ECLAC Participates in Forum on Sustainable Development in Europe in the Run-up to Regional Meeting in Mexico

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) participated in a meeting on sustainable development held in Paris, where the Deputy Executive Secretary, Antonio Prado, described the topics that will be discussed during the regional organization’s next session, from May 23-27 in Mexico, and invited the attendees to join in reflecting upon the regional dimension of the 2030 Agenda.

Antonio Prado spoke Tuesday, May 10 on a panel about inequality reduction at the center of sustainable development strategies, in the framework of the International Conference 2016 "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: IT’S TIME!", organized by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI).

In this segment, ECLAC’s Deputy Executive Secretary exchanged impressions with Enrico Letta, a former Italian Prime Minister and current Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po, with the moderation of Richard Samans, Head of the Centre for the Global Agenda and Member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum.

Antonio Prado presented the main subjects analyzed in the document that ECLAC will release in Mexico, entitled Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development, which addresses from a regional perspective the implementation of the commitments assumed as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved in 2015.

The senior official also referred to the “trilogy of equality,” made up of the publications Time for Equality: Closing Gaps, Opening Trails (2010), Structural Change for Equality: An Integrated Approach to Development (2012) and Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future (2014)—presented by the Commission during its three previous biannual sessions.

Prado explained that ECLAC’s new book, Horizons 2030, seeks to give analytical support to the 2030 Agenda with diverse concrete proposals for making progress on development with equality and environmental sustainability in the region. Latin America and the Caribbean, he said, is going through a period of economic deceleration (an economic contraction of 0.6% is forecast for 2016), and has enormous challenges in terms of productivity, innovation, social inclusion and environmental protection.

The environmental challenges in the region are closely tied to social challenges, Prado explained, stressing that “social matters are not only at play in social arenas.”

This idea will be at the center of the debate during ECLAC’s thirty-sixth session, the regional organization’s most important biannual meeting where its 45 Member States and 13 Associate Members define the institution’s work program for the next two-year period.

In Mexico participants will discuss matters such as macroeconomics and global action for sustainable development, industrial policies for structural change, social policies for the equality of rights and South-South cooperation, among other topics.

Participants at the IDDRI meeting in Paris, which will conclude on May 11, include 150 prominent figures from numerous countries and disciplines who aim to share perspectives and experiences regarding three main challenges related to the 2030 Agenda: providing follow-up to the commitments made by governments and non-state actors; restructuring investments and making expectations converge; and ensuring solidarity and social justice.

More information:

• Thirty-sixth session of ECLAC.

All the details of the meeting in Mexico can be followed on social media with the hashtags #Horizontes2030 and #Horizons2030.