26 November 2015: The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s (ECLAC) Regional Planning Council (RPC) decided to request the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) to assist Member States in planning for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The RPC held its 15th biennial meeting on 19 November 2015, in Yachay, Ecuador.

The Council discussed a document prepared by ILPES, ‘The State of the Art and Challenges of Planning for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.’ The document proposes components for a regional strategy and medium-term work to be implemented with joint ILPES and ECLAC support, in four components: a repository of development plans and programmes; a white paper to promote good practices in the use of planning tools and methodologies; the construction of a 2030 vision for Latin America and the Caribbean; and a regional capacity-building programme for implementing the 2030 Agenda.

The Council asked ILPES – which it oversees – to disseminate knowledge and analysis of development plans and programmes, as well as promote knowledge sharing and collaboration regarding experiences and good practice in the use of planning instruments, methodologies and tools. It also asked that ILPES include financing schemes for development plans in the white paper it will produce on good practices, and that ILPES develop a proposal to create an observatory on this topic.

ILPES was created in 1962 to help ECLAC member states improve their planning and public administration processes. The intergovernmental RPC was originally created in 1974 as a technical committee to guide ILPES work, and became a council in 1988. Between RPC biennial meetings, ILPES work is guided by a 11-country group of Presiding Officers.

The next RPC will take place in Peru during the second half of 2017. [ECLAC Press Release] [XV Meeting of RPC] [Publication: The State of the Art and Challenges of Planning for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean]