Inequality is inefficient, it perpetuates itself and permeates the productive system. In contrast, equality is not only an ineluctable ethical principle but also a variable that explains the efficiency of the economic system in the long run, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said during the World Economic Forum 2019, which concluded today in Davos, Switzerland. The issue of inequality was present in the majority of debates.
The senior United Nations official participated during the week in various sessions of the global …
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) subregional headquarters for the Caribbean has taken steps recently to advance its Debt for Climate Adaptation Swap Initiative. A mission led by Deputy Director, Dr. Dillon Alleyne, met with senior government officials and policy makers in Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to discuss progress and to build support for the initiative.
ECLAC has long argued that the high debt burden and debt servicing costs of many Caribbean economies have continued to constrain the ability of governments to meaningfully…
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, affirmed today that Central America’s response to this complex global context must be guided by the principles of the quest for equality, greater productive efficiency and the strengthening of integration, all of this in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Goals.
The senior United Nations official gave a keynote speech in the framework of the colloquium “Central America and Mexico at a crossroads today,” organized by ECLAC, The College of Mexico an…
International development cooperation must change and move from the traditional approach to one that responds to the particular needs of Latin America and the Caribbean, senior government authorities from various countries in the region and United Nations officials indicated today during the Eighth Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Committee on South-South Cooperation, which took place at the organization’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
The meeting – carried out in the framework of “Development in transition week,” which runs from October 2 to 5 – was inaugurated by the Executive Sec…
Recognizing the invaluable contribution made by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to advancing the equitable and sustainable development of the sub-region over the past seventy years, Caribbean Prime Ministers, Ministers and distinguished government officials emphasized today in Saint Lucia the need for a holistic approach to development that encompasses resilience-building and vulnerability reduction.
The twenty-seventh session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), which took place in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, on 27 April, brought tog…
This edition of Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean coincides with an
important milestone: the thirtieth anniversary of the Regional Seminar on Fiscal Policy
organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Over the past 30 years, this seminar has become a key fixture on the agenda of fiscal
policy events in the region.
Throughout these three decades, the successive editions of the seminar have
served as a forum for national authorities, tax experts and officials from international
organizations to discuss the performance, challenges and opportun…
The officials responsible for energy planning in seven countries of the region met in Brazil on March 6, 2018 to discuss, identify and define the necessary steps for creating the “Regional Technical Forum of Energy Planners,” a space for sharing experiences and promoting modern planning aimed at greater energy security and affordable energy for all.
The preparatory meeting – organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in association with Brazil’s Energy Research Company (EPE) – took place in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and brought together representatives …
The United Nations regional commissions must reaffirm migrants’ positive contributions to countries using evidence and data, Alicia Bárcena, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said.
The senior United Nations official participated in New York in a meeting of the multilateral body’s regional commissions on the prospects of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
Speakers at the event included the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga; the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Bangladesh, Md. Shahidul Haque, of El Salvador,…
The Regional Forums on Sustainable Development convened by the five United Nations regional commissions, including the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, provide an ideal space for regional reflection on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), facilitating peer learning and the exchange of good practices, authorities and UN officials agreed today at a meeting that took place in New York.
The parallel event Accelerating Sustainable Development- Regional assistance for t…
To support national efforts on development financing, it is time to definitively move beyond the dichotomy of donor-receiver and the criteria of per capita income in the allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and advance toward a new model that takes into account, for example, the needs of middle-income countries, a category that encompasses 85% of Latin American and Caribbean nations, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said today in Brussels.
Bárcena participated this Thursday in a seminar entitled Next step…
South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation provide a new cooperation model among equals that allows for protecting the interests of middle-income countries, strengthening the participation of developing nations in global forums for fiscal cooperation and addressing harmful fiscal competition through integrated regional programs, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Antonio Prado, sustained this Thursday, May 4.
The senior ECLAC official participated in Panama City in the Forum to launch Panama Cooperates, a National Coop…
Social development ministers and senior officials from Latin America and the Caribbean met today in the Dominican Republic to acknowledge the importance of safeguarding social investment and advancing towards universal protection systems to avoid setbacks in the fight against poverty, given the current economic situation, and to make progress to close the inequality gaps identified by ECLAC in a new document.
This was highlighted during the first meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Social Development, organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Ca…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) called today for taking innovative and effective measures to guarantee the full exercise of Latin American and Caribbean women’s rights, at a time when societies in several of the region’s countries have risen up to demand an end to gender violence and to the inequalities that affect their well-being and quality of life.
On Monday, the United Nations regional body launched the document Equality and women’s autonomy in the sustainable development agenda, which will be discussed by the authorities, international officials and re…
“The participation by civil society and the access to accurate, real and timely information is fundamental to building better governance of natural resources,” said Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) today in Mexico during a presentation in that country’s Congress headquarters.
The United Nations senior official was one of the main speakers at the roundtable discussion on governance of natural resources and climate change held in the framework of the Open Government Partnership meeting in Mexico. The gathering is part of t…
Three international seminars that will address diverse subjects related to Latin American and the Caribbean social development will take place during June and July 2016 in Santiago, Chile and in Quito, Ecuador, with the participation of senior government representatives, international officials and specialists from the region.
The first event entitled Progress and Challenges of Social Institutionality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Pathways Towards Universal Social Protection From the Perspective of Rights will be held on June 20-21 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin…
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, reaffirmed today in Mexico the cooperation ties between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, and called for building a strategic association between both parties based on a new governance model with equality and growth.
The European official participated as a special guest in ECLAC’s thirty-sixth session, which is being held in Mexico City, and spoke before an audience made up of authorities and representatives of member nations of this Unit…
Government officials, scholars and international experts explored new forms of cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in an academic seminar held on Monday, April 11, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.
“We admire the Republic of Korea’s successful experience in economic development, which offers important lessons for our region and for the developing world in general,” Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, said during the inauguration of the event entitled …
Official statistics and key indicators are essential for observing countries’ economic and social progress, determining the structural drivers of their growth and shaping priorities. Using the methodology of Khramov and Lee (2013), key indicators from the System of National Accounts (SNA), as well as balance of payments, monetary and financial, and public finance statistics, it is proposed to use a composite indicator to assess Latin America’s economic performance. An examination of long-term trends finds that this index generally captures the major economic shocks and periods of robust perfor…
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, expressed the organization’s solidarity and sent condolences today after the bombings occurred this morning in Brussels.
In a letter to the Belgian King Philippe I and Prime Minister Charles Michel, the United Nations senior official expressed her grief and concern over the fatal victims and her sincerest wishes for a speedy recovery for the more than 200 wounded survivors.
The complete text of Alicia Bárcena’s letter appears below.
Letter from Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executiv…
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, expressed the organization’s solidarity and sent her condolences to the European Union after the bombings occurred today in Brussels.
The United Nations senior official sent a letter to Federica Mogherini, High-representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in which she expressed her grief and concern over the fatal victims and gave the fraternal wishes of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples on this tragic day.
The complete text of Alicia Bárcena’s letter appe…