Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua · 9 November, 2020

SISCA and the EU present the Recovery Plan to the Central American Bank for Economic Integration

The EUROsociAL+ Programme supports the Recovery, Social Reconstruction and Resilience Plan of Central America and the Dominican Republic so as not to leave anyone behind in this pandemic

The Pro Tempore Presidency of the CIS, exercised by the Republic of Nicaragua, the SISCA and the team of experts from the European Union Programme for Social Cohesion in Latin AmericaEUROsociAL, presented the initiative for the Recovery, Social Reconstruction and Resilience Plan for Central America and the Dominican Republic, and the progress made in defining project ideas for its three axes, to the Executive President of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, in order to coordinate possible opportunities for joint work. The meeting was attended by the Secretary General of the General Secretariat of SICA, Vinicio Cerezo.

Alfredo Suárez Mieses, a SISCA representative, mentioned that the Plan is an opportunity to avoid any delay in the 2030 Agenda, since it is linked to the objectives and goals that encompass the economic, social and environmental spheres of this global agenda; and aims to help countries stay on track towards achieving the goals set out in the SDGs.

 “The objective is that these programmes and actions are approved in the Plan by Presidents and that they reach the populations that need it most to achieve the recovery we all aspire to in Central America, after the impact that the pandemic has had and that manifestations beyond the health crisis have had, which we have seen in these months,”, stated the Minister-Director of the National System of Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Response (CD – Sinapred) and Representatives of the Pro Tempore Presidency of the CIS, Guillermo González.

During the meeting, the SICA Secretary General, Vinicio Cerezo, aired the interest of integrating the Social Recovery Plan proposal, promoted by the CIS/SISCA into a Regional Plan that also takes in economic and environmental aspects; and to consolidate a Single Plan to present it at the meeting of Presidents. He also reiterated “I appreciate and acknowledge the work of the Social Subsystem, the objective remains the same, which is to better capitalise on our advantages so that no one is left behind. In this development objective, we are all partners and only together will we succeed.”

For his part, the Executive President of CABEI, Dante Mossi, highlighted the importance of protecting the most vulnerable and expressed his willingness to collaborate and support countries in the implementation of those priority and urgent initiatives that serve those who have no voice, as well as the populations that suffer the most from the consequences of this pandemic, “Count on us, we are ready to work on this social protection agenda,” he said. He also shared the news of the creation of the CABEI Foundation, which seeks to attract non-reimbursable private capital and thanked the European Union for the cooperation provided to Central America.

“Social inclusion is a criterion that can function as a compass, providing coherence to comprehensive recovery plans to face this pandemic. So that no one is left behind, we must start by looking first at the most vulnerable and adopting this criterion of inclusiveness from the beginning, that is how comprehensive responses are given,” added the Director of the EUROsociAL+ Programme, Juan Manuel Santomé, who explained that the Plan focuses on projects that are strategic, that will have a national impact but that are regionally harmonised.

Along these lines, the Coordinator of the Social Policies Area of the EUROsociAL+ Programme, Francesco Chiodi, congratulated SISCA for the efforts made and emphasised “Social factors must have their own space which is able to produce dialogue on the same terms as economic ones. For the European Union, the social aspect means a great deal.” He also announced that the Plan seeks to articulate public responses to social and labour policies, and policies on human settlements in the SICA member countries with a regional integration perspective; and that they count on assessment from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),UN-Habitat in Spanish and the International Labour Organization.

From the European Union, the Head of the Regional Cooperation Section of the  European Union Delegation-Nicaragua, Alberto Menghini, moved that since the beginning of this pandemic efforts have been made to find as many resources as necessary to support the region in the face of this crisis.

Country: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
SDG: No poverty, Gender equality, Reduced inequalities, Partnerships for the goals
Policy area: Democratic governance policies, Gender equality policies, Social policies