(11 March 2011) On Wednesday, the Mexican President, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, welcomed the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, to his office at Los Pinos in Mexico City.
Bárcena congratulated the President for the constitutional reform that strengthens the country's human rights agenda.
President Calderón outlined the Mexican economy, and the country's solid growth.
The Executive Secretary of ECLAC recognized the importance of maintaining economic stability during and after the recent international financial crisis, and described progress made in terms of inflation and foreign direct investment.
According to Bárcena "this will enable the Mexican economy to grow more quickly, and ECLAC is updating growth estimates for the country from 3.5% to 4% for 2011".
The Executive Secretary congratulated the President on the results of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was held in Cancún. She stated that ECLAC is willing to support efforts to create an international centre for climate change study in Mexico, as well as to seek sectoral opportunities with low-carbon potential and greater social inclusion.
Lastly, Alicia Bárcena highlighted the various activities that ECLAC will be undertaking this year in Mexico, such as the launch of the document Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, the seminar on "Competition policy and market functioning in Central America and Mexico" and the meeting of central bank governors in Central America and Mexico.
On Thursday 10, Bárcena took part in the "International Agenda" of the First International Congress on "The intellectual experience of women in the 21st century", which was organized by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA).
She emphasized the three challenges that ECLAC has identified for women: "We must be emancipated to achieve political autonomy, make decisions and be part of decisions. We need economic autonomy, which means the ability to generate income. And lastly, we require physical autonomy, so that there is no violence at home or in our country. So that there is no violence against women."
Other participants included Rosa Conde, President of Fundación Carolina, and Inés Alberdi, former Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
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