Activties of the Commissions

Activities of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

ECLAC’s 31st Commission Session

At its thirty-first session held in Montevideo in March 2006, ECLAC proposed establishing a new social protection covenant to ensure that social rights are respected and inequalities and budgetary restrictions treated as limitations that must be recognized and resolved. ECLAC presented the report, Shaping the Future of Social Protection: Access, Financing and Solidarity, which revealed that reforms enacted in the 1990s did not finance social protection systems because they did not take into consideration the region’s labour market, slow job creation and the rise in informal employment and volatile growth. ECLAC emphasized the need for promoting policies that generate more and better jobs, and underlined the importance of a better balance between incentives and solidarity and social protection systems. The President of Uruguay, Mr. Tabaré Vázquez, officially opened the session. The President of Chile, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, also attended the session.

At the session, ECLAC recommended inclusion of Japan as a member of the Commission, to be approved by ECOSOC during its 2006 substantive session in Geneva.

Women’s Authorities Demand Participation in Decision-Making at Highest Levels of Government

The 39th meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico City on 11 and 12 May 2006, concluded with a call to improve mechanisms for women’s advancement in the region’s Governments, up to the ministerial level. This initiative seeks to improve women’s access to the highest spheres of political, social and economic decision-making.

The Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean is a subsidiary body of ECLAC, which brings together senior authorities responsible for the status of women and policies to ensure gender equity in the region’s countries. As such, it is the regional forum par excellence for analyzing public policy from a gender perspective.

Chinese Government and ECLAC to Strengthen Cooperation

A delegation of ECLAC, headed by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Machinea, met with the Vice Premier of the State Council of China, Mr. Zeng Peiyan, on 24 April 2006 in Beijing. During the meeting, delegates discussed the status of relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, analyzing the different mechanisms available to increase cooperation between ECLAC and the Chinese Government. Mr. Zeng appreciated ECLAC’s important role in developing economic cooperation with China and emphasized that as developing countries, China and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have much in common and share views on many key international issues. The ECLAC delegation was in Beijing to take part in the Second Economic Policy Dialogue: Seminar on Economic Policy of Latin America-PR China, organized by the German Cooperation Agency (GTZ).

The President of Mexico Addresses ECLAC

The President of Mexico, Mr. Vicente Fox Quesada, was the honoured speaker at the ECLAC headquarters on 26 January 2006, and made a presentation on “The Mexican Economy in the Context of Latin American Integration”. Senior officials of the host country, members of the diplomatic corps based in Chile, and representatives of international organizations, as well as the ECLAC staff, were among the audience, along with other distinguished figures from the political, economic, and academic spheres. Mexico has belonged to ECLAC since its founding (25 February 1948) and has played an active and supportive role in its development ever since.

Bolivia's President to Strengthen Cooperation with ECLAC

Mr. Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, met with Mr. José Luis Machinea, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, in La Paz on 8 May 2006, to discuss cooperation between ECLAC and the Bolivian Government, agreeing on areas for future action. ECLAC currently advises the Bolivian Government on a series of issues associated with the national development plan. The two also spoke about current conditions in the region, including recent measures announced by Mr. Morales' Government. The meeting culminated in an invitation from Bolivia's highest authorities to ECLAC's Executive Secretary to return to La Paz for working meetings with the different government agencies and ministries.

“Experiences in Social Innovation” Competition Completes Initial Project Selection

For 2005 to 2006, 53 innovative projects from 12 Latin American countries were selected for further evaluation in the next phase of the competition “Experiences in Social Innovation”. Organized by ECLAC, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, this programme strives to identify and reward innovative initiatives in the area of social development and to analyze and systematize these projects so that their lessons can be shared and disseminated. It is hoped that making these experiences more widely known will improve social practices and policies for people in the region’s countries, particularly those living on lower incomes. The contest showcases innovative practice in six fields: community health, primary education, youth programmes, income generation, corporate social responsibility and volunteerism, and rural/agricultural/food safety and nutrition programmes.

Invitation to Participate in Evaluating Local Policies for Territorial Economic Development

The Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), which forms part of ECLAC, received applications to participate in an evaluation of local policies for territorial economic development, directed at local governments and municipalities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Entitled “System for Communication, Learning and Cooperation between Relevant Experiences in Territorial Economic Development Management”, the initiative will select 12 cases from the presentations received, with the hope that the local governments chosen will evaluate their policies, programmes and projects in this field through a process of interactive learning.

As part of an official tour to South America, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, met with a group of senior officers of ECLAC, headed by the Executive Secretary, Mr. Machinea, in ECLAC headquarters on 1 May 2006. In a presentation, Current Conditions in the Countries of Latin America: Opportunities and Risks, the German delegation received a complete overview of the region’s economic, social and political circumstances. In the ensuing dialogue, the Minister and his delegation were particularly interested in the subject of energy integration. The delegation, which included a group of German businessmen, representing different sectors involved in bilateral cooperation, and members of Germany’s federal parliament (the Bundestag), also traveled to Argentina and Brazil. The tour was in preparation for the fourth European Union - Latin America and the Caribbean summit, held in May in Vienna.

ECLAC/Fondo Latinoamericano de Reservas Seminar on the Role of Regional Reserve Funds in crisis prevention (Lima, Peru)

Latin American Conference on Environment and Social Responsibility (Belo Horizonte, Brazil)

Seventh meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC (Madrid, Spain)

Award Ceremony for the competition "Experiences in Social Innovation", organized by ECLAC with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

High-level Technical Meeting of Caribbean Authorities to Review the Implementation of the Principles of the Integrated Water Resources Management

Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (Sales No. E.06.II.G.44; ISBN: 92-1-121586-2)

Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2005 (Sales No. E.05.II.G.188; ISBN: 92-1-121574-9)

Social Panorama of Latin America 2005 (Sales No. E.05.II.G.161; ISBN: 92-1-121567-6)

Macroeconomic Coordination in Latin America: Does It Have a future? (Sales No. E.05.II.G.177; ISBN: 92-1-121571-4)

Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy, 2004 -Trends 2005 (Sales No. E.05.II.G.117; ISBN: 92-1-121443-2)