New York/Stockholm, May 20, 2022. International IDEA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched today the "Joint Initiative to Strengthen Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)". This alliance seeks to articulate a robust agenda on governance to position this concept at the center of discussions on the economic and democratic future of Latin America and the Caribbean.

This initiative will support research of different kinds as well as the preparation of joint events in order to promote the public debate on governance. It also seeks to encourage other academic, civil society organizations and schools of government in the region to join in this task.

The starting point of this alliance is the concern of both institutions for the lack of attention on this issue in the public debate.

“There are numerous reasons to be concerned about the state of governance in Latin America and the Caribbean countries and therefore it is necessary to work on a governance agenda that is also democratic, that is, that emphasizes both, the quality of democratic decision-making processes and the strength of its institutions”, stated Kevin Casas Zamora, Secretary General of International IDEA.

The tensions observed in recent years around rules and institutions that govern relations between citizens as well as the solutions that have been found to resolve them are essential to understand the impact caused by the COVID-19 crisis and to take advantage of the existent opportunities to improve governance and support the path towards sustainable development in the region.

"'Effective governance' opens a timely path to better understand the complex relationship between socioeconomic development, democratic construction and the strengthening of the rule of law, processes that are deeply interrelated", said the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for Latin America and the Caribbean, Luis Felipe López-Calva.

The initiative will produce a series of research papers on specific aspects of governance, such as the current state and quality of public deliberation or the influence of social networks on politics. These works will be presented in public events and will emphasize how to address these issues through specific public policy proposals.

Finally, during the launch event, the report "Governance, Democracy and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean" was presented, where central elements for this debate are discussed and where lines of action to strengthen governance in the region are proposed.

Media contacts:

UNDP: Ana María Currea ana.maria.currea@undp.org

IDEA: Yasnaya Guibert Y.GuibertMasso@idea.int