Forum on Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Example of Multilateralism in Action

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Five years before the deadline for fulfilling the 2030 Agenda, delegates agreed that the region must step up its efforts to move towards achieving the SDGs, through collaboration between multiple stakeholders and a focus on managing the transformations.

The Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development is an example of multilateralism in action and of the capacity to harmonize interests, pursue agreements and partnerships, and make progress on shared cooperation agendas, representatives of the region's countries, of United Nations agencies and of regional, multilateral and civil-society organizations agreed today at the eighth meeting of this platform, which concluded on Friday, April 4 at ECLAC's main headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

Five years before the deadline for fulfilling the 2030 Agenda, these delegates stressed that Latin America and the Caribbean must redouble efforts to continue furthering progress on achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through collaborative work by multiple stakeholders.

The eighth meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development brought together more than 1,000 people, including more than 160 government delegates from 24 member countries of the Forum along with over 800 participants from civil society, academia, the private sector and international organizations. In total, more than 20 plenary sessions were held in addition to over 40 side events.

The closing ceremony was led by Jorge Rubio Correa, Director General for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, in the country's capacity as Chair of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development; and José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

"We are concluding an intense meeting of work, dialogue and joint reflection," Ambassador Jorge Rubio Correa said in his closing remarks, emphasizing that the eighth meeting of the Forum has been "a fruitful space for regional cooperation, exchanging experiences and renewing commitments to the 2030 Agenda."

"This Forum has been a reminder that time is running out. We are just five years away from 2030. If we don't accelerate the pace, many of the Goals may not be achieved. But we did not come here to give up, we came here to reaffirm that with political will, effective cooperation and with civic participation, we will achieve our targets," he declared.

Meanwhile, ECLAC's Executive Secretary warned that, in light of the difficult situation that the region and world are facing, it is very easy to feel paralyzed, to retreat and lose motivation.

"Nonetheless, you have sent a signal of movement, of commitment, of continuing to believe in the 2030 Agenda and the Pact for the Future for what they are: historic achievements by humanity for moving towards a better future, for all people and for the entire planet," he underscored.

José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs added that the greatest lesson from ten years of implementation of the SDGs is that the necessary transformations can only be achieved through collaborative work by multiple actors.

At the meeting, ECLAC presented the report Latin America and the Caribbean in the Final Five Years of the 2030 Agenda: Steering Transformations to Accelerate Progress, which includes updated data on the SDG indicators and warns that, at the current pace, only 23% of the targets are seen being achieved in the region by 2030; 41% are moving in the right direction but at an insufficient pace for reaching the defined threshold; and the trajectory of compliance for the remaining 36% of targets has stalled or regressed versus 2015.

Regarding these figures, ECLAC's Executive Secretary stressed that the work carried out during the five-day Forum shows that this assessment is not a condemnation: "Measures can be adopted that will allow us to accelerate progress and create capacities for managing the needed transformations. This is not the time for shyness or delay. We are facing a scenario that requires a sense of urgency and bold action."

In a 142-point document of conclusions and recommendations approved at the end of the meeting, the participating countries warned that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, reaching the furthest behind first and empowering those in vulnerable situations to achieve sustainable development.

Furthermore, they flagged that the rise in inequalities remains pervasive in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, even in those with high levels of economic growth. They emphasized that tackling inequality requires, inter alia, further investment in social services, including social protection services, and economic opportunities in global, regional and national partnerships, as well as coordination between national and local authorities, the private sector, the international financial system, civil society, academia and other relevant stakeholders working together, in accordance with national plans and policies, in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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