EL BLOG DE LA FIIAPP. Cooperación Española

The FIIAPP has collaborated with the Ministry of the Interior since it was founded in 1997. Over the past 16 years, the FIIAPP has managed 137 security projects with a budget of €45.5 million.

This is the second time the Police Department has recognised the FIIAPP’scontinued hard work in the area of project management. On this occasion, Miguel de Domingo, the FIIAPP’s Director of the Department of Justice and Interior, and Javier Quintana, the former Director of the FIIAPP, were decorated with the Police Merit Cross and a white badge.

The FIIAPP currently manages 30 projects with the Ministry of the Interior, through essential collaboration and hard work on CBRN projects (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Defence Plan), projects in the fight against terrorism, and, last but not least, projects in the fight against drug trafficking, by sea, land and air, as well as police training projects in other countries.

Comunication Department

All countries’ tax systems are complex for various reasons that do not need to be enumerated in this article. Nevertheless, it is important to reflect on the consequences of this complexity and how to overcome it.

The most evident consequence is people’s rejection of their tax obligations. Citizens don’t trust the tax administrations and this psychological perception is becoming a real communication barrier for poorly educated or low-income citizens. Citizens with little formal education and micro-business owners often have difficulties complying with their simple tax obligations.

The analysis of this tax externality led to the concept of the Accounting and Tax Support Centres (NAF). This initiative from Brazil’s Receita Federal promotes the creation of student groups in the Faculty of Accounting Sciences to investigate tax issues and help marginalized communities with basic tax problems. This initiative is similar to the Centres for Legal Practice in the Faculty of Law and was inspired by the LITC model (Low Income Taxpayer Clinics) from the United States.

The NAF therefore have two complementary functions. Firstly, they complement students’ education with specific studies in tax-related issues. With the support of the tax administration and other organisations, the students can study complex tax subjects in groups and disseminate this knowledge throughout the rest of the university. Secondly, the students are able to help those in need, thereby contributing to their community and being trained as citizens.

There are clear benefits for the community. Sometimes, people with low literacy levels can feel embarrassed or frustrated when trying to explain their problems to a standard service department at the tax administration offices, but they are more comfortable speaking with students or teachers. There are also obvious benefits for the universities and the tax administrations. The administrations are able to get closer to future accountants, helping them develop as professionals. The universities are better able to comply with their academic mission and are better integrated into their communities.

The first NAF began operating in April of 2011 in Brazil; today there is a network of 34 centres in various Brazilian universities. Recently, with the support of the FIIAPP, through EUROsociAL II’s Finance Department, the initiative has been shared with other countries, such as Costa Rica, which has just inaugurated the first NAF outside Brazil.

Clóvis Belbute Peres is a tax auditor for the Receita Federal of Brazil

The tragedy that occurred half a mile off the coast of the Island of Lampedusa on October 3^rd created an immediate collective feeling of solidarity with the families of the more than 200 victims. Tragedies like these reiterate the need to publicly reflect on the humane aspects of current migratory flows.

In the case of Brazil, this exercise involves the government, various social segments (especially migrants), transnational social networks, and international organisations. The exercise consists of bringing about institutional, symbolic and material changes, in three dimensions.

The first challenge involves updating national immigration laws, internalising international treaties and agreements, and coordinating administrative regulations. These are key elements for establishing a legal and political culture of non-discrimination, effective protection of rights, and preventing the violation of these rights. This entails overcoming the “rights deficit,” which was a result of Brazil’s various consecutive authoritarian regimes during the 20^th century. These regimes portrayed immigrants as the enemy of national security and of economic and employment protection mechanisms, the consequences of which survived re-democratisation.

The second challenge is to overcome the “deficit of coordination and governance” by establishing coordination mechanisms between the migratory institutions and the three levels of government in such an enormous country. It also involves the definition of institutional responsibilities to facilitate the integration of immigrants in economic, social, cultural, and productive aspects.

These two dimensions must be considered collectively as part of the commitment to be inclusive with illegal alien groups in a non-incriminating way, either by creating measures of specific services for children and women, as well as in terms of sexual diversity and gender identity.

The third dimension proposes a commitment to listening, participation and social supervision of the processes of creating and updating policies and programmes for migrants living in Brazil. The participation of civil society and the migrants’ voice and empowerment is essential for this commitment. This responds to a “deficit of social participation,” which will take shape with the First National Conference on Migration and Refugees in 2014. This conference offers a structured process of listening, analysis and social consultation open to the country’s migrants.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the demographics of Brazil’s population constituted nearly 10% integration for recent immigrants, as compared to the 2013 figure, which is barely 0.06% after decades of the authoritarian regimes’ efforts to restrict immigration.
There are now signs of, and the recognition of the strategic need for, Brazil’s to welcoming immigrants again. This is a reflection of the social plurality and cultural vibrancy which is at the root of Brazil’s development conditions.

The institutional contribution to this complex debate is to finally recognise that Brazil’s role of receiving immigration and its development are bound up with the country’s commitments to social justice and the participation of anyone seeking refuge there. This is accomplished through the creation of additional cooperation strategies with the countries of origin and transit countries, enhancing regional integration processes and negotiation in international locations and forums.

Joao Guilherme Granja
Director of the “Foreign Department” (immigration, citizenship and refugees) at the Ministry of Justice in Brazil

The answers to these questions will be discussed during the Dialogue on Migration and Development in New York. It’s time to move towards a system that promotes people’s mobility while respecting their rights. How? Defining the “rules of the game” for migratory flows would be beneficial to all parties involved – a guaranteed system.

We face numerous challenges that affect our daily lives. This is important for all of us. For everyone who comes to Europe and for the Europeans who leave to go to other countries. Globalisation and the crisis are capable of turning us all into immigrants. In New York, they are tackling essential issues, such as: people having the option to emigrate, rather than out of necessity; the countries’ of residence recognition of migrants’ professional training and degrees; and incentives to encourage the participation of migrant communities undergoing development.

How will these migratory priorities be integrated in the development agenda?
It’s clear that migrations can have negative repercussions on country development, such as in the case of Jamaican doctors “fleeing” to the United Kingdom – a phenomenon known as a brain drain. The idea is therefore to minimise the negative aspects, but above all, to increase the positive impact of migrations. Which initiatives have achieved positive impacts?

The experience of the United Nations’ Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals programme (TOKTEN) in Africa; circular migration, such as the case of seasonal workers in the agricultural industry; and facilitating access to social benefits acquired during the migratory phase, such as the Multilateral Ibero-American Social Security Agreement.

If we have the same difficulties in common, we must also share the solutions. How do we do it? For example, by establishing spaces for dialogue between the origin and destination countries involved in migratory flows. There are some interesting experiences building alliances around the topic of migration. Since 2008, the FIIAPP, in collaboration with various relevant administration departments, has accompanied the “Rabat Process” http://processusderabat.net/. Over the course of 33 meetings, more than 350 delegates of the EU, the Maghreb, Western and Central Africa and the European Commission discussed the protection systems for unaccompanied minors in Africa, proposed actions permitting the circulation of workers in Europe, and agreed on a cooperation agenda to prevent illegal immigration, among other issues. This exercise resulted in the definition of a specific road map, with objectives and activities to be carried out in the countries of origin, transit and destination for migrations. Future challenges: to continue making progress in developing sound migratory policies.

Meanwhile, Dialogue has allowed us to preview the proposals the Latin American and Caribbean nations will defend before the United Nations. These countries have very attractive labour markets. Such is the case of Brazil, which is rethinking its migratory policy, taking into account other processes and proposing a State Policy. It will be very interesting to learn about their vision and their position – how will they approach the debate?

Sara Bayés
Head of the FIIAPP’s Migration and Development Programme

The High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development is an important milestone in the follow-up to the Río+20 Conference on Sustainable Development and the debates regarding the post-2015 development agenda. The first High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, held in September of 2006, focused on establishing the appropriate means and mechanisms to maximize benefits and minimize negative repercussions. Despite the fact that there was no consensus regarding the establishment of a new regulatory institution or migration system, this initial Dialogue led to the creation of the “Global Forum on Migration and Development,” led by the Member States.

The second Dialogue, which will be held in New York this October, will offer the international community “a unique opportunity to evaluate the progress made since the first High-Level Dialogue and to bridge the gaps, in the spirit of multilateral cooperation.” One of the main issues brought up by the EU and the OOII is the promotion of migration governance, with an emphasis on the protection of migrant rights and the inclusion of migration in the development agendas on both a national and global scale. This is also an opportunity to definitively incorporate migratory issues in the post-2015 development agenda.

The High-Level Dialogue will consist of one plenary session and four consecutive interactive roundtable discussions. Member States and UN observers and representatives will participate in each roundtable, as well as representatives from NGOs, civil society organizations, and the private sector. The roundtable topics include:

1.     Examining the consequences of international migration on sustainable development and identifying the priorities in preparing the post-2015 development agenda.

2.     Measures to ensure the respect and protection of migrants’ human rights, with a special emphasis on women and minors, and preventing and combating the illegal trafficking of migrants and human trafficking in order to ensure organised, regularised, safe migration.

3.     Strengthening alliances and cooperation in the area of international migration, mechanisms for effectively integrating migration in development policies, and promoting coherence on all levels.

4.     International and regional employment mobility and its impact on development.

In October, the FIIAPP will have a new director. I would like to wish good luck to him and all the people I have worked with during my time at the Foundation.
When you change jobs, the best thing to do is to try to learn about your new responsibilities quickly and efficiently. But when you also change industries, as was my case, this efficiency must be combined with careful reflection regarding your new environment, so that urgent issues do not lead you astray from what is most important. Today, to serve as parting words, I wanted to share three of these reflections with all of you who read our newsletter.

The public and private realms are often considered from a certain distance and with reservations. For me, coming from the business world, the FIIAPP’s most important work is helping other countries in modernizing their administrations by reinforcing Spain’s role in the rest of the world, proving that in some areas, our Administration is the best. In other words, we must demonstrate that the Spanish Administration often contributes to Spain’s competitiveness through the cost-quality ratio of its services, processes, technology and training. The Administration makes many other relevant contributions, and is also an important secret weapon for Spain’s competitiveness. We should disseminate this idea and portray our civil servants as working among the world’s elite, in contrast to the very grey image that is so widespread among our citizens and institutions.

I also think it is important for all industries and professional sectors to get a little fresh air every once in a while. I have never seen another industry like the cooperation sector in my life, where people identify so much with what they’re doing. My hat goes off to most of the experts I’ve worked with, for their ethics and hard work. But at the same time, the world of cooperation is rather closed. Unfortunately this is not so strange, as I have also experienced this when working in a family-run company and in the fields of science and innovation. It’s quite easy to construct an idyllic image of the successes and the social role played by different industries, but the trend of “inbreeding” causes each industry to be very uncritical of their own mistakes, which often leads to inefficiency. I get the same impression from the Public Administration. In my modest opinion, the more TAC’s there are in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the more diplomats in the Ministry of Economy, and the more members of the State’s engineering organizations in the field of Health Care, the better our public administration will be.
As in other industries, we don’t really sell ourselves very well. The way we work in cooperation projects and the way we relate with other governments and partners is highly valued wherever we go. The same cannot be said of most of our European partners and associates from other developed countries. I sincerely believe that our style and the way we are seen by other collaborating countries can help improve our role on an international level and contribute to streamlining international laws with ours. This is just my personal opinion, but I’m sure that if a study was conducted on this topic, these ideas would be demonstrated as true. Of course, it is often difficult to convince Spaniards of these ideas, especially in terms of image and marketing, and this is why we are not able to make the most of it.

I would like to close by thanking all the people in the FIIAPP and their commitment to the President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, for the opportunity to have been part of an institution that is as unknown as it is committed to millions of people.

Javier Quintana
Director of the FIIAPP