4 November 2015: The first Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) highlighted synergies between social and economic policies, and their role in ending poverty and supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Conference was convened by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Peru. In her comments to the Conference, Peru’s Minister of Social Inclusion and Development, Paola Bustamante, said social policies should be framed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and be as strong as economic policies.

The Conference served to contribute a regional perspective to the UN Commission for Social Development (CSocD). It convened from 2-4 November 2015, in Lima, Peru.

During the opening of the conference, President of Peru Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso said economic growth alone will not reduce inequality, and new ways of addressing exclusion and inequality are needed. Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC Executive Secretary, said the region has yet to adopt a social transformation agenda that favors the change “from a culture of privilege to an environment in which equal rights enable a sense of ownership in a more integrated society.” She emphasized that strategies for overcoming poverty must consider income transfers for immediate relief of basic needs, public access to quality services, and labor and productive inclusion. Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, called for working together to identify and address the “deep-rooted determinants of exclusion,” and said poverty eradication will only be achieved when “we truly invest in people.”

Participants also discussed challenges for middle-income countries (MICs) and small island developing States (SIDS) in the 2030 Agenda, including the need to boost resilience, which was described as the ability to absorb shocks, such as natural hazards or financial crisis, without major economic, social and environmental setbacks.

The conference resulted in a resolution stating that the 2030 Agenda marks “a paradigm shift and a new era for international cooperation,” and asking that ECLAC update official figures systematically with three regional databases – on social investment, non-contributory social protection programmes, and youth and social inclusion. Countries also requested that ECLAC, in collaboration with UNDP, boost cooperation between countries’ social policies, and that they jointly convene the next Regional Conference on Social Development in Uruguay in November 2017.

During the conference, ECLAC presented the results of a study titled ‘Inclusive Social Development: A New Generation of Policies to Overcome Poverty and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean,’ which analyzes the institutions in charge of social policies, identifies progress and challenges, and delivers policy recommendations. It notes that, inter alia: slower growth rates and relapses into poverty in the region for some segments of the population; Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be the most unequal region in terms of income distribution; social spending has increased in the region; and 167 million people are still living in poverty, with women disproportionately affected.

The Regional Conference was created in 2014 as a subsidiary body of ECLAC, in alliance with UNDP. It aims to provide continuity with the seven consecutive years of the Ministerial Forum for Development in the region. [UN Press Release] [Conference Website] [Conference Press Release, 2 November] [Conference Press Release, 4 November] [Publication: Inclusive Social Development: A New Generation of Policies to Overcome Poverty and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean]