data innovation projects, policies, and partnerships in support of sustainable development objectives. Click the button to learn more about  this workshop.

Transform

Pilot: Risk model to identify domestic violence hotspots in Mexico 

Our goal with this project is to use an innovative approach to identify geographical areas throughout Mexico where women could be at most-risk of experiencing violence in the domestic setting by leveraging traditional and non traditional sources of data. It also seeks to generate key insights about the factors that are at play when VaW takes place, during and after a pandemic such as COVID-19. This involves building a statistical VaW risk model and a visualization map. A workshop with government officials and partnerships with civil society organizations will further contribute to ensure the incidence and sustainability of the project.

For more information, please contact: zdelvillar@datapopalliance.org

DataMex is a collaborative project between Data-Pop Alliance and Oxfam Mexico, officially launched in September 2018, with the objective of influencing the data ecosystem within the framework of the SDGs and 2030 Agenda. The project seeks to develop and enhance data use (big data, small data, open data, official data) to better inform and evaluate public policy in Mexico, with a focus on socioeconomic and gender inequalities, and (in)security.

The most recent outcome from this partnership, is the report “Mundos Paralelos” (See above).