Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, the Honorable Kirk Humphrey will serve as Vice President of the Regional Conference on Social Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This is as Barbados was elected today, by The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), countries present to, the group of presiding officers for the conference.

There are 33 countries that make up ECLAC. The appointment will serve for the next two years.

The presiding officers will be under the chairmanship of Chile. As a presiding officer, Barbados is one of seven Vice-Presidents including Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and Venezuela.

In this role Barbados will be in a prime position to lend a Small Island Developing States (SIDS) perspective to these important discussions as well as having some degree of influence in encouraging a greater level of involvement by other Caribbean states in the deliberations of this body.

The primary role will be to assist the President (Chile) to develop and implement the road map and document to be considered at the 6th Regional Conference on Social Development in LAC. This is as a precursor to the region’s participation in the World Social Summit slated to be held in 2025.