This Tuesday, 20 October, the Seventh meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean will be held in Panama City during the XVIII Ministerial Forum for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The current Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference were elected at the Sixth session of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (Brasilia, 2-4 September, 2025) and consist of Brazil as Chair, with Barbados, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay serving as Vice-Chairs.

The meeting in Panama City will bring together Ministers and high-level authorities on Social Development in the region, to whom ECLAC will present 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 2025 in Qatar).

During the event, ECLAC will also hold two side events: “Promoting labour inclusion through social protection: recommendations for policy design" and "Vulnerability and social protection systems in Latin America: conceptual foundations and guidelines for policy design"
WHAT: Seventh Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

WHO: Ministers and high-level authorities on Social Development in the region.

WHEN: Tuesday, 20 October, 2026, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM Panama time (GMT-5)

Where: Hotel Sheraton Grand Panamá, Panama City, Panama.

Virtual connection: https://www.undp.org/latin-america/forodesarrollolac