At the beginning of September, the informal ministerial meeting on Development was held in Cadiz in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. La Coordinadora sent a letter to José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, in which we highlighted the importance of development cooperation policies being oriented towards “the defence of a triple just transition – socio-economic, ecological and digital – that contributes to the reduction of poverty and inequality”.
More than 600 organisations that make up La Coordinadora also stress the need to adopt an intersectional feminist, anti-racist and decolonial approach in all cooperation policies “to act on the root causes of structural inequalities, favour an equitable distribution of resources and eliminate all forms of discrimination”.
It is a fact that the gender equality, the 5th Sustainable Development Goal, will not be achieved by 2030. Therefore, we stress the importance of EU Ministers of Cooperation to promote, among other measures, the implementation of the 3rd EU Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in External Action 2021-2025 (GAP III) and the promotion and consolidation of comprehensive care systems, as a way to advance rights, the elimination of social inequalities and gender equality.
In order to achieve these measures, not only human, technical and financial resources are needed, but also a revision of the financial architecture of development. In this sense, we join the demands of CONCORD Europe, a reference platform for civil society organisations in the EU, to request that European investment mechanisms, such as the Global Gateway funds, be aimed at reducing inequalities and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and that they include the effective participation of CSOs.
SAHEL AND LATIN AMERICA
That same week, in the framework of the informal Defence ministerial meeting in Toledo, we sent another letter to Minister Albares to alert him to the humanitarian situation in Niger. The letter, signed by 45 organisations operating in the country, requested the introduction of humanitarian exemptions in all collective sanctions adopted against Niger, in order to guarantee continued access to humanitarian aid services for the country’s vulnerable populations. La Coordinadora insists that the serious situation in the Sahel region, especially in Niger, must be addressed from a culture of peace approach. Finally, we continue to focus on the revision of the roadmap for the EU’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, following the holding of the 3rd EU-CELAC Summit last July, as an opportunity to promote cooperation policies between the two regions.