Countries recognize the 60 years of contribution of ILPES in strengthening the capacities of national planning and public management systems

Ministers, vice ministers and high authorities today recognized the six decades of contribution of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in strengthening the capacities of national systems of planning and public management of the countries of the region, during the Twenty-ninth Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Regional Planning Council that was held at the headquarters of the regional commission in Santiago, Chile.

The meeting was chaired by Héctor Alexander, Minister of Economy and Finance of Panama, in his capacity as President of the ILPES Regional Planning Council; Raúl García-Buchaca, ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary for Administration and Analysis of Programs, and Cielo Morales, Director of ILPES.

In his opening remarks, Minister Alexander highlighted that the history of development planning in the region is linked to the history of ECLAC and ILPES, which contributed to the creation of many of the region’s planning offices. and who trained planners in the 1960s and 1970s when these capacities were essential to access resources and international cooperation.

“In the post-pandemic recovery scenario, with its great global, regional and national complexities, planning continues to be essential to reduce the improvisation of State actions, and implement, with broad citizen participation, a development model that generates growth. , quality employment, reduce the structural gaps that generate inequalities, enhance productive capacities and benefit everyone, considering, especially, planetary limits”, he stated.

Raúl García-Buchaca, meanwhile, thanked the countries for the trust they have placed in ILPES, “something we see in their daily work and in their requests for guidance and advice, technical support and training.”

He added that, since its creation in 1962 under the Executive Secretary of Raúl Prebisch, “ILPES has served as a forum for dialogue, the exchange of national and subnational experiences, and the strengthening of cooperation among planning authorities in Latin America. and the Caribbean, to facilitate a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities of public planning and management, in light of the changing priorities at each historical moment”.

The Deputy Executive Secretary also highlighted the relevance of the Regional Planning Council and its Board of Directors, and stressed that the importance of this and other subsidiary bodies of ECLAC is that they generate intergovernmental instances and meeting spaces to strengthen multilateralism and cooperation, which in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region considered to have middle income as measured by GDP per capita, have a very particular significance for promoting the development agenda.

He added that the experiences emanating from the countries themselves reveal that the region has the firm intention of advancing in the strengthening of its institutional framework to build a development model with shared global and regional objectives, with a vision of the future thought of collectively, participatively and inclusive; with innovative policy proposals located in the territory as a place where State actions converge, and with a focus on the construction of a new public service that places citizens at the center of State action, to encourage more collaboration in the solution of public problems between institutions, and between these and the citizenry.

“All these experiences show that the region is widely using planning tools to articulate, negotiate and agree on country visions and development plans; to rationalize existing resources; and make the changes required for a development style with greater equality and sustainability in light of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. For all this, I reiterate the unyielding commitment of ILPES to continue following this path for many more decades”, he concluded.

After the inauguration, the Director of ILPES, Cielo Morales, presented an activity report in which she highlighted the participation of 4,239 people in the training courses given by the Institute and the consolidation of its distance training offer.

As a contribution to the commemoration of the six decades of existence of the Institute, Cielo Morales also presented the book guide Planning for development in the 60 years of ILPES, which was prepared with the support of ECLAC’s Hernán Santa Cruz Library, and which compiles the most significant publications, milestones and training activities in the 60-year history of ILPES. Published in Spanish, English and Portuguese, this living resource for research and study systematizes the history of ILPES and development planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the Twenty-ninth Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Regional Planning Council, the participating countries approved a series of Agreements in which, among other points, they recognize the consolidation and progress of the Regional Observatory of Planning for the Development of Latin America and the Caribbean in updating the information related to the institutionality of the national planning systems and in the collection, systematization and analysis of planning instruments in the specific areas of sustainable mobility in cities and territories.