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Subsidiary bodies and the Committee of the Whole


These are permanent intergovernmental bodies of ECLAC that examine various public policy issues in the region, facilitate cooperation and peer learning based on the sharing of experiences, adopt regional stances in their respective areas of competence and devise mandates to the secretariat of the Commission.

Committee of the Whole

Committee of the Whole

Body of ECLAC that provides the governments of the member countries with an opportunity to meet between the sessions of the Commission.

Conferencia Regional sobre Cooperación Sur-Sur de América Latina y el Caribe

Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Regional Conference was established by virtue of resolution 752(PLEN.36) adopted by the member States of ECLAC at the thirty-sixth session of its Committee of the Whole in December 2021. In that meeting member States approved the renaming of the Committee on South-South Cooperation as the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC)

Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC)

The Committee was established in 1975, pursuant to ECLAC resolution 358(XVI), to promote and strengthen economic and social cooperation and integration among the countries of the Caribbean and to promote cooperation between them and the countries and integration processes of Latin America and the Caribbean.


Statistical Conference of the Americas

Statistical Conference of the Americas

Established in 2000 pursuant to ECLAC resolution 580(XXVIII) and Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/7, the Conference contributes to the progress of policies on statistics and statistical activities in the countries of the region and promotes international, regional and bilateral cooperation among national statistical offices and international and regional agencies.

Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2012, pursuant to ECLAC resolution 670(XXXIV), the ECLAC Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development was renamed the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It focuses on monitoring and reviewing issues relating to population and development, international migration, indigenous peoples and Afrodescendent populations, and ageing.

Conference on Science, Innovation and Information and Communications Technologies

Conference on Science, Innovation and Information and Communications Technologies

Established in 2012 pursuant to ECLAC resolution 672(XXXIV) and Economic and Social Council resolution 2012/35, the Conference’s objectives include promoting the development and improvement of national policies on science, technology and innovation and those related to the progress of the information and knowledge society.


Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

The first Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Havana in 1977. Since then, the Conference has met periodically at intervals of no more than three years, to review the regional and subregional situation with regard to women’s autonomy and rights, to put forward recommendations on public policies on gender equality, to undertake periodic assessments of the activities carried out in fulfilment of regional and international agreements and to serve as a forum for discussion on gender equality. It brings together high-level authorities with responsibility for issues relating to the situation of women and for policies to ensure gender equity in the countries of the region.

Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Established in 2014 pursuant to ECLAC resolution 682(XXXV) and Economic and Social Council resolution 2014/32, the Conference’s objectives include promoting the development of national policies on social development and international, regional and bilateral cooperation in the field of social development, in order to examine multidimensional poverty and make progress on poverty measurement, inequality and structural gaps.

Regional Council for Planning

Regional Council for Planning

Established in 1975 as a Technical Committee pursuant to ECLAC resolution 340(AC.66), adopted at the eighth extraordinary session of the Committee of the Whole of ECLAC, the Council acts as the senior guiding body for the activities of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) and serves as an advisory body with respect to the implementation of the work programmes of ILPES and the evaluation of their results.

Intergovernmental Meetings


Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing and the Rights of Older Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean

Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing and the Rights of Older Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean

In its resolution 590(XXIX) of 2002, ECLAC endorsed the mandate of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and requested the secretariat to organize a regional intergovernmental conference on ageing, for the purpose of formulating a regional strategy for the implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Madrid International Plan of Action of Ageing. The Conference is responsible for implementing and translating the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing into regional action plans and for assessing the progress made and the gaps in the implementation of the Plan of Action in the region.

Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

A regional dialogue was launched in 2000 on the information and knowledge society in Latin America and the Caribbean, in which the countries affirmed their willingness to design and implement programmes for access to and use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). In 2005, the Regional Preparatory Ministerial Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On that occasion, the first version of the Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC 2007) was approved as a regional vision and a political commitment to reduce the digital divide. The Conference’s main objective is to design and implement programmes for access to and use of ICTs in the region.