The Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean agreed to establish an Inter-Agency Technical Committee (ITC) at its XI Meeting (Lima, Peru, 10-13 March1998). The ITC was created with the purpose of supporting the Forum of Ministers by offering technical and operational advice and facilitating the mobilization of financing for the implementation of its regional agenda. The initial members of the ITC were the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which assumed the coordination of the Committee. Subsequently, the World Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) joined the ITC.