(14 May 2010) Representatives of Latin American and Caribbean nations concluded today the meeting of the ECLAC Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development held in Santiago, Chile, pledging to advance towards a definition of a regional agenda on the issue.
The delegates approved a number of agreements that identify and propose specific actions to advance priority issues on population and development over the next few years.
The Ad Hoc Committee is an intergovernmental body of ECLAC responsible for following up and reviewing population and development issues, including international commitments accorded in the world conferences in El Cairo and Madrid.
One of the main agreements approved today establishes that the next meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee in 2012 will analyze the issue of population, territory and development, with the goal of working towards a regional agenda on population and development as of 2014. In this aim, they proposed holding a regional meeting in 2013.
Country representatives also agreed on the importance of moving towards creating an international convention on the human rights of older persons. In this aim, they asked the ECLAC Secretariat to convey this interest to the Secretary-General of the United Nations so a working group may be established with this purpose.
Delegates urged countries to prioritize youths in their policies and programmes, particularly with regard to sexual and reproductive health, violence and addiction, as well as comply with all of the measures approved in international summits aimed at eradicating all forms of discrimination against girls and women.
They also requested that ECLAC, with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, continue to emphasize a gender perspective on several issues, such as equality and poverty, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendent populations in Latin America, international and domestic migration and the round of censuses on population and housing 2010.
Lastly, they valued the ECLAC document "Population and Health in Latin America: Outstanding Matters, New Challenges", presented during the Ad Hoc Committee meeting and raised attention over the persistence of deep inequalities in the access to health care of a significant part of the population.
More information on the ECLAC Ad Hoc Committee on Population and Development is available on the ECLAC webpage.
For enquiries, please contact ECLAC's Public Information and Web Services Section. Email: dpisantiago@cepal.org; telephone: (56-2) 210-2040/2149