‘We hope to be able meet the demands of this uncertain era’

Gender equality, democratic governance and social policies. These are the three areas covered by EUROsociAL+, which is a cooperation programme between Latin America and the European Union. The team on the project, which is financed by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP, has been working in the field for 4 years to help improve social cohesion in Latin American countries, strengthen institutions, and support the design, reform and implementation of public policies.

Now, after a rocky 2019 in Latin America, EUROsociAL+ has entered 2020 with the memory of the events that have taken place, especially those of the last four months of the year. In the words of the programme director, Juanma Moreno, ‘the events should make us reflect on the path that EUROsociAL+, in the framework of the European Union’s cooperation with Latin America, must take to contribute to reducing the inequality gaps, which are partly responsible for the social demands being made.

In this sense, EUROsociAL+ has a relational capital as, according to Moreno, it is considered to be trustworthy, and this positions the programme as a highly valuable mechanism for facilitating dialogue to develop new, inclusive social pacts that leave no one behind, in line with the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.

‘We need to be efficient, but also strategic, focusing our joint actions with Latin America governments towards the search for social cohesion based on rights that strengthens societies and renews trust in the institutions’, the director noted.

In addition, this year, EUROsociAL+ is raising its profile in Latin America with the incorporation of the Dominican Republic into the programme to exchange experiences on public policies between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, the EUROsociAL+ programme.

With the 2030 Agenda on the horizon, for EUROsociAL+ this is a crucial time to make the planet environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. For the director of the ‘2020 programme, this is shaping up to be a key year for Europe and Latin America to make strategic decisions about the current development model and the big pacts’.

‘This is a year in which the relevance of the digital agenda and the opportunities it offers for more open and more democratic governments will be demonstrated. ‘EUROsociAL+ in particular, and EU cooperation in general, have a lot to contribute in all of this’, Moreno argues. ‘We hope to be able meet the demands of this uncertain and convulsive, but also foundational era to the full extent of our responsibilities. Hopefully we can rise to the times as Ortega y Gasset said, ‘concludes the programme director.