75 years of ECLAC and ECLAC thinking

Hernan Santa Cruz, Chile, greets Mrs. Eleanor D. Roosevelt, USA, chairman, before the opening of the first ECOSOC meeting. Drafting Committee on International Bill of Rights (Commission on Human Rights, ECOSOC Council), United Nations, Lake Success, New York

Credit: UN Photo

The Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) was established on February 25, 1948, by Resolution 106 (VI) (E/RES/106(VI)) at the Sixth Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Hernán Santa Cruz, a Chilean lawyer and diplomat initiated the creation of a regional economic commission for Latin America in July 1947. At the time he was Chile's Ambassador to the United Nations, and during the session of ECOSOC that year he proposed to include a draft resolution introducing the idea of creating an economic commission for Latin America and the reasons for its establishment. This started a debate and a campaign in which other delegates from the region participated.

On July 27, 1984, ECOSOC authorized to change the name of the institution to: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean by resolution 1984/7 (E/RES/1984/87).

The Commission's subregional headquarters were established in Mexico and the Caribbean in June 1951 and December 1966, respectively.