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Second Momento ADELANTE: Triangular Cooperation and the countries of the European Union.

Second Momento ADELANTE: Triangular Cooperation and the countries of the European Union.

Following the success of the first Momento ADELANTE, which focused on the potential of Triangular Cooperation to contribute to the challenges of the post-pandemic recovery, the second Momento ADELANTE, led together with the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), was centred around the strategic potential of Triangular Cooperation for European Union countries in the framework of their International Development Cooperation policies and strategies.

This event was based on the study 'The strategic relevance of Triangular Cooperation for EU countries', developed within the framework of the project 'Innovative Triangular Cooperation for a New Development Agenda', and co-financed by the European Commission and SEGIB through the European Regional Facility for Development in Transition.

Cooperación TriangularIn her opening remarks, Livia Galita (Coordinator of ADELANTE 2) highlighted that this event is part of a series of meetings to share reflections and insights on International Cooperation, open to all actors committed to development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

Cooperación TriangularJorge de la Caballería (Head of Unit B1 at DG INTPA), upon greeting and thanking the nearly 200 people from 25 countries who signed up for the event, stated that Triangular Cooperation has now been recognised as an effective and very promising modality for the European Union, and especially with Latin America and the Caribbean, since it fosters horizontal exchange between all parties involved. In this regard, it is a key instrument for the 2030 Agenda and each of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Cooperación TriangularMaría Salvadora Ortiz (Director of External Relations at SEGIB) then began by congratulating the European Commission on the progress made in the field of Triangular Cooperation, thanks to ADELANTE. She explained that the study to be presented is part of a strategic relationship between the European Commission and SEGIB that began in 2019, which has resulted in a series of five high-quality knowledge products on the role of Triangular Cooperation in the cooperation system in addressing the challenges of today.

Cooperación TriangularThe introduction was followed by the keynote address by Martin Rivero (Coordinator of the Department of Social Cohesion and South-South Cooperation at SEGIB). At the beginning of his speech, he stressed the importance of having synthesised data, collected over the course of a decade and shared annually in the 'Report on South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Ibero-America', published by SEGIB. This, among other things, indicates that there has been a historical involvement of several EU countries in Triangular Cooperation between the two regions, especially in the fields of energy, environment and food security. And this participation only continues to increase.

He then presented the above-mentioned study, addressing the following three questions: What sources of innovation does Triangular Cooperation bring to the international development cooperation system? To what extent can it contribute to strengthening relations and dialogue between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean? To what extent can it contribute to strengthening relations and dialogue between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean? And which tools can be used to do this? During his presentation, he highlighted the challenges identified during the research, the critical issues specific to Triangular Cooperation, the strengths and weaknesses identified, and a number of considerations for the future to reflect on concepts such as 'evolution', 'narrative', 'institutional structures', 'scale', 'measurement and evaluation,' etc. The presentation can be viewed in its entirety in the full video below.

Cooperación TriangularThe meeting continued with two commentators. First, Daniel Castillo (Technical Secretary of PIFCSS), representing the Global Partnership for Effective Triangular Cooperation - GPI, began by highlighting the active involvement of both institutions in the field of Triangular Cooperation. Rounding out the main presentation, he confirmed the growing interest of more and more countries as second providers, and in particular from the EU; emphasising that this is due to the flexible and dynamic nature of this modality, its technical approach, and the capacity it has to establish solid partnerships between countries, thus forging long-term ties that go beyond a simple transaction.

Cooperación TriangularFollowing this, Nadine Piefer-Söyler (Policy Analyst on Triangular Cooperation at the OECD) affirmed that thanks to Triangular Cooperation, EU countries with smaller budgets can build strong partnerships and achieve significant results in Latin America and the Caribbean, with real development impact. This makes it a key modality to overcome the traditionally lower priority given to the region in terms of the budget. To this end, she insisted on the need to create and foster political and technical working spaces for Triangular Cooperation, such as those led by the OECD and the GPI, to which all potential stakeholders from all regions of the world should be invited in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of this modality.

A question and answer session was held at the end of the event. In his response to the questions posed, Martín insisted on the potential of Triangular Cooperation to generate spaces for political and technical dialogue between countries with different characteristics and from different regions. Daniel pointed out that the findings and challenges identified in a study for the European Union countries are also shared by the Latin America and the Caribbean countries. Nadine encouraged European countries and the European Union to promote Triangular Cooperation, giving the example of programmes such as ADELANTE, which has proven to be a driving force.

During the closing remarks, Martín Rivero, on behalf of SEGIB, acknowledged the opportunity to have this space for exchange, and reaffirmed the organisation's commitment to strengthening the strategic collaboration with the European Commission, in order to generate spaces for dialogue and analysis that promote the strategic value of Triangular Cooperation. In turn, Livia Galita confirmed that Triangular Cooperation will continue to be a priority for the European Commission, thanks to its ability to create networks and partnerships and foster capacity building, which is key to achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

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