Presentation

In the past decade, many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean improved the quality of public administration and the design and execution of public policies, hand in hand with fiscal stabilization and the recovery of public investment, economic growth, more and better employment and the reduction of poverty. Economic growth was boosted by the high world demand for commodities and raw materials, especially from China, which benefited mainly South American economies.

Nevertheless, countries in the region continue to exhibit deep structural and gender-based differences and large inequalities in income distribution, access to public services and opportunities for social mobility. In addition to inherited challenges, new ones are emerging, such as population ageing, epidemiological transition, and unhealthy lifestyles and nutrition habits. Most of the economies continue to depend on natural resource endowments, leading to growing socioenvironmental conflicts and the risk of climate change imposing increasing costs on the region. The scenario of a less dynamic world economy and trade for the coming years poses additional challenges to development planning in the region.

The development model followed by most countries in the past 20 years has not placed the region on a sustainable and inclusive development path and has shown severe vulnerabilities. The difficulties encountered by efforts to reduce inequalities demand a thorough evaluation of the strategy, with a foregone conclusion. To deactivate historical trends of income and wealth concentration, the State has to intervene explicitly and perseveringly in order to produce structural changes, through efficient public management and using instruments such as planning and foresight.

The post-2015 development agenda will constitute a mandatory reference for public planning, strengthening the Latin American and Caribbean region’s quest for an integral, broad, inclusive and sustainable model of development that values the environment, enshrined in economic and social rights.

The development agendas of the countries now prominently feature approaches based on citizen participation in the different phases of planning processes aimed at promoting structural changes to break decades-old patterns of poverty and inequality. These approaches have developed in response to —and recognition of— civil societies that are better organized and more demanding of the public function.

In sum, the State’s public action capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean has been strengthened, thanks to improved public management, fiscal stabilization and the increase in savings and investment rates, and has driven the allocation of public resources to large-scale investment projects such as those required for infrastructure enhancement. This process requires planning and long-term vision and, in some circumstances, a regional perspective that contributes substance to regional integration
efforts. It requires a modern type of planning in which coordination between levels and sectors of government is crucial. It also needs continuous monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency and efficacy of public management, articulation of public and private initiatives and a long-term vision built in a collaborative and inclusive manner. The Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) is equipped and ready to collaborate with member countries in these areas through
training, research and advisory services in the field of planning and public management.