Special Envoy E. Mr Benito Wheatley, right, with ECLAC Executive Secretary Mr José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs. Photo: Office of the Premier

The decision was made at the 40th session of UN ECLAC in Lima, Peru where delegations unanimously approved by acclimation the Virgin Islands to serve as a Vice Chair of the regional commission for two years. In this role, the British Virgin Islands will support the country Chair Peru and ECLAC Executive Secretary Mr José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs in delivering the ECLAC work programme, alongside the other Vice Chairs elected to the Bureau who include Colombia, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Special Envoy E. Mr Benito Wheatley accepted the Vice Chairmanship on behalf of the Virgin Islands and pledged the Government’s full support to Peru in its capacity as Chair, as well as to provide a wider Caribbean perspective among on the members of the Bureau.

The Virgin Islands is also currently serving as a Vice Chair of the ECLAC subsidiary body for the Caribbean, the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), which exclusively serves the subregion.

Speaking on the Virgin Islands election as a Vice Chair of ECLAC’s 40th session, Mr Wheatley said: “I am humbled by the decision of the Governments represented in UN ECLAC to elect the British Virgin Islands to serve as a Vice Chair of this important regional intergovernmental body within the UN system for the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean. It demonstrates once again the trust and confidence by our neighbours across the Americas and beyond in the British Virgin Islands, and our steadfast commitment to the sustainability, climate resilience, economic development, and social transformation of the region.

"I am honoured to represent the British Virgin Islands and Premier Dr Hon. Natalio D. Wheatley in this role and to be a voice for the wider Caribbean in ECLAC’s senior leadership. The decision was particularly special because it coincided with the 40th anniversary of the British Virgin Islands’ Associate Membership in ECLAC”.

The 40th Session of ECLAC took place in Lima, Peru from October 9-11, 2024, where delegates debated and endorsed an ECLAC report entitled ‘Development Traps in Latin America and the Caribbean: Vital Transformations and How to Manage Them’, that analyzes the three development traps holding back the growth and development of the region and how to manage them, including: (ii.) low capacity for growth; (ii.) high inequality, low social mobility and weak social cohesion; and (iii.) low institutional capacities and ineffective governance.

The 46 Member States of UN ECLAC include: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Republic of Korea, Spain, Suriname, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The 14 Associate Members of UN ECLAC include: Anguilla, Aruba, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and French Guiana.

The Virgin Islands joined ECLAC as an Associate Member in 1984 at the Twentieth Session of ECLAC in Lima, Peru and subsequently joined its subsidiary body CDCC in 1985.