Senior officials from ministries and sectors related to population and development in the region will meet from 29 to 30 October 2025 in Santiago, Chile, to participate in the Sixth Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting is organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and under the chairmanship of the Government of Colombia.

The regional meeting will bring together ministers, deputy ministers and senior authorities from the countries of the region, along with representatives of international organizations, academia and civil society, who will exchange views on progress in the implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. The Consensus is the most important intergovernmental agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean on this matter, reflecting the region’s adherence to the El Cairo Programme of Action beyond 2014.

At the intergovernmental meeting, ECLAC Will present the document Persons with disabilities: from statistical visibility to the exercise of rights, prepared with support from the UNFPA.

The meeting will feature two panel discussions. The first will address the opportunities and challenges of implementing the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development in the context of low fertility rates and population ageing. The second will focus on persons with disabilities and the population and development agenda, with emphasis on public policies and rights.

The current Presiding Officers were elected at the Fifth Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, in 2024. Colombia holds the chairmanship, with Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Cuba, Guyana, Honduras, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Venezuela as Vice-Chairs.