He Fortieth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) ended today in Lima, Peru, with the recognition and adherence of the member states and associated countries to the proposals and recommendations presented by the organization to achieve more productive, inclusive and sustainable development in the region.
During the three-day event – the most important of this United Nations regional commission, which is held every two years – ECLAC gave the delegations of the 36 attending countries its vision of the traps that affect the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the transformations necessary to overcome them. In this sense, the organization invited them to rethink, reimagine and transform the development models of the region.
The proposals, contained in the position document titled Latin America and the Caribbean facing development traps: Essential transformations and how to manage themand its emphasis on the “hows”, landed on the concrete and practical issues of governance, the technical, operational, political and prospective (TOPP) capacities of the institutions, the spaces for social dialogue and the political economy of the transformations, has been well received and gives rise to a conversation that is not only very rich, but also very useful and pragmatic, indicated the Executive Secretary of the organization, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, at the closing of the meeting.
“In our position document we start from our reading of the three traps in which we see the region mired: one of low capacity to grow; another of high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion; and a third of low institutional capacities and ineffective governance, as well as the challenges of climate change and an environmentally unsustainable development pattern,” said the senior United Nations official.
“In the document we warn of the dangers of not acting to get out of these traps and close the gaps, dangers that can lead us to a variety of dystopian scenarios of stagnation, greater environmental degradation, greater inequality, greater poverty, fear, frustration, polarization and conflict,” added Salazar-Xirinachs.
He highlighted the Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue with which this Period of Sessions began (Wednesday, October 9), in which the Pact for the Futurerecently adopted (at the United Nations General Assembly) as a step in the right direction, a very useful framework to strengthen international cooperation on important issues and strengthen the multilateral system. “The world and Latin America and the Caribbean need and would benefit from a world at peace; of a strong multilateral system; of a trading system governed by rules; collaboration to advance towards sustainable development; to advance the SDGs; and to confront climate change,” declared the Executive Secretary.
He also highlighted the four-table high-level seminar held within the framework of the meeting on October 10 and 11, where distinguished panelists and delegations talked about development traps and essential transformations; the low growth trap and how to achieve higher, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth; how to reduce inequality and promote inclusion and social mobility; and how to promote sustainability and confront climate change.
“ECLAC will continue to collaborate with the countries of the region to advance towards the essential transformations that allow us to overcome development traps and move towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable development pattern. Count on ECLAC to continue being a strategic partner of you as governments and in general of the societies of the region to promote innovative ways of facing challenges and managing the necessary changes and transformations,” emphasized the Executive Secretary.
At the closing ceremony of the 40th session, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Elmer Schialer, thanked him for the opportunity to have hosted the meeting and indicated that during the ECLAC presidency that his country now assumes – and which will continue until the next session is held in 2026 – a series of initiatives will continue to be developed that generate an impact on our economies and the well-being of our people.
“As we have seen in recent days, only by working together will we be able to face the challenges of the current time. By hosting the session in our country, Peru has sought to generate a confluence of ideas with a view to developing a work agenda that promotes regional cooperation, as well as the implementation of public policies and programs around inclusion, improvement of the general well-being of the population and the fight against inequalities,” said the Chancellor.
“As President Dina Boluarte highlighted at the opening of this meeting, the ECLAC document is valuable because it analyzes the current situation of our region and its main challenges and also suggests various lines of action to achieve the transformations it poses. . It will now be up to each Member State, through its competent sectors, to evaluate and evaluate these proposals, taking into consideration their national circumstances and priorities, to make appropriate use of this important tool,” added the Peruvian authority.
At the end of the event, the country delegates approved 14 resolutions – presented by the Secretary of the ECLAC Commission, Luis Fidel Yáñez -, including the “Lima Resolution” in which the governments welcomed the ECLAC report and the integrated approach to development that has characterized the Commission’s thinking since its creation. Along with sharing their conclusions, they also ask you to carry out studies and prepare public policy proposals for the countries, in close collaboration with those in charge of formulating policies in each territory, with the aim of supporting the strengthening of national capacities to achieve of sustainable development in its three dimensions and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
On the last day of the meeting, the report on the activities of the subsidiary bodies of ECLAC and the results of other intergovernmental meetings organized by ECLAC since its thirty-ninth session were also presented, and the report on the activities of the ECLAC system, 2023, and the draft work program of the ECLAC system, 2026.
Finally, the delegates approved the offer of the Dominican Republic to be the host country of the next session that must be held in 2026.
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