Latin American and Caribbean countries call for a renewed international development cooperation agreement with a view to fulfilling the United Nations 2030 Agenda

Government representatives from 26 countries in the region who attended the First Meeting of the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean today called for a renewed international development cooperation agreement to address the vulnerabilities of Latin America and the Caribbean linked to development challenges, in which no one is left behind and in which all people and countries participate in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by 2030, at the end of the meeting that was held at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

The more than 300 participants in the Conference – which included a total of 100 government delegates, 35 experts from the UN System and regional and international organizations, and more than 60 representatives of civil society, the private sector and the academia – advocated for economic integration and alliances for growth, in addition to agreeing to promote innovative international cooperation mechanisms that go beyond graduation criteria based on gross domestic product per capita, such as multidimensional or vulnerability indicators , as well as the strengthening of synergies and partnerships with other actors such as development banks, the private sector, and regional and subregional integration mechanisms, and multi-stakeholder alliances with civil society, local governments, and the academic sector on issues international cooperation for development.

Likewise, the new intergovernmental body – subsidiary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and whose main purpose is to contribute to the support of the Member States in South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives[1]– established its first Board of Directors, which was made up of Argentina as the presidency, and Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico and Uruguay as vice presidencies.

The closing session of the event was chaired by Sabina Frederic, President of the Argentine Agency for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance – White Helmets, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina -who officiated as President of the Conference- and Raúl García-Buchaca, ECLAC Deputy Executive Secretary for Program Administration and Analysis, on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the Commission, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

Sabina Frederic indicated that this conference has been a milestone that marks the beginning of an area of ​​agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean on development cooperation. “It had a presence and a commitment from all the participating countries and governments that shows their involvement with cooperation issues in the region,” she highlighted.

For his part, Raúl García-Buchaca pointed out that in the two days of fruitful debate it was agreed that the region must strengthen its regional, political and economic agreements; deepen their North-South, South-South, triangular, circular, regional and intra-regional cooperation ties; and at the same time project, with greater vigor, a common voice before the world to face the challenges of a development that must be sustainable, multidimensional, multi-stakeholder and intersectional.

“There was also agreement on the need to promote alliances at multiple levels, and of course, as has been reiterated on multiple occasions, on the need to reconsider the criteria for measuring and classifying development and on the urgency of mobilizing financial resources to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in a context in which financing for the development of middle-income countries faces increasing difficulties”, he warned.

Previously, on the last day of the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation, the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, participated in a panel discussion entitled “Cooperation towards the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU)”where he pointed out that the third EU-CELAC Summit, which will take place on July 17 and 18, 2023 in Brussels (Belgium), is a highly strategic and important event for the two regions, since the last Summit took place eight years ago. And, at the dizzying speed at which the world is changing, that is a long time.

“The new geoeconomic and geopolitical context calls on countries to analyze and understand trends and to redefine political alliances, integration and economic growth. In this sense, the EU-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) relationship has unique and very valuable characteristics”, he indicated. “There are many common visions between the EU and LAC countries about the type of development model to which they aspire: a sustainable, inclusive and productive model, with Welfare States characterized by universal social policies”, she added.

“It is essential that Latin America and the Caribbean take advantage of the opportunities for growth, job creation and sustainability, not only as a commitment to boost their growth, but also as areas of opportunity for investment and cooperation with partners such as the EU” , emphasized the Executive Secretary of the regional commission of the United Nations.

In this area, Salazar-Xirinachs specified that ECLAC has identified a list of at least 13 areas of opportunity for investment and cooperation, especially with a partner such as the EU. All of them are areas of transformation, of growth, of transition towards a new reality, and include: 1) the geographical rearrangement of production; 2) the energy transition (solar, wind, green hydrogen, lithium); 3) electromobility; 4) the circular economy; 5) the bioeconomy (sustainable agriculture, genetic resources, bio-industrialization); 6) the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry; 7) the medical device industry; 8) the export of modern ICT-enabled services; 9) advanced manufacturing; 10) gender equality and the care society; 11) sustainable water management; 12) sustainable tourism; and 13) digital government.

In the Resolution 1(I) of the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbeanapproved by the delegates attending at the end of the Conference, the governments indicate that they take note of the document presented by ECLAC Progress and challenges for South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development where it is reiterated that international cooperation for development, particularly South-South and triangular cooperation, are essential for sustainable development and to improve the standard of living of the population through the exchange of information, knowledge, technology, experiences and resource mobilization.

They also agree to promote, in the field of international development cooperation, a comprehensive approach to risk management and disaster management, with a gender perspective, based on the principles of forecasting, prevention, identification, mitigation and response. , to reduce vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience and expand the response capacities of humanitarian cooperation to disasters and emergencies.

Finally, they decide to hold the First Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago in 2024, on a date to be determined.