BRASILIA, 1 June 2010: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) concluded its Thirty-third Session Tuesday in Brazil, welcoming the comprehensive approach to development centered on equality proposed by the Executive Secretariat and requesting that it draft proposals of public policies under that perspective.
The representatives of ECLAC’s 44 member and nine associate States met in Brasilia from 30 May to 1 June to review the activities of the Commission during the ongoing biennium and set the priorities of its programme of work for the following two years.
One of the most relevant resolutions approved Tuesday refers to South-South cooperation. The delegates to the Session requested the ECLAC Secretariat to prepare, in cooperation with other international and regional organizations, a broader set of indicators to reflect each country’s specific reality, thus allowing to identify their main needs, so that the criteria of average income cease to be an impediment for participating in official development assistance.
They also shared in general terms the focus on development as set forth in the main working document, Time for equality: closing gaps, opening trails, and requested that the Executive Secretariat carry out studies and draft public policy proposals for economic and social development with this focus and in close cooperation with national policymakers.
The document addressed the current socio-economic situation in the region and the medium- and long-term challenges in terms of macroeconomic policies, structural heterogeneity and productivity gaps, territorial disparities and convergence, employment and labour institutions, social gaps and the role of the State and taxation.
The delegates to the Session approved resolutions in support of ECLAC’s follow-up work on the compliance of the Millennium Development Goals and the implementation of agreements emanating from international conferences on economic and social issues, as well as the work of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute of Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee and the Special Committee on Population and Development.
The programme of work for ECLAC during the 2012-2013 biennium approved during the Session will focus on the following areas:
Increase macroeconomic stability and improve policies to reduce vulnerability and mitigate the effects of economic and financial crises
Strengthen the region’s access to financing for development
Contribute to improving the global, regional and national financial architecture
Heighten the productive potential of the region and reduce productivity gaps, with special emphasis on innovation and new technologies
Improve the region’s position in the global economy through trade, cooperation and regional integration
Promote a social covenant through greater social equality, lower social risks and further inclusion of a gender perspective in public policies
Improve policies for sustainable development and energy efficiency and address the effects of climate change
Improve the development of institutions that deal with the management of global and cross-border issues and the provision of public goods at a regional level
