Introduction

Economic growth is a necessary condition for development in Latin America and the Caribbean, but not the only one. Promoting progress in the region is achieved not only by improving the level and distribution of income, but also by ensuring healthy, safe, peaceful and just environments for all. Access to opportunities based on objectives and aspirations founded on people’s talents, competencies and skills must be a fundamental part of this quest to achieve integral wellbeing.

In the last two decades, the region has shown progress in multiple dimensions, including, for example, an increase in income levels of close to 40 % for Latin America and 26 % for the Caribbean. Despite these positive numbers, one in three people still live in poverty and the region is among the most unequal in the world. Moreover, poverty is transmitted between generations, reflecting the persistence of barriers in access to education, employment and health. Improving social inclusion is a moral imperative and, at the same time, a source of economic growth, as it allows society to take advantage of the skills and talents of those who are currently excluded.

CAF has consolidated its purpose of being a central and strategic instrument to promote this development through interventions in various sectors. Its commitment to sustainable development and regional integration, its capacity to address challenges from and for the region, and the use of its financing tools to improve people’s quality of life are at the core of the institutional work that the organization has been successfully carrying out for 56 years. In this context, the generation and dissemination of its own knowledge is a tool of transcendence and great potential, since knowledge has the dual purpose of adding value to its interventions and nurturing an informed discussion that improves the effectiveness and impact of public policies in its member countries. This book celebrates 20 years of the Report on Economic Development (RED), a resource that has promoted and positioned a comprehensive and integrating vision of development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The volume addresses the progress made, the challenges that remain and the most effective instruments to handle them. The publication is also enriched by the valuable contributions of thirteen world-renowned leaders who have shared their reflections on the road travelled and the future of the region. I thank Juliano Assunção, Raquel Bernal, Mauricio Cárdenas, Bianor Cavalcanti, Marcela Eslava, Ricardo Hausmann, Karen-Mae Hill, Colm Imbert, Santiago Levy, Nora Lustig, Sebastián Mazzuca, Carmen Reinhart and Augusto de la Torre for his generosity with this work and for his commitment to the development of the region.