As world leaders gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York this morning to officially sign the Paris Agreement on climate change – the landmark accord that sets outs a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous global warming – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Member States to move quickly to join the accord at the national level so that it can enter into force as early as possible.
“Let us never forget – climate action is not a burden; indeed, it offers many benefits,” the UN chief said as he opened the High Level Signature CeremonyThe era of consumption …
(15 August 2012) The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will present to the region its proposal on structural change for equality during its thirty-fourth session that will take place in San Salvador, El Salvador, from 27 to 31 August.
The most important biennial meeting of this United Nations regional commission will be officially opened on Tuesday 28 August at 10.00 a.m. (El Salvador time zone) by ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, and the country's Foreign Affairs Minister, Hugo Martínez.
The session will be atte…
Watch video “Time for equality” (in Spanish, subtitles in English)
(28 March 2011) "Latin America and the Caribbean can safely take on its role in the new inclusive world scenario", according to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, speaking today.
The senior United Nations official was taking part in the second plenary session of the 52nd annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), being held today in Calgary, Canada.
"The time for equality has arrived in the region", she declared. She proposed six pillars for a new economic strat…
(16 February 2011) During a two days visit to Ecuador and Peru, which concluded yesterday night, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, called on both South American countries to further strengthen their democratic institutions and extend the benefits of development to the most disadvantaged populations, including indigenous peoples.
Officials accompanying Ban Ki-moon included the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernández-Taranco, as well as other senior UN representatives.
In Quito, the UN Se…
(9 February 2010) The lower the educational level of youths, the more difficult it is for them to access quality and highly-productive jobs, especially among young women, stated ECLAC's Deputy Executive Secretary, Antonio Prado, during the II Latin America and Caribbean - European Union Forum (LAC-EU) taking place in Lima, Peru.
The Forum is being held from February 8-10 under the theme "Promoting decent work for youths. New capabilities for new jobs", and participants include government ministers and other high ranking officials from a dozen countries of the region and Europe, as well as repr…
January 12, 2021, New York City, USA – Today is the start of the 12th Ministerial Forum for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean- a three day virtual meeting where global and regional sustainable development experts and top government officials come together to discuss the way forward for development in the region beyond OVID-19 response and recovery.
The 2020 Ministerial Forum, “Beyond Recovery. Towards a new social contract for LAC” will focus on three critical areas for development moving forward: strengthened social protection and fiscal systems; inclusive digital transformation;…
Deepening regional integration must be an essential component of any strategy for emerging from the crisis produced by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in order to move towards more sustainable and resilient trade. This entails strengthening our own production linkages and promoting intraregional trade, Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), stated today.
The senior United Nations official spoke during the LVI Ordinary Meeting of MERCOSUR’s Common Market Council, in which the Foreign Ministers of the four countries that mak…
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, emphasized the value of the regional dimension of sustainable development as a key bridge for connecting global processes to new realities on a national level in the context of the crisis produced by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), during a high-level meeting held today with United Nations member countries and senior officials.
Bárcena participated this Friday, May 22 in a session entitled “Unleashing the UN development system’s regional assets: the path forward” during the four…
At least 3,529 women were killed for gender-based reasons in 25 Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2018, according to the official data compiled annually by the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean (GEO) of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Four of the five highest rates of femicide, or feminicide, in Latin America occur in northern Central American countries (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) and in the Dominican Republic. Bolivia is the remaining country, with a rate of 2.3 femicides for every 100,000 women in 2018, whic…
ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, called for equalizing to grow and growing to equalize with the aim of moving toward a new, more inclusive and sustainable development model, and for forging renewed social compacts that enable changing current growth and production patterns and fighting growing inequalities in the region, in remarks she made at various high-level events dedicated to Latin America and the Caribbean that are taking place this week in Paris.
The senior United Nations official is in France to participate in the 10th International Economic Forum on Latin America and the …
(19 November 2013) Speaking today at a meeting in Abu Dhabi, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, stated that the region needs "more inclusion and more well-being", given the high level of inequality and the lack of public goods affecting many citizens.
On Tuesday, the senior United Nations official took part in a plenary session entitled "Regional Perspectives on Global Trends", in the framework of the Second Global Meeting of Regional Organizations.
The meeting, which is being jointly organized by the World Ec…
(1 October, 2013) The situation of Latin American and Caribbean women is once more at the heart of regional debate thanks to the meeting organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to review fulfilment of national gender equality commitments.
The 12th session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean will be held from 15 to 18 October 2013 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to bring together authorities, experts, international officials and representatives from civil society and the business sector.
Organized by ECLAC and th…
(27 June 2013) The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, described the risks faced by Latin American economies to regional authorities meeting in Panama City, Panama, and called for a boost to policies that promote innovation, training and employment with rights.
On 26 June, the most senior official of this United Nations regional commission took part in the 6th Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of the Economy and Finance, which is being held as part of preparations for the 23rd Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State a…
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(18 April 2013) On Wednesday 17 April in Guadalajara, Mexico, a group of Latin American and Caribbean countries approved a 2014 action plan to make progress towards the conclusion of a regional agreement or other instrument to advance the full implementation of the rights of access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters for sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Speaking at the closing ceremony attended by government officials and many experts from civil society and United Nations agencies, ECLAC Executive Secretary, Alicia Bár…
(21 June 2012) The Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, will visit the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday 26 June to deliver a lecture.
At 2.30 p.m., Wen Jiabao will speak on Chinese-Latin American relations. He will first be received by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, who will welcome him on behalf of this United Nations regional commission.
China's Ambassador in Chile, Yang Wanming, and other representatives from the accredited diplomatic corps, local authorities, officials and experts from interna…
(18 April 2012) In order to promote sustainable development in Latin America, it is necessary to transform industrial structures so that they include sectors related to knowledge and dynamic productivity, and to avoid those focusing on energy consumption, as stated in an ECLAC study published in the English edition of CEPAL Review Nº 105 - already available online.
In the article "The dynamics of industrial energy consumption in Latin America and their implications for sustainable development", ECLAC officials Hugo Altomonte, Nelson Correa, Diego Rivas and Giovanni Stumpo analyzed data from Br…
(19 March 2012) The agenda of multi-lateral bodies needs to be broadened in order to include not only global financial and economic topics, but also specific areas that are of particular interest to developing countries and Latin America and the Caribbean, as noted by the Executive Secretary of ECLAC Alicia Bárcena.
The UN High-level Official elaborated on the balance and prospect of the Latin American and Caribbean economy for 2011-2012 at the event Reunión de Altas Autoridades Económicas. Modelos de Desarrollo en América Latina. Búsqueda de Convergencias y Complementariedades (High-level Eco…
(21 October 2011) To mark 66th anniversary of the United Nations, authorities and representatives of agencies of the United Nations System in Chile will celebrate United Nations Day on Monday 24 October, at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) headquarters in Santiago.
United Nations Day 2011 will be dedicated to the memory of Dag Hammarskjöld, the former Secretary General of the United Nations (1953-1961) 50 years since his death. Hammarskjöld died on 18 September 1961 while on an official mission in the Congo.
The event will take place at 11 a.m. and will be le…
(29 June 2011) Today the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, met with President Fernando Lugo to discuss matters of interest to Paraguay and the region as a whole, ahead of the 41st MERCOSUR summit meeting in Asunción.
The most senior representative of ECLAC, who has been invited to take part in this bi-annual meeting of MERCOSUR Heads of State, described Paraguay's economic situation as very good.
According to the senior United Nations official: "Last year the economy grew by over 15% and this year it is expected by grow…
(19 May 2011) According to the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, who was visiting Montevideo, Uruguay: "We believe that there is a window of opportunity for boosting the strategic partnership between Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union".
The senior United Nations official gave a presentation entitled "Opportunities for deepening relations between Latin America and Europe" at the 5th Ordinary Plenary Session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) being held there.
"We must strengthen cooperation to deepen integration in the region itself, im…