ECLAC LAUNCHES SOCIAL PANORAMA 1998

6 May 1999

Press Release
REC/44

ECLAC LAUNCHES SOCIAL PANORAMA 1998

19990506 SANTIAGO, 4 May (ECLAC) -- Today, Tuesday, 4 May, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) published the 1998 edition of its annual report, Social Panorama of Latin America.

The report was launched by José Antonio Ocampo, ECLAC's Executive Secretary, and Per Engebak, Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for Latin America and the Caribbean, at a press conference at the Commission's Santiago headquarters.

The full Spanish text of the Social Panorama 1998 is available from ECLAC's Internet site, as well as a summary of its main chapters in Spanish and English in issue 4 of the bimonthly newsletter, Notas de la CEPAL/ECLAC Notes. The address of the site is http://www.eclac.cl.

This latest edition of the Social Panorama analyses the evolution of poverty in the region during the 1990s, public social spending and progress in achieving social equity. It looks particularly at education spending, the relationship of this with teachers' salaries, and the relative economic situation of teachers.

The report also assesses progress towards the goals set by the governments of the region for child welfare in 2000 and, for the first time, includes a chapter on public security and violence.

Print versions of the Social Panorama of Latin America 1998 and Notas de la CEPAL/ECLAC Notes can be ordered from the Document Distribution Unit, ECLAC, Casilla 179-D, Santiago, Chile; fax (56) 2 243 0252; e-mail publications@eclac.cl. The English version of the Social Panorama 1998 will be available shortly.

* *** *