This infographic on the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) shows an overview of its history and some regional regional facts that could be of your interest.
ECLAC was the first Regional Commission established by ECOSOC in a region that was not a centre of action during the Second World War.
One of the main contributions made by ECLAC was the promotion of the Prebisch-Singer theory, which argues that the price of primary commodities declines in relation to the price of manufactured goods over the long term, resulting in a deterioration of the terms of trade for primary-product-based economies, and impeding the development of the underdeveloped countries, mainly primary commodities exporters. That theory introduced the “center-periphery” contradiction in development debates, and was at the center of the import substitution model that became the primary tool of the development strategies for LAC countries in the following decades.
However, ECLAC is not only well known for its theoretical contributions to development debates. Its statistical and knowledge production capacities are globally recognized. In the last years, ECLAC has been calling for a “Big Environmental momentum” to promote regional development and establish a global “Care Economy.”
The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has 46 members, including some non-Latin American or Caribbean countries that are close partners of the region. 14 territories have the “Associate Member” status: Anguilla, Martinique, Aruba, Montserrat, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Curaçao, the United States Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, and the French Guiana. Among ECLAC member countries from outside Latin America and the Caribbean, we can mention Germany, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Korea, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Turkey, the United States of America, and Norway.
ECLAC headquarters are in Santiago de Chile and has national and subregional offices in Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and the United States.
