José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), held a briefing on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, with representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Chile to present their vision on institutional priorities and the preparations for the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Developmentamong other topics.
It was the first formal meeting with Ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives of ECLAC member and associate States since José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs took office on October 3, 2022 after the appointment of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
During his presentation, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC offered an overview of the changes in globalization observed in recent decades, which included an analysis of geopolitical trends, the evolution of the multilateral trade system and the position of Latin America and Caribbean.
Within this framework, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs presented the 10 priority policy areas for the transformation of the development model proposed by ECLAC. These are: Productivity-productive development-employment-inclusive growth; Inequality and social mobility; Gaps in social protection; Vocational education and training; Gender equality and the care society; Sustainability and climate change; digital transformation; migrations; Regional economic integration; and Macroeconomics for development, with “Governance and strengthening of institutional capacities” as a cross-cutting objective.
In addition, he presented a list of opportunities for investment and collaboration between countries, which, in addition to being of interest for the formulation of public policies, will be presented by ECLAC at the next Ibero-American Summit (March 25) and at the Summit EU-CELAC (July 17-18).
The senior official reviewed the activities carried out by ECLAC since his appointment in October and shared the calendar of notable events for the year, mainly meetings of the institution’s subsidiary bodies.
José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs also highlighted before the diplomatic corps the fact that in 2023 ECLAC celebrates 75 years of existence with the commitment to continue working for a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future for Latin America and the Caribbean.
On February 25, a website was launched that accounts for the origins of ECLAC, as well as the evolution of its thinking and current institutional priorities, and various commemorative activities are planned to be carried out during the year, he reported.
During the meeting, the Secretary of the Commission, Luis F. Yáñez, took the floor to present the preparations for the Sixth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Developmentwhich will take place from April 26 to 28 in Santiago under the Presidency of Argentina.
The Forum is the regional mechanism for the follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets, their means of implementation and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
The Forum is open to the participation of all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and is convened under the auspices of ECLAC.
It annually brings together governments, United Nations agencies, regional and subregional integration blocs, development banks, civil society, academia and the private sector, in order to promote peer-to-peer learning for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. through voluntary reviews, the exchange of good practices and the discussion of common goals.
The conclusions and recommendations of the Forum are presented annually to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development as part of the regional contributions to the global follow-up and review process of the 2030 Agenda.
Representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, United States, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru participated in the informative meeting on Tuesday. , United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, Dominican Republic, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The members of the diplomatic corps thanked the meeting and expressed their willingness to continue strengthening the cooperation spaces between ECLAC and their respective countries.
