Planning for development in the 60 years of ILPES

The XVIII Meeting of the Regional Planning Council of ILPES, held from 19 to 21 October 2021, highlighted the importance of having more resilient institutions, with renewed capacities to work in complex and highly uncertain contexts and to anticipate, prepare and respond to crises, as well as to build projects with broad stakeholder participation. On this occasion, emphasis was placed on the need to advance in a recovery based on the principles of sustainable development, including those related to the environment and gender equality, included both in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international and regional agreements to which the countries of the region are party. The importance of making public policies and medium- and long-term development plans transparent, inclusive, and contributing to the creation of an environment of trust in the framework of the opportunities presented by digital government was raised. The countries also highlighted the relevance of monitoring and evaluation systems to be able to observe progress towards the achievement of the objectives and the need to continue building capacities in foresight and alignment of plans-budgets-investment and results-based management.

With only a few years to go before the deadline for achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and as recognized by the countries at the Fifth Meeting of the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development, it is necessary to improve State interventions to build trust that will effectively advance towards a transformative recovery. ILPES thus plays an essential role in generating the necessary capacities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations through its research, technical advice, networking, and training activities.

In this context, the strengthening of capacities in the area of planning for development and in all stages of the public management cycle for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with special emphasis on gender equality, public leadership, digital government, transparency, accountability and citizen participation, as well as the systematization of good practices, together with the strengthening of national and regional capacities in planning and land management in both its urban and rural expressions are substantive central objectives of the ILPES training program going forward.