“Study after study has shown that there is no effective development strategy in which women do not play a central role. When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately: families are healthier and better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is also true of communities and, in the long run, of whole countries”. The message concludes: “There is no time to lose if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015. Only by investing in the world's women can we expect to get there. When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life”.

Information from: The Millennium Development Goals: a Latin American and Caribbean perspective (UN, 2005)

ECLAC is working in the translation of the Regional Progress report and Summary Table. At the moment the Spanish version is been uploaded.