Debate on the future role of social cohesion in Costa Rica

The European Union‘s EUROsociAL+ programme, with FIIAPP as at the head of its management, is promoting social cohesion in Costa Rica through numerous cooperation projects. These projects cover areas such as social inclusion and the fight against poverty; public finances and good governance; access to justice and gender mainstreaming.

A round-table discussion called “Actions and Perspectives from the EurosociAL+ Programme in Costa Rica was held with the aim of making these projects part of 2030 Agenda and aligning them with the priorities of the National Development and Public Investment Plan (NDPIP) 2019-2022

Several discussion spaces were opened during the meeting in which the three topics specific to EUROsociAL+ were addressed: gender equity, democratic governance and social policies; EUROsociAL shared its experiences in all these spaces. In addition, in the working sessions, potential demands from Costa Rica regarding social cohesion were identified that could be channelled through the EUROsociAL+ Programme, such as support for decentralising gender policy (PGEE) and strengthening mechanisms to monitor the National Development Plan (NDP).

The Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy (MIDEPLAN), María del Pilar Garrido Gonzalo, said “this EUROsociAL Plus initiative means that, in the long term, we can change the foundations of public governance, and this has to do with the quality of public policy, how we can learn from what has worked in the European Union and improve and rethink our projects”.

For the European Union ambassador in Costa Rica, Pelayo Castro Zuzuárregui, “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development unites Europe and Costa Rica and allows us to work towards achieving shared goals within a common framework. Our DNA, our starting point, is social cohesion: better public policies for fairer societies. This is why EUROsociAL is so important for our cooperation”.