On the third day of the journey, Elyx arrived in Santiago, Chile, and was welcomed with open arms by UN Staff who showed the way to the ECLAC headquarters. The 500-year-old city is home to the regional hub of United Nations (UN) activities in South America. This is the regional headquarters for the UN – called the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC or CEPAL in Spanish). They coordinate the economic development efforts, strengthen economic ties and promote social development throughout the region.
Elyx enjoyed the tour of the building he only knew from pictures on Instagram: #ArquiMoMA. Last spring, the ECLAC building was included in a MoMa exhibition on modern Latin American architecture.
Elyx hanging out by the ECLAC building,the Latin American hub for the United Nations. (Photo: CEPAL/María Amparo Lasso)
ECLAC covers a range of work areas that can be further explored on their website. Information on events and training can also be found there. ECLAC also has sub-regional headquarters in Mexico and in Trinidad and Tobago, national offices in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and even an office in the United States.
Elyx then joined the UNDP food safety project a few hours north of Santiago, and helped clean up the environment with UNDP greeters. They have years of experience with this type of work, as the UN Development programme has been operating there since 1965.
More Photos of Elyx in Chile (Full Flickr Gallery)
Learn more about Chile at the United Nations
More Photos from Elyx’s 70 Day Journey (Full Flickr Gallery)