During her stay in Chile, the SECI attended the 1st meeting of the ECLAC Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean. There, Ms. Cancela highlighted the high degree of institutionalisation of cooperation with Latin America, where Spain plays an important role that will be strengthened during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
"We are one of the Member States that has contributed most actively to the definition and promotion of European triangular cooperation towards Latin America and the Caribbean, through the Adelante programme. In more than 90% of the operations requested by the region, the European partner is Spain," she said. She also advocated the promotion of a new model of triangular cooperation based on the principles of horizontality and mutual benefit, accountability and learning.
The SECI stressed Spain's commitment to Latin America's development agenda, which is expressly mentioned in the new Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, and the need for multidimensional concepts and indices to explain the challenges presented by the region's countries, such as the concept of development in transition.
Gender focus
Spanish international development cooperation policy aims to promote access to social protection and an adequate care system, and defends this topic as a fundamental part of the implementation of feminist cooperation.
During SECI's participation in the event organised at the Montevideo Training Centre on the care economy, she highlighted the commitment of Spanish Cooperation to gender equality policies and the achievement of SDG5.
Pilar Cancela also showed Spanish support for regional initiatives such as the EU-CELAC Bi-regional Agreement Proposal on Care; European initiatives such as the European Care Strategy; and national initiatives such as the Roadmap towards a State Care Strategy.