Experts from international and multilateral organizations, together with government officials from several Latin American and Caribbean countries, participated in a high-level seminar on the new challenges of international cooperation, and its importance in promoting the development of the region in a complex context like the current one.
The meeting, entitled New challenges and new perspectives for international cooperation: approaches to development from Latin America and the Caribbean, was held on September 13 and 14 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Santiago, Chile. It was organized by ECLAC, in collaboration with the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (AGCID) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Representatives from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Uruguay participated in the meeting, along with senior officials from organizations such as ECLAC, the IDB, the OECD, UN-Women, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP ), the Development Bank of Latin America – CAF, the European Commission, the Eulac Foundation, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), among other entities.
The seminar was opened by Raúl García Buchaca, Deputy Executive Secretary for Administration and Analysis of Programs of ECLAC; Federico Bonaglia, Deputy Director of the OECD Development Centre; Sebastián Miller, IDB Lead Economist; and Enrique O’Farrill, Executive Director (S) of the AGCID.
The work sessions were held in four thematic tables that addressed the following matters: Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, global public goods and multidimensional measures of development and well-being; Financing for development: new global alliances, public-private alliances and international financial institutions; Regional partnerships to address pressing priorities; and Renewal of partnerships between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.
In their discussions, the participants highlighted the importance of international cooperation in historical times such as the present, crossed by unprecedented tensions such as the health and socioeconomic crises as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the recent economic evolution marked by waning growth and pressures generalized inflation, to which is added the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has added uncertainty at the global level.
They also agreed that the countries of the region demand a paradigm shift in development cooperation, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Classifications based solely on per capita income criteria do not reflect the full range of multidimensional vulnerabilities, structural gaps, and financing needs of the countries of the region. For this reason, they emphasized that the classification and graduation mechanisms that establish exclusions for middle-income countries from international cooperation are no longer viable, neither to address the current crises nor those associated with climate change, environmental degradation and the loss of biodiversity.
Similarly, they highlighted the shared efforts between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean in this area to move towards sustainable development models, understanding that the fight against climate change and the transition to sustainable production and consumption models must be a priority in development, together with the promotion of a stronger and more inclusive multilateral system.
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