Latin America and the Caribbean must adopt a positive agenda to build a new international order and assume a real commitment on this topic, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will propose during its 29th Session, to be held in Brasilia, Brazil, from 6 to 10 May 2002, at the Blue Tree Park Hotel.
The Session, which takes place every two years, is the most important meeting that ECLAC holds. During the meetings, all 48 governments belonging to this United Nations Commission will examine its progress over the previous two years and approve a work plan for the next two years. In addition, this is the forum at which issues relevant to the development of the region's countries are analyzed by some 200 governmental delegates and 100 representatives from specialized UN bodies, non-governmental groups and special guests.
During the meeting, ECLAC will present the document Globalization and Development, which provides a diagnosis of the effects of globalization in political, social and economic terms, and a public policy proposal.
The 29th Session is organized into two phases. The first is technical and will last from 6 to 8 May. On Monday 6 May, there will be two working sessions attended by governmental delegates who will debate the ECLAC document. On Tuesday 7 May and Wednesday morning 8 May, delegates will review the report on activities and the work programme for the two-year period from 2004-2005. Also on 7 May, the Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development will meet, on Wednesday 8 May the Presiding Officers of the Regional Council for Planning of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) will meet. In the afternoon the Committee on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries and Regions will meet.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President of Brazil, and José Antonio Ocampo, ECLAC Executive Secretary, will officially open the ministerial phase on 9 May. The rest of that day and Friday morning, 10 May, will be dedicated to the high-level seminar on Latin America and the Caribbean in an Era of Globalization, which will consist of two panels that will examine the following topics:
How the Region is Dealing with the Challenges of Globalization
Macro-economic Policies in a Globalized Economy
Productive and Technological Policies in the Global Era
Globalization and Equity
Environmental Sustainability in a Global World
On Friday 10 May a general debate at the ministerial level will begin, and final resolutions will be approved.
