Third Annual CAF/ UNDP Conference on Governance for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Critical Natural Resources for Sustainable Development
The Third Annual Governance for Development Conference will take place during the High-Level Week of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025. This year the Conference will focus on Critical Natural Resources for Sustainable Development
Event date:
September 23, 2025
Online
Addressing the multiple challenges of development and strengthening the democracies of Latin America and the Caribbean requires Recover dialogue and the value of politics as mechanisms to reduce polarization and achieve consensus around development strategies and national priorities that respond to citizen demands.
Under this premise, CAF- development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched in September 2023, the “Governance for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean” initiative and annual conference. This high-level dialogue forum, held within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, seeks to open spaces for dialogue and generate action proposals to improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of public policies through governance processes and instruments for sustainable and inclusive development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Each edition draws on and receives feedback from a series of regional dialogues with diverse stakeholder participation aimed at identifying and generating impactful proposals and scalable solutions.
For the dialogue of the year 2025, the discussion of proposals to manage responsibly, transparently and efficiently the natural resources critical to sustainable development.
These resources, which include water, air, biodiversity, soil, energy, and minerals such as lithium, copper, and cobalt, play a fundamental role in the energy transition, electromobility, economic growth, and food security. Latin America and the Caribbean are rich in these resources, and therefore, they play an essential role in sustainable transitions. Demand for these critical resources is expected to triple by 2030. Previous experiences show that a successful transition requires governance models that center respect for human rights, community participation, and appropriate social and environmental safeguards. Only then will it be possible to turn this wealth into a decisive opportunity to transform and diversify economies, create green jobs, and foster sustainable trade and local development, avoiding past mistakes that amplify existing inequalities or negatively affect the choices, livelihoods, and local resources of future generations.
These governance models must integrate public, private, and civil society actors, establishing a virtuous relationship to effectively articulate institutional capacity, guarantee transparency and accountability, promote citizen participation and cooperation at both the national and international levels, and ensure the fair distribution of impacts and benefits.
New technologies, artificial intelligence, and innovative development financing mechanisms are incorporated into this context of critical resource management as key enablers. Their application allows for the construction of more robust traceability systems and acts as catalysts for effective governance frameworks aimed at promoting just transitions.
The Third Conference of “Governance for development" incorporates input generated from the series of participatory regional dialogues held between June and August. These meetings focused on the role of women and youth in decision-making, value chains, productive innovation, and solution design. Representatives from diverse fields—academia, civil society, political actors, and the private sector, among others—participated with the collective goal of formulating key recommendations to strengthen more effective governance in the region.
- Date: September 23rd.
- Time: 01:15 p.m.
The event will be broadcasted on this website
Program
September 23rd
September 23, 2025
- Juan Carlos Navarro Quelquejeu, Minister of Environment of Panama
- Sen. Cecilia Requena, Secretary of the Committee on Environment, Biodiversity, Amazonia, Protected Areas, and Climate Change, Bolivian Senate
- Epsy Campbell Barr, Honorary Chair and President of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights
- Andrés Allamand Zavala, Ibero-American Secretary General
- Ana Carolina González-Espinosa, Senior Director of Global Programs and Director (E) for Latin America - NRGI
Opening segment
Speakers:
Michelle Muschett
Assistant Secretary General, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP
Christian Asinelli
Corporate Vicepresident of Strategic Programming, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-
Argentina
Michelle Muschett
Assistant Secretary General, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNDP
Michelle Muschett (Panama) is UN Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Michelle Muschett is a social policy and global development specialist with multisectoral experience in a wide variety of leadership positions. During her tenure as Deputy Minister and Minister of Social Development of Panama, Ms. Muschett led the process of developing the first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the creation of the first Childhood MPI in the Latin America region, and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the national level through civic participation and strategic partnerships. She also chaired the National Concertation Council for Development, a legally established dialogue space aimed at building consensus amongst different sectors of society on national development priorities. Prior this appointment, Ms. Muschett was serving as Senior Public Policy Advisor and Executive Education Director for Oxford’s Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), advising governments and policymakers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in their efforts to address multidimensional poverty. She is also Senior Policy and Strategy Advisor for the Fourth Sector Group, providing guidance on how to mobilize collective leadership and action to scale business models that can deliver social and environmental benefits, and to leverage development finance to accelerate the transition towards more inclusive, sustainable and resilient economic systems globally. She has been a visiting professor and lecturer at academic institutions across Asia, Europe, and Latin America, focusing on human and social development, politics of the policy process, political innovation, and leadership for global citizenship. She is a Fellow of the Central America Leadership Initiative, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a member the International Women’s Forum, Panama Chapter. As a practicing lawyer, Ms. Muschett focuses on issues related to commercial law and international arbitration. She has also participated in the drafting of national legislation. Ms. Muschett holds a master’s degrees in Public Administration from Cornell University, United States; Commercial Law from Externado University of Colombia; and Management of Heritage and Cultural Projects from the Institute for Art and Restauration Palazzo Spinelli, Italy. She speaks Spanish, English, and Italian.
Christian Asinelli
Corporate Vicepresident of Strategic Programming, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-
Argentina
Christian Asinelli is a political scientist from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), has a Master's degree in Public Administration and Policy from the Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA) and postgraduate degrees in Urban Economics (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella) and in Sociourbana Management (FLACSO). In 2019, he received his Ph.D in Political Science from the National University of San Martín (Argentina). During the last sixteen years he has been appointed in different roles in the public sector and the international arena: Alternate National Director of the State Modernization Project at the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nation (2005); Deputy of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (2007-2010); Undersecretary of Evaluation of Projects with External Financing of the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nation (2011-2014); Corporate Director of Institutional Development of CAF (2014-2017); President of the Fundación Banco Ciudad (2019) and Undersecretary of International Financial Relations for Development, Secretariat of Strategic Affairs, Presidency of the Nation. He was a Fellow of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program (2010), the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies-MIT (2011) and the Singularity University Executive Program (2017). He is the author of the books Buenos Aires: The city we have, the city we want (Buenos Aires, 2009); Modernization of the Argentine State: policies, management and professional scene (Buenos Aires, Edition, 2015) and Financing Development: The role of multilateral banking in Latin America (Buenos Aires, 2021).
Interactive Dialogue: Governance of Natural Resources Critical to Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
Moderator:
Marcela Ríos Tobar, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
Panelists:
