ECLAC calls for development transformations in Latin America and Caribbean

The officials of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, also called ECLAC, asked member countries to reimagine the development models for Latin America and the Caribbean. The innovative proposal is set to be presented during the Fortieth session of the regional commission organised from 9 to 11 October in Lima, Peru.

The aim of the proposal by the ECLAC officials is to bring focus on managing the necessary transformations in the region towards sustainable development, inclusivity and productivity. The need to be highlighted in the meeting to overcome the development challenges in terms of an uncertain international context.

While giving a call for engagement in the development of Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC also disclosed a plan to head forward with the initiative. The officials will talk about eleven significant guidelines leading to the vital transformations in the region, which could be followed to achieve the targets.

The eleven vital transformation guidelines are:

• Rapid, sustained, sustainable and inclusive growth, with emphasis on productive development, productivity and employment.
• Reduced inequality and increased mobility and social cohesion.
• Expansion of social protection and the Welfare State.
• Effective education for all and wide access to vocational training.
• Progress towards gender equality and the care society.
• Environmental big push to promote sustainability and address climate change.
• Digital transformation.
• Safe, orderly and regular migration.
• Progress towards greater regional and global economic integration.
• Sound and strong taxation.
• Strengthened capacities of the State: institutions, governance and social dialogue.

The three-day event of ECLAC by the UN will be joined by officials of member nations along with academics, researchers, civil society representatives, and senior authorities. The significant entities will come under the same roof to discuss the current challenges and opportunities seen in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.

José Manuel Salazar Xirinachs, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, will also be part of the gathering. It is said that Salazar Xirinachs uncovered the institutional document on the Development Traps in Latin America and the Caribbean. The document is focused on the vital transformation in the region and how it can be managed.

It is understood that the seventh chapter of the complied documents by ECLAC highlights the three major development traps in the region. The traps are mentioned as, involving low capacity for growth; low institutional capacities and ineffective governance; and high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion.

The meeting will focus on the questions raised by the ECLAC in the proposals. The questions are: what steps Latin America and the Caribbean can take to achieve the target of sustainable development, inclusivity, and productivity; and how to manage the necessary actions to achieve the targets.

It is known that the document prepared by ECLAC focuses on the four major transformation guidelines among the quoted eleven for in-depth analysis. The four transformations are transformation to reduce inequality and social mobility, transformation to achieve sustainable growth, transformation to combat climate change, and transformation in terms of financing for development.

It is said by the officials that the document will go through an in-depth analysis of the development situation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting will also cover every aspect of the subject, and the discussion will explore the steps that could be taken in the matter while focusing on its pros and cons.

The Executive Secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar Xirinachs, said, “The task of building a new regional consensus on how to approach development challenges and how to overcome them may be an ambitious objective, but it is without a doubt a necessary and desirable one.”

The Executive Secretary added, “Moving towards a more productive, inclusive and sustainable future requires long-term vision and strategies, the real participation of all stakeholders and a competent State and institutions with the capacity to guide, mobilise and provide quality services.”

The document focuses on the necessity of crucial partnerships between government authorities and private sectors to address and overcome to the challenges. It brings out a vision that could help in productive transformation and increasing productivity while escaping the mentioned traps with new productive development policies.

José Manuel Salazar Xirinachs mentioned, “A country’s development is a complex process that happens over the long term and is not automatic owing to market forces, which nevertheless can play a major role with appropriate forms of governance and regulation.”

José Manuel continued, “If we are to overcome traps and close gaps if we are to realise the often-delayed dream of more productive, inclusive and sustainable development and prevent Latin America and the Caribbean from living through more lost decades, the time to act and work together is now.”