During the opening of the thirty-ninth session of ECLAC, its Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, said that the current situation “forces us to ask an uncomfortable but urgent question: how to avoid another lost decade.” 

At the opening of ECLAC’s most important biennial meeting, where the organisation will present its proposal for reactivation with the transformation of the development model in the region, Salazar-Xirinachs recalled that all countries are being affected by a “cascade of crises.”  

During the meeting, the tasks undertaken to date and the challenges that Argentina will take on as president pro tempore of the organisation for the period 2022-2024 will be analysed. 

An exchange of experiences on investment and sectoral strategies is planned for this day, with the participation of the Secretary for Strategic Affairs of this country, Mercedes Marcó; executives from the Caribbean Community; and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. 

In addition, a seminar on cooperation will be held with the participation of the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca; and the Director-General of Sustainable Development Policies of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eva del Hoyo, among others. 

Furthermore, the Report on the activities of the ECLAC system for 2021 and the Draft Work Programme for 2024 will be presented. 

Also taking part will be members of its subsidiary bodies such as the Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation, the Regional Conference on Women, the Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing and the Rights of the Elderly and the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee. 

ECLAC is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations and was founded to contribute to the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean, to coordinate actions aimed at its promotion and to strengthen the economic relations of the countries among themselves and with other nations of the world.  

The event, attended in person and through digital platforms by representatives from 60 countries, is considered the most important meeting of ECLAC and is focused on economic recovery with equality and inclusion.