The Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (RCPD) is a subsidiary body of ECLAC for the follow-up and review of population and development issues, such as international migration, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant populations, population ageing, and sexual and reproductive health, among others. It holds its meetings every two years and its Presiding Officers meets at least once between regular sessions. 

The current Presiding Officers was elected at the Fifth Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from July 3 to 4, 2024. It is composed of Colombia in the Presidency, and Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Honduras, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) as Vice Presidents.

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 12-15 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, held from 6-9 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. The Operational Guide takes into account the synergies with other instruments or international bodies, such as the Programme of Action of the ICPD beyond 2014 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

At the third session of the Regional Conference, held from 7-9 August 2018 in Lima, Peru, the countries welcomed the Draft first regional report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. With the incorporation by the secretariat of the observations and suggestions sent in due course by the governments, that document became the First regional report, which represented the regional contribution to the global review and appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the ICPD beyond 2014, undertaken by the Commission on Population and Development at its fifty-second session held in April 2019.

In view of the situation stemming from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development decided to postpone the fourth session of the Regional Conference, which was to be held in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference, at its Executive Meeting on 20 May 2021, in a virtual meeting, agreed to hold the Fourth Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development during the first semester of 2022.

At the fourth session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was held at ECLAC headquarters, in Santiago, Chile from 28-30 June 2022, the countries took note of the document Sociodemographic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared by the Technical Secretariat with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In addition, the Regional Conference resolved to organize a special session in the second semester of 2023 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, and to review the progress made in its implementation.

At the fifth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference, which was held together with the special session of the Regional Conference for the 10th anniversary of the Montevideo Consensus on 14-15 November 2023, the Technical Secretariat presented the Draft second regional report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, prepared with the support of UNFPA. The countries of the region presented their new voluntary national report on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus.

At the Fifth Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, from July 3 to 4, 2024, the countries welcomed the document Population, Development and Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean: second regional report on implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, prepared by the Technical Secretariat of the Regional Conference on Population and Development, with the support of UNFPA.

The Conference resolved to establish the Open-ended group of friends of the Chair on the rights of persons with disabilities and the population and development agenda in the framework of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (Cartagena group), to examine possible strategies to advance the inclusion of persons with disabilities, in close collaboration with the UNFPA, and called upon countries to cooperate actively in the analysis of strategies to advance the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the framework of the Conference and to contribute to the promotion and protection of their human rights.

It also requested countries to report on the progress made and on public polices implemented regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities, in the framework of their presentations on national progress on the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development to be delivered at the sixth meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held in 2025.