Strong cooperative voice at Development Policy Forum in Lima

From 24th to 27th June, the regional seminar for Latin America of the Policy Forum in Development took place in Lima, which was organised by the EU Commission (DG DevCo) together with several Latin American civil society organisations (CSOs). The meeting aimed to bring EU development policies, programs and financial mechanisms closer to the civil society actors of the region with open discussions between institutions and CSOs.
 
Over 100 participants from Latin America, including a delegation of a dozen of cooperators, attended the event. The Commission invited Cooperatives Europe to take part in the meeting to facilitate the exchanges with the Latin America cooperative movement, and to help strengthening the dialogue with EU delegations in Latin America.
 
Manuel Marino, director of Cooperatives of the Americas, was invited to make a statement on the communication on the private sector in development. In his intervention, Mr Marino expressed his appreciation for the EU Commission’s communication ‘A stronger role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth in developing countries’ as well as the EU Foreign Affairs Council conclusions, which specifically recognise the importance of cooperatives as private actor in development in a political document. ‘We are expecting now’ said Manuel Marino, ‘that these political guidelines are translated into concrete programmes which take into account the different national contexts in Latin America.’
 
Marc Nöel, Cooperative Development Manager, attending on behalf of Cooperatives Europe, said: “We are satisfied with the way the Policy Forum on Development is working. Collaborating with European representative organisations and taking advantage of networks increases effectiveness and efficiency of the dialogue. We are looking forward to continuinig this collaboration with DG DevCo”.