Conclusions of the Lima Forum

“These spaces for debate enable us to share experiences in other countries, identify problems and find practical solutions. It is not a question of copying a social programme from another country, but rather of finding the tools that can generate value in order to obtain better results”. With these words, Carolina Trivelli, Peruvian Minister for Development and Social Inclusion, brought an end to the Annual EUROsociAL Forum, held in Lima from 24 to 26 April; and those same words open the document of the Conclusions drawn from three days of exchange among the different agents that participate in the implementation of the Programme and the Latin American public institutions most actively involved in its progress.

There were three important moments at the Forum which are reflected in the Conclusions. A day of reflection looking beyond the Programme, on which experts and Latin American public officers spoke about the future agenda of social cohesion in the region. A second day of reflection, this time focussing on the Programme itself, on which some of the agents implementing the Programme presented thematic case studies about specific EUROsociAL interventions and studies of each country, with the aim of improving the methods and processes (which are tactical and operational dimensions) and, in this way, to “learn by trial and error” as we go along. And the final day, when the reflections of the first two days converged and we spoke about the future of cooperation in a new stage in relations between Europe and Latin America, highlighting the importance of European cooperation continuing to accompany the countries of Latin America in the processes of construction of institutional frameworks for social cohesion: offering examples (good and bad practices), inspiring specific public policies and inducing changes and/or enriching the innovation processes that public administrations are carrying out.