The Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean is a subsidiary body of ECLAC established with ultimate responsibility for monitoring and reviewing issues relating to population and development, international migration, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendent populations, and ageing. The Conference meets every two years, while its Presiding Officers meet at least once between ordinary sessions. México currently chairs the Presiding Officers, with Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian República of) as vice-chairs.

The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development was adopted at the first session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development, held in Montevideo from 12 to 15 August 2013. The Montevideo Consensus is the most important intergovernmental agreement on population and development ever signed in the region and has become a fundamental part of the review process of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its follow-up beyond 2014.

At its second session, from 6 to 9 October 2015 in Mexico City, the Regional Conference adopted the Operational Guide for implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on population and development, as a voluntary technical tool to support the Latin American and Caribbean countries in the implementation of the priority measures set forth in the Montevideo Consensus, taking into account the synergies with other instruments or international bodies such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the Conference decided to establish an ad hoc working group in charge of preparing a proposal of indicators for the regional follow-up on the Montevideo Consensus. The group, coordinated by Mexico, shall present a progress report at the third meeting of the Presiding Officers, and a final report at the third session of the Regional Conference, to be held in El Salvador in 2017.

The Regional Conference also decided, at its second session, that the follow-up and review of national progress on implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development would be the main objective of the third session of the Regional Conference, to be held in 2017. In this sense, it called upon countries to define, in accordance with national needs, priorities and existing initiatives, the lines of action, targets and respective time frames, as well as the indicators that they will use to monitor the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus at the national level, using the operational guide as a basis. It also urged countries to prepare a progress report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus, taking into consideration a format prepared by the Secretariat, in coordination with the United Nations Population Fund, to be adopted at the third meeting of the Presiding Officers.