United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC or ECLAC; Spanish: Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe, CEPAL) is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. ECLAC includes 46 member states (20 in Latin America, 13 in the Caribbean and 13 from outside the region), and 14 associate members which are various non-independent territories, associated island countries and a commonwealth in the Caribbean. ECLAC publishes statistics covering the countries of the region and makes cooperative agreements with non-profit institutions. The headquarters of ECLAC is in Santiago, Chile.

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Abbreviation	ECLAC
Formation	1948; 77 years ago (1948)
Type	Primary Organ – Regional Branch
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Santiago, Chile
Head	Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs
Parent organization	United Nations Economic and Social Council
Website	English version

ECLAC was established in 1948 as the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). In 1984, a resolution was passed to include the countries of the Caribbean in the name. It reports to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Member states

The following are all member states of ECLAC:

Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
France
Germany
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Portugal
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Republic of Korea
Spain
Suriname
Turkey
Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of

Associate members

The following are all associate members of ECLAC:

Anguilla
Aruba
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Curaçao
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Montserrat
Puerto Rico
Sint Maarten
Turks and Caicos Islands
United States Virgin Islands
French Guiana

Locations

Santiago, Chile (headquarters)
Mexico City, Mexico (Central American subregional headquarters)
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean subregional headquarters)
Bogotá, Colombia (country office)
Brasília, Brazil (country office)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (country office)
Montevideo, Uruguay (country office)
Washington, DC, United States of America (liaison office)

Executive secretaries

Name	Country	Served
José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs	Costa Rica	September 2022 –
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra	Mexico	July 2008 – March 2022
José Luis Machinea	Argentina	December 2003 – June 2008
José Antonio Ocampo	Colombia	January 1998 – August 2003
Gert Rosenthal	Guatemala	January 1988 – December 1997
Norberto González	Argentina	March 1985 – December 1987
Enrique V. Iglesias	Uruguay	April 1972 – February 1985
Carlos Quintana	Mexico	January 1967 – March 1972
José Antonio Mayobre	Venezuela	August 1963 – December 1966
Raúl Prebisch	Argentina	May 1950 – July 1963
Gustavo Martínez Cabañas	Mexico	December 1948 – April 1950

Themes and programmes

Implementing Sustainable Development Goals

A mapping of ECLAC's activities to the Sustainable Development Goals (in 2023) shows that its current work emphasizes four SDGs; namely, SDG 17 on partnerships, SDG 8 on decent work, SDG 10 on reduced inequalities, and SDG 16 on peace and justice. In practice, ECLAC strives toward its own regional paradigm, called Global Environmental Keynesianism, which promotes multidimensional equality as the purpose of development. The commission seeks to balance the new SDGs with its earlier focus on equality and to better emphasize the environmental dimension of economic development.

ECLAC has been working on a debt-swap strategy since 2016, titled the Debt for Climate Adaptation Swap and Caribbean Resilience Fund. This fund aims to reduce the debt and fiscal constraints for investment in green industries, stimulate growth, promote economic transformation, and expand fiscal space for public investment such as for the SDGs.