10/11/2017
The EU's COPOLAD programme ends in Mexico with a series of peer-to-peer learning workshops.
Workshop attendees during one of the activities
Under the Cooperation Programme between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union on Drug Policies (COPOLAD), Mexico City has hosted the third and final workshop for peer-to-peer learning in value chains and alternative development.
Representatives and technicians from institutions came together with members of civil society and production and farming associations to exchange best practices and explore some of the key aspects to be taken into account when dealing with Alternative Development (AD).
Thanks to the support given by official institutions and the meeting hubs provided, attendees from all seven participating countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay), who are working on the matter within the COPOLAD framework, have had access to a network of professional contacts, as well as the chance to design new policies in this field and to redefine the projects they are already working on.
The Andean countries presented success stories that involved replacing cocaine crops with other farm crops or fisheries to share them with the representatives of other countries that are just now beginning to face the same challenge. This cooperation between countries is as important as using the right methodologies in order to find alternatives that can provide the communities affected with new resources and ways of life.
The workshops were backed by the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) from Germany and the Government of the Mexican Republic, the hosts and collaborators of the event through the Secretariat of Foreign Relations (SRE), the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (PGR) and the National Anti-Addiction Commission (CONADIC).
