Inequality has increasingly been recognized as a key socioeconomic problem in several countries, which has a negative impact on the capacity to develop and improve the welfare of the population at large. Inequality thus needs to be addressed through public policies, adjusted appropriately to specific country conditions.

ECLAC, in that context, led and coordinated the implementation of this project, which was jointly implemented by all regional commissions and was aimed at strengthening national capacities in the design and implementation of multidisciplinary public policies oriented towards greater socioeconomic equality and the fostering of social inclusion through employment, social protection and access to social services. Its objective was also to contribute to strengthening gender-sensitive policies in the domains of social protection, employment and social services.

As a result of the project, seven beneficiary countries began incorporating an analysis of socioeconomic inequalities into their respective national plans, and 15 countries have been generating and reporting quantitative data in accordance with project recommendations, thereby improving their measurement of socioeconomic inequalities. The research undertaken through the project culminated in the global study “Promoting equality: an interregional perspective”, the first report jointly prepared by the regional commissions on the issue of inequality. The contribution of the project to the policy dialogue at the global level received recognition in the 2017 report of the Secretary-General on regional cooperation in the economic, social and related fields.