The Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation and the European Union approved the roadmap for 2021 with actions focused on achieving a reduction in inequalities and an improvement in social cohesion; that will strengthen Uruguay's public policies and that will implement the EUROsociAL+ Programme in conjunction with national institutions.
Foto final de participantes en la Mesa de Diálogo Uruguay.
On Wednesday, 9 December, the third EUROsociAL+ dialogue table was held in Uruguay, which made it possible to draw up the work plan for the next twelve months after a strategic prioritisation based on the criteria for reducing inequality, in response to post-Covid reconstruction. strengthening of inter-institutional ties to advance towards multidimensional reforms and the use of synergies and complementarity with other cooperation projects and initiatives.
The executive director of AUCI, Mariano Berro, highlighted the process of participatory dialogue between the institutions and the coordinated coordination for the design and development of public policies. He also expressed that “this is a model that can be replicated in other countries, based on evidence, knowledge and expertise, led by national institutions to identify and solve their needs,” he stressed.
Uruguay’s Minister of Social Development, Pablo Bartol, emphasised on this roadmap “support for the response system for homeless people, based on policy models focused on access to housing; work related to migration; and the comprehensive plan for the promotion of employment adapted to the real world of the labour market”.
For his part, the ambassador of the European Union in Uruguay, Karl-Otto König, emphasised “the relevance that Uruguay and the European Union assign to social cohesion as a pillar for the construction of an inclusive society, which gives opportunities of development to everyone, so as not to leave anyone behind”
Among the new actions to be implemented by the three areas of social policies, governance and gender equality of EUROsociAL+ together with Uruguayan institutions, are the national plan aimed at migrants in vulnerable situations with the Ministry of Social Development, comprehensive fiscal management subnational through the incorporation of ICTs together with the Planning and Budget Office, and the training programme for female politicians with the National Institute of Women.
The director of EUROsociAL+ valued the role of Uruguay in the Programme “as a strategic country and a pioneer in these dialogue tables as a mechanism for strategic prioritisation of demand, committing to the multidimensionality of development. Furthermore, Uruguay is a transferor of experiences and learning shared with other Latin American countries and the European Union.”
The dialogue between the Uruguayan institutions and the areas of the EUROsociAL+ Programme will continue after this third “Uruguay Roundtable” to define in more detail the budget, the accompaniment itinerary and the expected results, with the advice of the coordinating group for monitoring and evaluation actions.
The Country Dialogue Tables is an innovative EUROsociAL+ Programme methodology that has inspired the ‘Team Europe’ Covid Tables in Latin America. Uruguay was already a pioneer in 2018 in the implementation of this inter-institutional and multidimensional dialogue mechanism.
