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About

WHO WE SERVE

Member countries

Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Associate members

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

 

WHAT WE DO

The ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean functions as a subregional think tank and facilitates increased contact and cooperation among its membership.

ECLAC conducts research; provides technical advice to governments, upon request; organizes intergovernmental and expert group meetings; helps to formulate and articulate a regional perspective within global forums; and introduces global concerns at the regional and subregional levels. Operational activities extend to economic and development planning, demography, economic surveys, assessment of the socioeconomic impacts of natural disasters, data collection and analysis, training, and assistance with the management of national economies.

ECLAC also functions as the secretariat for coordinating the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Additional details on our work can be found in the ECLAC Caribbean Booklet and in the ECLAC 70th anniversary video

 

OUR HISTORY

ECLAC is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations Economics and Social Council (ECOSOC).

1948 The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) is established to support Latin American governments in the economic and social development of the region.

1966 The subregional headquarters for the Caribbean is established in Port of Spain to serve all countries of the insular Caribbean, as well as Belize, Guyana and Suriname.

1975 ECLA creates the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) as a permanent subsidiary body, to promote development cooperation among Caribbean countries. Secretariat services to the CDCC are assigned to the subregional headquarters for the Caribbean.

1984 ECLA changes its name to Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), officially acknowledging the widened role of the Commission.

This rich history is briefly summarized in this introductory video to ECLAC's work in the Caribbean over the past 70 years: ECLAC 70th anniversary