Representatives from Latin American and Caribbean countries reaffirmed the Montevideo Consensus as the basis for a comprehensive roadmap for national and regional action on population and development at the conclusion of the Fourth session of the Regional Conference on Population and Developmentwhich ended this Thursday at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.
In their resolutions, the countries recognized the strategic role of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development as a framework for the implementation of measures that contribute to addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the living conditions and exercise of the rights of the population, the multiple axes of inequality and the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social respond and environment – in terms of recovery and social and economic change.
Likewise, they called for increased compliance with the priority actions of the Montevideo Consensus through the implementation of specific actions, the appropriate allocation of resources and the creation and strengthening of institutional mechanisms for their implementation and follow-up, especially for the attention of the population heavily affected by the COVID-19 affected by the pandemic.
The closing ceremony was presided over by Raúl García-Buchaca, Assistant Executive Secretary for Management and Analysis of Programs at ECLAC; Harold Robinson, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and David Guachalla, Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination of Bolivia, in his capacity as President of the Chairs of the Regional Conference on Population and Development.
At the meeting, which was attended by more than 1,300 people – half of them in person – the authorities stressed that in the midst of an unprecedented international context such as that characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need to strengthen international multilateralism and solidarity and working together to achieve full implementation of the Montevideo Consensus, the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development after 2014, and the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
The three-day event was attended by more than 220 delegates from 30 member countries of ECLAC and one associate member, in addition to a hundred representatives from the United Nations system, 18 collaborating organizations, along with more than 640 representatives from civil society, academia, and the private sector. Added to this were thousands of people who followed the meeting on social platforms and the public broadcasts of the sessions.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to the Montevideo Consensus, which together with the 2030 Agenda are essential and highly valid tools to tackle the tasks for a transformative recovery that puts equality, sustainability and people at its heart,” affirmed Raúl García-Buchaca, Deputy Executive Secretary for Management and Analysis of Programs of ECLAC, in his closing speech.
For his part, Harold Robinson, UNFPA Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighted the countries’ “strong reaffirmation” of the validity of the conference and stressed that the Montevideo Consensus, which was presented as a tool to change the historical route of Latin America and the Caribbean, “will be useful only at the moment when our collective destiny becomes.”
Meanwhile, David Guachalla, Bolivia’s Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination, stressed that at the fourth meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development, nine years after the first meeting, “Bolivia receives the post and with great respect, gratitude and commitment assumes the Presidency of the Governing Body, a task , which we will fulfill with the greatest responsibility».
The document from resolutions approved by countries, encourages the governments of the region to pay particular attention to strengthening their socio-demographic and vital statistical systems and to develop and strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems and national statistical offices to compile population data by sex, Age, area of residence (urban-rural), income, ethnic-racial identity, migration status, disability and other relevant characteristics in the diversity of the population required for an accurate assessment of the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus.
It also congratulates ECLAC on the development and implementation of the virtual platform to contribute to the follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, a space that summarizes the main initiatives reported by the countries and the achievements related to the population, their living conditions, the exercise of their rights and their development. In other words, it tries to systematize the processes and results achieved in the region in order to respect the commitments made in the context of the Montevideo Consensus.
It also recognizes the crucial role of civil society organizations, the private sector and the academic sector in the implementation, follow-up, evaluation and dissemination of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development.
The Chair of the Regional Conference on Population and Development was responsible for Bolivia, while the Vice-Presidents were responsible for Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, St. Lucia, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.