Maintitle

Copyrighs

Alicia Bárcena

Executive Secretary

Antonio Prado

Deputy Executive Secretary

Luis Fidel Yáñez

Officer-in-Charge, Office of the Secretary of the Commission

Ricardo Pérez

Chief, Publications and Web Services Division

The preparation of this document was coordinated by Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the collaboration of Antonio Prado, Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Luis Yáñez, Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Secretary of the Commissio, Mario Cimoli, Chief of the Division of Production, Productivity and Management, and Pascual Gerstenfeld, Chief of the Statistics Division.

The drafting group was coordinated by Gabriel Porcile, Economic Affairs Officer of the Division of Production, Productivity and Management of ECLAC, with the support of Enrique Oviedo, Political Affairs Officer in the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, and Daniel Taccari, Statistician in the Statistics Division. Work on the drafting and statistical processing was done by María Ortiz, Romain Zivy, Vianka Aliaga and Guido Camú of the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Commission; Pauline Stockins of the Statistics Division; Laís Abramo, Simone Cecchini and Rodrigo Martínez of the Social Development Division; Joseluis Samaniego, Luiz Krieger, David Barrio and Luis Miguel Galindo of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division; María Nieves Rico, Pamela Villalobos, Lucía Scuro, Nicole Bidegain Ponte and Iliana Vaca Trigo of the Division for Gender Affairs; Alejandro Bustamante and Paulina Pizarro of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES); Paulo Saad, Fabiana del Popolo and Leandro Reboiras of the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division of ECLAC; Pablo Yanes of the ECLAC subregional headquarters in Mexico; and Diane Quarless and Abdullahi Abdulkadri of the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean.

The Commission wishes to express particular thanks for the substantive contributions received from the agencies, funds and specialized programmes of the United Nations system in the region, which were fundamental for the preparation of the document.

United Nations publication

LC/L.4268(FDS.1/3)/Rev.1

Distr: General

Original: Spanish

Copyright © United Nations, 2017

All rights reserved

Printed at United Nations, Santiago

S.17-00474

This publication should be cited as follows: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Annual report on regional progress and challenges in relation to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LC/L.4268(FDS.1/3)/Rev.1), Santiago, 2017.

Applications for authorization to reproduce this work in whole or in part should be sent to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Publications and Web Services Division, publicaciones@cepal.org. Member States and their governmental institutions may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and to inform ECLAC of such reproduction.

Contents

Maintitle

Copyrighs

Contents

Foreword

Chapter I

Latin America and the Caribbean: the Sustainable Development Goals and the new international context

Chapter II

Institutions for implementing the 2030 Agenda in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

CHAPTER III

Measuring the Sustainable Development Goal indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

Annex III.A1

Foreword

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, embody the consensus of governments and different stakeholders to work towards a transformative vision of economic, social and environmental sustainability. It is a civilizing, universal, indivisible and rights-based agenda that proposes to “leave no one behind” and needs all sectors to be engaged in its implementation. A transformative agenda, it has the potential to achieve compatibility between national policies for equality and inclusive growth with decent work, on the one hand, and the expansion of international trade, climate action and conflict prevention on the other.

A strong, open multilateral system is essential to underpin this new vision of sustainable development. Conversely, a global economy with sharp heterogeneities (in technology, production and institutions) tends to generate imbalances, polarization and tensions, both between and within countries.

With the accumulation of economic power comes the accumulation of political power, which makes it highly unlikely that the winners of globalization will compensate the losers. The resistance of the winners ultimately jeopardizes trade and cooperation. What is more, the price system cannot capture environmental externalities, to the extent that climate change has been dubbed the “greatest market failure of all time”. For all these reasons, international cooperation and governance mechanisms are essential to prevent conflict, reduce inequalities and keep all the stakeholders committed to an open international system.

Since the 1990s, the international political economy has been conducted along a path of hyperglobalization. The polarizations this has generated are responsible for the increasing fragmentation and tendency towards conflict in the international system. The challenge is therefore to recoup the multilateral cooperation agenda left in limbo between hyperglobalization and emerging unilateralism. The 2030 Agenda proposes to expand trade and right its imbalances, seeking to avoid recessionary adjustments in deficit-running economies. It calls for better governance of international finances to avoid crises such as that of 2008 and bubbles in the real estate, commodities and money markets. It is an invitation to expand social policy and move towards a welfare State, without eroding tax bases, losing competitiveness or cutting investment, with higher standards of labour protection and a more determined assault on inequality. It calls for environmental externalities and the predatory use of natural resources to be identified and penalized.

It makes no sense to respond to the risk of breakdown in the multilateral system by returning to the previous status quo, which gave rise to the current problems in the international system. What is needed is a return to multilateral cooperation and regional integration as tools of development, as proposed in the 2030 Agenda. At the regional level, Latin America and the Caribbean must be capable of reinvigorating the region’s fragmented and weakened regional integration schemes and transforming them into tools for industrial diversification and capacity-building. At the national level, a new generation of policies on social issues, education and development —informed by the convergence of innovation, social inclusion and environmental protection— is needed to help the region gain a sound footing in the new technology revolution.

In highly heterogeneous conditions, deregulation and trade and financial liberalization do not spontaneously give rise to an open multilateral system. They never have done. Building and maintaining an open multilateral system require a set of rules that revolve around the reduction of asymmetries and the eradication of development problems and technology lag. The 2030 Agenda offers a road map towards that system. The Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets embody its seriousness and ambition and its commitment to “leave no on behind”. Implementing the Agenda calls for simultaneous progress on the three dimensions —economic, social and environmental— of sustainable development

In May 2016, at the thirty-sixth session of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), held in Mexico City, the Commission’s member States adopted resolution 700 (XXXVI), the Mexico Resolution, which established the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development as a regional mechanism to follow up and review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its means of implementation, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The Economic and Social Council subsequently endorsed the establishment of the Forum in its resolution 2016/12.

The regional response to this new challenge, the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development is State-led and open to the Latin American and Caribbean countries. It is convened under the auspices of ECLAC and is guided by the principles established for all follow-up and review processes by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly. It involves States, the private sector and civil society, as well as subsidiary bodies of ECLAC, development banks, other United Nations agencies and regional integration blocs. The Forum seeks to provide useful opportunities for peer learning, including through voluntary reviews, the sharing of best practices and discussion of shared targets.

This report represents a contribution to the efforts by the region’s governments and the multiple stakeholders to implement, follow up and evaluate policies and strategies for the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are aware that no single document can encompass the complexity and variety of the challenges this involves. Accordingly, this report confines itself to three spheres: a diagnostic of progress made thus far and the challenges ahead; a description of national institutional mechanisms existing in the region for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda 2030; and an analysis of the challenges and opportunities involved in building and measuring Sustainable Development Goal indicators.

Chapter I offers a brief analysis of the regional and global context in which the countries of the region will be pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals in the coming years. This context is not auspicious, in light of the slower growth in the region and the still weak recovery of international economic conditions and trade. This is in addition to uncertainties and threats associated with growing protectionism in certain developed countries.

ECLAC maintains that, today more than ever, it is essential to pursue and broaden multilateral international cooperation. The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals are global, not only in the sense that they are universal because they are intended to include all countries, and that many of the Goals make sense only if they are approached on a planetary scale, such as climate action (Goal 13) and building peace, justice and strong institutions (Goal 16). They are also global because national efforts can be either enhanced by international cooperation, or badly compromised without it.

The following chapters deal with specific challenges to the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. First, policymaking requires a multi-stakeholder cross-sectoral institution foundation and the technical capacities for proper policy design and evaluation.

Chapter II describes and analyses the different institutional mechanisms and the norms and instruments developed in the different countries to promote the Sustainable Development Goals. Learning about and sharing policy experiences and practices in pursuit of those aims can help to improve the design of these mechanisms and boost national, subregional and regional cooperation. A key contribution was made by the United Nations Development Programme in the preparation of this chapter. The various programmes, funds and specialized agencies of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean also conveyed their contributions, which have been incorporated in part into this document and are available in their entirety on the Forum website.

Without strengthened national statistical systems to gauge progress or backsliding with respect to specific targets, it will be impossible to establish whether adequate progress is being made towards the Sustainable Development Goals. With such varied and ambitious objectives, the efforts involved in designing, measuring and interpreting a large number of indicators and voluminous data are complex. This is the subject of chapter III of the report, which offers the member countries a detailed discussion of the process of formulating the indicators, and refers to the databases needed to produce them in a standard and comparable manner in the region.

This report, the first in a long series until 2030, is intended to identify the starting point and the bases on which the work begins. Presented in this initial version, it is a contribution to the discussions of the Forum and will be enriched by the presentations and exchanges of ideas that will take place there. Following the first meeting of the Forum, the final version of this first report will be issued.

Alicia Bárcena

Executive Secretary

Economic Commission for Latin America

and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

CHAPTER I

Latin America and the Caribbean: the Sustainable Development Goals and the new international context

Uncertain times

A. The 2030 Agenda and multilateralism: instruments to correct the current globalization trends

B. Latin America and the Caribbean and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: progress and outstanding issues

C. Final reflections: technology, diversification, reduction of inequalities and economic integration are the keys to a renewed role for the region in the international system

Bibliography

Uncertain times

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 represent a crucial step in the building of a new and ambitious consensus among members of the international community. The severity of the problems plaguing the global economy, climate change and the urgent responses needed are being viewed through a new lens. This response cannot be isolated, unilateral or restricted to a small group of countries. Implementing the 2030 Agenda and working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals demand a concerted international effort. The guiding principles of the Goals reflect this global approach by emphasizing the need to ensure that no one is left behind, the pursuit of shared prosperity and the protection of the planet for future generations, regardless of creed, nationality race or ethnicity. Table I.1 shows the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Table I.1

The Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.a

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable

and inclusive institutions at all levels.

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Source: Resolution 70/1 of the United Nations General Assembly, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

a Recognizing that United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

Progress was made initially in the direction of the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly with the adoption of agreements at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21), ratified by China and the United States in September 2016, which reflected stronger multilateral cooperation. Advances were slower in other areas, for example in financing for development. Although it was understood that progress would not be linear or easy, countries were still in agreement about the global nature of the problems faced and the need to seek solutions through a cooperative and multilateral approach. This consensus has weakened in the past few months as uncertainty has increased.

Section A of this chapter shows that weakening of the multilateral cooperation agenda poses a grave risk for the global economy and worsens the chances of fully achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. These problems will only be solved with more, not less, multilateralism, international cooperation and global public goods that can redefine international governance. Latin America can contribute to this process by rebuilding its mechanisms for economic integration and joint action, thus strengthening the global effort through its own regional cooperation.

New rules and practices are needed to correct the hyperglobalization trend seen over the past 20 years, which has had high social and economic costs and also a political impact that could weaken the international community’s capacity for action and, in the long run, the sustainability of development and peace among nations.

In Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) argues that globalization without the appropriate governance mechanisms creates imbalances that render it unsustainable (ECLAC, 2016a). Recent political events around the world confirm this view and reveal the imbalances and tensions caused by the lack of global public goods. The international community is currently facing a challenge similar to that seen in the 1930s. Although it is hard to predict how the global economy will perform in the next few years, forums for dialogue and multilateral cooperation should be promoted to prevent a shift to aggressive mercantilism, which is bound to result in conflict, instability and economic depression.

A. The 2030 Agenda and multilateralism: instruments to correct the current globalization trend

The global economy has not recovered fully from the 2008 financial crisis. Growth in both trade and GDP has stagnated at levels much lower than those seen in past decades, particularly in the 30 years after the Second World War (see figure I.1).

Figure I.1

Growth in global GDP and goods exports by volume, 1952-2016

(Percentages)

Growth in global GDP and trade slowed sharply after the crisis

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The persistent debt of many businesses and governments following the 2008 crisis is a barrier to investment recovery and to growth, but there are also structural factors that pose a threat to effective demand, particularly with respect to investment. As shown in figure I.1, weak growth in GDP and in trade has been a problem since the late 1970s, not just since the 2008 crisis.

The following points are based on an analysis of two factors that explain falling growth rates and the sluggish global economic recovery: (i) major trade imbalances and (ii) the impact of inequality on effective demand and on the use of capital stock.

1. The 2030 Agenda is needed to correct the recessionary bias resulting from persistent trade imbalances

Trade imbalances are a drag on growth in a global economy that is very heterogeneous, with significant technology asymmetries between companies and countries. Countries’ rates of long-term growth are determined by their ability to innovate or close the gap vis-à-vis the technology frontier, except those that benefit —often only temporarily— from the “commodity lottery” (abundant natural resources in great demand). Although the country that issues the international reserve currency can avoid the external constraint, it is generally impossible to run persistent current account deficits representing a substantial share of GDP for any length of time. Governments facing such deficits are forced to curb growth to reduce imports and balance the external sector. The adjustment is even sharper if growth was previously driven by external debt.

This recessionary response is not the only option. If countries running surpluses were to increase their imports while countries running deficits grew their exports, the rebalancing of trade would not have serious effects for employment or growth. Nonetheless, in the current situation of hyperglobalization, only deficit countries other than the issuer of the international reserve currency are forced to make adjustments. There is no mechanism that requires surplus countries to correct their favourable balances, which represent the other side of the scales. This is the implicit hyperglobalization adjustment mechanism that creates recessionary bias in the global economy. Figure I.2 shows current account imbalances in various countries and regions of the world between 2008 and 2016. The large imbalances seen during the 2008 crisis subsequently decreased, but this reduction came at the heavy price of a deep crisis followed by a fragile recovery.

This tension cannot be eased by countries simultaneously stepping up mercantilist measures in order to unilaterally seek trade surpluses. It is impossible for all countries to have a trade surplus at the same time. The solution is greater cooperation to increase effective demand in countries running surpluses and allow a “soft landing” for countries with deficits. This can be achieved by coordinating fiscal policies (more expansionary measures in surplus countries), income policies (raising wages in surplus countries) and exchange-rate policies (devaluing currencies in deficit countries),[1] as well as through support for production diversification policies in developing countries. Correcting the recessionary bias of the global economy in this manner would make shared prosperity, as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (and in paragraph 88 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda), more feasible.

Fiscal stimuli should target clean technologies (see point 5 below) and a coordinated Keynesian response should have energy efficiency and emissions reduction at its centre. Otherwise, the global economic recovery would clash with the goals of protecting the environment. Likewise, growth in exports from developing countries should be driven by incentives that encourage decarbonization.

Figure I.2

Current account balances, 2008-2016a

(Percentages of global GDP)

Global disequilibria have been corrected through a contraction of growth

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy, 2016 (LC/G.2697-P), Santiago, 2016.

a Figures for 2016 are projections.

Various aspects of the new emerging scenario are reminiscent of the 1980s, such as the large trade deficit and the possibility of the United States adopting simultaneously an expansionary fiscal policy and a contractionary monetary policy. In the 1980s, the United States was able to bring its deficit under control thanks to international macroeconomic coordination mechanisms,[2] without a resurgence of trade protectionism. Now, by contrast, the picture is rather one of unilateral announcements that could pave the way for a succession of mercantilist responses. As a result, the world could end up in a situation more like the 1930s than the 1980s: less international liquidity, less trade and less cooperation.

2. The 2030 Agenda is needed to reduce the high levels of instability and uncertainty created by financial globalization

Along with the global production and trade trends mentioned, the transaction volumes of the financial sector now far exceed those of the real economy. This sector is driven by large and complex financial institutions (LCFIs), which are deeply interconnected and concentrated, with liability structures skewed towards procyclical leveraging. The shadow banking system is also a key, loosely regulated component of this sector that increases uncertainty.

The stronger presence and involvement of the financial sector in various areas of economic activity has complicated the relationship between the real economy and financial services. The behaviour of variables supposedly determined by real factors is also influenced by financial factors, to the extent that the financial sphere often takes precedence over the real world in certain situations. This is part of a financialization process, defined as the growing involvement of financial markets, institutions and elites in the economy and its governing institutions, both nationally and globally. This process has led over the past few years to a steadily growing gap between global GDP and financial assets and derivatives (see figure I.3).

Figure I.3

Decoupling between international finance and the real economy, shown as the difference between nominal GDP and global financial derivatives, 1980-2014

(Billions of dollars)

Decoupling of the financial sphere from the real economy

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development (LC/G.2660/Rev.1), Santiago, 2016.

The changes in the financial sector have major implications for the real economy, as seen in the commodities market in the first decade of the 2000s. Commodities may be considered financial assets because their prices are more sensitive to changes in expectations of future conditions than to current demand and supply (the “fundamentals”). Fluctuations in commodity markets have strong repercussions for Latin America and the Caribbean, as commodities are a key component of the exports and tax revenues of some of the region’s largest economies.

Multilateral cooperation is needed to restore governments’ ability to work together to stabilize global finances and regulate and manage the impact of the latter on national economies, hence avoiding various types of asset bubble, particularly in food and property. Without it, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved. It is impossible to sustain policies for full employment and decent work (with all their implications for welfare and income distribution) without active policies fostering social and labour inclusion and a global financial architecture that enhances the stability and predictability of capital flows, exchange rates and commodity prices. Similarly, strong fluctuations in fossil fuel prices increase uncertainty about the profitability of investment in clean technologies.

3. The 2030 Agenda is needed to broaden the welfare State and protect the labour market

An intense debate has been under way over the past 10 years on the reasons for the steady rise in inequality in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries since the early 1980s. The main factors that have been highlighted in the debate are supposedly: China’s entry into the global trade market (along with its enormous labour supply), financial globalization, technical progress biased towards skilled workers and the predominance of an ideology that is opposed to social and labour protection.[3] Inequality reinforced the global recessionary bias by reducing consumption and boosting household debt. This debt was a decisive factor in the subprime crisis, which later spread to the rest of the global financial system.

A prisoner’s dilemma is now emerging in relation to the labour market and social policies that is very similar to that seen in fiscal policy. Countries are reluctant to unilaterally employ Keynesian fiscal policies for fear of external imbalances. By the same token, they are unwilling to unilaterally increase social protection or workers’ bargaining power for fear of raising costs and losing share in domestic and external markets.

In the absence of international cooperation, the erosion of tax bases and the predominance of unfair competitive strategies are a barrier to the expansion of the welfare State. In welfare States, governments are forced to cover social costs by raising taxes, which means higher costs for businesses. Countries then become less attractive destinations for investment in a global economy where capital is extremely mobile and competition to attract it is fierce. This rivalry increasingly erodes labour markets and States’ power of taxation, and yields a negative outcome that can be avoided only through international cooperation in the form of both tax agreements and higher standards on employment quality, rights at work and social protection systems (see SDG target 10.4). This must occur in parallel with stronger control of tax evasion and avoidance, as discussed in the document on the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda (ECLAC, 2017b).

Equality is a requirement for economic growth. This has been underscored by ECLAC since its founding, even more so since the publication of Time for Equality (ECLAC, 2010). Equality creates incentives and opportunities that translate into more education, technical progress and competitiveness. Workers and business owners in more egalitarian economies with extensive social protection networks feel less vulnerable and accept and adapt better to the inevitable ups and downs of an open economy. One of the reasons for protectionist responses to hyperglobalization has been the sharp deterioration in equality and social protection in developed economies and in several developing countries. For societies to be more open, they must also be more egalitarian.

The challenges of employment, education and inclusion are made more complex by the technology revolution. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are redefining the capacities that will be most in demand and the profile of activities to be performed. The tourism and retail sectors, as well as maquila activities, are among those areas most sensitive to automation.

This last point bears out the principle of the synergies between the three pillars of sustainable development: the region will not be able to achieve progressive structural change and fully join the technology revolution unless it combines these efforts with social investment, social protection and training for the jobs created by the new technologies. Such investment fosters inclusion and the diffusion of technical progress and produces positive impacts on productivity and growth. This, in turn, will require institution-building, negotiations and social dialogue to distribute the fruits of economic growth and productivity gains in a fairer manner.

4. International cooperation is needed to revive the development agenda, which is a crucial factor in preventing migratory conflicts and achieving sustainable peace

In recent years, various countries have seen an increase in the flow of refugees or immigrants seeking a better life for themselves and their families. This has created tensions in destination countries and is one of the factors contributing to the rise of political parties whose platforms often diverge from the most cherished traditions of tolerance and inclusiveness in democratic societies. Emigration also represents a drain on talent and capacities for migrants’ countries of origin, as it is more difficult to develop economies once young people, particularly the most educated, have left.

Greater international cooperation is needed to stem the flow of migrants, and thus avoid unmanageable pressure on the welfare States and labour markets of many destination countries. There is a large imbalance in population growth rates and levels of well-being in the developing and developed worlds. As long as developing countries are not creating enough jobs to keep their citizens, migratory pressure on Europe and the United States, and even on some relatively stable developing economies, will continue building. Protectionist and trade-limiting responses will only worsen the problem. Closing markets and thus worsening the problems of the poorest economies will only exacerbate the driving forces of emigration.

The global community must find a way to correct trade and demographic imbalances. If countries opt to reduce growth (recessionary bias), redundant workers will see emigration as the only path to a better life. But if, conversely, international cooperation is encouraged, with growth in trade and capacity-building in developing economies, there will be a soft landing and convergence in technological and productive capacity. A multilateral system which is open to trade and in which the dissemination of technology worldwide helps reduce productive and technological asymmetries, encourages job creation in less developed countries, and helps ease political tensions and prevent conflict (see Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth, and in particular target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment).

The Sustainable Development Goals represent a vital agenda for peace and stability, not just in developing countries, but worldwide. The 2030 Agenda includes about 20 targets related directly to migration. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Sustainable Development Goals provide a crucial opportunity to promote a cross-cutting approach to migration in public policymaking, by basing policies on the three pillars of sustainable development and taking a long-term view.

5. The 2030 Agenda is needed to steer production and consumption patterns towards sustainable growth paths

The best available scientific evidence confirms the enormous risk that current production and consumption patterns pose for the planet’s health and development opportunities for future generations. The effects of disappearing species, destruction of land and forests, and deterioration of the global commons (oceans, polar ice caps and the atmosphere) are already being strongly felt. The non-linear and irreversible nature of climate change increases this risk, to the point where there is great uncertainty about the levels at which pollution and greenhouse gas emissions will reach a point of no return for environmental imbalances.

The prisoner’s dilemma and the risks of a non-cooperative game —already high in relation to restoring growth and reducing inequalities— are all the more serious when the health of the planet (by its very nature a global issue) is at stake. Each country has incentives to pollute and create jobs for its workers, but expects other countries to reduce their emissions. No country is willing to internalize in its production costs the negative externalities generated by pollution. Not for nothing did Nicholas Stern refer to climate change as “the greatest market failure the world has ever seen”.

ECLAC has argued that the environmental challenge is also the greatest opportunity for structural change and international cooperation for development. The technology revolution, the need for a new generation of public policies favouring new energy sources, smart production processes and environmental innovations —in short, an “environmental big push”, as mentioned later on— are paving the way for low-carbon expansion and growth.

The link between technology, the environment and development should be underscored. In order to resolve environmental problems, countries must strengthen their technological capacity by investing in education, research and development (R&D) and product and process design innovation, gain extensive knowledge of the pollution generated at each stage of the production cycle and understand the dynamics and risk factors of natural resource management, among other challenges. As environmental conditions are largely country-specific, building domestic capacity is crucial. Likewise, developing countries should not simply import more eco-friendly technologies, as these technologies become ineffective without complementary domestic capacity. Moreover, technology imports could worsen the balance-of-payments problem and curb job growth, which would then result in economic agents, businesses and workers exerting pressure for a return to old production patterns (see Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth, and in particular target 8.2, which calls for achieving higher levels of economic productivity through diversification and technological upgrading).

Similarly, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified a number of challenges that must be tackled jointly, including tensions between economic growth, social development and protection of the environment, urban population growth, climate change, food security, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity. These contradictions are explored later, as are possible complementarities between the policies for the various Sustainable Development Goals.

6. The agenda for the next few years: re-establishing international cooperation and multilateralism with a new and revitalized role for Latin American regional integration

When the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted in September 2015, the international community discussed multilateral mechanisms that would support a new growth pattern and correct the imbalances caused by hyperglobalization. The 2030 Agenda was both an expression of and a response to these imbalances. It proposed stronger international integration with respect to global public goods that would stabilize trade and finance and encourage a shift in production patterns towards sustainable growth.

The efforts of the international community to correct the globalization trend built on the work done in the 1990s during the United Nations policy-setting decade. However, the concerns of the United Nations at that time were ignored by the dominant forces of realpolitik, which wrongly declared “there is no alternative” (TINA) to hyperglobalization and dismissed international cooperation efforts as slow, inefficient and distorting.

At the same time, however, the sectors worst affected by hyperglobalization were looking for another path. Their response was strong scepticism about the international system, precisely because the dominant message was that there was only one path to global integration. The polarization between globalization winners and losers, particularly in developed countries, was a threat to this integration.

Hence, less than two years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, imbalances have given rise to political responses that make implementing the Agenda more difficult. ECLAC maintains that imbalances in the prevailing development pattern will not be resolved by a return to unilateralism or to the hyperglobalization of the past few decades which triggered them. The challenge is to restore the multilateral cooperation agenda that fell by the wayside amid hyperglobalization and emerging unilateralism, and which is needed to create an open and more balanced global system that is compatible with national efforts to achieve full employment and equality.

In order for the region to make a meaningful contribution to the debate on global public goods over the next few years, it must strengthen its own cooperation and integration mechanisms. Regional integration projects have made limited progress in the past decade. As shown in figure I.4, this has led to Latin America and the Caribbean having lower levels of intraregional exports than other world regions. Without negating the worth of the existing integration agreements, the figure clearly shows that they are insufficient.

Figure I.4

Latin America and the Caribbean: intraregional trade in relation to total trade, 2008-2015

(Percentages)

Latin America and the Caribbean has low levels of intraregional trade compared with other regions

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (COMTRADE).

Reviving regional integration efforts can also help limit the negative impact of greater protectionism in the global economy. Pioneering integration efforts were made precisely when the region’s economies faced adverse global conditions. The first attempt to create a free trade area between Argentina and Brazil, which culminated in the progressive free trade agreement of 1941, was made after the collapse in trade during the Second World War. Similarly, the negotiations that led to the creation of the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA) in 1960 took place amid the crisis stemming from the dollar shortage of the 1950s. Similar conclusions can be drawn from the experience of the Central American Common Market (CACM) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and from efforts to build political cooperation and consensus in the region. All these examples show that the region is capable of positive responses even when faced with complex challenges and great uncertainty.

In short, Latin America and the Caribbean must strengthen economic integration as a form of defence, and especially as a constructive response that supports pro-development global governance.

B. Latin America and the Caribbean and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: progress and outstanding issues

This section examines some of the progress made in the region with respect to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the difficulties that still need to be overcome. First, it provides a brief summary of regional economic conditions, as a key determinant of the ability to fight poverty and inequality. Second, it discusses the trends in social indicators, particularly the weaker progress seen compared with the previous decade. Third, it highlights the persistence of several forms of discrimination. Lastly, it addresses the environment, one of the pillars of the “progressive structural change” transformation strategy (ECLAC, 2016a).

All four elements affect the Sustainable Development Goals in a cross-cutting manner. In each case, an effective response requires capacity- and institution-building to develop and implement policies through the joint efforts of national and subnational governments and of other regional and international institutions, all United Nations bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean, civil society, and the private and academic sectors. Multi-stakeholder participation is crucial to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

1. Unfavourable economic conditions

Latin America and the Caribbean are facing the challenges posed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals with lower long-term growth rates than other parts of the developing world, owing to weak investment and persistent vulnerability to external shocks. The region has failed to take advantage of economic upswings to boost diversification, which has affected its response to recent events in the form of a sluggish global economic recovery, greater financial volatility, weaker growth in China and falling commodity prices. In most Latin American and Caribbean countries, growth has been slowing since 2010-2011, which means this is now a medium-term trend. In some economies, slowing growth has become outright contraction. The slowdown is particularly evident in falling investment levels.

The investment trend is especially worrying because it is likely to affect the growth path of the economy in both the short and long terms, owing to its effects on productivity and structural change. The decline in investment in machinery and equipment has very strong repercussions for productivity and technological upgrading, and thus for international competitiveness, especially in segments unrelated to natural resources. This means that the region is not building the capacity or infrastructure needed to change its development pattern. Figure I.5 shows that Latin America and the Caribbean never recovered the levels of infrastructure investment seen in the early 1980s, with all the loss of competitiveness this has entailed.

Investment is declining in technological innovation as well as in infrastructure. Low levels of R&D and the gap between countries in the region and other developing economies indicate the weakness of domestic capacity-building in Latin America and the Caribbean. This also translates into a smaller share of the total number of global patents, which contrasts with the increase for developing countries in Asia (see figure I.6).

Figure I.5

Latin America: investment in infrastructure by sector, 1980-2013

(Percentages of GDP)

Public investment in infrastructure has never recovered from the lost decade

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development (LC/G.2660/ Rev.1), Santiago, 2016.

Figure I.6

Shares of total worldwide patents, 1990 and 2015

(Percentages)

The region is being left behind in the twenty-first century race

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), WIPO Statistics Database [online] http://www.wipo.int/ipstats/en.

The technology gap hampers diversification into other sectors and activities that are more dynamic in terms of technology and demand, which is the main determinant of the region’s capacity to create good jobs. The commodity boom strengthened static comparative advantages; the “China effect” was very powerful in this respect, especially for the South American economies with abundant natural resources. Addressing this reprimarization is a crucial step in creating the economic foundations for achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The combined effect of these different forces is that labour productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean has deteriorated steadily relative to that of the United States (relative productivity). If the incorporation of technical progress and productivity fall behind, international competitiveness will depend increasingly on natural resources or lower wages, which directly contradicts the objectives of protecting these resources and reducing inequality.

A key dimension of efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda will be the creation of productive, good-quality jobs associated with the new technologies. The technology revolution could have huge impacts on activities that are important for the countries in the region —for example, in some services, such as call centres and tourism, and in manufacturing activities such as maquila. Avoiding these impacts calls for much broader public-private cooperation on infrastructure, as well as training for new generations in the technologies of the future. Otherwise, the lag that already exists today in patent applications and R&D could lead to the destruction of jobs in the region, which would jeopardize the possibilities of achieving full employment.

2. Progress on social indicators has stalled or gone into reverse

Table I.2 summarizes the social pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the main targets with which it is associated explicitly or implicitly, insofar as targets in other areas also have strong social impacts. The social pillar is not confined to the 10 Sustainable Development Goals with specific social meaning and targets: 1. No poverty, 2. Zero hunger, 3. Good health and well-being, 4. Quality education, 5. Gender equality, 6. Clean water and sanitation, 8. Decent work and economic growth, 10. Reduced inequalities, 11. Sustainable cities and communities, and 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions. Social issues also play a key role in the other seven Goals. Because of the integrated nature of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda, economic and environmental development are not sustainable without social development. Social policies are crucial, both to offset the possible negative impacts of growth on the well-being of the population, and to facilitate or leverage its positive effects.

Unlike the situation in OECD countries, Latin America managed to reduce inequality from about 2005 onwards. This had positive effects on poverty reduction and indigence, as shown in figure I.7.

Figure I.7 also shows that this favourable trend has stagnated in the past few years and may even go into reverse, which jeopardizes the achievement of Goal 1. No Poverty, especially target 1.2.[4] As the growth associated with the commodity boom lost momentum, the improvement in social indicators also stalled. At present, 28% of the region’s population (168 million people) continues to live in poverty (ECLAC, 2016b). And, as highlighted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development poses major challenges for the agricultural sector, which needs new approaches to strengthen its role in food and nutrition security. It is estimated that agricultural production will have to increase by 60% to 100% in developing countries by 2050 to feed the entire population. This is referred to in Sustainable Development Goal target 2.4, which calls for ensuring sustainable food production systems.

Table I.2

The social pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development Goals

Targets

1. No poverty

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.a

1.b

2. Zero hunger

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.a

2.b

2.c

3. Good health and well-being

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

3.a

3.b

3.c

3.d

4. Quality education

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.a

4.b

4.c

5. Gender equality

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.a

5.b

5.c

6. Clean water and sanitation

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.a

6.b

7. Affordable and clean energy

7.1

7.2

7.3

7.a

7.b

8. Decent work and economic growth

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

8.7

8.8

8.9

8.10

8.a

8.b

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

9.1

9.2

9.3

9.4

9.5

9.a

9.b

9.c

10. Reduced inequalities

10.1

10.2

10.3

10.4

10.5

10.6

10.7

10.a

10.b

10.c

11. Sustainable cities and communities

11.1

11.2

11.3

11.4

11.5

11.6

11.7

11.a

11.b

11.c

12. Responsible consumption and production

12.1

12.2

12.3

12.4

12.5

12.6

12.7

12.8

12.a

12.b

12.c

13. Climate action

13.1

13.2

13.3

13.a

13.b

14. Life below water

14.1

14.2

14.3

14.4

14.5

14.6

14.7

14.a

14.b

14.c

15. Life on land

15.1

15.2

15.3

15.4

15.5

15.6

15.7

15.8

15.9

15.a

15.b

15.c

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

16.1

16.2

16.3

16.4

16.5

16.6

16.7

16.8

16.9

16.10

16.a

16.b

17. Partnerships for the goals

17.1

17.2

17.3

17.4

17.5

17.6

17.7

17.8

17.9

17.10

17.11

17.12

17.13

17.14

17.15

17.16

17.17

17.18

17.19

Social pillar

Targets with clear social objectives.

Extended

Economic, environmental and institutional targets with a direct impact on social development.

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Figure I.7

Latin America (19 countries): poverty and indigence, 1980-2015a

(Percentages and millions of people)

Poverty and indigence in Latin America: the end of a cycle?

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Social Panorama of Latin America, 2015 (LC/G.2691-P), Santiago, 2016.

a Does not include Cuba. Figures for 2015 are projections.

Latin America and the Caribbean was the only region to achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets for hunger and the ambitious objectives of the World Food Summit, by reducing undernourishment to 5.5%. The political commitment to eradicating hunger was incorporated into the Hunger-Free Latin America and Caribbean 2025 Initiative and the CELAC Plan for Food and Nutrition Security and the Eradication of Hunger 2025. That challenge is being made even greater today by the nutritional transition and the objective of eliminating all forms of malnutrition, including overweight and obesity. The various forms of malnutrition are not simply a quality-of-life issue for the individuals involved; they also limit their capacity to work and be productive, and therefore generate high costs for health systems (ECLAC/WFP, 2017).

The rise in the unemployment over the past few years, after a stretch from 2002 to 2014 when joblessness fell thanks to gains in employment formalization, is another indicator of the growing difficulty in improving social indicators. At the same time, self-employment is growing faster than wage employment, which suggests that job quality is deteriorating. Self-employment generally means lower income and less protection, and is a survival strategy used in an adverse economic climate.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), Latin America and the Caribbean would have to create 70 million new jobs between now and 2030 just for the newcomers to the labour market (roughly 5 million people per year). The informal sector currently comprises 134 million workers in highly vulnerable conditions. In addition to job instability, the unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in 2016, higher than the level seen during the 2008-2009 global crisis (ILO, 2016) (see also Sustainable Development Goal target 8.8).

The region is experiencing new demographic trends associated with population ageing and urbanization[5] Countries should take advantage of the demographic dividend, which is conducive to investment, to strengthen education and health, particularly of children, adolescents, young people and women, which would create synergies with the quest for equality. The ability of individuals in the working-age group to secure jobs is largely the result of previous investment in education (CELADE, 2014).

ECLAC has emphasized that “social issues are not played out in the social sphere alone”, as macroeconomic management and industrial policies are not only crucial to solving social problems, but are also responsible for many of them (a classic example is the effect of inflation on poverty). Likewise, productivity and structural change are not solely economic phenomena (ECLAC, 2016c). Social development is an investment that yields positive returns for economic growth and environmental protection. Investing in development and social inclusion (education, nutrition, health, social protection, training and capacity-building, among others) increases workers’ productivity, fosters better environmental knowledge and stewardship and builds the population’s resilience to natural disasters. Conversely, skimping on this investment limits the returns on productive investment and raises production costs, as shown by studies on the multiple burden of malnutrition, hunger and illiteracy.

3. Inequality and discrimination remain

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere and ensuring that no one is left behind will take a determined effort on the part of the region’s countries to lock in and build on the progress made on the social front in the preceding period. In order to do this, it is necessary to identify the axes that structure the social inequality matrix in the region, as well as inequalities of income, gender, ethnic and racial status, territory and stage of the life cycle. These axes intersect to broaden the gaps and limit the rights of certain segments of the population. These patterns and their interactions must be recognized in order to give effect to the universalist, rights-based approach underpinning the 2030 Agenda (ECLAC, 2016d).

Indigenous and Afrodescendent populations are overrepresented in the lowest quintiles of the income distribution and their levels of poverty and indigence, as well as their vulnerability to poverty, are much higher than in the general population (ECLAC, 2014 and 2016d). The Afrodescendent population has fewer years of schooling on average than the non-Afrodescendent population (see figure I.8), which broadens wage gaps between the two. What is more, women receive lower wages in both groups, despite having a higher level of schooling. The wage gap is not only discriminatory; it also fails to compensate women’s years of education or the public and private investment in acquiring such an education (ECLAC, 2016a).

Figure I.8

Latin America (simple average of four countries): average monthly earnings and average years’ education of the employed Afrodescendent and non-Afrodescendent and non-indigenous populations, 2014a

Gender- and race-based inequalities in the labour market

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), The Social Inequality Matrix in Latin America (LC/G.2690(MDS.1/2)), Santiago, 2016.

a Includes surveys from countries where the Afrodescendent population can be identified: Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

The progress made in combating poverty and indigence in the last decade has not benefited men and women equally.[6] Analysis of poverty levels in the population aged 20 to 59 by sex reveals that female poverty has fallen by less on average in the countries of Latin America. The femininity index of poor households rose by just over 11 points from 107.1 in 2002 to 118.2 in 2014. This means that for every 100 men living in poor households in the subregion in 2014, 118 women were in that situation.[7] In addition, 1 in 3 women aged over 15 in Latin America had no income of their own, while this was the case for only 1 in every 10 men (see Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean).[8] There are also significant gaps between urban and rural areas. Unpaid family agricultural workers make up the majority of the 40% of rural women in Latin America who do not have their own income, while the percentage of rural men without their own income is 11% (ECLAC, 2016e). This is in direct contravention to Sustainable Development Goal target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development states that:

“Realizing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Goals and targets. The achievement of full human potential and of sustainable development is not possible if one half of humanity continues to be denied its full human rights and opportunities. (…) The systematic mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the implementation of the Agenda is crucial” (United Nations, 2015b).

The 2030 Agenda includes a specific Goal of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls (Sustainable Development Goal 5), as well as cross-cutting commitments under the other Goals. ECLAC has categorized the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals into different groups in accordance with a cross-cutting gender perspective, as shown in table I.3.

Table I.3

Proposal for mainstreaming of gender equality in the Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals Targets

1. No poverty

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.a

1.b

2. Zero hunger

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.a

2.b

2.c

3. Good health and well-being

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

3.a

3.b

3.c

3.d

4. Quality education

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.a

4.b

4.c

5. Gender equality

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.a

5.b

5.c

6. Clean water and sanitation

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

6.6

6.a

6.b

7. Affordable and clean energy

7.1

7.2

7.3

7.a

7.b

8. Decent work and economic growth

8.1

8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

8.6

8.7

8.8

8.9

8.10

8.a

8.b

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

9.1

9.2

9.3

9.4

9.5

9.a

9.b

9.c

10. Reduced inequalities

10.1

10.2

10.3

10.4

10.5

10.6

10.7

10.a

10.b

10.c

11. Sustainable cities and communities

11.1

11.2

11.3

11.4

11.5

11.6

11.7

11.a

11.b

11.c

12. Responsible consumption and production

12.1

12.2

12.3

12.4

12.5

12.6

12.7

12.8

12.a

12.b

12.c

13. Climate action

13.1

13.2

13.3

13.a

13.b

14. Life below water

14.1

14.2

14.3

14.4

14.5

14.6

14.7

14.a

14.b

14.c

15. Life on land

15.1

15.2

15.3

15.4

15.5

15.6

15.7

15.8

15.9

15.a

15.b

15.c

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

16.1

16.2

16.3

16.4

16.5

16.6

16.7

16.8

16.9

16.10

16.a

16.b

17. Partnerships for the goals

17.1

17.2

17.3

17.4

17.5

17.6

17.7

17.8

17.9

17.10

17.11

17.12

17.13

17.14

17.15

17.16

17.17

17.18

17.19

Targets

Explicit targets for gender equality or women’s rights

Implicit targets for gender equality or women’s rights

Targets that create conditions for gender equality or women’s rights

Targets indirectly related to gender equality or women’s rights

Separation between thematic targets and implementation targets

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Equality and Women’s Autonomy in the Sustainable Development Agenda (LC/G.2686/Rev.1), Santiago, 2016.

Taking up the language agreed in the Sustainable Development Goals, the proposal analyses the targets’ relevance to the attainment of gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean, thereby opening the way to a fuller understanding of the interrelationships between the targets and to enhanced positive synergies in pursuit of the Goals, ensuring that inequality divides are not widened (Bidegain, 2017). Table I.3 classifies the targets of each Sustainable Development Goal into four groups.

Orange indicates explicit targets for gender equality or women’s rights and those of universal application. The language used refers to “women”, “girls”, “equal access” or “universal access”, or the target is specified as being “for all women and men” or “for all”.

Implicit targets for gender equality or women’s rights are shown in light blue. Although their wording does not specify women and girls, they are essential for achieving gender equality in the region. For example, these targets refer to “people in vulnerable situations” or in “small and medium-sized enterprises”, or propose measures to eliminate “discriminatory laws, policies and practices”. In some cases, the related indicators also include sex-specific information.

Targets shown in green create necessary (albeit not sufficient) structural conditions for progress towards gender equality and women’s rights and towards sustainable development patterns. They are targets that need to be implemented from a gender equality and rights perspective with a view to reducing inequality rather than perpetuating it, example being those related to global economic governance, financial and trade flows and technology.

Targets shown in yellow relate to gender equality and women’s rights indirectly or via the intermediary of other variables.

The regional gender agenda, agreed over a period of 40 years since the first session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, supplements the Sustainable Development Goals in the light of regional priorities and seeks, among other objectives, to promote care as a right, construct parity democracies and move towards economies that take unpaid work into account. The agenda guides the countries of the region towards achieving sustainable development from the perspective of gender equality, human rights and women’s autonomy. Moving from commitments to public action, the Montevideo Strategy for Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda within the Sustainable Development Framework by 2030 (ECLAC, 2017a) is designed to strengthen the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda with a view to eliminating discrimination against women, preventing setbacks and moving towards substantive equality.

The analysis of policy synergies, meanwhile, requires women’s economic autonomy needs to be considered within a framework of progressive structural change and an expanded fiscal space so that adequate resources for equality policies can be reliably secured (ECLAC, 2016d). Similarly, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) has pointed out that increasing women’s participation in the economy requires an integrated approach and consistency between economic and social policies. This means refocusing macroeconomic policies in ways that soften the impact of economic slowdowns in the short term and create the conditions for long-term job creation (more and better jobs for women). It is also necessary to recognize, reduce and redistribute domestic and care work, sustain investment in social protection, improve the conditions for women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, eliminate gender-based violence and move towards parity in the democratic representation of men and women in their diversity (UN-Women, 2015).

4. The environmental dimension: where structural change and the technological revolution converge

Like the social and economic dimensions, the environmental dimension cuts across all the Sustainable Development Goals and is explicitly or implicitly included in each of them. Table I.4 summarizes some of the explicitly defined environmental targets and indicators.

Goal 13 —Climate action— and Goal 15 —Life on land— also contain specific environmental targets.

Table I.4

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and explicit environmental targets

Goal

Target

Indicator

SDG 1

1.5

By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters

1.5.3

Number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies

SDG 2

2.4

By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

2.4.1

Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

SDG 3

3.9

By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination

3.9.1

Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution

SDG 9

9.4

By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities

9.4.1

CO_2 emission per unit of value added

SDG 14

14.4

By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans,

in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce

maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics

14.4.1

Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels

SDG 14

14.5

By 2020, conserve at least 10% of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information

14.5.1

Coverage of protected areas in relation to marine areas

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations, Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators. Note by the Secretary-General (E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1), New York, 2016.

The environmental dimension should guide efforts to increase investment and strengthen technological capabilities in developing countries with a view to decoupling output growth from the emission of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. The proposal by ECLAC (2016a) for progressive structural change, defined as a shift in the production structure towards more technology-intensive sectors with more dynamic demand and a lower environmental impact, tends in this direction. The move towards a new production system requires a package of coordinated investments in several areas. In the best tradition of what has been called high development theory, this “environmental big push” represents a qualitative leap in terms of employment, diversification and growth on a low-carbon path based on this set of coordinated investments.

For global warming to be held to 2oC or less, global emissions must be reduced from approximately 60 gigatons of CO_2 (projected for 2030) to 20 gigatons of CO_2 by 2050 (UNEP, 2015). Given the unequal distribution of income in Latin America and the Caribbean, where higher-income sectors contribute disproportionately to emissions, achieving this objective will require a considerable improvement in the scope and quality of urban public services (such as mass transit, waste management infrastructure and street lighting), greater penetration and diversification of renewable energies and conservation measures for agriculture and forest cover (see Sustainable Development Goal target 7.2).

A change in the energy mix must be a fundamental component of this shift in the development pattern. In 2015, according to data from the Economic and Energy Information System (SIEE) of the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), renewable sources accounted for about 24.1% of the energy mix of Latin America and the Caribbean (see figure I.9). The supply of renewable energy has decreased throughout the region in the last two decades, creating a more urgent need for new investments to reverse this trend. At the same time, reducing the energy intensity of the production process is still a work in progress, since changes in recent years have been marginal.

Figure I.9

Latin America and the Caribbean: renewable proportion of the energy mix,a 1990-2015

(Percentages of the total energy supply)

The share of renewable energy must be increased

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), Economic and Energy Information System (SIEE), 2016.

a Includes the following energy sources: geothermal energy, hydropower, firewood whose use is deemed sustainable, sugar cane products and other renewable sources such as solar and wind energy.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA, 2016), global annual investment in renewable power generation increased from US$ 50 billion in 2004 to US$ 360 billion in 2015, with 85% of this going to Group of 20 (G20) countries. The region is projected to be receiving 6% of these investments by 2020 (IRENA, 2015), which will not be enough to transform the pattern of energy use to the extent required for sustainable development.

At the same time, Latin America and the Caribbean faces yet another environmental challenge: slowing the degradation of the biophysical environment. To achieve this and to adapt to changes that are already inevitable, a major effort will be needed. Extreme weather events have increased in the region. In addition to imperilling peoples’ lives and well-being, these phenomena directly affect the economy, infrastructure and social development. Figure I.10 shows that the number of extreme weather events related to climate change has increased steadily since the second half of the twentieth century. This trend highlights the need for climate change adaptation, risk management and urban climate financing policies and measures at different levels (international, national and subnational).

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has indicated that, according to the latest statistical report on losses and damages for 24 countries in the Americas, there were about 100,000 disaster events between 1990 and 2013, nearly 50% of them in small towns and communities. These disasters caused the loss of nearly 43,000 lives, destroyed 13 million homes and affected 6 million people. The impact of disasters is so far-reaching that the cumulative total of people affected in some Central American countries between 1990 and 2013 exceeded their populations.

Figure I.10

Latin America and the Caribbean: number of extreme weather events linked to climate change,a 1961-2015

Extreme weather events are on the increase

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), “EM-DAT: International Disaster Database”, Brussels [online] http://www.emdat.be/.

a Includes droughts, extreme temperatures, floods, landslides, storms and forest fires.

At the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai (Japan) from 14 to 18 March 2015, United Nations Member States adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. Even before the Framework’s adoption, States had pledged themselves to disaster risk reduction and resilience[9] in paragraph 186 of General Assembly resolution 66/288: “We call for disaster risk reduction and the building of resilience to disasters to be addressed with a renewed sense of urgency in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and, as appropriate, to be integrated into policies, plans, programmes and budgets at all levels and considered within relevant future frameworks”. This sense of urgency was further reflected in Sustainable Development Goal target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters.

It is estimated that 50% of agricultural land in Latin America and the Caribbean will be desertified by 2050 (IFAD, 2010). In the case of marine and coastal areas, which are essential for protecting the coastline, the Convention on Biological Diversity has set a target of protecting 10% of these by 2020 (target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets). Meanwhile, just over 3% of these areas are protected in Latin America and the Caribbean (see figure I.11).

Figure I.11

Protected coastal and marine areas, 2000-2014

(Percentages of the total)

Less protection in the region than elsewhere in the world

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016, New York, 2016.

Cities account for nearly two thirds of global energy consumption and generate over 70% of greenhouse gas emissions (UN-Habitat, 2016). They are also key centres for promoting social inclusion and economic dynamism, as is stressed in the New Urban Agenda adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), held in Quito in October 2016. Latin America and the Caribbean, where 79.5% of the population lives in cities, is the most highly urbanized developing region on the planet (United Nations, 2015c).

By contrast with the past, the challenge facing cities in the region is no longer how to respond to rapid migration from rural areas to urban ones, but how to close inequality gaps and tackle environmental degradation. The total urban population continues to grow, mainly as a result of demographic changes in the population settled in urban areas, and this will result in an additional 92 million people living in cities in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2030 (United Nations, 2015c). This trend presents a challenge for investment in infrastructure and services, especially in a region where residential areas are highly segregated along socioeconomic lines.

Mobility patterns associated with unplanned urban expansion and increased private motor vehicle use are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. In the region, 38% of urban greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for transport, while 17% are from industry (UN-Habitat, 2012). Approximately 94% of urban transport is powered by oil derivatives.[10]

With regard to emissions of particulate matter of less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) (small enough to enter the bloodstream) and less than 10 microns (PM_10) in the big cities of Latin America and the Caribbean, in 2014 only Montevideo had PM2.5 levels lower than the recommended upper limits. As figure I.12 shows, all the other cities exceeded the limits established by the World Health Organization (WHO) for PM2.5 and PM_10 (WHO, 2016).

Figure I.12

Latin America and the Caribbean (selected cities): concentrations of PM2.5 and PM_10 particulate matter, 2014

(Micrograms per cubic metre)

Air pollution in the region’s cities is at unacceptable levels

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of World Health Organization (WHO), WHO Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database (update 2016) [online database] http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/cities/en/.

The relationship between poverty and pollution is of major significance for the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. While pollution compromises everyone’s quality of life, the most affected are those living in poverty or extreme poverty, as they are more likely to live in degraded and vulnerable areas. In addition, these persons’ low incomes mean they are unable to afford recyclable goods whose production has less impact on the environment, as they tend to be more expensive. Furthermore, drinking water access, waste management and reductions in air pollution have positive impacts on family health, thus reducing the time women have to spend caring for their families. Replacing fuels used in the home with less polluting ones also has a positive effect on families, and particularly women.

Overall, the production structure of the region, and particularly South America, depends heavily on extractive activities with low formal employment intensity and very high environmental impacts, both directly and in terms of energy consumption. For that very reason, it is a cause for concern that the economic slowdown might lead to perverse tax competition to attract greater investment in extractive activities, undermining environmental standards. What ECLAC proposes is a shift towards a new energy and production pattern via a coordinated set of investments in which the employment, technology and environmental dimensions converge.

C. Final reflections: technology, diversification, reduction of inequalities and economic integration are the keys to a renewed role for the region in the international system

The international economic system is bound to go through a period of greater uncertainty and instability in the coming years. In this context, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals will represent even more of a challenge for the region, and is all the more urgent for preventing conflicts and instability. It is difficult to predict the evolution of variables crucial to decision-making, such as exchange rates between major currencies, the degree of openness of the world economy, direct investment flows versus reshoring, the implementation of environmental regulations and the stability of the financial system at a time when a number of analysts are warning about the risk of a new global crisis.

In this context, the region’s response should be geared towards reducing its vulnerability and preventing some of the aforementioned negative trends from worsening. The key points in that response will now be outlined. More details on implementation can be found in the document Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: the challenges of resource mobilization (ECLAC, 2017b).

1. Without building endogenous capacities in new technologies, it will be impossible to reduce vulnerabilities

Changes in international rules will not reduce the region’s vulnerability unless accompanied by a major local effort to reduce the gap in technological capabilities. The environmental and social inclusion pillars should be based on the incorporation, adaptation and development of incremental innovations in new technologies. The region’s indices for education, R&D and patents are incompatible with the goal of generating more productive and better-quality jobs and rising economic dynamism.

There is scope for Latin America and the Caribbean to make rapid progress in these areas. The region has the capacity to develop its own renewable energy technology, geothermal energy being an example, and to design and produce cargo and passenger vehicles powered by renewable energies. Some countries have already demonstrated the viability of a change in the energy mix, as is happening in the electricity sector in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay. There are also numerous examples to follow outside the region, such as the development of high-speed electric trains and electrified urban public transport. In addition to having a smaller environmental footprint, these have a smaller social footprint because of their positive effect on social inclusion. Similarly, there is ample scope for the development of technologies related to natural resource use, where environmental and inclusion issues likewise converge. The depletion of the natural resources of the seas, ground, minerals and forests is partly due to an informal extractive economy created by vulnerable populations as a way of making up for the uncertainty associated with their socioeconomic context.

2. A radical reduction in inequality is needed to create a political economy of learning and technical change

Inequality creates large economic costs such as a loss of effective demand and damage to health and the environment. There are other, less visible costs such as: (i) a lack of opportunities for talented and able individuals, which could potentially have a major impact on productivity, and (ii) permanent strains in political systems, as the sectors that are best placed in society, largely consisting of rentiers, use income concentration and economic power to maintain their privileges.

It has been argued that the “middle-income trap” is rooted in the political conditions associated with economies that have based their growth on low wages or natural resources (Doner and Schneider, 2016). This type of growth generates deep social divides that make it more difficult to build the kind of complex institutions needed for innovation and technological learning, which are the ones that support long-term growth. Inequality is a great part of this trap; it is the Gordian knot of development, and cutting it is a task for the political system.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved if the prevailing model’s social footprint stays the same or, worse, increases. It is essential to gauge the scale of this footprint and identify its critical links. The sort of progressive structural change proposed by ECLAC and the changes involved in the environmental big push require new processes of destruction and creation of jobs and occupations, and relinkaging of the production sectors. In order to meet this challenge, the countries will need stronger social protection systems, decent work policies and institutions such as minimum wages and collective bargaining, and processes of social dialogue aimed at achieving a better distribution of both the costs and the positive outcomes of structural change. Implementing minimum income policies and universalist education and health policies is a major step in this direction.

The move towards a much more egalitarian society must be closely linked to the pillar of capacity-building and creation of productive, good-quality jobs, with access to rights and social protection. Without this component, universalist policies would become unfeasible, not just economically but politically. Trust and the feeling of belonging to the system are necessary conditions for the effective implementation of policies that require complex institutions and a variety of actors, as well as a barrier to predatory behaviour in welfare systems.

3. Promoting regional integration and strengthening international governance

Regional cooperation was fragmented and weak in the 2000s, particularly in South America. The commodities boom encouraged this centrifugal movement, as the relationship with China became the driving force behind trade in resource-rich economies. MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, in turn, tended to move away from each other.

The United States’ abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the current uncertainty about the rules that will govern international trade in the future have led Latin America and the Caribbean to reconsider the role that regional integration could play in a development strategy. The idea of joint action at the international level has gained more political traction. This movement is welcome and may provide the region with the opportunity to expand its own trade and reconcile integration efforts that have been moving along parallel paths. This approach is also linked to another pillar, the transformation of structures and capacities. The region’s competitive supply capacity is very limited, and this will continue to be a barrier to deeper integration.

The region’s problems may get worse if fears of greater protectionism in developed economies are borne out, although there were already global problems and imbalances before this trend emerged. The region’s goal cannot be to return to the previous status quo in the international system. Instead, the ground rules of hyperglobalization need to be reformed by strengthening macroeconomic coordination, multilateral trade rules (with a particular focus on development issues) and progress in climate change negotiations. At the same time, and no less urgently, education, social inclusion and production development policies need to be radically reformulated to address the scale of the technological and institutional challenge that a new development pattern involves.

Bibliography

Bidegain, N. (2017), “The 2030 Agenda and the Regional Gender Agenda: synergies for equality in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Asuntos de Género series, No. 143 (LC/TS.2017/7), Santiago, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

CELADE (Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre-Population Division of ECLAC) (2014), “La nueva era demográfica en América Latina y el Caribe: la hora de la igualdad según el reloj poblacional” (DDR/2), Santiago [online] http://www.cepal.org/celade/noticias/paginas/6/53806/MPD_ddr2_esp.pdf.

Doner, R. F. and B. R. Schneider (2016), “The middle-income trap: more politics than economics”, World Politics, vol. 68, No. 4.

ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) (2017a), Montevideo Strategy for Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda within the Sustainable Development Framework by 2030 (LC/CRM.13/5), Santiago.

____(2017b), Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: the challenges of resource mobilization (LC/FDS.1/4), Santiago.

____(2016a) Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development (LC/G.2660/ Rev.1), Santiago.

____(2016b), Social Panorama of Latin America, 2015 (LC/G.2691-P), Santiago.

____(2016c), Inclusive Social Development: the next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LC.L/4056/Rev.1), Santiago.

____(2016d), The Social Inequality Matrix in Latin America (LC/G.2690(MDS.1/2)), Santiago.

____(2016e), Equality and women’s autonomy in the sustainable development agenda (LC/G.2686/Rev.1), Santiago.

____(2016f), 40 Years of the Regional Gender Agenda (LC/G.2682), Santiago.

____(2014), Compacts for Equality: Towards a Sustainable Future (LC/G.2586(SES.35/3)), Santiago.

____(2010), Time for Equality: closing gaps, opening trails (LC/G.2432(SES.33/3)), Santiago.

ECLAC/WFP (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean/ World Food Programme) (2017), “El costo de la doble carga de malnutrición: impacto social y económico. Síntesis del estudio piloto en Chile, Ecuador y México” [online] http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/web_170409_pilotstudy_es_full_april17_2017.pdf.

IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) (2010), “Desertification” [online] https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/77105e91-6f72-44ff-aa87-eedb57d730ba.

ILO (International Labour Organization) (2016), 2016 Labour Overview of Latin America and the Caribbean, Lima, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) (2016), G20 Toolkit for Renewable Energy Deployment: Country options for sustainable growth based on REmap, Abu Dhabi.

____(2015), Rethinking Energy 2015, Abu Dhabi.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) (2015), The Emissions Gap Report 2015, Nairobi.

UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) (2016), Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures. World Cities Report 2016, Nairobi.

____(2012), Estado de las Ciudades en América Latina y el Caribe 2012. Rumbo a una nueva transición urbana, Nairobi, August.

United Nations (2015a), “World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables”, Working Paper, No. 241 (ESA/P/WP.241), Population Division [online] http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/.

____(2015b), “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (A/RES/70/1), New York.

____(2015c), World Urbanization Prospects. 2014 Revision (ST/ESA/SER.A/366), New York, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

UN-Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) (2015), Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: transforming economies, realizing rights, New York.

WHO (World Health Organization) (2016), “Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database” [online database] http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/cities/en.

[1] The effectiveness of depreciation also depends on technological factors: it will do little to help a country diversify exports if it also has a large productivity lag, and it also reduces real wages, which runs counter to the aim of reducing inequality.

[2] The United States brought its deficit under control smoothly in the second half of the 1980s thanks to the Plaza Accord of September 1985, which allowed the dollar to depreciate against the yen and the Deutsche Mark through the concerted efforts of the central banks of Europe and Japan.

[3] The weakening of trade unions was one of the driving factors behind inequality in the United States.

[4] Target 1.2 calls for the following: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.

[5] The population will grow by 117 million between 2015 and 2050 (24% of the total increase), peak at 793 million in 2061 and then gradually decline. The regional population is projected to be 721 million at the end of this century (United Nations, 2015a).

[6] Nor has the reduction in income inequality in the last decade been reflected in a more equitable share-out between capital and labour, as measured by functional income distribution (ECLAC, 2016a).

[7] The femininity index of poverty reflects the percentage of poor women aged 20 to 59 compared with the proportion of poor men in the same age group, adjusted for population structure (see Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean [online] http://oig.cepal.org/en).

[8] The indicator for women lacking income of their own also reveals that there are women living in non-poor households who have no personal resources and could fall into poverty as a result of changes in the family structure (divorce, widowhood, migration) (ECLAC, 2016e).

[9] Resilience is defined as “the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions” (see “UNISDR 2009 Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction” [online] http://www.unisdr.org/files/7817_UNISDRTerminologyEnglish.pdf).

[10] See Enerdata [online] https://www.enerdata.net/.

CHAPTER II

Institutions for implementing the 2030 Agenda in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Introduction

A. The Sustainable Development Goals in the public policy cycle of Latin America and the Caribbean

B. The Sustainable Development Goals: the future vision of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the role of civil society

C. Institutional coordination mechanisms adopted by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

D. The Sustainable Development Goals in the planning instrumentsof the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

E. Incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals into the public accounts of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

F. Monitoring and evaluation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Conclusions

Bibliography

Introduction[1]

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflects the commitment of the international community to acting on the three dimensions —economic, social and environmental— of sustainable development. The 2030 Agenda is a civilizing agenda, centring on human dignity and equality, and a highly ambitious one, requiring the fullest participation of States and society.

The Sustainable Development Goals associated with the Agenda serve to evaluate the starting point in the region’s countries and to analyse and formulate the means of attaining sustainable development. The Goals also have a shared language that serves to align the efforts and work of the different development actors. The 2030 Agenda represents a policy of State that requires the institution-building if it is to be effective and permanent.

This chapter presents the road travelled by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean since they accepted the challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals. It shows how they are beginning to integrate the 2030 Agenda institutionally into their national, subnational and local visions, strategies and plans. Its structure follows the incorporation of the Goals into national and local public policy cycles and it sets out how the process of planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of actions in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda has been organized.

The chapter is organized into the following six sections, which include specific examples from countries in the region: (i) the Sustainable Development Goals in the public policy cycle of Latin America and the Caribbean; (ii) the Sustainable Development Goals: the future vision of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the role of civil society; (iii) institutional coordination mechanisms adopted by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals; (iv) the Sustainable Development Goals in the planning instruments of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; (v) incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals into the public accounts of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; (vi) monitoring and evaluation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The chapter closes with a section of conclusions.

A. The Sustainable Development Goals in the public policy cycle of Latin America and the Caribbean

Paragraph 55 of the 2030 Agenda states: “The Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities. Targets are defined as aspirational and global, with each Government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. Each Government will also decide how these aspirational and global targets should be incorporated into national planning processes, policies and strategies” (United Nations, 2015).

For the Sustainable Development Goals to be attained, the 2030 Agenda needs to be integrated into national planning instruments (UNDG, 2016a). In 2015, the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) adopted a common approach in order to provide effective and consistent support for country-level implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The UNDG mainstreaming, acceleration and policy support (MAPS) strategy encapsulates the policy planning and implementation cycle, which differs in each country but usually has the following stages (UNDG, 2016a): (i) public agenda-setting; (ii) policy planning; (iii) policy implementation; (iv) follow-up and review. The following sections show how the Sustainable Development Goals have been included in each of these stages.

B. The Sustainable Development Goals: the future vision of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the role of civil society

The 2030 Agenda is itself a shared vision for the future. The Sustainable Development Goals are the outcome of an inclusive process to which governments, civil society, the private sector and academia contributed, and they all participated in the consultations for the post-15 development agenda.

Over 15 countries in Latin America (UNDG, 2013) took part in these dialogues and advanced with national, subnational and thematic consultation processes. The results not only informed the global agenda but fed into national planning processes and encouraged the countries to take ownership of the sustainable development concept. In Peru, for example, the Bicentenary Plan adopted in 2011, which looks ahead to 2021, was revised to reflect the results of the national post-2015 development agenda consultation process, incorporating the findings of 60 regional consultations held between November 2012 and March 2013.

1. Civil society and the Sustainable Development Goals[2]

Both the preamble of the 2030 Agenda and its detailed Goals and targets indicate that for the latter to be met, a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development with the active involvement of the private sector and civil society is needed. Some current initiatives for mobilizing civil society actors around implementation of the 2030 Agenda will now be presented.

In Argentina, The National Centre for Community Organizations (CENOC) is preparing a survey on activities that connect civil society organizations to SDG implementation.

In Brazil, the SDG Strategy (Estratégia ODS) is a coalition (one of five in the country) that brings together civil society, the private sector, local government and academic organizations to expand discussion around the Sustainable Development Goals in Brazil, propose and mobilize effective ways of implementing this agenda in the country and hold them up to debate. Interested parties sign up to the principles and commitments of the coalition and accept the responsibility of helping to implement the Goals in their particular contexts.

In Jamaica, the Roadmap for SDG Implementation in Jamaica (UNDP, 2016a) proposes a national information campaign to raise public awareness and to involve civil society organizations and the private sector so that all voices are heard, especially in sections of society left out of earlier planning processes.

In Mexico, the My World survey,[3] conducted subnationally in the states of Jalisco, Oaxaca and Chiapas, was completed by 1,978,499 people, making Mexico the country with the most participants in the region.

2. Rethinking public-private partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Goals, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change all send a clear message that the prevailing development patterns are unviable from economic, social and environmental perspectives. It is also evident that a business as usual approach will no longer work and that the State, the private sector and civil society all have key roles to play, both individually and through renewed partnerships at the local, national, subregional, regional and global levels.

These three actors have shown great leadership and commitment in the Latin American and Caribbean region, with their broad participation in formulation and adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. They must now continue to demonstrate initiative and innovation in putting this vision into practice. In the context of the current economic slowdown, they must ensure that urgent steps are taken to avoid falling further behind the industrialized countries and the most dynamic parts of the developing world in terms of growth and productivity, while also preserving the significant social gains achieved during the commodity price supercycle, which has now come to an end.

The position paper presented at the thirty-sixth session of ECLAC, Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development (ECLAC, 2016), sets forth key considerations and guidelines for devising strategies for progressive structural change, with a focus on an environmental big push. This is something that can be achieved only with new partnerships and alliances between government, private sector and civil society stakeholders.

This process is by no means assured. It requires the building and gradual strengthening of mutual trust between stakeholders who are not necessarily used to collaborating with each other and often have different world views. In this regard, governments, firms, civil society entities and academia must focus their collaboration and discussion on new forums for cooperation with a view to developing common visions and strategies for the medium and long terms, centred on the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

At the national and subnational levels, it is thus essential to promote schemes for intersectoral and multi-stakeholder dialogue to build mutual knowledge and commitment around the 2030 Agenda, and to strengthen the sharing of best practices in tackling the Sustainable Development Goals in national, territorial and local strategies, and in corporate strategies and business models. The region already boasts several specific examples of integration of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals into development plans, business models and supply chains, which could perfectly well be replicated and scaled up through diffusion and appropriation.

The region also has specific forums and decision-making spaces that stakeholders may use to strengthen their partnerships. The current break in the investment cycle must be addressed through new public and private investment portfolios geared towards reducing infrastructure and energy gaps, and adopting cleaner patterns of production and consumption with low-carbon objectives.

This will mean enhancing public-private institutional arrangements and establishing new legal frameworks to ensure that risk is shared evenly, taking into account the importance of competition policy and industrial policy incentives. In a world in which the risk of secular stagnation is a matter of concern for policymakers, more active fiscal policies, aimed at fostering low-carbon growth paths and full employment, are more necessary than ever.

Transitioning towards more knowledge-intensive sectors with industrial and technology policies for an environmental big push will facilitate production diversification, creating opportunities to embed knowledge, increase social inclusion and protect the environment. Because Latin America and the Caribbean is the most urbanized region in the world, with over 80% of its population living in cities, urban development is a key area for pursuing innovation in public transport and traffic management, solid waste and wastewater treatment, and low-energy building.

Big data is another key field that offers scope for transforming private information into a public good. The amount of data generated by individuals through technology and the Internet has never been greater. Those data can be used freely for the public good as a tool for decision-making with greater accuracy, timeliness and geovisualization, while ensuring the protection of anonymity and privacy. This is an area where businesses, governments and civil society must urgently boost their collaboration, learning from existing successful case studies, with a view to tracking the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In addition, social protection and labour policies must be strengthened through renewed public-private partnerships. While good-quality jobs represent the master key to equality, new business models and the fast pace of digital and technological development are reconfiguring the labour market, collective bargaining and the role of trade unions. Many of the jobs in the future will be generated in areas that do not yet exist. In order to adjust to this new reality, the State, businesses and academia must rethink capacity-building to meet new demands in education, universal protection and a society-wide care economy.

In spite of significant progress in parts of the region, Latin America and the Caribbean has yet to close the gap between rhetoric and reality in terms of regional and subregional integration. This will mean boosting intraregional trade —rates of which are still significantly lower than in other regions— as well as strengthening trade facilitation measures and building currently underdeveloped regional value chains in environmental goods and services. Initiatives in technology-intensive, agro-industrial and energy sectors are also crucial. The development of regional technological and digital platforms would strengthen diversification, boost productivity and leverage the fourth industrial revolution with better connectivity and access to contents.

Over 80% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean lives in cities, making the region the most urbanized in the world. Urban development could offer new opportunities for public-private cooperation on the New Urban Agenda, such as traffic management and smart public transport, treatment of waste water and solid waste, and low-energy and low-emissions buildings. There is vast potential in the prospect of building a more environmentally friendly economy with lower-carbon production systems, lighter vehicles and a big push for renewable energy development —such as solar and wind power. To this end, regional financial safety nets and the role of development banks and payments clearing system must be strengthened.

Countries should also pursue greater coordination to control illicit capital flows and apply common fiscal, social and environmental standards to attract good-quality foreign direct investment without predatory competition, thus avoiding a “race to the bottom”. In an era of innovation-led megaregional manufacturing, the region should consider the creation a digital regional market with integrated platforms and intellectual property rules that favour technology transfers and a fund for the purchase and licensing of patents, which are invaluable assets in a knowledge economy.

Lastly, in the sphere of education and culture, much greater consideration must be given to promoting discussion and experience-sharing among students and young people with regard to the 2030 Agenda, since they will be among the main vectors of its implementation.

C. Institutional coordination mechanisms adopted by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

The integrated approach implicit in the Sustainable Development Goals requires increased intersectoral coordination. This section presents the coordination mechanisms adopted by the region’s countries to attain the Goals. At least 16 inter-agency mechanisms acting in this way have been identified in the region (see diagram II.1). The countries have followed two methods: assigning new responsibilities to existing institutions to reflect the new challenges, or creating new institutions with specific functions.

The mechanisms and institutions responsible for implementing the 2030 Agenda are meant to orient policy towards attainment of the Goals; coordinate different institutions and sectors; mobilize resources and direct spending; manage partnerships; report, monitor and evaluate; and coordinate international cooperation.

Among the examples of institutions created to follow up the 2030 Agenda, the case of the Bahamas is worth highlighting.

The Bahamas has proposed the establishment of a National Development Council to oversee implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the country, comprising members of civil society, the private sector, academia, trade unions and political parties. The Council secretariat will be the Economic Development and Planning Unit, which operates within the Office of the Prime Minister and retains primary responsibility for implementation of the National Development Plan of the Bahamas, known as Vision 2040.

There are examples in Latin America of countries that have created new institutions, such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay and Peru. Brazil has set up the National Commission for the Sustainable Development Goals,[4] a collegiate body of a consultative nature forming part of the structure of the Government Secretariat. It comprises representatives of the Government Secretariat of the Office of the President, the Chief of Staff of the Office of the President and representatives of four portfolios, namely the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social and Agrarian Development, the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management and the Ministry of the Environment, together with representatives of the state, district and municipal levels and civil society (see diagram II.2). Its responsibilities include preparing an action plan for implementation of the 2030 Agenda; proposing strategies, instruments, actions and programmes; carrying out follow-up and producing progress reports; disseminating best practice; and ensuring coordination with public agencies and other bodies at the national and subnational levels.

Diagram II.1

Latin America and the Caribbean: 2030 Agenda coordination mechanisms

Source: Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), on the basis of information from the countries.

Diagram II.2

Brazil: the National Commission for the Sustainable Development Goals

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

The Government of Chile set up the National Council for Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,[5] chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and containing representatives of the Economy, Development and Tourism, Environment and Social Development portfolios, with the last of these acting as the Technical Secretariat of the Council. This body’s main functions are to advise the President of Chile on implementation and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda, act as a coordinating body within Chile for processes carried out internationally, and coordinate with governmental, international, private sector and civil society organizations.

The work of the Council is carried out through its social, economic and environmental committees, supplemented by working groups set up to deal with cross-cutting issues (see diagram II.3). The 2030 Agenda committees and working groups involve representatives of civil society, foundations, corporations, non-governmental organizations, residents’ associations and universities, among others.

Also created in Chile was the Government Network for the Sustainable Development Goals, with representatives from 23 ministries. To date, the work of the Network has consisted in gathering information on public policies and programmes that contribute to the fulfilment of each of the Goals, together with information for use in creating indicators that will provide the basis for the monitoring and follow-up systems. The Network also involves other State authorities and autonomous bodies, including institutional representatives of the Senate, the judiciary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Office of the Comptroller-General, the State Defence Council and the National Human Rights Institute, and is the basis for interaction with other stakeholders in the 2030 Agenda.

Diagram II.3

Chile: the National Council for Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

Colombia set up the High-level Inter-Agency Commission for the Preparation and Effective Implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals,[6] whose purpose is to prepare for and effectively implement the Goals by means of public policies, plans, actions and programmes, prospective planning, and monitoring, follow-up and evaluation of the Goals and their respective targets.

The High-level Inter-Agency Commission can set up technical committees and working groups, both sectoral and territorial, for which it is empowered to invite ministers, other authorities representing official national or territorial bodies, and members of civil society, academia or the private sector, among others.

The membership of the High-level Inter-Agency Commission comprises the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, in addition to the Administrative Department of the Office of the President, the Director of the National Planning Department (acting as Chair), the Director of the National Administrative Department of Statistics and the Director of the Administrative Department for Social Prosperity (see diagram II.4).

Diagram II.4

Colombia: the High-level Inter-Agency Commission for the Preparation and Effective Implementation

of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals

Source: Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), on the basis of official information.

In September 2016, Costa Rica concluded its National Covenant for Fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (see diagram II.5), the first of its kind in the world. The Covenant has an interinstitutional character, with the three branches of the State working in coordination and on an equal footing. Under the Covenant, the government and its ministries commit themselves to working with other arms of the State and other significant actors in Costa Rican society, including non-governmental and non-State actors, when decisions about the 2030 Agenda are taken. One practical consequence of the Covenant is that it transcends individual administrations, so that future governments, irrespective of political orientation, will still be bound to implement the 2030 Agenda in Costa Rica under its terms and thus to set certain national development targets that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The members of the High-Level National Coordinating Committee for the Sustainable Development Goals (political coordination) are the Office of the President of Costa Rica and the Ministries of National Planning and Economic Policy, Foreign Affairs, and the Environment and Energy. Below the Committee are the municipalities; the Technical Secretariat, whose members are the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy and the Statistical Advisory Agency; and other actors that include academia, civil society and the private sector). It is the responsibility of the Technical Committee for the Sustainable Development Goals and the working groups to coordinate implementation of the Goals, advised by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) on the preparation of indicators.

Diagram II.5

Costa Rica: the National Covenant for Fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

Panama adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as a frame of reference for development and established the Inter-Agency and Civil Society Commission for the Support and Follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals, attached to the Social Cabinet (see diagram II.6).[7] The Commission members are the Minister of Social Development in his or her capacity as coordinator of the Social Cabinet, the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for Presidential Targets and the Chair of the Council of the National Concertation for Development.

Diagram II.6

Panama: the Inter-Agency and Civil Society Commission for the Support and Follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

Paraguay set up the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the Implementation, Follow-up and Monitoring of the International Commitments Accepted by the Country in the Framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.[8] The Committee members are the Technical Secretariat for Economic and Social Development Planning, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (coordinator) and the Social Cabinet of the Office of the President (see diagram II.7).

Diagram II.7

Paraguay: Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the Implementation, Follow-up and Monitoring of the International Commitments Accepted by the Country in the Framework of the Sustainable Development Goals

Source: Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), on the basis of information from the countries.

The Commission planned to empower 17 institutions so that they would each take responsibility for the Sustainable Development Goals. The first step was to work with a framework of strategic policies and then with the data and specific measures each agency would take to meet the Goals.

The Dominican Republic set up the High-level Inter-Agency Commission for Sustainable Development,[9] led by the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Development in the role of Technical Secretariat and comprising representatives of the Ministries of the Presidency, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Public Credit, the Environment and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and Energy and Mines. Also part of the Commission are the Social Policy Coordination Cabinet of the Office of the President, the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Council on Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism, along with three representatives of civil society, including one from business.

The Commission was designed with the goal of integrating the Sustainable Development Goals into all planning instruments and the national development strategy. An innovative feature in comparison with existing committees is that it coordinates the high-level leadership of the executive (see diagram II.8).

In some countries, such as Argentina, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Guatemala, Guyana and Jamaica, responsibility for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals has been taken by existing bodies.

In Argentina, follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals is the responsibility of the National Council for Social Policy Coordination, which was set up in 2002 to bring together the planning, coordination and follow-up of national social policies. It convenes 20 ministries and other institutions under the leadership of the Minister of Social Development.

Diagram II.8

Dominican Republic: the High-level Inter-Agency Commission for Sustainable Development

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

In Guatemala, the coordinating body for the 2030 Agenda is the National Council for Urban and Rural Development (CONADUR), which is making use of existing institutions and continuing with the role it played in following up the Millennium Declaration.[10] The Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Office of the President (SEGEPLAN) is in charge of implementing the 2030 Agenda. CONADUR is coordinated by the President of Guatemala, with the Secretary of Planning and Programming of the Office of the President carrying out secretariat functions. Its membership also includes ministries and secretariats of State and representatives of municipal corporations, the Maya, Xinca and Garifuna peoples and civil society organizations, business and academia, among others.

Guyana appointed a high-level Millennium Development Goals steering committee consisting of permanent secretaries and senior technical officers to oversee the implementation in the country of the United Nations Millennium Project commissioned in 2002. The government anticipates re-establishing this body as the statutory high-level steering committee for the Sustainable Development Goals, with representation from related sectors and led by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of the Presidency is leading the development of the Green State Development Strategy, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Jamaica has instituted a national governance framework for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in alignment with the regional and global frameworks. This framework includes a National Core Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, a National 2030 Agenda Working Group, the Cabinet and Parliament. The Planning Institute of Jamaica, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade constitute the National Core Group. The National 2030 Agenda Working Group, expected to be established in April 2017, will consist of ministries, departments and agencies of the Government of Jamaica, as well as representatives of civil society, academia and the private sector.

In Mexico, as the 2030 Agenda is now a State commitment, its implementation has been spearheaded by the Office of the President of the Republic. In the country, the Specialized Technical Committee for the Millennium Development Goals Information System was initially adapted to create the Specialized Technical Committee for the Sustainable Development Goals (CTEODS), which reported to the Office of the President and provided support for the adoption, follow-up and reporting of indicators, and coordination of the 2030 Agenda. The decree creating the National Council for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainble Development was issued on 26 April 2017. The Council, headed by the President, is a collegiate body involving all State secretariats, in which subnational governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia and international agencies implementing the Sustainable Development Goals may be invited to participate. The Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of Mexico serves as technical secretary of the National Council. The Council may also set up permanent or temporary committees to address specific matters.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has a high-level body called the Council of Vice-Presidents, which is headed by the country’s Executive Vice-President and includes all six sectoral Vice-Presidents (those responsible for the planning, policy, social, economic and territorial areas in addition to the Executive Vice-President), who analyse intersectoral and cross-cutting aspects of the development policies applied in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the nationwide 2013-2019 Development Plan and their compatibility with the 2030 Agenda. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs oversees coordination of the competent departments and agencies of the central administration in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Box II.1

Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals

The region’s parliaments have also aligned themselves with the 2030 Agenda. According to data from the Inter-American Development Bank, only in Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Suriname does the legislature debate and approve the national plan of government (García López and García Moreno, 2010). In these countries, the following advances have been made in work with parliamentarians.

In Brazil and Colombia, there have been initiatives to create parliamentary groupings to handle the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Colombia, for example, the Bancada ODS was created in Congress to participate in implementation of the Goals, while in December 2016 Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies established a special parliamentary grouping for the Goals, involving 200 deputies and 9 senators.

The Dominican Republic and Mexico have set up specialist committees to analyse issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals or delegated this analysis to specialized cabinets. The legislature in Mexico has made progress in identifying the contribution of its agenda to fulfilment of different 2030 Agenda Goals and enacted a set of 13 structural reforms designed to help achieve them. A noteworthy development in the country has been the tool developed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNDP (2016b) for diagnosing parliaments’ legislative capacity as regards implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This diagnosis of legislative capacity, which takes account of factors like knowledge of the 2030 Agenda and integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into legislative mechanisms, is at the initial implementation stage and there are no results as yet. Mexico’s Senate established a special committee to follow up implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

Parliaments debate and approve budgets in all the region’s countries (García López and García Moreno, 2010), and progress has been made in raising parliamentary teams’ awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals. Also important are the advocacy activities carried out with the support of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament, the Central American Parliament and the Central American Social Integration Secretariat (SISCA) (PARLACEN, 2016), such as the regional seminar on attaining the SDGs and reducing inequality in and between countries: the role of parliaments, held in Panama in December 2016 as part of the thirty-second General Assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO, 2016).

Peru has a political covenant whereby all elected authorities undertake to pursue policy measures to promote comprehensive and inclusive development in accordance with the State policies laid down by the National Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the agreements of the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21). In 2016, candidates for Congress signed political undertakings on joint parliamentary action committing them to continue working to implement the State policies of the National Agreement, the 2030 Agenda commitments and the COP 21 agreements.

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Strengthening parliaments and building resilient societies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, presentation to the thirteenth Plenary Assembly of ParlAmericas, Mexico City, 5 to 7 December 2016 [online] http://www.parlamericas.org/uploads/documents/SDG%20Handout_ENG.pdf; R. García López and M. García Moreno, Managing for Development Results: Progress and Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, Washington, D.C., Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), 2010 [online] https://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/435/MDFR%20Management%20for%20Development%20Results%20final%202-26-13%20screen.pdf?sequence=2; Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), “Firma de Memorándum de Cooperación entre el Parlamento Centroamericano y la Secretaría de Integración Social Centroamericana”, 2016 [online] http://www.parlacen.int/Prensa/Prensa/tabid/145/EntryId/2208/Firma-de-Memorandum-de-Cooperacion-entre-el-Parlamento-Centroamericano-y-la-Secretaria-de-Integracion-Social-Centroamericana.aspx; and Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO), “Los ODS comienzan a ser parte de la vida política en ALC”, 2016 [online] http://www.parlatino.org/es/cdn/item/1768-los-ods-comienzan-a-ser-parte-de-la-vida-politica-en-alc-senadora-alcala.

D. The Sustainable Development Goals in the planning instruments of the countries of Latin America

and the Caribbean

In June 2015, the Caribbean countries came together in Port of Spain at the Symposium on Sustainable Development Goals for the Caribbean within the post-2015 Development Agenda. Supported by the Caribbean Development Bank, the event involved country officials, academics, the United Nations and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The consensus was that 12 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 17) were priorities for the Caribbean development agenda.

Trinidad and Tobago is currently drafting a new national development strategy, called Vision 2030. Since 2016, the Ministry of Planning and Development has been leading the preparation of the new plan, which will integrate the Sustainable Development Goals and thus serve the dual purpose of advancing national development priorities and materializing commitment to the global development agenda.

Jamaica is engaged in implementing a long-term development plan, the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan. The Sustainable Development Goals have been aligned with Vision 2030’s goals and expected outcomes through a UNDP mainstreaming, acceleration and policy support (MAPS) mission carried out in October 2016. This MAPS mission resulted in the development of a road map for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Jamaica, with the following identified as essential areas: alignment, coordination, moving from planning to action, financing the Goals, monitoring and reporting, and advocacy. In this regard, Vision 2030 serves as the means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals in the country.

Countries such as Colombia and Peru constructed their current plans of government before the Sustainable Development Goals were promulgated. However, they have stressed how consistent and well aligned their national visions and development plans are both with the 2030 Agenda and with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) dimensions of well-being.

Colombia’s 2014-2018 National Development Plan, called Everyone for a New Country, reflects the realization that strategies are needed to fulfil the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The three pillars of the Plan (peace, equity and education) and its five cross-cutting strategies (competitiveness and strategic infrastructure, social mobility, transformation of the countryside, security, justice and democracy for peace-building, and good government, as well as the cross-cutting green growth strategy), are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and 92 of the 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda are already incorporated into the National Development Plan via concrete actions and indicators.

The National Planning Department sees the Sustainable Development Goals as an integrating element for all the government’s current national development agendas, since 86% of the Sustainable Development Goal targets can be related to public policy actions. Furthermore, the Havana Peace Agreement is aligned with 50 of the targets.

Another experience worth highlighting is that of Guatemala, where the Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Office of the President (SEGEPLAN) and the National Council for Urban and Rural Development (CONADUR) issued the document Estrategia de articulación de la Agenda de Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible con el Plan y la Política Nacional de Desarrollo K’atun Nuestra Guatemala 2032, mapping out actions implemented during 2016 to coordinate the Sustainable Development Goals with the country’s national development plan.[11] In the first place, an advocacy programme was carried out involving 62 workshops so that all actors in Guatemalan society could acquaint themselves with the contents of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, take ownership of them and contribute to their fulfilment, follow-up and evaluation. In a subsequent stage, Guatemala identified, prioritized and selected the Goals, targets and indicators for its national commitment in accordance with the country’s development planning instruments. Through a process of dialogue (32 multi-stakeholder workshops, 6 intersectoral ones, 22 departmental ones and 4 involving groups of women, ethnic groups, young people and children), the national commitment was explained and views on it canvassed. Lastly, the national commitment that came out of this feedback process and the information technology platform that will be used for follow-up were submitted to the Alignment and Follow-up and Evaluation Committee for validation and then to the CONADUR plenary for final approval. The next steps are to formulate the detailed implementation strategy and publicize the national commitment among the different sections of Guatemalan society.

Box II.2

The alignment of national and subnational development agendas

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have served as a common language to align local and national priorities. The following methodologies and mechanisms developed to align subnational planning with the 2030 Agenda can be highlighted as examples.

In Argentina, the National Council for Social Policy Coordination (CNCPS) attached to the Office of the President developed a guide to the process of adapting the Sustainable Development Goals for provincial government that lays out a road map for their introduction as a subnational management and planning tool and identifies key points at which CNCPS support and technical assistance are needed.a

In Barbados, institutional arrangements for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are currently being developed, with ongoing intraministerial consultation on the mainstreaming of the Sustainable Development Goals in a revised version of the Barbados Growth and Development Strategy 2013-2020, coordinated by the Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

Belize’s medium-term comprehensive national development plan, the Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy 2016-2019, is aligned with and designed to achieve the goals of the country’s long-term national development framework, Horizon 2030. The Strategy has also been aligned since its inception with the Sustainable Development Goals, such that, by implementing the Strategy, Belize will simultaneously be pursuing the Goals. In terms of implementation, the Strategy has a multilayered coordination under the authority of the Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. A Caucus of Chief Executive Officers of government ministries reviews the Strategy and resolves prioritization issues and any policy conflicts.

In Chile, the government has sought to progress with implementation of the 2030 Agenda at the regional and local level by designing a strategy of citizen participation involving meetings and dialogue with regional and local actors, thus creating opportunities for citizens and the State to come together and discuss the implementation of the Agenda. The idea is to encourage citizen ownership and involvement and identify territorial manifestations of the divides and challenges the 2030 Agenda will address in Chile.

In Colombia, the National Planning Department developed a territorial planning kit whose purpose is to align subnational development plans with the 2030 Agenda and its multiple financing sources.b

In Cuba, the institutional mechanism for implementing the 2030 Agenda is a national working group involving numerous actors from academia and civil society, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and comprising all ministries and departments of State. Among other initiatives associated with the Agenda, Cuba has its National Plan for Economic and Social Development to 2030, led by the Ministry of the Economy and Planning.

In Jamaica, the goals and targets of Vision 2030 Jamaica are 77% consistent with the Sustainable Development Goal targets and include a framework of result indicators at the sectoral and territorial levels linking local development plans at the parish level (UNDP, 2016a).

In Peru, arrangements have been made for dialogue between regional governments and the executive to improve regional prioritization and planning and the alignment of these with sectoral policies in the framework of the 2030 Agenda.

In Suriname, a pioneer in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals, communities have been actively linked together and multicultural voices have been incorporated into the implementation of the Goals (Ministry of Regional Development of Suriname, 2016).

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of information from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

a See [online] http://www.politicassociales.gob.ar/public/documentos/seccion_publicaciones/publicacion2016-11-24-112150.pdf.

b See [online] http://kiterritorial.co/.

E. Incorporation of the Sustainable Development Goals into the public accounts of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Although on the whole governments have been strengthening their planning, one of the greatest challenges for the region’s countries is to coordinate planning and budgeting so that their plans become a reality and yield the desired results (García López and García Moreno, 2010). Allocating resources to implement actions requires all planning instruments, from national development plans to local budgets, to be aligned.

In Belize, the Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS) is a medium-term planning document that combines Belize’s growth and poverty reduction strategies with its sustainable development agenda and that is reflected in sectoral strategies for education, energy and trade which link to the Sustainable Development Goals targets. To align GSDS with the budget for fiscal year 2017/2018, ministries are required to present budgets linked to GSDS goals and indicators.

Costa Rica is implementing a results-based management model that includes results-based budgeting. Although the current model does link the vision for development to national, regional and sectoral goals and targets and budgetary programmes, the budget plan still needs to be better aligned. In 2017, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy will implement a pilot budget planning programme in the social sector, whereby budget allocation will be carried out through programmes linked to dimensions of the multidimensional poverty index, and new budget structures will be implemented in the security and justice sector.

Box II.3

Budgeting

The 2030 Agenda was adopted too recently by the region’s countries for progress with the resourcing of sustainable development to be shown, but the following budgetary approaches may be highlighted:

In Mexico, gender budgets are being used as a tool to mainstream gender issues into government policies and budgets, and they disaggregate spending in all sectors in a year by thematic area. In that country, gender equality specialists are working with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit to develop a fiscal policy that values women’s contribution to the economy and the way this income is distributed. They are also training government workers at the national, local and municipal levels in gender equality and the development of policies and budgets, thereby building public awareness of gender equality (PAGE, 2016, p. 61). Also worth highlighting is the application of the rapid integrated assessment (RIA) tool developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to analyse alignment between the Sustainable Development Goals and planning documents so that sectoral plans and programmes can be associated with the Goals. Similarly, the Ministry of Finance, with UNDP support, carried out cross-matching of the goals and targets of budgetary programmes and the Sustainable Development Goals. Budgetary indicators were likewise linked with the 231 Sustainable Development Goal indicators. This latter exercise will make it possible to carry on estimating the amount budgeted for the 2030 Agenda in Mexico.

In Panama, one of the first actions of the Inter-Agency and Civil Society Commission for the Support and Follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals was to align the goals, programmes and projects of the Strategic Plan of Government with the Goals and secure resources to implement it (Government of Panama, 2015). The exercise showed that the country had over 2,000 government initiatives aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, with 45 public institutions and 400 private sector organizations responsible for implementing them; it is estimated that these activities will mobilize US$ 21 billion (Muschett, n/d).

In Peru, the country has moved towards results-based budgeting, led by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance in coordination with the Round Table for Poverty Reduction (MCLCP) and civil society actors. A positive effect is that 24 strategic budget programmes have been prioritized for budget allocations and protected from fluctuations in budget availability. These include social programmes related to education, health, infant mortality and nutrition, and others related to agricultural production, energy, water and environmental quality (PAGE, 2016, p. 62).

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of Government of Panama, “Decreto Ejecutivo núm. 393 que adopta los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y dicta otras disposiciones”, Panama City, 14 September 2015; M. Muschett, “Avances en la implementación de la Agenda 2030 en Panamá”, unpublished, n/d; and Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), Integrated Planning & Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2016.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, like other small island developing States, is vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters caused by climate change. Adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals offers Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the opportunity to benefit from mitigation and adaptation resources in the context of the Goals.

Ecuador is implementing the Climate Public Expenditures and Institutional Review (CPEIR) methodology. The quantification of public sector climate spending in Ecuador is allowing the country to contribute to the global commitment to effective and efficient mitigation and adaptation measures. Furthermore, constructing an environmentally oriented budget can yield gains by improving resource management efficiency, among other things. CPEIR is also bringing to light the investment carried out by the country, thereby potentially serving as an input in efforts to raise international funding.[12]

1. Other sources of financing

At regional forums, experts and national representatives alike have identified financing for implementation of the 2030 Agenda as a common challenge. In these circumstances, and following the recommendations of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the private sector must be regarded as an essential source of financing for development, although it should not be forgotten that dependence on private sector financing, and foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular, is undesirable because of its potential negative impact on development (ECLAC, 2015).

In the region, the 2030 Agenda has aroused interest in the private sector, whose corporate social responsibility agendas provide a frame of reference for aligning its efforts. Some Sustainable Development Goal-related initiatives involving the private sector can be found in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

In Argentina, the United Nations Global Compact, in partnership with private sector consultants specializing in corporate social responsibility issues, has presented a study on the private sector and the Sustainable Development Goals, identifying opportunities for joint work (Rigou Consultores, 2016).

Costa Rica has concluded a National Covenant for Fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals with the aim of constructing an agenda of commitments and political efforts to implement the Goals. The executive, the Legislative Assembly, the Supreme Court and representatives of local governments, the private sector, social and religious organizations and academia, among others, have signed up to it.

In Ecuador, the United Nations has been working to disseminate information and mobilize actors whose participation has been sought jointly by national government and United Nations agencies. The private sector has shown an interest in developing a 2030 production agenda aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and in creating a private sector coalition for their implementation.

In Mexico, the Partnership for Sustainability is a platform of dialogue and action which includes 80 Mexican firms and multinationals operating in the country and whose purpose is the sharing of information on the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals into business models and the design of international cooperation projects around the 2030 Agenda. The Partnership is organized into working committees by thematic affinity: affordable and non-polluting energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible production and consumption, education and social inclusion.

Likewise in Mexico, government institutions, civil society organizations, academia, the legislature and the private sector jointly participated in constructing the country’s voluntary national review for the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Academics participated in the Discussion on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda held in Mexico City in July 2016.

In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the government has been concentrating its efforts on meeting the goals of the Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020 and the Patriotic Agenda 2025. Via the Global Compact, the Confederation of Private Sector Employers of Bolivia (CEPB) has found in the Sustainable Development Goals a benchmark for aligning its corporate social responsibility strategies.

F. Monitoring and evaluation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

One of the fronts on which the region’s countries advanced most in 2016 was the mapping of the information available for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, with a view to identifying gaps and defining national monitoring frameworks. Peru, in particular, already has a user-friendly online platform for following up the Goals. Intersectoral dialogue can be facilitated by bringing to light the synergies between different targets and goals (UNDG, 2016b).

In August 2016, Peru’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) set up a platform called the “SDG indicator monitoring and follow-up system: goals for transforming the country”, a web portal with a listing of institutions responsible for producing Sustainable Development Goal indicators and with a dynamic database.[13] Peru also assumed leadership of the global dialogue on participatory monitoring for accountability (PMA), one of six key means of implementation proposed for the Sustainable Development Goal framework. A national consultation in 2014 found both State and civil society actors to be of the view that PMA should play an important role in national sustainable development by 2030, not least in the implementation and localization of Sustainable Development Goals (PAGE, 2016, p. 66).

The Dominican Republic is carrying out results follow-up linked to budget execution and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals via an online platform (UNDG, 2016b).

Belize has designed a new institutional organization to follow up its Growth and Sustainable Development Strategy (GSDS) (see diagram II.9). This connects different State institutions, while on the technical side there are committees and their working groups that compile and analyse information. The Statistical Institute of Belize is responsible for the central data repository and chairs the working groups of the technical committees, while the Ministry of Economic Development coordinates policies and the monitoring and evaluation process. The Caucus of Chief Executive Officers of the Government of Belize receives this information in consolidated form in monitoring and evaluation reports and orients policy accordingly.

Diagram II.9

Belize: institutional organization for follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals

Source: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the basis of official information.

Information production and analysis and Sustainable Development Goal follow-up have given rise to partnerships. In Brazil, for example, information mapping has been a departure point for bringing partners together around the 2030 Agenda, while in Ecuador there is an initiative to create a Sustainable Development Goal observatory sponsored by the European Commission.

In Brazil in 2015, the Task Force on the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations published a report on the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and initial inputs from the United Nations system in Brazil on the identification of national indicators related to the Sustainable Development Goals. This report was prepared by 16 thematic groups over nine months, identifying some 570 indicators and highlighting a number of information gaps for certain Goals. At the country level, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has called upon the official institutions producing information and data to coordinate the design of national indicators. IBGE and the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) will also advise the National Commission for the Sustainable Development Goals on the establishment of the country’s official indicator framework.

Brazil has also created a system for monitoring SDG-related goals and targets in the Multi-Year Plan, which may facilitate monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals in the federal government. Since 2016 it has been mapping government policies and programmes that impact the Sustainable Development Goals. This will enable the Planning and Budget System (SIOP) to reflect the contribution made to the Sustainable Development Goals by implementation of the activities included in the Multi-Year Plan for all government institutions (DEPLA/SEPLAN/MP, 2016).

Other countries are trying to ascertain how their national social policy follow-up systems can generate information to follow up the Sustainable Development Goals. One such is Costa Rica, which is generating data and information from the multidimensional poverty index, the single register of beneficiaries and georeferenced information to measure the impact of social programmes on people’s quality of life. Honduras is also looking for synergy with indicators in the management platform for the dimensions of the Better Life programme, namely income, food security, housing, employment, enterprise, education and health care.

Conclusions

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a medium-term agenda and its implementation thus transcends the political cycles of government in the countries of the region. For that reason, action must be taken to ensure its continuity and sustainability over time, such that it becomes an agenda of State, not of any particular government. The institutional arrangements described in this chapter represent a good first step in this direction. Integrating the principles and aims of the 2030 Agenda into national plans, public policies and national budgets, and actively engaging all society’s actors in its implementation and follow-up, will pave a firm path towards the achievement of the vision that the countries set forth of sustainable development that leaves no one behind.

The global development paradigm changed in 2015 with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Latin America and the Caribbean played a major role in this process. The region was also a leader in negotiations held to complement the 2030 Agenda, such as the Sendai Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.

A year on from the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, there is now explicit recognition in the countries of the region of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda as national and subnational policy benchmarks. The region has used the momentum built up in intergovernmental negotiations to incorporate Agenda principles explicitly into its own planning and budget mechanisms and cycles. The region is also designing the institutional mechanisms needed to match the logic of sustainable development, i.e. a vision of multidimensional, integrated, participatory and transparent human rights-based development that leaves no one behind.

The integrated approach implicit in the Sustainable Development Goals requires greater intersectoral coordination. Although the process is only incipient, there is already diversity in terms of implementation. At least 15 inter-institutional mechanisms for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals have been identified in the region, whose countries have followed two approaches. One is to use existing institutions, assigning them new responsibilities that reflect the new challenges. The other is to set up specific new institutions to coordinate implementation of the Goals.

Most institutional arrangements are backed by decrees or agreements detailing the structure, scope and aims of the mechanism. These mechanisms have since held meetings and in many countries have initiated national advocacy and awareness-raising activities in various formats, including courses, seminars, debates, multisectoral dialogues, forums, and so forth.

Irrespective of whether the mechanism is an existing or new one, the mechanisms and institutions responsible for implementing the 2030 Agenda are meant to perform the following functions: orienting policy towards attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals; coordinating different institutions and sectors; mobilizing resources and directing spending; managing partnerships; reporting, monitoring and evaluating; and aligning international cooperation.

Incorporation of the 2030 Agenda principles follows planning cycles, meaning that countries whose cycles have matched that of the 2030 Agenda have incorporated these principles into planning documents right from the formulation stage. Elsewhere, although the Sustainable Development Goals may be strongly integrated into planning, as in the rapid integrated assessment exercises held in several countries of the region,[14] the focus has been on implementing existing plans in such a way that they reflect an integrated approach.

In the 2030 Agenda, policies and concrete actions are expected to be conjoined with an integrated and intersectoral vision. This approach has the potential to create investment efficiency insofar as catalytic or accelerating actions with the potential to generate positive results for a variety of simultaneously related Sustainable Development Goals and targets can be identified and implemented. At the same time, the main challenge for this approach is the negotiation of trade-offs between sectors and between multiple public and private actors. In this context, the governance aspects of the 2030 Agenda will become more and more crucial.

Table II.1

Summary of national 2030 Agenda follow-up mechanisms

Country

Coordinating agency

Ad hoc

Secretariat

1

Argentina

National Council for Social Policy Coordination

No

National Council for Social Policy Coordination

2

Bahamas

National Development Council

Yes

Economic Development and Planning Unit, established within the Office of the Prime Minister

3

Belize

Ministry of Finance and Economic Development

No

4

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Council of Vice-Presidents

No

5

Brazil

National Commission for the Sustainable Development Goals

Yes

Government Secretariat of the Office of the President

6

Chile

National Council for Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Yes

Ministry of Social Development

7

Colombia

High-level Inter-Agency Commission for the Preparation and Effective Implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals

Yes

National Planning Department

8

Costa Rica

High-Level National Coordinating Committee for the Sustainable Development Goals

Yes

Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy

9

Dominican Republic

High-level Inter-Agency Commission for Sustainable Development

Yes

Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Development

10

El Salvador

National Council for Sustainable Development

Yes

Technical Secretariat of the Office of the President

11

Guatemala

National Council for Urban and Rural Development (CONADUR)

No

Secretariat for Planning and Programming of the Office of the President (SEGEPLAN)

12

Honduras

Presidential Directorate for Strategic Planning, Budget and Public Investment

No

General Coordination Secretariat of Government

13

Jamaicaa

Inter-Ministerial Working Group

No

Planning Institute of Jamaica

14

Mexico

National Council for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Yes

Office of the President

INEGI (CTEODS)

15

Panama

Inter-Agency and Civil Society Commission for the Support and Follow-up of the Sustainable Development Goals

Multisectoral Coordinating Committee for Plan Panama 2030 in the Framework of the Sustainable Development Goals

Yes

Social Cabinet

16

Paraguay

Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee for the Implementation, Follow-up and Monitoring of the International Commitments Accepted by the Country in the Framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Yes

Technical Secretariat for Economic and Social

Development Planning

17

Peru

Intersectoral Commission for Follow-up of the 2030 Agenda

Yes

18

Uruguay

Planning and Budget Office

No

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of official information from the countries.

a Unofficial information obtained from the presentation by Mr. Travis Reid, an economic development specialist with the Planning Institute of Jamaica, at the international seminar titled Challenges of Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Framework of the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals, Santiago, 24 November 2016.

Bibliography

DEPLA/SEPLAN/MP (Department of Planning and Assessment/Secretariat of Planning and Economic Affairs/Ministry of Planning, Development and Mangement of Brazil) (2016), “Plan Plurianual –PPA- 2016-2019 y Objetivos de Desarrrollo Sostenible”, presentation at the seminar on planning and public management for implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Santiago, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) [online] http://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/events/files/13._apresentacion_ods_brasil-_cepal_-_27.09.16.pdf.

ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) (2016) Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development (LC/G.2660/Rev.1), Santiago.

____(2015), Report of the twentieth session of the Committee of High-level Government Experts (CEGAN). Regional Consultation on Financing for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LC/L.3997), Santiago.

García López , R. and M. García Moreno (2010), Managing for Development Results: Progress and Challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, Washington, D.C., Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) [online] https://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/435/MDFR%20Management%20for%20Development%20Results%20final%202-26-13%20screen.pdf.

Ministry of Regional Development of Suriname (2016), “Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals in Suriname”, Mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals for National Development, Ministry of Finance.

Muschett, M. (n/d), “Avances en la implementación de la Agenda 2030 en Panamá”, unpublished.

PAGE (Partnership for Action on Green Economy) (2016), Integrated Planning & Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Panama, Government of (2015), “Decreto Ejecutivo núm. 393 que adopta los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) y dicta otras disposiciones”, Panama City, 14 September.

PARLACEN (Central American Parliament) (2016), “Firma de Memorándum de Cooperación entre el Parlamento Centroamericano y la Secretaría de Integración Social Centroamericana” [online] http://www.parlacen.int/Prensa/Prensa/tabid/145/EntryId/2208/Firma-de-Memorandum-de-Cooperacion-entre-el-Parlamento-Centroamericano-y-la-Secretaria-de-Integracion-Social-Centroamericana.aspx.

PARLATINO (Latin American and Caribbean Parliament) (2016), “Los ODS comienzan a ser parte de la vida política en ALC” [online] http://www.parlatino.org/es/cdn/item/1768-los-ods-comienzan-a-ser-parte-de-la-vida-politica-en-alc-senadora-alcala.

Rigou Consultores (2016), Empresas y Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible: una agenda compartida, Buenos Aires [online] http://rigouconsultores.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Empresas_y_ODS_Una_Agenda_Compartida.pdf.

UNDG (United Nations Development Group) (2016a), Mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Reference Guide to UN Country Teams, New York.

____(2016b), The Sustainable Development Goals are coming to life. Stories of country implementation and UN support, New York.

____(2013), Inicia la conversación global: puntos de vista para una nueva agenda de desarrollo, New York.

UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) (2016a), A Roadmap for SDG Implementation in Jamaica, New York.

____(2016b), “Strengthening parliaments and building resilient societies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, presentation at the thirteenth Plenary Assembly of ParlAmericas, Mexico City, 5-7 December [online] http://www.parlamericas.org/uploads/documents/SDG%20Handout_ENG.pdf.

United Nations (2015), Resolution 70/1 “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, New York.

[1] This chapter was prepared from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) inputs obtained through the network that links and coordinates national efforts around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supplemented by contributions from the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) and the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean.

[2] This section was prepared by ECLAC on the basis of information from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

[3] See [online] http://data.myworld2015.org.

[4] Created under Decree No. 8892/2016, published in the Official Journal of the Union on 31 October 2016 [online] http://pesquisa.in.gov.br/imprensa/jsp/visualiza/index.jsp?jornal=1&pagina=1&data=31/10/2016.

[5] See Ministry of Foreign Affairs Decree No. 49/2016 [online] https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1090692].

[6] Office of the President Decree No. 0280/2015 [online] http://wp.presidencia.gov.co/sitios/normativa/decretos/2015/Decretos2015/DECRETO%20280%20DEL%2018%20DE%20FEBRERO%20DE%202015.pd.

[7] See Executive Decree No. 393 of 14 September 2015 [online] https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/27870_B/GacetaNo_27870b_20150917.pdf.

[8] See Ministry of Foreign Affairs Decree No. 5887 of September 2016 [online] http://www.stp.gov.py/v1/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/DECRETO5887_8o6wcwvd.pdf.

[9] See Presidential Decree No. 23/2016 [online] https://es.scribd.com/document/309702146/Decreto-23-16.

[10] Regulated by Decree No. 11/200 establishing the Law on Councils for Urban and Rural Development and their Regulations.

[11] See [online] http://www.segeplan.gob.gt/nportal/index.php/ods.

[12] According to the information available in the country, accrued public spending on climate change in Ecuador represented 0.85% of GDP in 2011 and peaked at 1.80% in 2013 before falling back to 1.43% in 2015.

[13] See [online] http://ods.inei.gob.pe/ods/inicio.html.

[14] The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

CHAPTER III

Measuring the Sustainable Development Goal indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

A. The global indicator framework for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals

B. The institutional architecture for monitoring statistical processes related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region

C. Diagnosis of national statistical capabilities for the production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

D. ECLAC contributions to measuring the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean: experience and strengths at the disposal of member countries

E. The challenges posed to national statistical systems by new data ecosystems

Bibliography

Annex III.A1

A. The global indicator framework for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets to be achieved by the year 2030. They reflect the aspirations of United Nations Member States for people, planet and prosperity, and seek to strengthen universal peace and justice, ensuring no one is left behind.

A globally agreed set of indicators is required to monitor countries’ progress towards the Goals. The international statistical community, working within the United Nations Statistical Commission, has established two groups made up of countries working on behalf of the different regions of the world to establish and improve the global indicator framework and to strengthen the statistical capacities of the countries. The two groups are the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) and the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity- Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB). Both groups, whose governance is the responsibility of their member countries, are working within the framework of the United Nations Statistical Commission, with the United Nations Statistics Division acting as technical secretariat.

Among other tasks, the working groups are responsible for proposing and revising calculation methodologies, designing mechanisms for reporting data from the national level to the regional and global levels, and proposing an action plan for the short- and medium-term implementation of the global indicator framework. They are supported by the regional commissions, international organizations and specialized agencies, and United Nations funds and programmes, which are all working to make possible an international statistical information system with access to reliable data based on robust national statistics.

The member countries of both groups are appointed using existing regional mechanisms, with the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) being the relevant institution in Latin America and the Caribbean. After an initial two-year mandate, countries are expected to rotate in accordance with the guidelines established by their respective regional mechanisms, in order to ensure the participation of as many countries as possible from each region.

Following its formation at the forty-sixth session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 2015 (United Nations, 2015), IAEG-SDG, which is made up of representatives from the national statistical offices of 27 United Nations Member States, drafted a set of 230 indicators to monitor the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets globally, and these were adopted at the forty-seventh session of the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 2016 (United Nations, 2016).

Table III.1

Member countries of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators and

the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda

for Sustainable Development during each region’s first mandate, February 2017

Region

Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators

High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

East Africa

United Republic of Tanzania

Mozambique

Uganda

Rwanda

Central and Southern Africa

Botswana

South Africa

Cameroon

West Africa

Cabo Verde

Côte d’Ivoire

Senegal

North Africa

Algeria

Tunisia

West Asia

Armenia

State of Palestine

Bahrain

Yemen

Egypt

Central, East, South, and South-East Asia

China

Mongolia

India

Pakistan

Kyrgyzstan

Malaysia

Philippines

Kazakhstan

Oceania

Fiji

Vanuatu

Samoa

The Caribbean

Cuba

Bahamas

Jamaica

Saint Lucia

Central and South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Ecuador

Mexico

El Salvador

Eastern Europe

Russian Federation

Hungary

North America and Northern, Southern and Western Europe

Canada

Denmark

France

Italy

Germany

Switzerland

Netherlands

United States

Sweden

Source: United Nations, Sustainable Development Goal indicators website [online] http://unstats.un.org/sdgs/.

Note: Brazil participates in the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in its capacity as chair of the Statistical Commission.

Table III.2

Number of indicators in the global indicator framework for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals

Goal

Number of indicators

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

12

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

14

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

26

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

11

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

14

Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

11

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

6

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

17

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

12

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

11

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

15

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

7

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

10

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

14

Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

23

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

25

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations, “Final list of proposed Sustainable Development Goal indicators” [online] https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/11803Official-List-of-Proposed-SDG-Indicators.pdf.

Note: Some Goals share the same indicators, which is why there are a total of 241 indicators rather than 230.

On that occasion, the Statistical Commission asked IAEG-SDG to continue developing the indicators in order to improve on the original proposal, calling for a set of indicators that would be relevant to all the 2030 Agenda targets, based on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and supported by the major actors in the system producing international statistics (a complex web of institutional relations coordinated by the United Nations Statistics Division, the statistical divisions of specialized international agencies, the statistical divisions of the United Nations regional commissions, and national statistical systems as represented by national statistical offices). This development means there will be an annual report on countries’ progress towards the 2030 Agenda targets and Goals, to be presented to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Since the adoption of the initial proposal in March 2016, IAEG-SDG has been working to fulfil the mandate of the United Nations Statistical Commission. Technical analysis of the information needed to produce the statistics that will be used to construct the selected set of indicators resulted in the latter being classified into three tiers by the level of data availability nationally and internationally and international methodological standards:

•Tier I: the indicator is conceptually clear, methodology and standards are available and member countries produce data regularly.

•Tier II: the indicator is conceptually clear, methodology and standards are available but member countries do not produce data regularly.

•Tier III: methodology and standards for the indicator do not exist or are currently being developed or tested.

Figure III.1 presents the global situation as of 21 December 2016 in accordance with this classification.

Figure III.1

Number of Sustainable Development Goal indicators by level of data availability, 21 December 2016a

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations, “Tier Classification for Global SDG Indicators. 21 December 2016” [online] https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/meetings/iaeg-sdgs-meeting-04/Tier%20Classification%20of%20SDG%20Indicators_21%20Dec%20for%20website.pdf.

a There are five multi-tier indicators (the different components of the indicator are classified in different tiers).

The availability of international standards and consistently produced data is a challenge for national statistical systems, with varying impacts in the different subject areas covered by the 2030 Agenda and, by extension, each of its Goals. Of the 13 indicators of Goal 12 (“Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”), 11 (85%) fall under Tier III. The situation with Goal 14 (“Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”) and Goal 13 (“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”) is also affected by their high proportion of Tier III indicators (80% and 71%, respectively), although there are fewer indicators involved in these cases (eight and five, respectively).

Figure III.2

Tier III indicators for each Sustainable Development Goal, 21 December 2016

(Numbers and percentages of total)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of United Nations, “Tier Classification for Global SDG Indicators. 21 December 2016” [online] https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/meetings/iaeg-sdgs-meeting-04/Tier%20Classification%20of%20SDG%20Indicators_21%20Dec%20for%20website.pdf.

This shows how much work IAEG-SDG still needs to do to generate the information required to calculate global indicators in a way that ensures data are comparable across countries. The global indicator framework serves as a starting point for the actors in the international statistical system as they work together to identify robust and comparable indicators to monitor the progress made by the Member States of the United Nations towards the targets set by the 2030 Agenda.

This is the start of a process entailing the construction and improvement of statistical information at the national and international levels via the strengthening of national statistical systems, in response to the call for a “data revolution” made in the Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data,[1] which was presented at the forty-eighth session of the Statistical Commission in 2017. This process will allow IAEG-SDG to focus not only on the development of an indicator framework to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals, but also on technical support in the application of the indicators approved, the use of harmonized, agreed indicator definitions, periodic metadata analysis, the presentation of progress reports on the achievement of the Goals and targets, and activities to strengthen national statistical capacities.

B. The institutional architecture for monitoring statistical processes related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region

Besides global mechanisms, the 2030 Agenda explicitly calls for regional and national situations and challenges to be brought to light.[2] The recently created Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, convened under the auspices of ECLAC, provides the right political context for reviewing the regional situation, in full coordination with the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

As mentioned earlier, the Statistical Conference of the Americas, a subsidiary body of ECLAC whose members are the Commission’s member States, has provided the natural setting for deciding on the region’s representation in the international bodies via a process of applications and voting. Accordingly, on the occasion of the fourteenth session of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas in May 2015, the countries of the region chose Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, Jamaica and Mexico as their IAEG-SDG representatives, and Argentina, the Bahamas, Ecuador, El Salvador and Saint Lucia to represent them in HLG-PCCB.[3]

However, considering the commitment of the ECLAC member States to the regional processes deriving from the 2030 Agenda and set out in the Quito Mitad del Mundo Declaration of the eighth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas in November 2015 (ECLAC, 2016a), and bearing in mind the need to decide on joint actions in response to the statistical challenges involved in implementing the Agenda, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean expressed their intention of implementing a regional workplan that would combine and coordinate all the region’s statistical activities related to the Sustainable Development Goals and their indicators, so as to generate synergies within the regional statistical community. At the Conference, in reference to the 2030 Agenda, to IAEG-SDG and to HLG-PCCB, the countries reaffirmed the region’s participation in the global process through its duly elected representatives, recognized the importance of the regional space as a natural platform for implementing the statistical monitoring actions of the 2030 Agenda and emphasized that the Conference was the right intergovernmental body for this function in the region.

The Conference recognized the need to work together within a new governance framework that would enable a regional implementation plan to be prepared with a view to gradually covering the information requirements deriving from the 2030 Agenda, and asked ECLAC, as secretariat of the Conference, to prepare a preliminary regional statistical monitoring framework for the 2030 Agenda.

At its fifteenth meeting, held in June 2016, the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas approved the creation of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, 2016b). The Group will be made up of the 10 countries that represent the region in IAEG-SDG and HLP-PCCB, with ECLAC acting as technical secretariat, and will act as a joint working mechanism for establishing a regional plan to address the information requirements arising from implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Executive Committee also asked the Group to coordinate its activities with the ad hoc working group for the preparation of a synergistic proposal on the regional follow-up indicators for the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, adopted by the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean at its first session.

To achieve its aims, it was established that the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean would take the following action (ECLAC, 2016c):

a)Provide strategic leadership on the development and calculation of indicators, statistical monitoring and reporting for Sustainable Development Goal implementation in the region;

b)Promote national ownership of the regional statistical monitoring system for the 2030 Agenda and foster capacity-building, cooperation and coordination, ensuring consistency between regional and global follow-up work;

c)Support the development of an indicator framework for regional follow-up of the 2030 Agenda Goals and targets, taking into account the realities, priorities and common challenges of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, while bearing in mind national and subregional differences;

d)Provide technical support for follow-up, ensuring harmonized use of definitions and classifications for the agreed indicators;

e)Promote the use of international statistical standards and methodologies and explore new methodological developments and issues relating to indicators and metadata;

f)Work jointly with the countries and in coordination with the technical secretariat on preparing the regional report on the progress of the countries towards the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda; and

g)Address issues related to statistical capacity-building in the region and promote coordination with existing initiatives on the development and strengthening of statistical capacity and technical assistance at the global, regional and subregional levels, with a view to avoiding duplication of work.

The Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, via its Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, is thus acting as a hub for the region’s major statistical actors. In pursuit of the aim of coordinating the development and implementation of regional indicators and the necessary capacity-building, the Group, supported by the Statistics Division of ECLAC and in close collaboration with IAEG-SDG and HLG-PCCB, will propose a regional indicator framework for the Conference to consider and, if it sees fit, approve. This indicator framework will include indicators from the global indicator framework and other international sources, regionally comparable indicators produced by ECLAC in addition to these to facilitate the analysis of regional situations and concerns, and national indicators provided by individual countries. The proposed indicators will reflect the experience of and perspective on regionally relevant issues that ECLAC divisions and the technical teams of member States’ national statistical systems have built up and summarized in their reports to the session of the Statistical Coordination Group in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The process will therefore not only benefit from their installed capacity in the form of knowledge of regional realities and challenges, but will foster synergies between the relevant actors in the subsidiary bodies of ECLAC as a group within the framework of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development.

Diagram III.1

Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

a Members in 2015-2016 and 2017-2018.

b Members in 2015-2016.

c Members in 2017-2018.

Because of the specific nature of the issues covered in the 2030 Agenda, and the expertise and knowledge that they demand, this architecture has been reinforced by the involvement of statistical counterparts from within United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, and from regional and international organizations with a presence in the region. Lastly, coordination with subregional statistical agencies such as the Central American Statistical Commission (CENTROESTAD) of the Central American Integration System, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Andean Community and MERCOSUR will allow the specific needs of member States to be better served.

ECLAC will be in responsible for managing the statistical information system and coordinating decision-making and implementation actions within the framework of the workplan of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean. This system will generate the measurement inputs required to prepare the annual and four-yearly reports proposed as a means of following up the 2030 Agenda in the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, if appropriate. It will also provide inputs for a regional database agreed by the countries and will facilitate access to and dissemination of results and indicators via online systems, following a philosophy of open data and dynamic applications.

The proposed architecture places the region’s countries at the forefront of the governance of the detailed follow-up mechanisms, making available to them the experience and capacity of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean and the participation of subregional bodies in coordination with their global equivalents. This structure helps to ensure and facilitate: (i) the countries’ ownership of the regional processes and results of Sustainable Development Goal indicator monitoring and correlation with development plans and indicators at the national level; (ii) the technical robustness and cross-country comparability of the statistical methodologies and international standards proposed, with regional benchmarks; (iii) the reconciliation of local, regional and international differences; (iv) interinstitutional coordination at the regional and international levels; (v) the identification of shortfalls in national statistical capacities; (vi) the coordination of cooperation efforts and technical assistance; (vii) the strengthening of national statistical systems; (viii) the inclusion of subregional bodies that have endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals through coherent actions on national and regional statistical development; and (ix) the organization and coordination of donor groups on statistical development matters in the region.

The Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean has identified two fundamental tasks, namely the production of a set of regionally relevant indicators within the framework laid down by the Sustainable Development Goals and the statistical capacity-building required to support this at the national level.

As regards the creation of regional indicators for Sustainable Development Goal monitoring in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Group is currently preparing an initial proposal that should be gradually developed over the current year so as to be submitted for consideration by the member countries of the Statistical Conference of the Americas at its ninth meeting in November 2017. The proposal will take into account the progress made by IAEG-SDG on the global framework and Tier I and II indicators, while also reflecting key regional analyses and the availability of reliable information sources. It will also include the progress made by different actors and agencies in the region with responsibility for generating thematic indicators, if the Group deems this relevant.

The situation of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean as regards their statistical ability to produce the Sustainable Development Goal indicators is fundamental to the process. The Coordination Group, with support from the technical secretariat, conducted a survey of the region’s national statistical systems with a view to identifying the extent to which the global Sustainable Development Goal monitoring indicators were being produced, the causes of non-production, the national institutions responsible for collecting and producing them, the frequency with which they were being produced, the level of disaggregation and the statistical event or instrument being used to gather the information, among other subjects.

The following section provides details of this consultation and the results of the diagnosis of national statistical capacities carried out by ECLAC as technical secretariat of the Coordination Group, in accordance with the information received as of January 2017.

C. Diagnosis of national statistical capabilities for the production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

This section summarizes the findings of the “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, conducted and analysed by the Statistics Division of ECLAC as part of the activities of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean. The aim of the exercise was to create an initial map of capabilities in the region’s countries for the production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators and to identify a network of focal points that have acted as hubs connecting national statistical systems with the regional body. A focal point has been designated by 81% of the countries.

The two-part questionnaire was sent out to the national statistical offices of the 43 members and associate members of ECLAC in a consultation process lasting from April 2016 to February 2017. These offices were recognized as the lead agencies for their countries’ national statistical systems, and therefore as the right institutions to complete the survey, but the intersectoral character of the 2030 Agenda and its indicators means that the participation of all relevant actors in national statistical systems within their own areas of expertise and responsibility has been crucial.

By February 2017, 26 countries and territories had completed the questionnaire to varying degrees and returned it.[4] There is a clear disparity between Latin American and Caribbean countries, with the former being better placed to return their questionnaires on time and with a higher proportion of the questions answered. While 18 of the 19 Latin American countries returned their surveys, only 8 of 24 countries and territories in the Caribbean did. The exercise thus served to establish an initial inequality as regards the ability to cope with the statistical challenge by bringing to light the differences in responses to this kind of self-diagnostic exercise.

As will be seen in the following paragraphs, this task has demanded a collective effort from the statistical community of Latin America and the Caribbean. The results presented are preliminary, and it is hoped that the countries can complete their diagnoses over time.

1. The questionnaire sent to the national statistical offices

The two parts of the questionnaire were designed by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) of Ecuador, with support from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico and the Statistics Division of ECLAC, with a view to compiling a dataset that would describe the characteristics of the production processes for each of the indicators. In this way, it is possible to gather information on the thematic areas for which the countries state they require or can provide technical cooperation. The instrument was developed with the aim of gathering a large amount of information about the present situation, on the understanding that this information could be continuously and permanently improved, completed and updated. While these data can be used to describe the statistical production processes for each of the indicators in general terms, nothing is thereby implied about the quality of the information that has been or may be produced.

Both parts of the questionnaire were designed with open questions, some of which were later codified to produce results relevant to the analysis.

Part 1 concerned the respondent country’s capacity to produce each of the indicators in the global framework. The fields to be completed were as follows: name of the statistical event, type of statistical event, periodicity of data collection, geographic coverage, periodicity of dissemination of the statistical results, unit of observation, data availability, level of disaggregation and institution in charge. Contextual information of use to the countries was also included, namely the agency responsible for each indicator and categorization by tiers.

Part 2 dealt with the topics deriving from the Sustainable Development Goals for which the countries required or were able to provide technical cooperation. Forty-three topics were provisionally identified. For each of them, the respondent country was asked to indicate at which stage of the process (as described in the Generic Statistical Business Process Model) it required or could provide technical cooperation. The countries were able to indicate other topics they considered relevant (see annex III. A1 for further details on the questionnaire).

2. Information availability and the ability to produce the Sustainable Development Goal indicators

On average, there was an 83% response rate to the question about the level of production of indicators. The responses indicate that, at the regional level, the countries are currently producing around 22% of the indicators making up the global indicator framework for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals, a figure that rises to 42% with the inclusion of indicators that are not being produced at present but could be from existing information.

The highest levels of information availability are for the Goals relating to health and well-being (Goal 3), poverty (Goal 1), gender equality (Goal 5) and decent work (Goal 8), for which the countries were able to produce around 60% of the indicators from existing information.

The lowest levels of indicator production were reported for Goals concerning the environment, and above all those related to climate action (Goal 13), sustainable consumption and production patterns (Goal 12) and underwater life (Goal 14). The findings indicate that the countries are currently producing an average of less than 10% of the indicators required to monitor the 2030 Agenda, a figure that rises to 20% with the inclusion of indicators that are not currently produced but could be from existing information. These figures reveal the pressing need to double down on efforts to improve environmental statistics in the region.

A target-by-target analysis of the results reveals that no country is currently producing information on 15 of the 169 targets, while a further 29 targets are only being monitored by a single country (of all those returning the questionnaire).

The amount of information provided varied considerably from country to country. Whereas Cuba provided responses to all the questions and stated that it was in a position to calculate around 50% of the indicators, for some Caribbean countries the non-response rate approached 80% and the required information was available to calculate no more than 15% of all indicators. In terms of actual indicator production, Cuba’s stated position is the strongest of all the countries, as it can currently measure about 50% of the indicators and 54% of the targets. If indicators that could be produced from existing information are considered, Argentina is the best-placed country, stating that it could produce 85% of the indicators in the global framework. Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico are also well placed compared to their peers.

Figure III.3

Latin America and the Caribbean: Sustainable Development Goal indicators by level of production, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

The main reason given by the countries for not producing indicators was that there had hitherto been no specific call for them. In other words, the indicators not produced have generally not been among the statistics regularly used by the countries to take decisions. The lack of internationally agreed methodologies also takes on importance as a result, as countries may be discouraged from making the effort until these methodologies and guidelines on collecting information and calculating the indicators are forthcoming. The countries state that lack of technical capacity is an obstacle to the production of only 8% of the indicators, with financial constraints being the leading cause of non-production.

Figure III.4

Latin America and the Caribbean: production of Sustainable Development Goal indicators by country, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

Figure III.5

Latin America and the Caribbean: reasons for non-production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

3. Institutions

It transpires that a large number of institutions are involved in generating indicators, confirming the interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature of the Sustainable Development Goals where the production of statistics is concerned. This highlights the pressing need for interinstitutional coordination between the different entities making up national statistical systems and for the growing involvement of all agencies producing official statistics in long-term strategic planning and improvement programmes. Regional and international organizations also need to move in this direction by inviting both national offices of statistics and statistical teams from sectoral ministries to technical meetings where the statistical aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals are analysed and discussed.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, a number of countries in the region have already started to establish national coordination mechanisms responsible for implementing and following up the Sustainable Development Goals. In the context of these mechanisms, some countries have also set up agencies responsible for the statistical aspects of the indicators, tasked with working on the governance and determining technical features of these under the guidance of their national statistical offices.

Generally speaking, national statistical offices are in charge of producing some 40% of data, working either as lead agencies or as part of some inter-agency arrangement. A large share of the responsibility for producing statistics also lies with health and environment ministries. Health ministries are largely responsible for monitoring Goals 2, 3 and 5, while environment ministries are involved in the statistical production of the indicators for Goals 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Figure III.6

Latin America and the Caribbean: main organizations participating in the production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators at the country level, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

Figure III.7

Latin America and the Caribbean: main organizations participating in the national-level production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

4. Information sources

The three sources of statistical data most frequently cited in the countries’ responses are administrative records, household surveys and summary statistics. Around half of the indicators can be calculated on the basis of administrative records, 28% using household surveys and 8% using summary statistics. These proportions vary by topic. For example, most Goal 3 indicators can be produced from the administrative records held by ministries of health, medical centres and other health-care organizations in the countries, while most of the information needed to chart progress with Goal 1 and Goal 5 can be found in responses to household surveys.

(a) Administrative records

According to the countries, approximately 50% of the indicators can be produced from administrative records, with these being used especially intensively to monitor targets related to health, road traffic accidents, trade statistics and financial flows, among others. Particular mention should be made of environmental statistics, most of which can be produced from administrative records alone.

The advantages of statistically oriented administrative records over alternative sources have been promoted in various organizations involved in the production of official statistics. The benefits identified include low data collection costs, reduced form-filling by informants, complete coverage of the target population and specific disaggregation of subpopulations of interest. There is nonetheless a consensus that for records to be able to provide reliable and up-to-date information and be properly used for statistical purposes, their coverage needs to be widened and they need to be produced in an integrated manner within the national statistical system.

It should be noted that some of the information sources for indicator production identified by the countries are aggregated results and summary statistics derived from processes based on records of different kinds.

(b) Household surveys

The results indicate that around 30% of the indicators can be produced on the basis of household surveys. The countries of Latin America have a long tradition of systematically conducted household surveys, and they constitute one of the region’s primary information sources for generating statistics on living conditions. These surveys have become the main information source for dimensions such as access to basic services, employment variables, measurement of income and poverty, education variables, food security, harmful behaviours (such as smoking), access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), time use, paid and unpaid employment, violence against women, and sexual and reproductive health.

In recent decades, the countries of the region have made significant attempts to strengthen and broaden their household survey programmes through measures such as the gradual incorporation of new modules within their questionnaires, the expansion of coverage and a progressive shift towards annual or continuous surveys. As a result, these sources now produce information that is considerably more up-to-date than before. New surveys have also been introduced that can be used to capture specific dimensions of development and are thus valuable sources of information for the production of certain Sustainable Development Goal indicators. The results indicate, for example, that most of the countries use national surveys on technology access and use, time use surveys and national surveys of violence and victimization to calculate one or more indicators.

In contrast to the progress made by the countries of Latin America, those of the Caribbean still suffer from large information shortfalls. Lacking national processes that can be sustained over time, they have no regular survey schedules and a great deal of information-gathering has been carried out by international agencies.

(c) Population and housing censuses

Population and housing censuses remain the most complete data sources available to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Nonetheless, these report only limited use of censuses in the production of the global framework indicators, and then almost exclusively as a means to calculate households’ access to basic services. Censuses are also sometimes used to determine certain education variables and to calculate indicators for deprived areas.

However, censuses are a vital source of information for calculating the disaggregation categories proposed by the 2030 Agenda, and they provide the basic demographic variables for many indicators.

Figure III.8

Latin America and the Caribbean: main information sources for the production of the Sustainable Development Goal indicators, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

5. Timeliness of data

The availability of up-to-date information is crucial for following up the 2030 Agenda and orienting actions in pursuit of the targets. The results of the exercise indicate that many of the 2016 indicators may be based on information from 2014 or 2015. In the case of indicators based on administrative records, this appears to be largely due to the time elapsing between information being recorded and becoming available. A few countries excepted, there are similar delays for indicators based on surveys, owing rather in this case to the time taken up by the different stages in this method of information gathering, particularly quality control and information coding and standardization. The countries of the region have made major efforts to produce surveys more regularly or continuously, and this has shortened the intervals between them and made better information on living conditions available.

6. Producing disaggregated information

The need to cast light on vulnerable groups as part of the 2030 Agenda has been matched by a call for statistics to be disaggregated into different dimensions so that no one is left behind. This will require a detailed revision of the methods currently employed by the countries to disaggregate information and their coverage of different population groups.

For now, as an initial exercise, the survey can only be used to identify indicators capable of being disaggregated by some category. The countries’ responses to the question about the potential for disaggregating indicators covered only 52% of all those that are or could be produced from existing information, and suggest that just 30% of indicators can be disaggregated by some major category. While an average of 29% of the indicators can be disaggregated geographically, only some 3% can be broken down by race, migration status or disability. This percentage increases for those Goals that mainly measure social conditions, such as Goals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, but the number of indicators suitable for disaggregation remains extremely low.

Figure III.9

Latin America and the Caribbean: Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are or could be produced from existing information and can be disaggregated by different criteria, 2016

(Percentages)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

7. Opportunities for greater regional harmonization

A number of countries in the region claim to already produce or be able to produce indicators globally classified as belonging to Tier III. This shows that, although globally comparable information is not available, certain national experiences should be considered alongside proposals from specialized agencies when potential shared methodologies of global application are being evaluated. This situation is an encouraging basis from which to make an immediate start on the harmonized production of certain indicators that so far the countries have not usually produced. The individual cases described below may serve as an example when it comes to disseminating and enhancing such national initiatives for the benefit of the regional and global community.

Indicator 10.5.1 (“Financial soundness indicators”) is a specific case in point. This indicator is intended to chart progress in improving the regulation and oversight of global financial markets and institutions, with a view to strengthening application of the regulatory framework. It has been categorized as a Tier III indicator; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is responsible for producing it at the global level, while central banks or banking supervisors are mainly tasked with calculating and reporting it at the national level.

The countries of the region regularly publish indicators on financial revenues and stability based on IMF guidelines, additionally reporting them to IMF each year. Hence the results of the diagnosis show that nine countries currently produce the indicator, while four more could calculate it from existing information. Ecuador merits special mention, since while it reports that it is not producing the indicator, it is working on a calculation methodology and has prepared a methodological guide in order to do so.[5]

The situation with indicator 3.8.1 (“Coverage of essential health services”) is also illustrative. The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for its production at international level, while the indicator is usually calculated by health ministries at national level. While acknowledging that there is currently very little internationally comparable information, WHO is in the process of developing a methodology that can be applied globally. This situation can also be seen in the region, where the diversity of surveys in terms of type, frequency and data collection methods, among other things, makes cross-country comparative analysis difficult. Nonetheless, WHO recognizes that many countries have prepared studies or are producing regular statistical information that enables them to take the measure of this phenomenon (World Bank/WHO, 2015). It should therefore come as no surprise that eight countries declare that they are currently producing the indicator and two more that they could do so from existing information.

Table III.3

Latin America and the Caribbean: number of countries calculating Tier III indicators, by typology of production level for each indicator, 2016a

Indicator

Indicator is produced

Indicator is not produced but could be from existing data sources

Some data are available but further refinement or supplementary information is required to produce the indicator

The data needed to produce the indicator are not available

No response

1.4.1 Proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services

18

3

3

1

1

3.8.2 Number of people covered by health insurance or a public health system per 1,000 population

9

6

6

1

4

10.5.1 Financial soundness indicators

9

4

6

3

4

4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people

(a) in grades 2/3, (b) at the end of primary and

(c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and

(ii) mathematics, disaggregated by sex

8

8

6

2

2

17.18.2 Number of countries that have national statistical legislation that complies with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

8

5

3

3

7

3.8.1 Coverage of essential health services (defined as the average coverage of essential services based on tracer interventions that include reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases and service capacity and access, among the general and the most disadvantaged population)

8

2

7

5

4

10.2.1 Proportion of people living below 50% of median income, disaggregated by age group, sex and persons with disabilities

7

8

8

1

2

5.1.1 Determine whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex

7

7

8

1

3

1.a.1 Proportion of resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes

6

10

6

2

2

17.13.1 Macroeconomic Dashboard

6

5

2

6

7

8.b.1 Total government spending on social protection and employment programmes as a percentage of national budgets and GDP

5

10

6

1

4

16.7.1 Proportions of positions (by age group, sex, persons with disabilities and population groups) in public institutions (national and local legislatures, public service and judiciary) compared to national distributions

5

6

9

4

2

11.7.2 Proportion of persons victim of physical or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months

4

7

6

4

5

3.5.1 Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance use disorders

4

6

5

5

6

2.3.1 Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

3

7

9

5

2

5.a.2 Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control

3

7

6

4

6

6.3.1 Proportion of wastewater safely treated

3

7

8

5

3

11.a.1 Proportion of population living in cities that implement urban and regional development plans integrating population projections and resource needs, by size of city

2

8

9

4

3

13.2.1 Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy, strategy or plan which increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production (including a national adaptation plan, nationally determined contribution, national communication, biennial update report or other)

2

8

8

2

6

3.b.1 Proportion of the population with access to affordable medicines and vaccines on a sustainable basis

2

8

6

6

4

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

a Only indicators that are or could be produced by 10 or more countries are included.

8. The countries’ need for technical cooperation and ability to provide it

Twenty-three countries submitted responses to part 2 of the questionnaire on the supply of and demand for technical cooperation. Countries were asked to state whether they required technical cooperation, or were in a position to supply it to other countries, on 41 topics arising from the Sustainable Development Goals. The countries supplemented the original list with new thematic areas, resulting in a revised set of 83 topics. According to the results, cooperation is most frequently needed on issues related to climate change, biodiversity, labour statistics and violence statistics.

Regardless of the topic, countries are most in need of capacity-building at the data collection phase of the process, followed by the evaluation phase. The countries claiming to be in need of technical cooperation for the largest number of topics and production phases are Honduras and Panama, followed by Guatemala and Paraguay.

As far as supply goes, the results reveal significant regional strengths and the potential for horizontal cooperation. The topics for which most technical cooperation is on offer are health statistics, ICTs, child mortality, and research and development statistics. As with demand, the supply of cooperation is principally concentrated in the data collection phase, followed by the planning and design phases.

Figure III.10

Latin America and the Caribbean: number of countries stating that they require or could provide technical cooperation on topics included in the questionnaire sent to the countries, by topic, 2016

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

Table III.4

Latin America and the Caribbean: topics for which the countries state they require or can provide technical cooperation, 2016

Topics for which the countries state they can provide cooperation

Accountability

Corruption

Ethnicity

Gathering of cadastral information

Hazardous waste at health facilities

Health promotion

Images of the territory

Implementation of international anti-corruption conventions

Ionizing radiation

Involvement of companies in economic surveys

Malaria and other vector-borne diseases

Occupational accidents

Preparation of public information access classifications

Satisfaction with public services

South-South cooperation

Taxation

Vector control

Victimization

Topics for which the countries state they require technical cooperation

Business directory management

Censuses

Child labour

Data management

Economic and social classification methods

Electronic commerce

Government and open data

Hazardous waste

Household surveys

Human rights

Impact of environmental phenomena on human health and ecosystems

Indirect sampling and sampling of hard-to-reach populations

Management of geographic information systems and data usage

Microdata management tools

Perceptions of science and technology

Penitentiary system

Promotion and publicization of the rights of children and adolescents

Statistical quality assurance in statistical operations (administrative records)

Statistical data publishing and imputation/Non-response in household surveys

Staple grain production forecasting

Solid waste

System for monitoring and certifying food imports and exports

Survey validation methods

Taxes

Technological innovation

Use of fiscal administrative records

Urban planning

Vulnerable populations

Violence linked to displacement; international protocols and conventions related to the right to work (discrimination, migration, stateless persons, etc.)

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

To narrow down the topics, table III.5 summarizes the match between countries requesting and offering technical cooperation. This type of information lays the foundations for strategies of horizontal cooperation between countries. A complete list of topics can be found in table III.A1.1 of the annex.

Table III.5

Latin America and the Caribbean: match between countries requesting and offering technical cooperation, by topic, 2016

Topic

Countries requesting technical cooperation

Countries able to provide technical cooperation

Agriculture

DOM, CHL, CRI, CUB, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Human settlements

CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY, VEN

Land cover

CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY

Trade

CRI, CUB, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

National accounts

CHL, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Natural disasters

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

CUB, VEN

Education

DOM, ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, VEN

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Employment

ATG, BOL, BRB, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, SLV, URY

Exports and imports

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV

MEX, VEN

Public finance

CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY, SLV

BRA, GRD, URY

Public spending

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

CHL

Industry

ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY

Income and poverty

ATG, BOL, CHL, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, SLV, URY

Research and development

(R&D)

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY, VEN

ARG, BRA, COL, GRD, URY

Environment

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, CUB, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PER, SLV, PRY

ECU, MEX, VEN

Migration

ATG, BOL, CHL, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VCT

MEX

Child mortality

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

ARG, COL, CUB, MEX, SLV, VCT

Prices

GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Early childhood

ATG, BOL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

CHL, CUB, SLV

Social programmes

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, SLV, URY

Natural resources

ATG, BOL, CHL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Health

DOM, ATG, BOL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

ARG, BRA, CHL, COL, CUB, GRD, SLV, URY, VEN

Food security

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV

CUB

Security and justice

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

ARG, COL, MEX

Basic services

ATG, BOL, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Information and communication technologies (ICTs)

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY

ARG, BRA, COL, GRD, URY

Transport

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Tourism

ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Violence

ATG, BOL, BRB, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY, VEN

MEX

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”, Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016.

9. Next steps

(a) Online information system

ECLAC is currently working on an online information system that will be used to compile the information submitted by the countries in the questionnaire. With the agreement already reached in the framework of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, the system represents a global milestone as a public good capable of strengthening countries’ institutional statistical capacities and stimulating horizontal cooperation between countries, regional organizations and specialized agencies.

The platform will provide national statistical systems, United Nations agencies and other specialized agencies with access to both information about the capacity of the region’s countries to produce the global indicators established for the Sustainable Development Goals and a set of data that describes the characteristics of each of their production processes. It will also provide them with information on the thematic areas in which the countries have declared that they require or can provide technical cooperation and on the background to the indicators and coded variables.

The aim of the system is to provide information, periodically updated online by the countries themselves, to support the planning of capacity-building actions in the field of activity of the Statistical Conference of the Americas and its working groups and to provide an input for setting regional, subregional and national technical cooperation strategies. Furthermore, it will enable the countries to keep an up-to-date online inventory of their national statistical capacities in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals and to establish strategic areas where institutions need strengthening. Similarly, the platform will facilitate cross-country statistical harmonization by promoting mutual understanding, identifying common challenges in the field of statistical development and encouraging the implementation of regionwide methodological innovations and standards.

Image III.1

Home page of the online information system on national statistical capacities for the production of national indicators

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Image III.2

Result of a sample search in the information system

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The situation as ascertained with the “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators” is the baseline for decisions about regional capacity-building activities in areas related to the generation of official statistics. The Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean now has the task of proposing specific actions in light of these results, so that they help with the creation of workplans within the Statistical Conference of the Americas in accordance with the aims and tasks pursed by the Conference working groups, in addition to shared activities with local actors aimed at improving official statistics.

This is all the more relevant considering the appeal from the Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data for improvements in the official statistics used to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals, which reiterated guiding principles including, in particular, the need for cooperation between countries, regional and international organizations, and stakeholders, and bearing in mind too the six strategic areas proposed for the implementation of technical cooperation activities:

i)Coordination and strategic leadership;

ii)Innovation and modernization of national statistical systems;

iii)Strengthening of basic statistical activities and programmes;

iv)Distribution and use of data;

v)multi-stakeholder partnerships;

vi)mobilization of resources and coordination efforts to strengthen statistical capacities.

It is important to emphasize the need to coordinate these actions on the basis of an integrated approach within national statistical systems, so that all those responsible for generating the basic statistical information used to produce indicators interact via a coordination mechanism overseen by national statistical offices. This would make it possible to join forces in different areas of action, consider possible synergies between the different national statistical institutions and, above all, participate in coordinating capacity-building activities in response to the needs deriving from implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

D. ECLAC contributions to measuring the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America and the Caribbean: experience and strengths at the disposal of member countries

As mentioned in section B, Latin America and Caribbean has accepted the task of designing a set of relevant statistical indicators for the region within the framework of the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This task, coordinated from within the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Statistical Conference of the Americas, needs to reconcile various elements of the regional situation in a way that reflects international developments and national realities.

Looking beyond the statistical challenges that still persist at the global level in respect of the availability of data for producing the Sustainable Development Goal indicators and the limited ability of some countries in the region to generate the basic statistics required, the region does boast certain measurement strengths that are enabling it to make gradual progress towards fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal follow-up and monitoring requirements within the 2030 Agenda implementation framework.

The Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean has requested ECLAC support in constructing an initial proposal for a follow-up framework that gives due weight to the regional priorities of the 2030 Agenda, is consistent with other regional commitments, takes account of the countries’ statistical capacity and draws on the strengths and knowledge of the Commission in the fields of measurement and inter-agency coordination and of the United Nations agencies that are active in the region and collaborate with the Statistical Conference of the Americas (see box III.1).

The Coordination Group will be responsible for assessing the degree of development of basic statistics and data availability at the international level in order to identify input components that will be sourced globally and to propose the development of indicators for any 2030 Agenda fields and topics which are still lacking in information and are vital for describing the regional situation. In many cases, national statistical capacities need to be strengthened for even a minimum of basic statistics to be generated. The region will not be starting from scratch, however: for decades, ECLAC has been at the service of its member countries, generating knowledge and preparing studies that have analysed locally relevant statistical information. These accumulated resources are now more crucial than ever to the search for measurements, statistics and indicators that can help the region to evaluate itself and can pave the way to a follow-up and monitoring system for the 2030 Agenda and its Goals.

Box III.1

Activities of the United Nations system in Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to statistical information associated with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

1. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

UNESCO has been contributing to the design of global indicators to measure the Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of education, science, culture and communication. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has led coordination within the United Nations system to advise the Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDG) on the design of indicators related to Goal 4. It has also developed indicators to follow up on the targets of Goals 9 and 11, related to science and development and to safeguarding cultural and natural heritage, respectively.

At its fourth meeting, held in Geneva (Switzerland) in November 2016, IAEG-SDG refined the list of global indicators for the follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goal targets and discussed the tier classifications of selected indicators. In the course of 2017, it will consider proposals for possible additional global indicators and decide whether to recommend them for endorsement by the United Nations Statistical Commission in 2018. Two substantive reviews of the global indicator framework are planned for 2019 and 2024, resulting in possible further revisions for endorsement by the Statistical Commission in 2020 and 2025. No Goal 4 indicators were considered for refinement by IAEG-SDG.

2. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF has been called upon to play a prominent role in supporting national statistical systems in the region in monitoring the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF is the custodian agency for 10 indicators and joint custodian for another 6, as well as being named as one of the additional agencies working with the custodian agency for a further 5 indicators.

A recent review by UNICEF shows that data for over half the child-related Sustainable Development Goal indicators are posing challenges in terms of availability, quality and disaggregation. Despite strong capacity in matters of statistics in most of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, significant data gaps remain when it comes to monitoring the situation of children and adolescents, mainly in areas such as violence against children, sexual violence among adolescents, early childhood development and child disability.

UNICEF offers countries the opportunity to take part in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) programme. In recent years, this has become the main source of disaggregated data on childhood and adolescence in the region, as well as an indispensable source for defining the baselines of many of the indicators for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNICEF recently launched the sixth MICS round (2016-2019) in Latin America and the Caribbean. This latest round of surveys has seen an improvement in the timeliness of the data and the incorporation of innovative measuring tools such as water quality, thus aligning the tools with the demands of the 2030 Agenda. The new MICS round is currently enabling information to be collected on 33 Sustainable Development Goal indicators (45% of all the indicators produced using household surveys) encompassing 11 of the 17 Goals. Many countries are already receiving support from UNICEF and other United Nations agencies in developing their schedules for surveys on children over the next biennium.

UNICEF is working closely with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and other United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to coordinate efforts in support of national statistical systems as they prepare to respond to the Sustainable Development Goal monitoring framework and meet the need for multiple data disaggregation. UNICEF is also supporting the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, serving as technical secretariat for the Conference’s Working Group on Statistics on Childhood and Adolescence, which is co-chaired by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico and the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) of Panama and involves 14 other national statistical offices. The Group is currently working on developing and promoting standard methodologies to measure child-related indicators, with a special focus on violence against children, early childhood development and child disability, as well as strengthening administrative data systems and promoting more effective dissemination and use of child-related data.

3. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Since 2015, UNFPA has been working in partnership and alignment with ECLAC and other United Nations agencies, funds and programmes within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development implementation process. As far as Sustainable Development Goal measurement is concerned, a key part of the strategy is the joint work done with the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC on capacity-building at the national level for implementation of the Agenda.

UNFPA also participated actively in the process led by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division of ECLAC to define indicators for the regional follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. In 2016, this instrument was recognized by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean as a complementary set of indicators for the monitoring of the 2030 Agenda, in line with ECLAC resolution 700(XXXVI) of 1 June 2016 establishing the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development.

4. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Since coordinated global data generation efforts are crucial for supplying reliable and timely data for systematic follow-up and progress reviews of the Sustainable Development Goals, it will be of considerable importance for PAHO to evaluate progress by means of health-related indicators (for both Goal 3 and other Goals as identified by the World Health Organization (WHO)) at the regional level. Three priorities have been identified to ensure that member States and PAHO are in a strong position to track progress against health and health-related Sustainable Development Goal indicators:

i)Strengthening information systems for health and vital statistics: by emphasizing innovative approaches, such as using open source data, e-government and convergence of interconnected and interoperable systems, PAHO can help to establish the foundations of a strong data-gathering system.

ii)Capacity-building in data management: internally, PAHO recognizes the importance of strengthening institutional capacity, mainly in terms of infrastructure and human resources, in order to respond to the needs of the Organization and of member States. PAHO will also continue to provide tools, guidance and information on how to strengthen these capacities at the national level, which will require in-depth assessments of country requirements and capacity, rather than broad-brush programming across the board. These analyses are necessary because some countries have a great need for technical cooperation to address problems related to the implementation of information systems, while others already have strong reporting programmes in existence or operation.

iii)Ensuring quality of data: it has been proposed that PAHO consider developing a toolkit that will support norms and standards to ensure good-quality data. This priority is strongly tied to the attainment of Goal 10, reducing inequality within and among countries, under which countries are tasked with providing “high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts”.

A core concern in addressing the successes and challenges related to health inequalities at the national level is data consistency. The Health Inequality Monitoring Framework, developed by the World Health Organization, and Health Equity Monitor, part of the Global Health Observatory, provide a guide and resources to help countries build monitoring capacity. The Americas region of PAHO has taken the initiative on this front through the inclusion of equality-based indicators in the Strategic Plan of the Pan American Health Organization 2014-2019.

5. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women)

The development of the Global Sustainable Development Goal Indicators Database of the United Nations Statistics Division is an ongoing process that effectively serves to provide access to indicators and metadata related to gender at the national, regional and global levels. Work carried out at the regional level, such as the study on statistical capacities conducted by the Statistics Division of ECLAC and the specific surveys on capacities for gender statistics coordinated by the regional office of UN-Women, has helped clarify the situation of Latin America and the Caribbean and determine the challenges presented by the establishment of cooperation strategies for the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Around 110 Sustainable Development Goal indicators are to be disaggregated by sex. Meanwhile, according to UN-Women, 46 indicators are relevant to gender (14 of which are contained in Goal 5). In other words, the latter indicators belong, from a methodological perspective, to the field of gender statistics. They will be used to follow up on the progress made with 31 targets spread across 11 Goals,a including Goal 5.

6. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

FAO has been designated to oversee 21 Sustainable Development Goal indicators belonging to the targets of Goals 2, 5, 6, 12, 14 and 15. These comprise both new and established indicators within fields in which FAO possesses substantial experience. Four of them are provisionally classified in Tier I, six in Tier II and eleven in Tier III. FAO is also a contributing agency for an additional six indicators.

At the national level, FAO provides countries with technical assistance in the adoption of new standards, methods and tools for data collection and in the identification of information sources to develop and measure indicators in accordance with national realities. FAO also offers countries technical assistance and recommendations for the preparation of methods of evaluating the indicators for which it is the custodian or joint custodian.

7. The International Organization for Migration (IOM)

As the United Nations partner organization on migration issues, IOM is monitoring the specific Sustainable Development Goal targets associated with migration. To do so, it is using tools such as the Migration Governance Framework, endorsed by the IOM Council in 2015, and the Migration Governance Index, developed by IOM in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, IOM is strengthening national and regional capabilities for the collection, analysis and distribution of migration data, emphasizing the collection of data on migrants’ access to rights. Fulfilment of the migration-related targets (4.b, 5.2, 8.7, 8.8, 10.7, 10.c, 16.2, 17.16, 17.17 and 17.18) will require a new awareness of the links between migration and development and consideration of various aspects of vulnerability for migrants and their families. Major IOM activities include preparing national migration profiles and an impact study of the Agreement on Residence for Citizens of the States Parties of MERCOSUR, Bolivia and Chile, in addition to producing specific studies such as the one conducted jointly with the World Food Programme (WFP), called Hunger Without Borders: the Hidden Links between Food Insecurity, Violence and Migration in the Northern Triangle of Central America. An Exploratory Study, b which connects up issues such as the environment, food security and migration in the subregion.

Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of information from the organizations concerned.

a Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 17.

b See [online] http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/liaison_offices/wfp277545.pdf.

More specifically, complementing its experience in the use and analysis of statistical information from a development perspective in Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC has devised a range of regionally relevant statistical metrics and information-gathering instruments suitable for comparative analysis of the 2030 Agenda variables.

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, as prescribed by Goal 1, requires the regional situation to be viewed through a specific lens, with regional parameters applied to national poverty lines. The work done by ECLAC since the late 1980s, and systematically since 1991, to calculate income poverty and indigence in Latin America provides a long-term, cross-country comparative overview to supplement the analysis of the regional situation. The poverty lines established by ECLAC reflect specific national characteristics, sorting them from a regional perspective that enables comparisons to be made over time and between countries.

Furthermore, the availability of primary information sources on the subject facilitates the construction of poverty and extreme poverty data that are disaggregated by different variables, enabling the most excluded to be focused on in accordance with the premise that no one should be left behind. Children, women, indigenous peoples, Afrodescendants and populations in rural areas are all examples of groups whose rights have been breached and who have been examined in ECLAC research. Bringing the situation of these groups to light means being able to work with indicators that reflect multiple deprivations in childhood and the plight of older persons without pensions and people without incomes of their own or access to health insurance or social security, among others.

The development of statistics on gender and women’s autonomy is unquestionably an example worth highlighting. The time-use surveys employed to generate indicators reveal situations of inequality by identifying phenomena that have a differential impact on men and women. This new generation of surveys have an important role to play in eliminating stereotypes, setting an economic value on unpaid work and formulating and following up policies with the aim of achieving full equality between men and women.

In particular, the regional gender agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean has been employing time-use measurements since the early 1980s. To date, 19 countries in the region have measured time use on at least one occasion. As a result, it is now possible to calculate indicator 5.4.1 (“Percentage of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age group and location”) in the region, even though at the global level it is classified within the group of Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are not regularly produced by countries.

In terms of the production of information on decision-making autonomy, the region is unique in the world in having official data systematized at the ECLAC Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean on the presence of women in legislatures, executives and judiciaries and even in local government, this being one of the disaggregations required to follow up Goal 5.5 (indicator 5.5.1).

Goal 10, the reduction of inequality within and among countries, places on the Agenda an issue that is central to ECLAC thinking and therefore an area for new measurements and empirical studies, comprising the estimation of global indicators on the basis of the regional information sources available and disaggregation of the data in order to capture the specific situation of the most vulnerable groups.

In other areas of development, ECLAC systematically produces historical series of statistics on gross domestic product in local currency and dollars, based on regional standardization using different base years, and prepares employment statistics with disaggregations tailored to regional considerations. Also important is its work as regional coordinator for the international price comparison programme and the construction of consumer price indices, which facilitate comparison of the regional and global situations. Furthermore, ECLAC holds systematized and historical information on other variables, including natural resource-based exports, the economic cost of natural disasters affecting the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, fiscal data on public expenditure and revenues in the different countries and information on official development assistance and financing.

Besides the specific progress made with the production of regionally comparable indicators in these emblematic areas of ECLAC work, the availability of harmonized primary information sources with common standards is central to decision-making about measures related to the 2030 Agenda targets.

ECLAC holds the repository for three of the most important information-gathering instruments employed by countries in the region to produce statistical information for the formulation, planning and implementation of domestic public policies. The countries’ multi-purpose household surveys, including time-use surveys, household income and expenditure surveys and population censuses are all compiled and standardized by the Commission in accordance with the definitions agreed upon with the countries and in line with the recommendations of experts who have been involved in this process for several decades.

ECLAC also has a special repository containing the databases of the various statistical instruments used to collect information on time use. These databases have been harmonized using the Classification of Time-Use Activities for Latin America and the Caribbean (CAUTAL). In addition to the time-use variables, sociodemographic data variables have been standardized, allowing this information to be cross-referenced and a multidimensional picture of development to be drawn.

These are significant advantages that need to be built on during the current development phase of the 2030 Agenda follow-up indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean, as they mean that a wide range of the countries’ Sustainable Development Goal-related topics and interests can be addressed. However, equality and need to give visibility to the most excluded must always be to the fore.

Household surveys are one of the main data sources used to generate Sustainable Development Goal follow-up indicators; according to the diagnosis of national statistical capacities, an average of around 30% of the indicators are produced using surveys (see section C). These sources are processed so as to generate databases of variables that are as homogeneous as possible across the different countries, with a view to producing statistics that describe the region comparably. ECLAC currently uses these instruments for the harmonized production and dissemination not only of poverty and income distribution indicators, but also of indicators in other areas related to the economic and social situation of the countries in the region, such as employment, education and access to sanitation, drinking water and ICTs. In addition, income and expenditure surveys in the countries are compiled and harmonized, making it possible to analyse household consumption profiles and their links with economic development and environmental sustainability.

ECLAC also has a long track record of producing and analysing indicators on public perceptions, principally sourced from Latinobarómetro. This type of indicator provides a fresh perspective on the way the Latin American population is coping with the region’s main problems, something that is crucial to public policy formulation and implementation. Aspects such as trust in institutions, concerns about job security and perceptions of discrimination are processed and published periodically in the CEPALSTAT database.

Population censuses are another essential pillar in the information architecture needed to follow up the Sustainable Development Goals. They allow information to be disaggregated both to the level of population groups of particular interest, such as indigenous peoples and Afrodescendants, and from a territorial perspective which, combined with other information sources, opens up potential new applications and uses. Regarding the territorial disaggregation of census data, furthermore, the region boasts the pioneering Retrieval of Data for Small Areas by Microcomputer (REDATAM) software developed and expanded over three decades by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division of ECLAC.

Population and housing censuses are another crucial tool. Because their scope is universal (they cover everyone living in a territory, the households they belong to and the homes they dwell in), they provide vital information on the living conditions of the population and can be used to identify groups that need to be at the centre of sustainable development policies. Furthermore, these censuses enable the construction of indicators at smaller territorial scales or for specific groups, including those with small population sizes, while avoiding the errors associated with other information sources that include sampling in their design. A review conducted by the countries of the region within the framework of the Working Group on Censuses of the Statistical Conference of the Americas (for which ECLAC acts as technical secretariat) found that, for a number of 2030 Agenda indicators, the disaggregations stipulated in target 17.18 can only be calculated from censuses, particularly in the case of migration status, indigenous peoples, Afrodescendent populations and persons with disabilities. Censuses were also found to be the main source for indicators on particular age groups or specific territories, as well as for the denominators of many of the indicators. Indeed, it became apparent that population and housing censuses could be used to produce both direct indicators and indicators supplementary to the list established in the 2030 Agenda framework and that, because of the heterogeneity of the region, they would be the only information source available in some countries until survey systems, and continuous record-keeping in particular, were strengthened.

ECLAC has been providing the countries of the region with support on censuses for many years. Census microdatabases are sent to the Commission to be archived, further proof of the trust invested in this organization by its member countries. That the historic first proposal for the 2030 Agenda coincided with the initiation of the 2020 round of censuses should not be overlooked. These instruments will serve as an essential tool when it comes to defining the baselines for the start dates of the follow-up indicators, and will also help to register the progress made between now and 2030, the year by which all targets are meant to have been achieved. This is also a special opportunity to coordinate census activities with other data sources by, for example, agreeing on conceptual and operational definitions with general and specific surveys and reviewing ways of strengthening their deployment in combination with administrative records. Accordingly, the current work schedule of the Working Group on Censuses of the Statistical Conference of the Americas affords a central status to the Sustainable Development Goal follow-up indicators, underlining their status as a regional priority.

Other government agencies in ECLAC member countries have made progress in designing measures directly related to the 2030 Agenda, while introducing other topics on to their local agendas that complement the Sustainable Development Goals. Three regional approaches to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development deserve a separate mention: the Montevideo Strategy for Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda within the Sustainable Development Framework by 2030, adopted at the thirteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean; the follow-up indicators for the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development within the framework of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Observatory on Principle 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean pursuant to the Declaration on the Application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The information systems implementation pillar of the Montevideo Strategy establishes nine measures for the production of gender-based statistics and indicators. The aim of these measures is to gauge gender inequalities, reflecting the needs of women in all their diversity, and to follow up on the commitments accepted under the regional gender agenda in a way that complements the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. In this connection, the Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean has consolidated its leading position in the area of regional gender statistics and indicators for follow-up of the status of women and public policymaking. The Observatory seeks to employ a set of strategic indicators, repositories of legislation, policy analysis and specific studies to analyse the gender equality situation in consideration of women’s physical autonomy, decision-making autonomy and economic autonomy, and the interrelationships between these. The Observatory’s 17 indicators include some for which the region is alone in having comparable data, examples being those on total working time (based on the measurement of unpaid working time) and femicide.

The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development came out of the first session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Montevideo in August 2013. It is the region’s most significant intergovernmental agreement in the area of population and development, and became a key component in the process of reviewing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and its follow-up work beyond 2014. Needing a number of additional clarifications in order to develop the Montevideo Consensus into an operational agenda, the presiding officers of the Regional Conference decided, at their first meeting in November 2014, to prepare an operational guide for the implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus and to present it as their contribution to the second session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Mexico City in October 2015. The guide also represented a first effort to establish synergies with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

At the second session of the Regional Conference, it was decided that an ad hoc working group for the preparation of a proposal on the indicators for regional follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus would be set up, taking into account those indicators that had already been defined for the Sustainable Development Goals. The third session of the Regional Conference will take place in November 2017 in El Salvador, where the working group will present its final report with a definitive list of proposed indicators.

About a third of the indicators contained within the proposal correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals. The regional follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus therefore has a fundamental role to play in reviewing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in the region, in line with ECLAC resolution 700(XXXVI) establishing the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development.

Therefore, the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean is an essential component in the implementation and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As outlined in ECLAC resolution 700(XXXVI), the Conference represents one of the most decisive steps forward in this regard at the regional level. The Montevideo Consensus is a valuable tool in the construction of the pact for equality proposed by ECLAC. Its implementation and follow-up will strengthen the connections between global and regional actions, promote collaboration between countries and encourage capacity creation at the national level, thereby facilitating the work of the Forum.

The Observatory on Principle 10 in Latin America and the Caribbean, meanwhile, is an ECLAC initiative to foster better knowledge, dissemination and implementation of the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters, as enshrined in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. It makes explicit reference to access rights established in the international treaties to which countries of the region are party, and to provisions and other information of interest on these rights contained in the constitutions, laws, regulations, plans, strategies and national policies of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Jurisprudence of relevance to access rights is also included.

By taking on the role of an information clearing house, the Observatory aims to foster synergies and promote coordination in capacity-building on environmental access rights at the regional level. It also supports the negotiations for a regional agreement on access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, for which ECLAC is the technical secretariat. This mechanism will help to address some of the challenges related to the availability of relevant information in the region for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda environmental goals.

Climate change endangers a global public asset, the climate, and represents one of the great challenges of the twenty-first century. The magnitude of the efforts involved in addressing its negative impacts on economic activities, social conditions and ecosystems, and in developing processes of climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation, demands a profound change to current patterns of development, in order to favour the transition to sustainable development. This requires the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies centred around sustainable development that take into account the close interconnections between economic, social and environmental variables. The availability of consistent, reliable, up-to-date and georeferenced statistics is thus of fundamental importance to the achievement of Goal 13 on climate change. In this context, ECLAC has sought to support the development of statistics related to this issue over recent years.

Firstly, efforts have been made to construct databases on Latin America and the Caribbean that facilitate analysis of the impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector, biodiversity, forests, the energy sector, urban areas and consumption patterns, as well as of climate change adaptation processes in the agricultural sector and the relationship between climate change and poverty. The use of these combined statistics has enabled the identification and even quantification (at times georeferenced) of the complex relationships between climate and environmental variables, economic activities, emissions of pollutants such as greenhouse gases, characteristics of households, social conditions and poverty. Secondly, progress on the construction of new statistics and indicators has been pursued. The incorporation of an indicator monitoring expenditure on the environment and climate change in Ecuador, which is now operational, is a case in point. However, the sum total of this information is not enough to produce the Sustainable Development Goal indicators on climate change and, as a result, this is a task that will still need to be addressed in the near future.

E. The challenges posed to national statistical systems by new data ecosystems

The region is also responding to the propositions in the 2030 Agenda regarding the need for all countries to embrace a “data revolution”. Although this term encompasses very diverse meanings and themes, it is recognized as implying both an increase in volume and types of data and a mounting demand from society for increasingly disaggregated, up-to-date and timely information.

According to the Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IEAG), convened by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2014, the data revolution is:

“An explosion in the volume of data, the speed with which data are produced, the number of producers of data, the dissemination of data, and the range of things on which there is data, coming from new technologies such as mobile phones and the ‘internet of things’, and from other sources, such as qualitative data, citizen-generated data and perceptions data; a growing demand for data from all parts of society” (IEAG, 2014).

The explosion in the volume of data is occurring in both traditional and new data sources. The use of administrative records compiled as part of the regular work of various public agencies is seen as one of the areas with the most potential to improve the coverage, disaggregation, timeliness and efficiency of statistics. At the same time, the constant and mass-scale use of telecommunications and other technological devices is permanently generating digital information that may be of use for official statistics. People, machines, sensors, electronic transactions and Internet use, among other things, are thus continuously generating data at high speed.

The data revolution for sustainable development means integrating data from conventional and non-conventional sources to produce high-quality and timely statistics in enough detail to support monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The private sector has spearheaded the data revolution, largely through investment in infrastructure but also thanks to its ability to innovate in digital technologies and to generate, store and process large quantities of new data and successfully use them to drive new models of business, production and interaction.

Citizens have also become new generators and receivers of data, which has heightened their demand for better access to reliable and open information in real time. More needs to be done to enable this empowered citizenry to continue generating innovative solutions to social issues in relation to health, education, public safety and other areas.

Accordingly, States and their public institutions must avoid being left behind by this momentum, and adapt their capacities as a matter of urgency to leverage the data revolution as an opportunity to harness new sources for decision-making and for steering the 2030 Agenda.

The main challenge for our societies is to make the data revolution a powerful catalyst for a new equation between the State, the private sector and society. New partnerships must be forged between governments, the private sector, academic and civil society organizations, with innovative initiatives in the framework of new data ecosystems in pursuit of the common good and fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda.

One very important aspect of the data revolution and official statistics use is accessibility. The public’s growing demand for greater transparency, access to information and effective accountability mechanisms has led to multiple initiatives and moves towards open data, in an exercise of citizen appropriation of data as public goods. Having data that can be freely used, reused and distributed under certain standards allows society to make more use of information, insofar as any individual or organization with the will and the creativity can use these data to build a new idea that leads to new data, knowledge or even services.

These phenomena are all part of the data revolution, which is already a reality, not a possibility. National statistical systems in Latin America and the Caribbean and their governing bodies, the national statistical offices, must grasp this process and be aware of and adapt to its potential, its risks and its challenges, in order to heighten and take advantage of the revolution. This must be achieved without neglecting the stewardship of privacy and the appropriate use of personal and collective data to avoid breaching the rights of the people and institutions supplying the information. Rules and standards will therefore be needed to form a suitable governance framework.

The public agenda, especially in developing countries, but in industrialized nations too, must persevere in the task of modernizing national statistical systems and official indicators. But it must also seize the opportunity presented by the data revolution. For example, there is a place for standards by which non-official data could meet certain quality criteria established under the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2014 by virtue of resolution 68/261.

With that in mind, national statistical offices must continue to exercise key leadership in the production and compilation of information. To accomplish this, they urgently need intensive capacity-building to improve and process existing data and integrate them with new data, and to establish clear criteria for obtaining, analysing, using and disseminating new types of data.

Given the persistence of structural weaknesses in the national statistical offices and systems of several countries, with outdated legal frameworks, severe shortages of skilled staff and inadequate and unstable financial resources, the region’s governments must be lobbied to endow national statistical systems with a proper, autonomous institutional structure that enables them to sustainably produce statistical work to high quality standards.

In this connection, it is worth recalling that official statistics are a high-value public good. They are necessary for evidence-based decision-making and accountability and for transparent public administration. It is thus primarily the institutional and economic responsibility of the State to ensure that collection, production and dissemination of data are conducted to a standard that meets the needs of society and people. At the same time, this requires concerted action by other important societal actors and by regional and international agencies to support the creation and strengthening of capacities in national statistical systems, especially in the areas with the greatest weaknesses or shortcomings.

The advent of the new technologies has provided a greater variety of information sources and collection methods, giving rise to as yet unresolved challenges regarding the use of non-official data for generating official statistics. For that reason, a vast amount of work is still needed on harmonization and reliability in keeping with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics if good use is to be made of the large volumes of information generated.

This presents the region’s statistical community with the need to reflect, first, on the possibilities, i.e., on how to overcome the potential risks and on the best ways to use the outcomes of the data revolution and apply the new technologies to transform the production of statistics, in all its phases, with a view to improving the quality and coverage of official statistics. And, second, it must reflect on the usefulness and quality of non-official statistics from alternative sources of big data. Table III.6 sets forth some of the operational, institutional and legal challenges arising from the data revolution.

Table III.6

Basic principles for the sustainable development data revolution

Quality and integrity

Protection and privacy

Disaggregation

Governance and independence

Timeliness

Resources and capacity

Transparency and openness

Data rights

Usability and curation

Source: Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IAEG), A World that Counts: Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, 2014 [online] http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/40319/1/AWorldThatCounts.pdf.

Although non-traditional information sources can offer a very fruitful means to address the enormous demand for statistical information and indicators needed to monitor the Sustainable Development Goal targets, their use also poses a critical challenge to statistical offices, which are required to shift their processes towards a new production model that can make intensive use of data from administrative records and from the new sources associated with the data revolution. This new model also implies huge challenges in relation to the introduction and intensifying use of modern results-based management methods. Furthermore, the systematic, wholesale and permanent linkage of statistical production with geography and the use of georeferencing, geostatistical frameworks and other geoscience tools and methods must necessarily form part of the development of the new model for producing statistics. A territorial approach has to be a central pillar of the analysis needed to implement the 2030 Agenda. If data are available to associate each piece of information with the place where it was generated or where the phenomena analysed are taking place, then action can be targeted precisely where it is needed.

The challenges described can be addressed only by harnessing synergies between all the actors in the statistical system that can jointly contribute to national capacity-building in this area so as to forge institutionally robust and sustainable national statistical systems that have proper governance mechanisms for all official and non-official statistics and are fully linked with the national bodies responsible for geographical information.

The necessary consolidation of basic statistics and the development of measurements for emerging issues will require statistical development strategies to be formulated and implemented in several areas and then integrated into each country’s national statistical development strategy. This sort of virtuous linkage will strengthen national statistical systems in a consistent manner, giving them the resources they need to ensure their sustainability and thus the capacities to generate the statistical information the countries need to follow up the indicators of the 2030 Agenda. Strengthening and broadening the national statistical culture and promoting the use of existing data must be a fundamental part of this strategy.

The national, regional and global follow-up required to compile, analyse and share the statistical data needed for monitoring and attainment of the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must be driven by national statistical systems, with consolidated leadership from national statistical offices and the support and close collaboration of the international agencies.

It must be put to decision makers and to public and private actors generally in each country that intensively and efficiently harnessing the potential of the data revolution will necessarily require substantial and ongoing investment in national statistical capacity, as well as a great willingness and effort to cooperate and coordinate on both technical and institutional matters, in order to increase data coverage, quality, disaggregation and frequency, as part of a model that is sustainable over time.

Advocacy and information-sharing vis-à-vis governments and institutions in the region are called for to draw their attention to the importance of statistics for policymaking and policy appraisal and thereby increase their awareness of the need to maintain a stable and increasing flow of financing for the work of national statistical systems in general and national statistical offices in particular.

Bibliography

ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) (2016a), Report of the eighth meeting of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Quito, 17 - 19 November 2015 (LC/L.4154), Santiago.

____(2016b), Report of the fifteenth meeting of the Executive Committee of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Santiago, 14 -16 June 2016 (LC/L.4235), Santiago.

____(2016c), Proposed terms of reference of the Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC (LC/L.4179(CE.15/3)), Santiago.

IEAG (Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development) (2014), A World that Counts: Mobilising the data revolution for sustainable development [online] http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/40319/1/AWorldThatCounts.pdf.

United Nations (2016a), Report of the forty-seventh session of the Statistical Commission (E/2016/24; E/CN.3/2016/34), New York [online] https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/47th-session/documents/Report-on-the-47th-session-of-the-statistical-commission-E.pdf.

____(2016b), Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators. Note by the Secretary-General (E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1), New York, Statistical Commission.

____(2015), Report of the forty-sixth session of the Statistical Commission (E/2015/24; E/CN.3/2015/40), New York [online] https://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/46th-session/documents/statcom-2015-46th-report-E.pdf.

World Bank/WHO (World Bank/World Health Organization) (2015), Toward Universal Health Coverage and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Evidence from selected countries, T. Dmytraczenko and G. Almeida (eds.), Washington, D.C.

[1] See the draft action plan of 21 October 2016 [online] http://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/global-consultation-hlg-1/GAP_HLG-20161021.pdf.

[2] See resolution 70/1 “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, paras. 73, 75, 80 and 81, and the decisions of the forty-seventh session of the United Nations Statistical Commission.

[3] In accordance with the mechanism whereby countries take turns to represent the different regions, in March 2017 the countries confirmed Brazil, Colombia and Mexico as their representatives in IAEG-SDG and Argentina and Ecuador in HLG-PCCB, while proposing Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago instead of Cuba and Jamaica in IAEG-SDG and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname instead of Bahamas and Saint Lucia in HLG-PCCB (at the time of writing, it had not been decided which country would replace El Salvador).

[4] Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Uruguay.

[5] See [online] http://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/documentos/web-inec/Sistema_Estadistico_Nacional/Objetivos_Desarrollo_Sostenible_ODS/Objetivo_10/Meta_10.5/Indicador_10.5.1/FM_INDICADORES_SOLIDEZ_FINANCIERA_5.pdf.

Annex III.A1

Questions and variables in the “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators

Part 1

•Current production of the indicator

–The indicator is being produced: The indicator is being produced on a regular basis.

–The indicator is not produced but it could be produced using existing data sources: The indicator is not being produced regularly, but the data sources currently available would be sufficient for this.

–The indicator is not being produced and could not be generated from existing data sources.

1. Some data are available but further refinement and complementary information are required to produce the indicator: The indicator is not being produced on a regular basis and could not be with existing information sources because the data need to be refined and complementary information is missing.

2. Data are not available to produce the indicator: The indicator is not being produced on a regular basis because the data needed to generate it are not available.

•Characteristics of the indicator construction process

–Name of the statistical event: The name of the statistical operation constituting the information source for calculating the indicator.

–Type of statistical event: Whether the statistical operation is a census, a survey, is based on administrative records or is a statistical summary operation.

–Periodicity of data collection: The frequency of compilation of the data required to calculate the indicator by way of the aforementioned statistical event.

–Geographic coverage: The geographic coverage of the information collected in the statistical event described (national, urban, large cities, etc.).

–Periodicity of statistical results dissemination: How often the statistical information on the indicator based on the information source described is released.

–Observation unit: The unit of observation from which information is obtained in the statistical operation described.

–Data availability: The years from and to which the information needed to calculate the indicator from the source described is available.

–Disaggregation level (where relevant to the indicator): Disaggregations as proposed by the Sustainable Development Goal global indicator framework for which information can be obtained to calculate the indicator from the source described.

Geographic (the geographic or territorial level or political and administrative division)

Sex (total/women/men)

Ethnicity (ethnicities present in the country)

Age (age groups or single ages)

Income (level of income)

Race (races living in the country)

Migratory status (migration situation of the population)

Disability (disability situation of the population)

Other areas (other disaggregations which are considered relevant and for which information is available)

–Institution in charge: Name of the institution responsible for undertaking the statistical operation, processing the information, generating the indicator and disseminating the results.

–Type of institution: Whether it is a public or a private institution.

Part 2

Topics deriving from the Sustainable Development Goals (initial list of 41 topics included in the questionnaire)

•Agriculture

•Basic services

•Biodiversity

•Child mortality

•Climate change

•Corporate responsibility

•Discrimination

•Early childhood

•Education

•Employment

•Energy

•Environment

•Exports and imports

•Financial sector

•Food security

•Foreign direct investment (FDI)

•Gender

•Health

•Human settlements

•Incomes and poverty

•Industry

•Information and communication technologies (ICTs)

•Land cover

•Macroeconomy

•Migration

•National accounts

•Natural disasters

•Natural resources

•Official development assistance (ODA)

•Prices

•Public expenditure

•Public finance

•Public institutions

•Research and development (R&D)

•Security and justice

•Social programmes

•Sustainable consumption and production

•Tourism

•Trade

•Transport

•Violence

The phases of the Generic Statistical Business Process Model

•Planning: This phase is triggered when a need for new statistics is identified, or feedback about current statistics initiates a review. The organization in the national statistical system, via the relevant operational unit, will engage users with the statistical information to identify their detailed statistical needs, proposing a solution to meet these. In addition, the necessary guidelines and the resources and time required to execute a new proposal will be established.

•Design: This phase describes the development and design of the activities needed to produce the statistical outputs. It includes all the design elements employed to define or refine the statistical products identified in the business case. This phase specifies the metadata containing the information about the statistical operation for later use, as well as quality assurance procedures, and establishes activities aligned with the application of international and country standards.

•Build: This phase builds and tests all the products and systems designed so that they are ready for use in the statistical operation. Testing will be carried out when the operation is executed for the first time or when significant changes are suggested at the evaluation phase (review or change in methodology, technology or both).

•Collect: This phase collects or gathers all necessary information, using different methods, and loads them into an appropriate and safe environment for further processing.

•Process: This phase describes the cleaning of data, generation of statistical outputs and preparation of these for analysis and distribution.

•Analyse: Statistical outputs will be interpreted. The analysis will be descriptive, comparative and evolutionary. The statistical outputs will be created, examined in detail and prepared for dissemination to users, ensuring that they match the goals of the statistical operation. The analysis will include the processes and activities that enable statistical analysts to understand the statistics produced.

•Disseminate: This represents the generation, promotion and release of the statistical products to users at the intervals laid down for the statistical operation. It will include the development of communication plans, administration and user support.

•Evaluate: The inputs for each phase of the production process will be evaluated. This phase will take place at the end of the statistical production process, and will be based on the products compiled over the different phases. It will include evaluation of correct completion of each activity in the process.

•Archive: This is an overarching feature of the whole statistical production process and will be implemented at every phase of this. It will include documentation and storage and the physical and digitalized products of the operation, defining rules of access, administration and generation of back-ups for information repositories.

Table III.A1.1

Latin America and the Caribbean: match between supply and demand for technical cooperation, by topic, 2016

Topic

Countries requesting technical cooperation

Countries able to provide technical cooperation

Accountability

SLV

Agriculture

DOM, CHL, CRI, CUB, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Basic services

ATG, BOL, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Biodiversity

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY

Business directory management

HND, PAN

Censuses

GTM

Child labour

ATG, BOL

Climate change

DOM, ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, CUB, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV

Corporate responsibility

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

Corruption

MEX

Data management

GTM

Discrimination

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, PRY, PAN

Early childhood

ATG, BOL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

CHL, CUB, SLV

Economic and social classification methods

HND, PAN

Education

DOM, ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, VEN

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Electronic commerce

MEX

Employment

ATG, BOL, BRB, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, SLV, URY

Energy

ATG, BOL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV

Environment

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, CUB, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV

ECU, MEX, VEN

Ethnicity

MEX

Exports and imports

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV

MEX, VEN

Financial sector

ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY, SLV

Food security

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV

CUB

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

CHL, CRI, CUB, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY, VEN

Gathering of cadastral information

MEX

Gender

ATG, BOL, CRI, CUB, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, SLV

Government and open data

SLV

Hazardous waste

VEN

Hazardous waste in health facilities

VEN

Health

DOM, ATG, BOL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

ARG, BRA, CHL, COL, CUB, GRD, URY, SLV, VEN

Health promotion

VEN

Household surveys

GTM

Human rights

VEN

Human settlements

CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY, VEN

Images of the territory

MEX

Impact of environmental phenomena on human health and ecosystems

CHL

Implementation of international conventions

SLV

Incomes and poverty

ATG, BOL, CHL, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, SLV, URY

Indirect sampling and sampling

of hard-to-reach populations

HND, PAN

Industry

ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY

Child mortality

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

ARG, COL, CUB, MEX, SLV, VCT

Information and communication technologies (ICTs)

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY

ARG, BRA, COL, GRD, URY

Involvement of companies in economic surveys

MEX

Ionizing radiation

VEN

Land cover

CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, URY

Macroeconomy

CHL, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY, SLV

Malaria and other vector-borne diseases

VEN

Management of geographic information systems and data usage

HND, PAN

Microdata management tools

HND, PAN

Migration

ATG, BOL, CHL, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VCT

MEX

National accounts

CHL, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Natural disasters

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

CUB, VEN

Natural resources

ATG, BOL, CHL, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Occupational accidents

CHL

Official development assistance (ODA)

PRY

Penitentiary system

VEN

Perceptions of science and technology

MEX

Preparation of public information access classifications

SLV

Prices

GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, URY

Promotion and publicization of children’s rights

SLV

Public finance

CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, MEX, PAN, PRY, SLV

BRA, GRD, URY

Public institutions

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

Public spending

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

CHL

Research and development (R&D)

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, MEX, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

ARG, BRA, COL, GRD, URY

Satisfaction with public services

MEX

Security and justice

ATG, BOL, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY, SLV, VEN

ARG, COL, MEX

Social programmes

ATG, BOL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PER, PRY

BRA, CHL, GRD, SLV, URY

Solid waste

VEN

South-South cooperation

CHL

Staple grain production forecasting

HND, PAN

Statistical data publishing and imputation/Non-response in household surveys

HND, PAN

Statistical quality assurance in statistical operations (administrative records)

HND, PAN

Survey validation methods

HND, PAN

Sustainable consumption and production

CHL, CRI, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV, VEN

System for following up transparency, participation and anti-corruption indicators

SLV

System for monitoring and certifying food imports and exports

CUB

Taxation

CHL

Taxes

CHL

Technological innovation

MEX

Tourism

ECU, GTM, HND, HTI, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Trade

CRI, CUB, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Transport

CRI, GTM, HND, PAN, PRY

BRA, GRD, MEX, URY

Urban planning

MEX

Use of fiscal administrative records

MEX

Vector control

VEN

Victimization

MEX

Violence

ATG, BOL, BRB, CHL, CRI, ECU, GTM, HND, PAN, PER, PRY, SLV, VEN

MEX

Violence by displaced persons: international protocols and conventions related to the right to work (discrimination, migration, stateless persons, etc.)

CH

Vulnerable populations

VEN

Source: Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”.

Table III.A1.2

Latin America and the Caribbean (countries answering the “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”): number of Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are or could be produced, by target, 2016

Indicator

ARG

MEX

CUB

SLV

CRI

COL

URY

JAM

CHL

PAN

ECU

PRY

BRA

GTM

PER

DOM

VEN

GRD

BOL

VCT

HND

HTI

ATG

BRB

Number of countries

Percentage of countries

1.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

21

88%

1.2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

22

92%

1.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

16

67%

1.4

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

21

88%

1.5

1

3

3

1

2

3

2

3

1

1

1

3

3

2

1

1

2

3

18

75%

1.a

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

19

79%

1.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

2.1

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

14

58%

2.2

2

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

18

75%

2.3

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

9

38%

2.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

2.5

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

11

46%

2.a

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

10

42%

2.b

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

1

10

42%

2.c

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

3.1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

23

96%

3.2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

24

100%

3.3

5

5

4

3

5

5

3

4

3

5

4

3

3

3

3

2

4

5

4

3

20

83%

3.4

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

21

88%

3.5

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

12

50%

3.6

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

18

75%

3.7

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

2

2

1

22

92%

3.8

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

16

67%

3.9

2

3

1

2

3

3

1

1

2

1

3

1

3

13

54%

3.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

15

63%

3.b

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

12

50%

3.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

12

50%

3.d

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

4.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

15

63%

4.2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

18

75%

4.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

4.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

4.5

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

12

50%

4.6

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

4.7

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

4.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

15

63%

4.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

4.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

16

67%

5.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

5.2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

14

58%

5.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

16

67%

5.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

5.5

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

23

96%

5.6

2

2

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

15

63%

5.a

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

14

58%

5.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

18

75%

5.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

6.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

19

79%

6.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

15

63%

6.3

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

10

42%

6.4

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

10

42%

6.5

1

1

1

2

2

2

6

25%

6.6

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

6.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

6.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

7.1

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

23

96%

7.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

7.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

15

63%

7.a

1

1

2

8%

7.b

1

1

1

1

4

17%

8.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

24

100%

8.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

22

92%

8.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

17

71%

8.4

2

2

2

1

2

2

6

25%

8.5

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

21

88%

8.6

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

18

75%

8.7

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

17

71%

8.8

2

1

1

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

1

15

63%

8.9

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

2

18

75%

8.10

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

19

79%

8.a

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

8.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

14

58%

9.1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

15

63%

9.2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

21

88%

9.3

2

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

8

33%

9.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

9.5

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

13

54%

9.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

9.b

1

1

1

1

4

17%

9.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

14

58%

10.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

16

67%

10.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

10.3

1

1

1

1

4

17%

10.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

10.5

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

12

50%

10.6

1

1

1

1

4

17%

10.7

1

1

1

1

2

1

6

25%

10.a

1

1

1

1

4

17%

10.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

10.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

11.1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

11.2

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

11.3

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

11.4

1

1

1

3

13%

11.5

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

14

58%

11.6

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

14

58%

11.7

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

11.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

11.b

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

11.c

1

1

1

3

13%

12.1

1

1

1

3

13%

12.2

2

2

2

1

2

1

6

25%

12.3

1

1

1

3

13%

12.4

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

11

46%

12.5

1

1

1

3

13%

12.6

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

12.7

1

1

1

1

4

17%

12.8

1

1

1

1

4

17%

12.a

1

1

1

3

13%

12.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

12.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

13.1

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

18

75%

13.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

13.3

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

7

29%

13.a

1

1

2

8%

13.b

1

1

2

8%

14.1

1

1

1

3

13%

14.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

14.3

1

1

2

8%

14.4

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

14.5

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

14.6

1

1

1

3

13%

14.7

1

1

1

1

4

17%

14.a

1

1

1

1

4

17%

14.b

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

14.c

1

1

1

1

4

17%

15.1

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

20

83%

15.2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

15.3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

15.4

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

15.5

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

16

67%

15.6

1

1

2

8%

15.7

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

15.8

1

1

1

3

13%

15.9

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

15.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

15.b

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

15.c

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

16.1

2

3

1

2

3

4

3

3

1

2

2

1

2

3

3

2

1

1

3

19

79%

16.2

2

3

2

2

1

3

2

1

2

2

2

1

2

13

54%

16.3

2

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

2

2

18

75%

16.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

9

38%

16.5

1

2

1

1

1

5

21%

16.6

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

15

63%

16.7

2

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

9

38%

16.8

1

1

1

1

1

1

6

25%

16.9

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

20

83%

16.10

2

1

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

10

42%

16.a

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

8

33%

16.b

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

17.1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

2

2

2

2

21

88%

17.2

1

1

1

1

4

17%

17.3

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

21

88%

17.4

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

21

88%

17.5

1

1

1

1

4

17%

17.6

1

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

17

71%

17.7

1

1

1

3

13%

17.8

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

21

88%

17.9

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

17.10

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

17.11

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

13

54%

17.12

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

7

29%

17.13

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

42%

17.14

1

1

1

3

13%

17.15

1

1

1

1

1

5

21%

17.16

1

1

1

1

4

17%

17.17

1

1

4%

17.18

3

2

2

3

2

1

1

1

3

2

1

1

1

3

14

58%

17.19

2

1

2

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

17

71%

Number of targets that could be monitored

152

107

111

124

107

106

90

83

84

78

79

83

74

68

66

63

56

55

57

48

46

48

46

23

Number of indicators that could be produced

204

155

152

148

141

140

121

119

110

103

101

101

98

92

89

80

72

69

66

63

62

59

57

37

Percentage of indicators that could be produced

85%

64%

63%

61%

59%

58%

50%

49%

46%

43%

42%

42%

41%

38%

37%

33%

30%

29%

27%

26%

26%

24%

24%

15%

Percentage of targets that could be monitored

90%

63%

66%

73%

63%

63%

53%

49%

50%

46%

47%

49%

44%

40%

39%

37%

33%

33%

34%

28%

27%

28%

27%

14%

Source: Statistical Coordination Group for the 2030 Agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC, “National Statistical Capacities Questionnaire for the Production of the SDG Indicators”.

Table of Contents

Maintitle

Copyrighs

Contents

Foreword

Chapter I

Latin America and the Caribbean: the Sustainable Development Goals and the new international context

Chapter II

Institutions for implementing the 2030 Agenda in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

CHAPTER III

Measuring the Sustainable Development Goal indicators in Latin America and the Caribbean

Annex III.A1