REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION From January 2006 to December 2007

José Luis Machinea Executive Secretary of ECLAC Santo Domingo, 11 June 2008 www.eclac.org

Contents

OVERVIEW Presentation of ECLAC A Latin American and Caribbean perspective on development Programme of work 2006- 2007 Regional context and priorities Central issues on the institution’s agenda ECLAC agendas SUBSTANTIVE ACTIVITIES Highlights Publications Seminars and workshops Technical cooperation missions OTHER ACTIVITIES Evaluation Dissemination and communication

Presentation of ECLAC

• •

Sixty years with Latin America and the Caribbean

Innovative proposals for the sustainable economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean through: – Facilitation of regional consensus: position documents, technical secretariat and substantive services provided to intergovernmental meetings – Applied research: publications, meetings of experts and seminars – Technical cooperation services: technical assistance, training and project implementation Composition 44 member States and 8 associate members • • •

Place within the United Nations system

A forum within the region’s institutional framework The analytical work and policy recommendations of ECLAC complement the operational activities of the resident coordinator system at the national level to establish a conceptual and analytical framework for regional development Inter-agency coordination: – regional coordination mechanism and participation in UNDG – helping to strengthen the coherence of the system: “Delivering as One”

A Latin American and Caribbean perspective on development

• • • • • •

Main areas of reflection in recent years:

A broad vision of macroeconomic stability Formulation of strategies for productive development and integration into the world economy Strengthening social linkages Emphasizing the environmental sustainability approach Promoting the debate on reforming the international financial architecture The importance of the regional aspect of development

Institutional documents presented at recent sessions of the Commission

2006: Shaping the Future of Social Protection: Access, Financing and Solidarity 2004: Productive Development in Open Economies 2002: Globalization and Development 2000: Equity, Development and Citizenship 1998: The Fiscal Covenant. Strengths, Weaknesses, Challenges 1996: Social Equity and Changing Production Patterns: An Integrated Approach

A Latin American and Caribbean perspective on development Structural Change and Productivity Growth

- 20 Years Later. Old problems, new opportunities

• Emphasis on the diversification of production and innovation • Importance of medium- and long-term strategies in the context of public-private alliances to boost development in the region

Programme of work 2006-2007

Financing:

  Regular budget approved by the General Assembly Extra-budgetary sources:     20% increase in resources mobilized since 2004-2005 Diversification of sources Qualitative leap: from individual projects to multi-year programmes 267 projects spread among the thematic areas of ECLAC

Associations for cooperation:

 Multilateral sources:  United Nations system  European Commission, IDB, SEGIB, etc.

 Bilateral sources:  countries of the region  countries outside the region (GTZ, CIDA, AECID, SIDA)  Others: Kellogg Foundation, Ford Foundation, etc.

Regional context and priorities

Regional context 2006-2007 Since 2003, period of highest consecutive growth with current-account surplus but: - limited progress in the current round of multilateral trade negotiations - need to transform the current growth trend into long-term assets that improve the region’s position in international markets Reduced levels of extreme and general poverty but region still lags behind in terms of income and wealth distribution ECLAC priorities in 2006-2007 Promotion of regional and hemispheric integration Increasing the region’s productive potential Promoting social cohesion International migration Increased vulnerability to natural disasters and environmental challenges Extending sustainable development policies

Central issues on the institution’s agenda: inter-agency coordination efforts to follow-up MDGs

• • •

Inter-agency reports:

Millennium Development Goals: A Look at Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean

(2006)

Objetivos de desarrollo del Milenio: la progresión hacia el derecho a la salud en América Latina y el Caribe (Spanish only)

(2007)

Institutional report:

The Millennium Development Goals and the challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean in making progress towards higher levels of well-being, better human capital and more equal opportunities

(Input for the nineteenth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Rio Group, Georgetown, Guyana, March 2007)

Central issues on the institution’s agenda: substantive services for high-level intergovernmental meetings

• Nineteenth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Rio Group, Georgetown, Guyana, March 2007 (MDGs and support for the definition of a common position between CARICOM and Latin America on the WTO multilateral trade negotiations) • Seventeenth Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, Santiago, Chile, November 2007 (social cohesion) • Sixteenth Meeting of Ministers and High-level Authorities of the Housing and Urban Development Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) and the twelfth Ibero-American Forum of Ministers and High-level Authorities of Housing and Urbanism, Santiago, Chile, October 2007 (human settlements) • Fifth Summit of Heads of State and Government from Latin America and the Caribbean and from the European Union, May 2008 (document on overcoming poverty through social inclusion)

Central issues on the institution’s agenda: integral follow-up to international conferences on economic and social affairs

• Regional Implementation Forum on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (2006 and 2007) • Second Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards a society for all ages and rights-based social protection, Brasilia, December 2007 • Second Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, San Salvador, El Salvador, February 2008 (Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean, eLAC 2010)

Central issues on the institution’s agenda: technical secretariat services to subsidiary bodies of the Commission

• Twenty-fourth session of the Committee of the Whole of ECLAC, New York, June 2007 • Tenth session of the Regional Conference on Women of Latin America and the Caribbean, Quito, August 2007 (Quito Consensus) • Fourth meeting of the ECLAC Statistical Conference of the Americas, Santiago, Chile, July 2007 (Strategic Plan 2010-2015) • Thirteenth meeting of the Regional Council for Planning, Brasilia, 2007 (ILPES priorities and programme of work) • Thirteenth meeting of the Monitoring Committee of CDCC, Port of Spain, August 2007 (revival of the role of CDCC in the development of the subregion and follow-up to implementation of the work plan of the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean)

ECLAC agendas

Economic agenda Divisions:



International Trade and Integration



Production, Productivity and Management



Economic Development Social agenda Divisions:



Social Development



Women and Development



CELADE - Population Sustainable development agenda Divisions:



Sustainable Development and Human Settlements



Natural Resources and Infrastructure Training and statistics activities



Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES)



Statistics and Economic Projections Division Subregional activities ECLAC subregional headquarters in Mexico and Port of Spain

Contents

OVERVIEW Presentation of ECLAC A Latin American and Caribbean perspective on development Programme of work 2006- 2007 Regional context and priorities Central issues on the institution’s agenda ECLAC agendas SUBSTANTIVE ACTIVITIES Highlights Publications Seminars and workshops Technical cooperation missions OTHER ACTIVITIES Evaluation Dissemination and communication

Economic agenda: results

 Dissemination of information on

trade agreements and disputes:

Integrated Database of Trade Disputes in Latin America and the Caribbean (IDATD)  Provision of technical cooperation services on the

negotiation and management of trade agreements

and

regional integration

in response to strong demand from the region’s countries

(

17 and 16 missions, respectively)  Promotion of

regional integration and coordination of macroeconomic policies:

exchange of good practices (Macroeconomic Dialogue Network (REDIMA) project)  Provision of technical cooperation services to 28 beneficiaries, including:  formulation of

innovation plans

and plans to improve

national innovation systems

(5 countries)  design of methodology to set up

industrial clusters and local networks of



small and medium-sized enterprises

(4 countries) Follow-up to Plan of Action for the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC 2007) and facilitation of eLAC 2010 

New thematic areas and emphasis:

 ICTs and the information society  Innovation and growth

Social agenda: results

 Dissemination of research results and provision of technical assistance services on

social protection and social cohesion

 Reinforcement of interactions with

civil society and institutions related to social policy

(such as RISALC and the project “Experiences in social innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Kellogg Foundation)  Use of knowledge and information generated by ECLAC on

demographic trends and population and development

for their incorporation in social policies and programmes 

Gender mainstreaming

in public policy and in the collection and dissemination of statistical data and associated analyses 

New thematic areas and emphasis:

 Ageing  Migration (international and internal)  Indigenous and Afrodescendent populations

Sustainable development agenda: results

 Strong increase in technical assistance provided to the region’s countries on the sustainable management of

natural resources (energy, water and mining)

 Strong increase in technical assistance provided to the region’s countries on

infrastructure and transport services (aspects of infrastructure connectivity and service regulation)

 Development of a methodological framework and a set of indicators for the design and implementation of urban sustainability policies and provision of relevant technical assistance services  Consolidation of the leadership of ECLAC in

assessing the socio-economic and environmental impact of natural disasters and risk management.

Dissemination of ECLAC methodology by means of:  12 assessment missions in 10 of the region’s countries  training of 414 professionals in 15 workshops 

New thematic areas and emphasis

 Climate change: adaptation and mitigation  Energy efficiency, renewable energy and biofuels

Subregional activities: results

Caribbean:



Regional Coordination Mechanism

for implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States  Cooperation to develop

strategies for improving the integration of Caribbean economies in world markets

 Implementation of policies and programmes that use ECLAC methodology for

gender mainstreaming Central America (including Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic)

  Cooperation on the formulation of

national trade-capacity building strategies

Facilitation of the

integration of energy sectors

in Central America  Action Matrix for Central American Energy Integration and Development,   involving 64 projects in the subregion Central American Sustainable Energy Strategy 2020

33 training activities

in competition policy, macroeconomic modeling, trade capacity building and disaster evaluation and risk management, benefiting a total of 949 participants, including 314 women (33%)

Capacity building and training activities

48 national, international and distance-learning courses

Participants: 1,776 professionals from 29

of the region’s countries (45% women)

 26 international courses: 756 participants from 18 countries in the region  14 national courses: 433 participants and 3 short courses with 95 participants  5 international distance-learning courses: 492 participants from 29 countries of the region

TOPICS

   Planning Public budgeting and management Regional and local development

Statistics: results

• • • • Satisfactory progress in implementing the

System of National Accounts 1993

in accordance with international recommendations • Widespread use of ECLAC

methodology and indicators

for

measuring poverty and social well-being

(differing use in 18 countries)

38 complementary indicators

for the

follow-up of MDGs

were included in the annual publication

Social Panorama of Latin America 2007

New areas

in the statistics work programme: environmental indicators and tourism and health satellite accounts

CEPALSTAT

- new one-stop shop for ECLAC statistical databases

Flagship publications: annual reports

 Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean  Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean  Social Panorama of Latin America  Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy  Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean  Statistical Yearbook of Latin America and the Caribbean

For more information on ECLAC publications, visit http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/

Other publications:

• • • • • •

Social Cohesion: Inclusion and a Sense of Belonging in Latin America and the Caribbean Visiones del desarrollo en América Latina

(Spanish only), José Luís Machinea and Narcís Serra (editors)

Tributación en América Latina. En busca de una nueva agenda de reformas

(compilers) (Spanish only), Oscar Cetrángolo and Juan Carlos Gómez Sabaini

Espacios Iberoamericanos: Comercio e Inversión (Spanish only), Financiamiento para el desarrollo: América Latina desde una perspectiva comparada

(Spanish only), Bárbara Stallings and Rogério Studart

Fernando Fajnzylber. Una visión renovadora de desarrollo en América Latina

(Spanish only), Miguel Torres Olivos (compiler)

For more information on ECLAC publications, visit http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/

Seminars and workshops

 Regional seminar on fiscal policy, Santiago, Chile, 2006 and 2007 World Bank, OECD, IDB and GTZ) (in conjunction with IMF,  High-level seminar on strategic perspectives on sustainable energies in Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, Chile, June 2007  Regional Seminar on Macroeconomic Policy and Social Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean, Lima, Peru, September 2007 (in conjunction with IMF)  Ibero-American meeting on Migration and Development, Madrid, Spain, July 2006  Meeting of experts on foreign trade, Santiago, Chile, May 2006 Andean Community, MERCOSUR, ALADI and ADC) (experts from WTO, OECD,  Meeting of experts on the impact of CAFTA-DR on agricultural and rural sectors, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 2007 (government, private-sector, NGO and academic participants)  M eeting of senior statisticians and specialized personnel of data-producing government agencies, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, June 2007 OECS, University of the West Indies, PAHO, UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF) (in conjunction with

Technical cooperation missions



Direct collaboration with member States in specific areas of interest

– Provision of technical assistance and other technical cooperation services to national authorities, professionals and experts (means of feedback to keep the secretariat updated on the development priorities and specific interests of member States) – Training: courses and workshops 

1,541 missions in 2006-2007 covering all ECLAC member States in the Caribbean, Central America and South America



Thematic breakdown

   49% on economic development 27% on social development 24% on sustainable development

Technical cooperation missions

 

Areas of work:

      

Negotiation and implementation of trade agreements Macroeconomic policies Social protection and social cohesion Natural resource regulations and policies Environmental indicators and policies State modernization and planning Improvement of household surveys and economic and social statistics Assessment of the impact of natural disasters Gender mainstreaming in government policies and programmes

Contents

OVERVIEW Presentation of ECLAC A Latin American and Caribbean perspective on development Programme of work 2006- 2007 Regional context and priorities Central issues on the institution’s agenda ECLAC agendas SUBSTANTIVE ACTIVITIES Highlights Publications Seminars and workshops Technical cooperation missions OTHER ACTIVITIES Evaluation Dissemination and communication

REINFORCING EVALUATION

• • •

Why?

Increased emphasis on results-based management Increased transparency and accountability to member States Organizational learning and innovation

• •

How?

Boosting measures that promote a culture of monitoring and evaluation in ECLAC

– New monitoring and evaluation guidelines adapted to the Commission – Strengthening evaluation plans – Standardization and wide use of evaluation surveys

Formation of a pool of certified evaluation officers, as part of an inter-agency effort in the region to promote evaluation in the United Nations system

•

Next stage: Dissemination of the results of evaluations on the ECLAC website

Dissemination and communication



2000 new documents, including:



13 Libros de la CEPAL



3 Cuadernos de la CEPAL,

 

12 issues of the CEPAL Review 14 joint publications

 

255 conference documents over 250 press releases



The ECLAC portal includes 40 specialized sites Visibility of the work of the Commission:



over 15,000 press clippings in the biennium



17 million visitors to the ECLAC portal 2007



35 million documents downloaded in 2007

Closing remarks

• • • • • ECLAC, which has been a part of the region’s institutional framework for 60 years, remains committed to ensuring that development issues in the region are addressed from the region’s own perspective, with a multidisciplinary approach that furthers integration ECLAC has formulated numerous recommendations on public policy options for economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development, and serves as a forum for technical debate and building regional consensus on global issues Demand for ECLAC services is constantly growing among national and regional entities (government agencies, the private sector, academic and civil-society bodies, NGOs) Emerging issues and new emphases are constantly being incorporated into the programme of work of the Commission The implementation rate of the programme of work is high and increasingly results-oriented, which has a strong impact on the direct beneficiaries.

THE SECRETARIAT WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE IN IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME OF WORK IN THE 2006-2007 BIENNIUM

www.eclac.org

Projects implemented during 2006-2007, by thematic areas (Percentages)

Economic development Social development Sustainable development Subregional focus Other 0%

9% 10%

10%

22%

20%

22%

30%

37%

40%