ECLAC, in the area of economic development, aims to promote equitable long-term economic growth and the effective generation and allocation of financial resources to support development and equality in the Latin American and Caribbean countries. ECLAC pursues this goal through a threefold strategy: the systematic monitoring of macroeconomic policies and reforms; the evaluation of their impact in terms of sustainability, efficiency and equity; and substantive support for the formulation and implementation of these policies by governments.
To achieve its goal, the Economic Development Division works with other departments and agencies of the United Nations system, other divisions of ECLAC, the ECLAC subregional headquarters in Mexico City and Port of Spain, the Commission’s country offices in Bogota, Brasilia, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and its liaison office in Washington, D.C.
The Division’s mission coincides with one of the founding tasks entrusted to ECLAC upon its establishment in 1948: to conduct an economic survey of Latin America. This study has been published every year since then. Initially, the analysis had a structural and developmental approach centred solely on this publication; today, the Division devotes special attention to macroeconomic aspects and to the relationship between short-term processes and long-term development goals. The survey is complemented by other publications with a cyclical focus, which monitor the economic policies of the countries of the region and provide an assessment of the world economy. Long-term development aspects, and their relationship with macroeconomic policies, constitute another strategy that has characterized the work of EDD.