(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…
On average, 9% of those aged 15 and over are completely illiterate in Latin American and Caribbean countries (about 38 million people), according to estimates based on official data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, says a study prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which examines the main relevant strategies currently developed in the region.
If we consider functional illiteracy (which means the lack of skills and abilities that people need to function in various life situations), the figure is significantly higher - according to the documen…
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(15 August 2013) Today, official representatives from 38 member countries and associate members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) adopted the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, which contains a series of agreements to strengthen implementation of population and development issues beyond 2014, at the end of the First session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held from 12 to 15 August 2013 in the…
(24 September 2013) According to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), speaking in New York "Our generation has an unprecedented opportunity to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the coming decade. Not only is this an ethical and moral obligation, but it is the only basis for true development and shared prosperity".
The senior official took part in the event What People Want: Global Conversation on the Post-2015 Agenda, organized on 23 September by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) in the framework of the 68th…
(17 September 2013). The United Nations General Assembly officially opened its 68th session on Tuesday 17 September 2013, at its New York Headquarters, in a ceremony attended by at least 130 Heads of State and Government.
Over the next few days, world leaders will discuss an agenda including topics such as sustainable development, health, climate change and the fight against hunger, as well as assessing fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals.
At the press conference, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, stated that Syria is the main challenge for peace and security: "Let us be …
(8 July 2013) Speaking today in New York, United States, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, stated "In Latin America and the Caribbean, we have a historic opportunity to rethink development using equality and environmental sustainability as our compass".
Ms. Bárcena and government officials and representatives from international agencies took part in the high-level session to open the debate on inequality organized by the United Nations General Assembly.
The debate was inaugurated by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,…
(July 12, 2013) Government representatives and officials attending the Sixteenth Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on Thursday July 11 adopted a set of recommendations on priority issues identified by delegates who attended the Caribbean Forum on Population, Migration and Development, held in Guyana, July 9-10.
The range of proposals included actions to reduce poverty and inequality, promote and protect the rights of vulnerable groups, including older persons, adoles…
(12 June 2013) Investment in education, science, technology and infrastructure, along with improvements to the budgetary framework and better tax evasion controls, are key to raising the level of tax revenues in the region's countries, according to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), speaking today in Mexico City.
The senior United Nations official was one of the main speakers at the International Seminar on Tax Policy: Challenges and Trends, organized by the Centre of Public Finance Studies (CEFP) of the Mexican Chamber o…
(10 June 2013) Speaking at the first China-Latin American and the Caribbean Forum of Ministers of Agriculture, which ended on 9 June in Beijing, China, Antonio Prado, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), stated "In the agricultural sector, there are real complementarities between China and Latin America and the Caribbean that can be used to build a strategic trade, technology and cultural relationship with mutual benefits".
In his address to officials attending the Forum, Mr. Prado underlined the need to achieve more balanced trade …
(17 April 2013) On Tuesday 16 April, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, met with the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, as part of her tour of the Central American country.
The most senior official of this United Nations regional commission was accompanied by Hugo Beteta, Director of the ECLAC Subregional headquarters in Mexico, Osvaldo Rosales, Director of the Division of International Trade and Integration and Luis F. Yañez, Officer in Charge of the Secretariat of the Commission.
The delegation held meetings…
(13 February 2013) As part of an official visit to Cuba from Monday 11 February to Friday 15, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, has held various meetings with senior government authorities to assess, inter alia, the support that the Commission will provide in 2013 to the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), of which Cuba holds the pro tempore presidency.
The delegation accompanying the most senior representative of ECLAC consists in Raúl García-Buchaca, Director of the Programme Planning and Operati…
(4 October, 2013) International migration is a phenomenon with specific regional characteristics, which were presented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Antonio Prado, at the Second High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, which is being held as part of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On behalf of the five UN regional commissions, the senior official from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) presented the main messages from discussions organized by the commissions in collaboration with th…
(27 September 2013) The address by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at a seminar today in New York, focused on the promotion of social covenants for equality as the basis for structural change in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The senior official was the main speaker at the event The Future of Latin America: Positioning the Region in the Global Scene, which was organized by the Latin American Student Association (LASA) of the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, New York.
The meeting was …
(22 August 2013) At a seminar held today at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, authorities and experts discussed the public policies needed to build smart cities that will improve the quality of life of citizens in Chile and the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Smart Cities Summit 2013 - Building the cities of tomorrow, today was organized by ECLAC and the País Digital Foundation, with the support of the Government of Chile. It brought together authorities, international officials, academics and private-sector…
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(20 March 2013) Topics such as the expansion of the digital economy and stronger strategies for regional competitiveness, as well as the creation of policies for the massive roll-out of new applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs), will be discussed by senior officials, experts and private-sector representatives at the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The event, which will be held from 3 to 5 April 2013 in the Radisson Victoria Pla…
(15 February 2013) The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, met on Wednesday 13th February with the President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Raúl Castro, as part of an official visit to the island that began on Monday 11 February and ends today.
The Cuban President, who was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, thanked the willingness of ECLAC to support the work of the Community of Latin A…
The First Secretary of Economic, Technological-Scientific and Cooperation Matters at Germany's Embassy in Chile, Annette Weerth, visited the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, on Friday, December 20. That day she delivered an official note to the director of the United Nations organization's Programme Planning and Operations Division, Raúl García-Buchaca, in which Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) requested ECLAC's support to implement a regional cooperation project for the sustainable managem…