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Background
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. Uruguay currently chairs the Presiding Officers, while the vice-chairs are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia.
The Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean 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.
The broad support that the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development has received in the region has enabled the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to adopt common positions in international forums, and has shown a possible path towards fulfilling the global accord to implement the Programme of Action from the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014 with consideration for region-specific circumstances.
At the first meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development, which took place in Santiago in November 2014, it was decided to prepare an Operational guide to support countries in the implementation and follow-up of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, including possible lines of action, targets and tentative indicators. For this purpose, an ad-hoc working group was formed, with ECLAC as its technical secretariat.
Further to the agreements adopted at their first meeting, the Presiding Officers held their second meeting in June 2015 in Santiago, with the aim of discussing the progress of the Operational guide and arriving at a final version of the document for presentation at the second session of the Regional Conference, to be held in Mexico from 6 to 9 October 2015.