Headquartered in Costa Rica, it has several campuses and centers spread across Latin America.

It was created on April 17, 1957,[1] following a UNESCO initiative at the Latin American Conference on Social Sciences in Rio de Janeiro.

[1] Its membership is open to Latin American and Caribbean countries that subscribe to the FLACSO agreement.

Current members include: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay.

Josette Altmann Borbón, a historian and former First Lady of Costa Rica, was elected Secretary General of FLACSO in June 2016.