Distr. GENERAL LC/SES.38/14 26 March 2021 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: SPANISH 21-00190 REPORT OF THE THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Virtual meeting, 26–28 October 2020 2 CONTENTS Paragraph Page A. ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK ..................................................... 1–12 3 Place and date of the meeting ............................................................................................. 1 3 Attendance .......................................................................................................................... 2–8 3 Election of officers ............................................................................................................. 9–10 4 Organization of work ......................................................................................................... 11 4 Documentation ................................................................................................................... 12 4 B. AGENDA ........................................................................................................................... 13 4 C. SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS ..................................................................................... 14–159 5 D. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION .................................................................................................... 160 40 Annex 1 Report of the Committee on South-South Cooperation ................................................ – 74 Annex 2 Explanation of position of Chile ................................................................................... – 82 Annex 3 Political Declaration...................................................................................................... – 83 Annex 4 Documents presented at the thirty-eighth session of the Commission .......................... – 88 Annex 5 List of participants ........................................................................................................ – 92 3 A. ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK Place and date of the meeting 1. The thirty-eighth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) was held virtually from 26 to 28 October 2020. Attendance1 2. The session was attended by representatives of 43 States members of the Commission: 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, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Korea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). 3. Aruba, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Sint Maarten and United States Virgin Islands also attended as associate members of the Commission. 4. Attending from the United Nations Secretariat were the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary- General, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary-General for the Climate Action Team of the United Nations, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, resident coordinators, and representatives of the Regional Commissions New York Office (RCNYO), the Development Coordination Office, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Offices of the Resident Coordinators. 5. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the following United Nations agencies, funds and programmes: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN- Women), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Food Programme (WFP). 6. Representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations participated in the meeting: Andean Development Corporation (CAF), Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Caribbean Community (CARICOM), European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Economic Forum, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 7. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba and Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, attended the session as special guests. 8. Representatives of cooperation agencies, panellists and other special guests, whose names figure in the list of participants, also attended. 1 The list of participants appears as annex 5 to this report. 4 Election of officers 9. At the first plenary meeting, the delegations elected the officers of the thirty-eighth session. 10. The officers elected to preside over the thirty-eighth session were as follows: Chair: Costa Rica Vice-Chairs: Barbados Colombia Cuba Mexico Organization of work 11. In addition to the plenary meetings held during the session of the Commission and in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions, concurrent meetings were held by the Committee on South-South Cooperation. Documentation 12. A list of the working documents submitted by the secretariat to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session is provided in annex 4. B. AGENDA 13. The Commission adopted the following agenda: 1. Election of officers 2. Adoption of the agenda and organization of the work of the thirty-eighth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) 3. Economic and social effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on Latin America and the Caribbean and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 4. Economic and social effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean and on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by the Executive Secretary of ECLAC 5. Presentation of the document prepared by the secretariat, Building a New Future: Transformative Recovery with Equality and Sustainability 6. Challenges for the Caribbean to build back better 7. Report on the activities of the Commission, 2019 8. Draft programme of work of the ECLAC system, 2022 9. Report on the activities of the subsidiary bodies of ECLAC and the outcomes of other intergovernmental meetings organized by ECLAC since its thirty-seventh session 5 10. Proposed calendar of conferences of ECLAC for the period 2021–2022 11. Committee on South-South Cooperation 12. Other business 13. Consideration and adoption of the resolutions of the Commission at its thirty-eighth session C. SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS Opening session 14. The opening ceremony was attended by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; Miguel Díaz-Canel, President of the Republic of Cuba; Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (via pre-recorded message); Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC; and Carlos Alvarado, President of the Republic of Costa Rica. 15. The Secretary-General of the United Nations said that he was honoured to participate in the opening of the thirty-eighth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and recalled that he had done so two years earlier, in May 2018, in Havana. Cuba’s leadership in the work of the Commission had helped to consolidate the region’s stance as one committed to equality, sustainable development and cooperation between governments and peoples. The physical distancing imposed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic did not diminish the resolve to face the crisis together. The pandemic had placed the world in an unprecedented situation, with multilateralism becoming more important than ever. Solidarity was essential and presupposed an understanding that the responses developing countries could provide would differ from those of developed countries. It should also be understood that women, informal sector workers, older persons and people living in poverty required greater protection and support. There was a need for strengthened health systems, universal health coverage and the guarantee that the COVID-19 would be considered a global public good, accessible to all. He called on countries to provide the necessary resources and mobilize all partners in the service of a global response. The impact of the pandemic in the region had underscored the need for a profound shift in the development model; that much was recognized in a document launched in July on the impacts of COVID-19 in the region, in which the multiple inequalities and vulnerabilities had been examined. 16. The ECLAC position document Building a New Future: Transformative Recovery with Equality and Sustainability followed up on the discussions in the General Assembly on the pressing need to move towards a new global social and environmental compact. The Secretary-General also acknowledged the rich repository of the Commission’s