United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and The Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) –the Spanish acronym is CEPAL- was established by Economic and Social Council resolution 106(VI) of 25 February 1948 and began to function that same year. The scope of the Commission's work was later broadened to include the countries of the Caribbean, and by resolution 1984/67 of 27 July 1984, the Economic Council decided to change its name to Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); the Spanish acronym, CEPAL, remains unchanged.

ECLAC, which is headquartered in Santiago, Chile, is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded with the purpose of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing economic ties among countries and with other nations of the world. The promotion of the region's social development was later included among its primary objectives.

In June 1951, the Commission established the ECLAC sub-regional headquarters in Mexico City, which serves the needs of the Central American sub-region, and in December 1966, the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean was founded in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, ECLAC maintains country offices in Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo and Bogotá, as well as a liaison office in Washington, D.C.

Mandate and mission

The secretariat of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):

1. Provides substantive secretariat services and documentation for the Commission and its subsidiary bodies;
2. Undertakes studies, research and other support activities within the terms of reference of the Commission;
3. Promotes economic and social development through regional and sub-regional cooperation and integration;
4. Gathers, organizes, interprets and disseminates information and data relating to the economic and social development of the region;
5. Provides advisory services to Governments at their request and plans, organizes and executes technical cooperation projects;
6. Formulates and promotes development cooperation activities and projects of regional and sub-regional scope, commensurate with the needs and priorities of the region and acts as an executing agency for such projects;
7. Organizes conferences and intergovernmental and expert group meetings and sponsors training workshops, symposia and seminars;
8. Assists in bringing a regional perspective to global problems and forums and introduces global concerns at the regional and sub-regional levels; and
9. Coordinates ECLAC activities with those of the major departments and offices at United Nations Headquarters, specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations with a view to avoiding duplication and ensuring complementarity in the exchange of information.

The subprogramme related to the work of the International Trade and Integration Division will cover nine areas of work, namely:

1. Adjustment of trade policy to the new challenges of the twenty-first century: innovation and technological progress, services, global and regional value chains and internationalization of enterprises, new public and private standards, environmental sustainability and links with new emerging issues such as security, labor markets, poverty and corporate social responsibility;
2. Negotiation, implementation and administration of trade agreements at the bilateral, regional, plurilateral or multilateral level;
3. Regional cooperation and integration in the new phase of global development: value chains, convergence of agreements, areas of cooperation, internationalization of companies and links to other developing countries and regions;
4. South-South trade, investment and cooperation, including the role of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India and China (the so-called BRIC countries) and other emerging economies;
5. Monitoring of developments in trade and regional integration in Asia and the rapprochement between the Latin American and Caribbean region and Asia;
6. Promotion and diversification of exports: inter-agency coordination and public-private cooperation, institutional modernization, trade facilitation and Aid for Trade initiatives, and international best practices;
7. The characteristics of socially inclusive trade, with emphasis on various national experiences and the proposal of complementary policies that strengthen the contribution of trade and integration to poverty reduction, fairer income distribution and the creation of good quality jobs;
8. Establishment of public-private partnerships for export development and issues relating to corporate social responsibility; and
9. Training activities to improve policies for the promotion of the foregoing objectives.

The subprogramme will respond to the needs of stakeholders by providing updated information, analyses and policy recommendations to policymakers in the countries of the region, private-sector institutions and other organizations at the local, subregional and regional levels. The subprogramme will continue to coordinate and cooperate with UNCTAD, WTO, ILO, the World Bank, OECD, SELA, IDB, OAS, the United Nations regional commissions, regional development banks, the secretariats of the various regional integration organizations and public, semi-public and private entities with responsibility for trade, integration and sustainable development.