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 …
The President of the United Mexican States, Enrique Peña Nieto, will head the inauguration ceremony of ECLAC’s thirty-sixth session—the most important biennial meeting of this United Nations regional commission—next Tuesday, May 24 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) in the Official Residence of Los Pinos in Mexico City.
The event, which will be held from May 23 to May 27 in the offices of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will bring together representatives from ECLAC’s 45 member states and 13 associate members and will be attended by more than 30 Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Foreign, Finance, E…
(New York, 1 January 2016) The New Year ushers in the official launch of the bold and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders last September at the United Nations. The new Agenda calls on countries to begin efforts to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next 15 years.
“The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world's leaders and the people,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “They are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success."
The SDGs,…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) continues strengthening its electronic outreach platform to expand access to its vast academic assets among the Member States and the population in general. Its two main electronic communications tools —the www.cepal.org website and the Digital Repository— are now more tightly integrated and their capacity has been expanded, offering easier navigation and access to and downloads of the Commission’s publications and official documents.
An updated version of the Digital Repository —which houses more than 37,000 documents publish…
Latin America and the Caribbean is going through a difficult economic, political and social phase but has the opportunity to change its development trajectory towards more inclusive growth, with more sustainable investment and consumption patterns, Alicia Bárcena, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, said during the XX Annual Conference of CAF – Development Bank of Latin America.
The senior United Nations official added that the macroeconomic toolbox must be expanded to include fiscal policies that put greater emphasis on tax evasion and avoidance, which in the region represents 6.7% of regional …
“Greater and better governance of natural resources is necessary to fulfill the goals of sustainable development. This necessitates moving towards greater efficiency in the use of material resources, particularly non-renewable natural resources,” ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, said today during a side event to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which is taking place in New York.
The senior United Nations official headed the meeting entitled “How to Leave No One Behind: Sustainable Natural Resource Management,” which was organized by the International…
“The Pacific Alliance is an exceptional example of public-private association and integration. It has achieved great harmony, pragmatism and agility among the stakeholders involved and continuity over time,” emphasized Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), during the 3rd Pacific Alliance Business Summit held today in the framework of the trade bloc’s XI Presidential Summit in the city of Puerto Varas in southern Chile.
The senior UN official called for the mechanism’s member countries—Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—to gene…
Development levels should be evaluated using a comprehensive approach and not solely on the basis of per capita income, Alicia Bárcena, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said today, adding that middle-income countries in the region should continue receiving official development assistance (ODA) to be able to make progress on closing the gaps that persist in diverse areas.
Alicia Bárcena participated in the LAC-DAC Dialogue on Development Cooperation held on June 29 at the seat of Chile’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and organized by the…
The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcena, expressed her solidarity and sent condolences to the people and the Government of the United States after the attack that took place on Sunday 12 June, 2016 in the city of Orlando.
In a letter to President Barack Obama, 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 50 wounded survivors.
The complete text of Alicia Bárcena’s letter appears below.
Letter from Alicia Bárce…
"Today I ratify Mexico's commitment to the integration and sustainable development of our region so that the Americas can be a hemisphere of inclusion and prosperity," Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said today at the inaugural ceremony of ECLAC's thirty-sixth session, which will be held through Friday, May 27, in Mexico City.
At the opening of the gathering in the Los Pinos Official Residence, other speakers included the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Alicia Bárcena, Peruvian Minister of Development and Social Inclusion Paola Bu…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will hold its most important biennial meeting in Mexico City from May 23 to May 27, 2016, where officials will present its 45 member and 13 associated states a report on its activities and will offer governments a reflection upon development strategies in the context of the commitments contained in the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The organization’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, indicated that in the thirty-sixth session participants will debate the region’s economic, social and environmenta…
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will hold its most important biennial meeting in Mexico City from May 23 to May 27, 2016, where officials will present to its 45 member countries a report on recent activities and will offer governments a reflection upon development strategies in the context of the commitments contained in the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, and ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena, signed the agreement today through which Mexico becomes the venue for the Thirty-sixth s…
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…