Authorities and delegates from 29 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, from United Nations agencies and regional, multilateral and civil society organizations participating in the seventh meeting of the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Developmentconcluded the meeting today with the recognition that without the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, and of hunger, it will not be possible to build a more inclusive, productive and sustainable development in the region.
Likewise, they emphasized the need to implement comprehensive and intersectoral public policies that address the structural and cyclical causes of the region's low capacity to grow, high inequality and other gaps that make it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
After three days of intense debates held at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, the representatives reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the pace towards compliance with the SDGs in the six years that they remain. In this edition of the Forum, SDGs 1 (No poverty), 2 (Zero hunger), 13 (Climate action), 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions) and 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals) were analyzed in particular. Goals).
The challenges and priorities of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean were also discussed; there was a special session on the next Future Summit -which will take place at the UN headquarters in New York on September 22 and 23-; It was attended by important authorities of the world organization, such as the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, and the Deputy Secretary General for Policies of the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the UN, Guy Ryder; and the voices of the girls, boys, adolescents and youth of Latin America and the Caribbean were heard, as well as that of civil society organizations in the region.
The closing ceremony held this Thursday, April 18, was led by Laura Fernández Delgado, Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy of Costa Rica, in her capacity as Vice President of the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development; and José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC.
The Costa Rican minister highlighted that the challenges that humanity faces today, struck down by several fronts ranging from organized crime, hunger, poverty, inequality, the onslaught of climate change, the crises of biodiversity loss and pollution, scarcity of drinking water, armed conflicts, public debt and many other global challenges make it imperative that the countries we represent take a step forward towards this collective construction of solutions.
“A step forward that cannot be a lukewarm step, but rather a step forward that must be sufficiently reciprocal with the thirst that our people have for a dignified present and a tomorrow that leaves no one behind. A step forward that carries with it the manifest interest in action, and that I am sure, will be driven by the strength of the different national flags that fly and that are tattooed in the hearts of those of us who have been in this Forum,” she indicated.
“Our present and future generations cannot resist and do not deserve more diagnoses or ideas that do not materialize. The agreed agenda is a shared responsibility. Only together will we be able to undertake this challenging task,” remarked Laura Fernández Delgado.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC took stock of the discussions and highlighted the fact that more than 700 people attended the meeting in person throughout these days, more than 180 Government delegates from 29 member countries of the Forum , more than 150 representatives of the United Nations system, more than 200 people from civil society, the private sector and the academic sector.
José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs explained that it was clear in the interventions of the national delegations how hard the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are working on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with plans, policies and programs in all areas. However, and as shared in the different reports presented in this Forum, the various crises that have been manifesting for several years, linked to the slow growth of the economy and trade, climate change, forced migrations, Geopolitical conflicts and recent humanitarian crises caused by war in Europe and the Middle East have been important obstacles to progress in achieving the SDGs.
“In addition to negative external shocks, one could think of two more groups of reasons that could explain the lag. The first is that we do not know well what should be done or what is the desirable scenario towards which to move forward. There is already a lot of diagnosis of our realities and although there is room to improve these diagnoses, it could be argued that lack of knowledge about 'what' to do would not seem to be a very big cause of the lag. Much more important are a second type of reasons that refer to a lack of clarity and knowledge about the 'hows'. This question brings us to the very specific implementation problems that refer to how to manage transformations, that is, governance issues, issues of weak TOPP (Technical, Operational, Political and Prospective) capacities of institutions and the need for greater spaces. of social dialogue, among others,” he indicated.
“Comprehensive and intersectoral public policies that address the structural and conjunctural causes of the low capacity to grow, high inequality and low social mobility, and other gaps related to the SDGs are urgently required,” emphasized the senior United Nations official. United.
In a draft of conclusions and resolutions of almost 130 paragraphs approved at the end of the meeting, the acceding countries indicate that they note with concern that the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals that were to be achieved by 2020 at the latest have not been fully met and, In this regard, they call on the international community to strengthen measures to address these specific challenges, including the protection of biodiversity, the development of disaster risk reduction strategies, increasing the availability of data timely, quality and disaggregated programs, youth participation and increased financial resources, capacity building and technology transfer to developing countries.
Likewise, they recognize that the increase in inequalities continues to be a predominant feature of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and that the fight against this scourge requires, among other things, increasing investment in social services, including social protection services. , and economic opportunities in global, regional and national partnerships, of national and local authorities with the private sector, the international financial system, civil society, academia and other relevant stakeholders, so that, through joint work and in in line with national plans and policies, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is fulfilled.
In addition, they took note of the seventh report on regional progress and challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, entitled “Latin America and the Caribbean face the challenge of accelerating the pace towards compliance with the 2030 Agenda: transitions towards sustainability”prepared by ECLAC and presented during the meeting by the Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.
Finally they recognize that the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development has become an example of excellence in the regional coordination of multiple actors, such as governments, the United Nations system, the private sector, the academic sector and civil society, to carry out the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
