Background

The Seventh meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will be held in Panama City within the framework of the XVIII Ministerial Forum for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This meeting will bring together Ministers and high-level authorities responsible for social development across the region. Its outcomes will be documented in a report that will be distributed to all ECLAC member States. The current Presiding Officers were elected at the Sixth Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Brasília in september 2025, and consist of Brazil as Chair, with Barbados, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay serving as Vice-Chairs.

Ministers and high-level authorities from Latin America and the Caribbean have been invited to exchange views on a proposed methodological framework for the development of a regional strategy aimed at implementing and monitoring the commitments undertaken by Member States in the Doha Political Declaration, adopted at the Second World Summit for Social Development, held in Doha in 2025.

Objectives of the meeting

A proposal for indicators to monitor the commitments undertaken by Member States in the Doha Political Declaration will be presented, together with a proposal for key policy measures designed to accelerate progress toward achieving the social dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and implementing the commitments contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, and the Doha Political Declaration.

During the event, ECLAC will hold two side events: “Promoting Labor Inclusion through Social Protection: Recommendations for Policy Design” and “Vulnerability and Social Protection Systems in Latin America: Conceptual Foundations and Guidelines for Policy Design.”