Open-ended meeting of the Presiding Officers of the ECLAC sessional Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development

The open-ended meeting of the Presiding Officers of the sessional Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean was held on 14 and 15 December 1998 in Santiago, Chile, under the chairmanship of Panama. The meeting was attended by delegates from 20 member States of the Commission and a number of representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.

The main objective of the meeting was the review and appraisal of the implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. The outcome of the meeting will constitute the input of the Latin American and Caribbean region to the global process of review and appraisal of the Programme of Action (informally known as "ICPD+5") which will culminate in the special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations to be held from 30 June to 2 July 1999.

The report adopted at the meeting will be presented by Panama, as Chairperson of the sessional Ad Hoc Committee, to the Hague Forum on population and development (8-12 February 1999) and to the Commission on Population and Development of the United Nations (22-30 March 1999) in its capacity as preparatory committee for the special session of the General Assembly.