20/11/2017
It is being held in San José, Costa Rica, under the title “Social Cohesion on the 2030 Agenda: an exchange of views between Latin America and Europe”
It is being held in San José, Costa Rica, under the title “Social Cohesion on the 2030 Agenda: an exchange of views between Latin America and Europe”
San José will be the Euro-Latin American capital of social cohesion for the next three days, The President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solís, opened the international meeting of the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme, which has been promoting public policies in Latin America that fight inequality for a decade.
In his speech, the President underscored the start of the third phase of this joint programme: “We are already working on a new phase of EUROsociAL, so some important actions are already under way, such as drawing up a permanent regional plan to combat gender violence and updating our national policy on equality and gender equality; as well as supporting meeting the tax-related commitments in Costa Rica’s OECD Membership Process; promoting a culture of transparency and of working proactively with local governments to increase civic participation. We will also shortly sign a letter of intent for the creation of an Economic and Social Council in Costa Rica“.
The Costa Rican head of state was joined at the opening of this Latin American-European Union summit on cohesion by the EU Ambassador to Costa Rica, Pelayo Castro, who said: “The 32 million euros from EUROsociAL+ places the social agenda at the heart of the discussion and cooperation between the European Union and Latin America, by supporting strategic public policies to fight inequality and strengthen social cohesion”.
EUROsociAL+ in Latin America
Inequality fell in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 2014 although this continues to be the most unequal region on the planet. Meanwhile, in Europe, inequality has risen since the crisis although an attempt is being made to remedy this slowly. This situation is testing the sustainable development of both regions, especially lowering poverty and inequality and increasing the middle class in Latin America and the Caribbean and maintaining the welfare state in Europe.
For this reason, the European-Latin American meeting of EUROsociAL+ in San José is a turning point on the road that both regions need to take to fight inequality through public policies. It harnesses the synergy of working with the challenges of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals and puts social cohesion back in the dialogue on regional policy between Europe and Latin America.
