| ECLAC briefing on report "Towards a New International Financial Architecture" The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Jose Antonio Ocampo (shown above seated at the left), and Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nittin Desai, (center), held a briefing for the UN press corps at the Headquarters on 29 January 1999, on a report entitled "Towards a New International Financial Architecture." Mr. Ocampo headed a Task Force of the Executive Committee on Economic Affairs which had produced the report. The Task Force had been set up in the wake of the Asian financial crisis of mid-1997 and contagion effect that had made it clear that the current international financial system was inadequate to safeguard the world economy from similar crises. |
ECLAC HOSTS ECONOMIC EDITORS SEMINAR
On May 3, ECLAC hosted 19 economic editors from 11 countries in the region and abroad, at a round table meeting called "Development in Latin America and the Caribbean from ECLAC's Perspective." The objective of the event was to encourage a debate on ECLAC viewpoint on regional issues and establishing relationships between ECLAC experts and the editors of the most influential media in the region.
The Executive Secretary opened the seminar with a presentation on the effects of the international crisis on Latin America. He was followed by Jorge Katz, acting director of the Productive Development Division, who gave an overview of the division's work, then by Michael Mortimore, director of ECLAC's Investment and Corporate Strategy Unit, who spoke about international competitiveness and foreign investment. Wilson Perés, head of the Industrial and Technological Development Unit finished off the morning session with a talk on industrial enterprise in the region.
In the afternoon, ECLAC's Social Development Division gave the editors a preview of this year's "Social Panorama" that was formally launched the following day. The seminar ended with two sectorial presentations from ECLAC's Finance Unit, with Luis Felipe Jiménez speaking on pension reform in Latin America and Daniel Titelman, addressing the topic of health care reform.
Most editors expressed pleasant surprise to find that ECLAC involved in such a wide range of issues. Many of them commented that they found information and analytical materials in the ECLAC secretariat to be both unique and useful. They also pointed out the need for more up-to-date statistics and more timely studies on current events, such as the global crisis and economic reform
ECLAC/UNFPA/PAHO ORGANIZE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN SYMPOSIUM ON OLDER PERSONS
The graying of Latin America and the Caribbean will be the subject of a symposium "Latin American and Caribbean Symposium on Older Persons" organized by ECLAC with the sponsorship of UNFPA and PAHO. The symposium will take place in Santiago, Chile, 8-10 September 1999. The event will include sessions on population ageing, health of older persons, their socio-economic vulnerability, and pension systems, and will culminate with a meeting of government representatives, civil society and other population experts.
Since the mid-1960s, major demographic changes have taken place in the region, most notably falling birth rates and a substantial increase in life expectancy. Over the last 30 years, the mean number of children ever born per woman in the region fell from six to three. From 1950 to the present, the mean length of life has risen by more than 20 years, to 70 years. The result is a gradual increase in the percentage of older persons in the region. While the under-15-year-old group is growing at 0.2%, those over-65 are growing at 3%. That growth rate will increase to 4% over the next few decades, while overall population growth will decline.
The ageing of Latin America and the Caribbean is happening much faster than it did in the developed world, and in the absence of sufficient economic development. One immediate concern is that of living conditions for the elderly. As a group, they are particularly vulnerable due to high levels of poverty and inadequate levels of education, employment, housing, and social integration. The symposium will explore these issues and discuss the urgent need for new policies in social security, living arrangements, inter- and intra-generational support networks, and social and community participation.
Experts from Latin America and the Caribbean, the United States, Europe and Asia, including staff from ECLAC, UNFPA, PAHO, DESA, ILO, the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank will partcipate in the symposium.
SIDS/POA Implementation: Planning For Adaptation To Climate Change (CPACC)
The most significant regional initiative to date aimed at addressing the issue of climate change in the Caribbean region, is the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Change Project which is being funded by the GEF. The project, which was developed and executed by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Executing Agency for the World Bank, commenced in April 1997 and is attempting to support twelve countries in preparing to cope with the adverse effects of global climate change through the vulnerability assessments of sea-level rise, adaptation planning and capacity- building linked to adaptation planning.
The Project focuses on building the capacity of national and regional institutions to implement specific measures, administer the network and information systems, research and monitor selected parameters, analyze data, and manage the process of preparation for adaptation. Providing further evidence of the strong and productive partnerships that are being forged in the implementation of the SIDS POA, partners in this exercise include the CARICOM Secretariat, UWICED, OAS, UNEP/RCU and the World Bank
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