IX Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries
On Sustainable Development – April 13-16, 2026

With the participation of more than 150 people from civil society, the IX Forum of Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean took place in Santiago, Chile, where an intergovernmental document was adopted focusing on accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda amid a context of global uncertainty and geopolitical fragmentation. With only four years remaining until the deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the main conclusions and recommendations from governments were grouped around themes such as financing for development, migration, gender equality, climate action, resource management, and the need to strengthen multilateralism.

On the first day, the Civil Society Forum for Sustainable Development took place, where GCAP was represented by Argentine colleague from PAMPA 2030 and the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, Marita Gonzalez. Her work focused on the drafting process of the document that was later presented, in which civil society calls on governments to take action to strengthen democracy and put an end to political, social, trade union, and human rights defenders’ persecution. Access to the Civil Society Outcome Document. They also submitted a document outlining priorities for the SDGs under review this year: SDG 6, SDG 7, SDG 9, SDG 11, and SDG 17. Access to the Civil Society Priorities Document  To access the opening speech of the Secretary of ECLAC: Opening Speech by José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

With 60 people participating online and 18 people attending at the ILO headquarters, the Side Event organized by the TUCA and ACTRAV-ILO, “Just Transition and Decent Work: A Trade Union Proposal for a Development Model with Social and Environmental Justice,” took place.

Just Transition is defined as a set of democratic policies designed to prioritize decent work and sustainability, ensuring that the path toward a low-emissions production model guarantees dignified living conditions and equal opportunities for workers and communities.

For TUCA, this process is inseparable from energy democratization, which implies decommodifying energy, restoring public control, and guaranteeing universal access as a fundamental human right in the face of capitalist exploitation logic. The development model proposed by sociopolitical trade unionism seeks to overcome economic dependency and extractivism through centralized and socially negotiated planning. It is imperative that the transition does not lead to job precarization, but instead strengthens collective bargaining, universal social protection, and workforce retraining with skills certification, placing the reproduction of life and social justice at the center of regional public policies.