Today the thirty-eighth session of the Committee of the Whole was held in New York, where the Commission’s activities in 2024 were reported upon and its programme of work for 2027 was approved. The meeting was led by the institution’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

Ambassadors and other official representatives of the member countries of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reaffirmed their commitment today to strengthening multilateralism and recognized the vital role of the United Nations Regional Commissions – including ECLAC – as engines for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, during the thirty-eighth session of the Commission’s Committee of the Whole.

Gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the participating authorities reviewed the report on ECLAC’s activities in 2024 and listened to a presentation on the 2027 draft programme of work, which they approved. In addition, the organization’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, gave a presentation on the updated socioeconomic outlook for the region.

ECLAC’s Committee of the Whole is the legislative body that enables member countries to meet between the Commission’s sessions in order to receive guidance regarding the organization’s current and future work. Its 38th session was led by Executive Secretary José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs and Deputy Permanent Representative of Peru to the United Nations, Juan Pablo Vegas, whose country is serving as Chair of ECLAC in the 2024-2026 period.

Participating in the meeting were diplomats from 25 of ECLAC’s member countries, along with staff members from the United Nations Regional Commissions New York Office and from the Secretariat of the Commission.

In his welcome remarks, Minister Juan Pablo Vegas emphasized the institutional worth of ECLAC, which for more than 70 years has served as a singular bridge between global frameworks and our region’s reality, supporting States in translating international commitments into efficacious actions that are tailored to each national context. He indicated that ECLAC plays a critical role as an intergovernmental platform for regulatory support, technical cooperation and the strengthening of its member States’ capacities. “Through this dual line of action, both intergovernmental and analytical, ECLAC contributes decisively to evidence-based public policy design, to the exchange of experiences and good practices, and to the promotion of regional integration,” he stated.

Meanwhile, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary thanked Peru for its leadership as Chair of ECLAC and expressed gratitude for the support and commitment of the Commission’s member countries upon reiterating at the various meetings held this year on the UN80 Initiative the importance of strengthening the development pillar and stressing the central role of the Regional Commissions, including ECLAC, as an integrator of policies that combine normative analysis with operational action.

“The dilemma facing Latin America and the Caribbean is clear: either we start a new era of high, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, or we head for a third lost decade. For ECLAC, and for me, it is important to listen and receive firsthand your perspectives and concerns about our region’s various challenges and about how ECLAC can support you more and better in order to achieve more productive, inclusive and sustainable development,” José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs underscored.

Later, in his presentation on the socioeconomic outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary recalled that the Commission has made an assessment of the region’s development challenges using the following analytical elements: 1) The three development traps that are hampering the region’s development; 2) The ten structural gaps affecting it; and 3) The eleven vital transformations that offer guidance on the path to follow – mainly the great productive transformation, which is essential for escaping the trap of low capacity for growth.

“Breaking free of the trap of low capacity for growth requires a deep productive transformation that would foster modernization, diversification and the generation of positive structural changes to overcome stagnation in productivity and economic growth,” he indicated.

How to do this is as important as what to do, he explained. “In this sphere we have proposed four areas that include: the issue of governance; the issue of what we call TOPP (technical, operational, political and prospective) institutional capabilities; the issue of spaces for social dialogue; and the issue of the political economy of the reforms and transformations,” the senior United Nations official added.

With regard to Latin America and the Caribbean’s economic prospects in 2025 and 2026, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary shared the latest growth estimates published in an institutional report entitled Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2025, citing figures that were just updated on October 23. For the region as a whole, 2025 growth is estimated at 2.4% in real terms, marking a slight increase from the 2.2% estimate made in August, which means the region remains on a path of low growth. In 2026, it is forecast that economic growth will remain low at a rate of 2.3%.

“Using our projections for 2025 and 2026, the growth estimated for the 2017-2026 decade would be just 1.6% per year, a level that continues to be very low given the region’s development needs,” he indicated.

“In conclusion, reality forces us to reflect on the strategies needed for the region to be able to invigorate its growth. If countries can accelerate the vital transformations, not only will economic, social and environmental indicators improve, but this would also be reflected in a higher growth rate. Because there are no significant transformations underlying low growth rates. These are two sides of the same coin,” José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs stated.

At the end of the 38th session of ECLAC’s Committee of the Whole, the delegates in attendance endorsed a draft resolution approving the Commission’s programme of work for 2027 and welcoming the report on the Commission’s 2024 activities presented today, underlining the wide-ranging outcomes achieved by the Commission in the different areas of work and commending its results-based approach and capacity to respond to the needs of the member States of the region. 

In addition, the Committee of the Whole takes note of the agreement adopted at the Ninth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Santiago on November 7-8, 2024, and decides that the Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean shall be renamed the Ministerial Conference on the Information Society and the Digital Transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It also takes note of paragraph 53 of the Tlatelolco Commitment, adopted at the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Mexico City on August 12-15, 2025, and decides to change the name of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean in Spanish from “Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer de América Latina y el Caribe” to “Conferencia Regional sobre las Mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe.”