Authorities from Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba and the European Commission shared strengths and challenges in the fight against hunger in the context of the Covid pandemic in Latin America and Europe in a dialogue organised by the Argentinian Ministry of Social Development and EUROsociAL+.
Foto: Mampu
In order to discuss the strengths and challenges in the fight against hunger in the context of the Covid pandemic in Latin America and Europe, a high-level dialogue was held on 14 July between authorities from Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba and the European Union, organised by the Argentina Ministry of Social Development and the European Union EUROsociAL+ Programme (Social Policies Department).
The activity sought to reflect upon and analyse the results arising from the experiences of the invited countries in their initiatives to combat hunger and those in the field of food security all in the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic. It also sought to identify the potential of the countries involved in this social agreement, as well as to build integrated strategies to combat hunger and advance food security.
Participants in the dialogue included the Argentinian Minister of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo; the Head of Unit with the European Commission DG for Employment , Emma Toledano Laredo; the Cuban Vice Minister of Agriculture, Maury Hechevarría Bermúdez; the Costa Rican Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion, Juan Bermúdez Madriz; and Marcia Lopes, EUROsociAL+ expert and former Brazilian Minister of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger.
“We are monitoring the experiences of different countries, we want to understand and learn in a context where the fight against hunger is a central issue,” Arroyo pointed out at the beginning of the event and added: “We believe that it is time to build other paradigms, other policies, ideas and models for social policy intervention. The pandemic is a time to sustain situations, but a time for transformation is coming”.
At the opening of the meeting, the European Union Deputy Ambassador to Argentina, Jordi García Martínez, highlighted the synergy and complementarity of the various international cooperation initiatives that the EU is implementing in Argentina, and highlighted: “Promoting exchanges between peers is one of the key functions of the European Union’s regional cooperation programmes. EUROsociAL is one of our flagship regional cooperation programmes. It supports reforms and innovations in public policy, through South-South, North-South and triangular cooperation actions. Since its creation 15 years ago, it has contributed to health, education, employment, gender equality and governance policies in the region with a European contribution of almost 100 million euros”.
During the event, Minister Juan Luis Bermúdez Madriz called for international cooperation “to not opt for austerity policies, but to protect and expand social budgets”.
In particular, Emma Toledano Laredo, from the European Commission, highlighted the ability to adapt policies to the pandemic, expanding FEAD assistance and expanding measures for social inclusion and promoting employment. For his part, the Cuban Vice Minister Maury Hechevarría Bermúdez commented on the country’s food sovereignty policy. Meanwhile, Minister Arroyo highlighted 3 key factors: the role of schools for distribution, the mobilisation of social organisation networks and local development.
The coordinator of EUROsociAL+ Social Policies Francesco Chiodi proposed in the closing “to anchor food safety devices in social protection systems to generate the capacity for rapid reaction to crises”.
These dialogues are part of the support provided by the European Union EUROsociAL+ Programme to strengthen the National Argentina Against Hunger Plan through technical assistance activities and the exchange of international experiences from Latin America and Europe regarding improving – among other aspects – the food production and marketing component and designing adaptations to the component to fit the post-pandemic reality.
