27/03/2023
The Team Europe Initiative on Inclusive and Equitable Societies aims to promote the social pillar of the European Global Gateway strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, together with the #TeamEurope (TEI) group, announced in Brussels the launch of the Shared and Equitable Societies Initiative, which will mobilise more than €1 billion for Latin America and the Caribbean. This Team Europe approach aims to join forces to make the external action of the EU and its Member States much more than the sum of its parts.
The TEI Shared and Equitable Societies aims to facilitate access to social rights and services, achieve inclusive, accountable and transparent institutions, and foster social innovation, resilience and just transition. It will maintain a priority focus on women and youth, addressing issues such as gender equality, social rights, social protection, inclusive employment and education, and good governance.
This initiative, co-led by Spain and the EU together with France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and Sweden marks a significant step on the road to the next bi-regional Summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Urpilainen emphasised that this initiative reflects the commitment of both regions to strengthen their partnership based on shared values. “We want to promote a cooperation agenda with Latin America and the Caribbean to fight inequalities and for our regions to deepen this partnership in favour of social cohesion and inclusive societies. Together and together we are an engine of progress and equality”, said the Commissioner.
The initiative is part of the EUROsociAL project, a cooperation programme between Latin America and the European Union that seeks to contribute to the improvement of social
cohesion in Latin American countries, as well as to institutional strengthening, by supporting their processes of design, reform and implementation of public policies.
Eva Granados, Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, highlighted the relevance of cooperation that is aligned with the interests of partner countries, focusing on education and health as axes for reducing inequalities. Mayra Jiménez and Luz Vidal, Ministers for Women’s Affairs of the Dominican Republic and Chile, respectively, underlined the importance of applying a gender focus to improve bi-regional relations.
Javier López and Pelayo Castro stressed the importance of directing investments towards public policies and developing essential infrastructures for democracy, while highlighting the success of EUROsociAL and the need for fair social, green and digital transformations, through effective public policies and a strong state.
The Shared and Equitable Societies programme will be implemented by a European consortium led by the FIIAPP and made up of the French Development Agency (AFD), the Italian-Latin American Organisation (IILA), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), AICS (Italian Cooperation Agency) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
