Foreword The twenty-eighth session of ECLAC took place in Mexico City in April 2000 and thus was held at the start of both a new decade and a new century. This occasion prompted the secretariat to prepare Equity, Development and Citizenship, which provides a comprehensive view of the institution's thinking concerning the development challenges facing the region in the world of today. The present publication is an abridged version of that report.* This abridged volume is composed of three chapters. The first presents an overview of global trends together with the associated challenges in the areas of human rights and equity and a discussion of the integral nature of development. The second provides an overview of economic, social and environmental conditions in the region during the 1990s. The third sets forth an agenda for the region at the outset of the twenty-first century. It discusses, first, the principles of social policy and policies in the areas of poverty reduction, education, employment, social security and social spending. The accompanying economic development agenda encompasses macroeconomic growth and stability, dynamic productive development, the regulation of public utilities and the consolidation of sustainable development. The chapter concludes with some reflections on social cohesion and citizenship. JOSÉ ANTONIO OCAMPO EXECUTIVE SECRETARY ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN * A fully revised Spanish version has been published as ECLAC, Equidad, desarrollo y ciudadanía (LC/G.2071/Rev.1-P), Santiago, Chile, 2000. United Nations publication, Sales No. S.00.II.G.81; Equidad, desarrollo y ciudadanía, second edition, Bogotá, D.C., Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/Alfaomega, 2000; an English version has been published as Equity, Development and Citizenship (LC/G.2071(SES.28/3)), Santiago, Chile, 2000.