(November 4, 2008) Heads of the United Nations System in Latin America and the Caribbean reaffirmed their commitment to support the countries in the region in tackling the crisis of the international financial system, especially in terms of the fight against hunger and in favor of investments in the social sector.
In the context of the annual meeting of the Regional Coordination Mechanism, chaired by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Asha-Rose Migiro, ECLAC's Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, and the Regional Directors of the Funds, Programs, Offices, and other organizations of the United Nations praised the commitment made by Heads of State last week during the XVIII Ibero-American Summit to take the steps necessary to protect jobs and investments, guarantee the availability of funds to finance productive activities and to support social policies in benefit of the most vulnerable sectors.
The Regional Directors reaffirmed the commitment with the Millenium Development Goals (MDG). They also asked the international community to support the efforts of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, since their income will be affected by reduced exports and remittances by migrants. Given the importance of commodities exports, the need to keep open credit lines for foreign trade and for agricultural producers was also highlighted.
The meeting was held at ECLAC's Headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
They also stated that developed countries should strengthen their commitment in establishing a Global Development Pact, an integral part of the MDG, particularly with regards to the dismantling of commercial protectionism and the fulfillment of its commitments in terms of Official Development Assistance, including those targeted to the middle income countries.
Likewise, they recalled that the United Nations is the multilateral forum per se to discuss global problems such as the present world economic situation, and therefore is called on to play an irreplaceable role in the reform process of the international financial system, thus guaranteeing the participation of all countries, especially the poorer and more vulnerable ones. They asked the Deputy Secretary-General to inform the Secretary-General about the need to highlight this in the next G20 meeting, to be held next 15 November.
In this sense, they recommended the countries of the region to participate in an active and coordinated way in all the forums of debate that will take place during the next weeks, particularly in the framework of the UN Conference on Financing for Development, that will be held in Doha, Qatar, at the end of this month.
In relation to the most adequate public policies to overcome the crisis, the UN representatives proposed supporting intra-regional trade and infrastructure programs to create jobs. This will require a careful use of fiscal resources that would allow for at least a partial compensation of the lower external demand without putting at risk the stability in the level of internal prices. Even though the region is in a better fiscal situation to tackle this crisis in comparison to previous ones, not all the countries have room in their fiscal accounts to implement anti-cyclical public policies, and therefore need to receive the support of the international financial institutions, without conditions.
In terms of social public policy, they considered it an imperative to protect and increase public spending to strengthen social protection networks, such as programs aimed to transfer support to the more vulnerable sectors, education, nutrition and maternal-infantile care. They explained that this helps reduce school desertion and child undernourishment and allows for a better health care for mothers and children which in turn guarantees a minimum income to the benefited families.
All this should be accompanied by active public policies aimed to boost production through the incorporation of innovation in the productive processes and the diversification of exports, among other things, with a special attention to the agricultural sectors and small and medium sized businesses.
The financial crisis comes on top of the rise in food prices, and the number of undernourished people in the region rose an estimated 6 million. This exposes the need to strengthen local agriculture and small farmers. More than half of the indigent population of Latin America and the Caribbean live in rural areas, where small farmers have a key role in food supply. Reinforcing this sector contributes to diminishing rural poverty and can have positive impacts on food prices.
In this respect, the regional heads of the UN called upon to transform this crisis into an opportunity, giving incentives to investments in a "green economy", that helps create decent jobs in all sectors, values environmental services and also contributes to the adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
In the annual meeting of the Regional Coordination Mechanism participated:
- Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
- World Food Programme (WFP)
- Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
- United Nations Enviroment Program (UNEP)
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
- United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
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