The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will host on April 18-20 the second meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, where representatives of governments, international institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society will gather to review the progress and challenges of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region.

The gathering, organized by ECLAC and the government of Mexico, will be held at the United Nations regional organization’s central headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

The Forum was created via the approval of the Mexico Resolution at the thirty-sixth session of ECLAC, held in May 2016 in Mexico City.

It was conceived of as a regional mechanism for implementation and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, adopted in 2015 by the 193 countries represented in the United Nations General Assembly, which establishes 17 goals and 169 targets in diverse areas of development for the year 2030.

This regional Forum is open to the participation of all governments in Latin America and the Caribbean and representatives of national parliaments, other bodies in the United Nations System, organizations for regional and subregional integration, international financial institutions and development banks, the private sector, academia and civil society.

The mechanism seeks to provide useful opportunities for peer learning through voluntary reviews, the exchange of good practices and the discussion of shared goals. Its conclusions are submitted directly to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, the global mechanism for follow-up on the 2030 Agenda, which convenes each July in New York.

During the meeting of the Forum in Santiago, ECLAC will present the second annual report on regional progress and challenges related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

An interregional dialogue between Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe on implementation of the 2030 Agenda will also be held.

Furthermore, the countries will address the specific challenges to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean.

In the framework of the meeting, work groups will be carried out for peer learning on the challenges and participation-related focuses of the 2030 Agenda’s implementation, as well as on the platforms for follow-up to the Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition, countries will dialogue about the regional dimension of the 2030 Agenda and the contributions of the United Nations system and of multiple actors to its implementation.

The Forum will include sessions about the transformation toward sustainable and resilient societies and the environmental challenges of implementation of the 2030 Agenda. A special session on artificial intelligence and accelerated technological change will also be held.

On Tuesday, April 17 – prior to the start of the meeting – a gathering of civil society from Latin America and the Caribbean will take place.

During the week 38 side events will take place addressing issues such as gender equality in sustainable development; the role of the business sector in generating sustainable production and consumption patterns; the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice on Environmental  Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean: a tool for addressing the challenges of implementing the 2030 Agenda; and the progress regarding the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration from the perspective of Latin America and the Caribbean, among others. 

At the first meeting of the Forum, held on April 26-28, 2017 in Mexico City, the region’s countries reaffirmed their collective commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recognizing that governments hold primary responsibility for its achievement and acknowledging the need to foster the participation of all stakeholders in the process.

The full program of the second meeting of the Forum, along with general information on the meeting, is available at the gathering’s special website.

Journalists who want to cover the meeting must complete this media accreditation form.

Queries related to press coverage of the meeting should be sent to ECLAC’s Public Information Unit.

Email: prensa@cepal.org; Telephone: (56) 22210 2040.