The Government of the Dominican Republic has promoted a meeting between national public institutions, led by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD), and the European Union through its Delegation in the country, to review the joint lines of work towards the holding of the second country dialogue table.
Foto: Honey Yanibel Minaya Cruz
The preparatory meeting for the third EUROsociAL+ round table in Uruguay, which for the first time was held virtually, laid the foundations for the strategic prioritisation of those public policies that, also considering the context of the pandemic, continue to contribute to improving the social welfare of Uruguayan citizens.
The director of Regional Cooperation of the MEPyD, Lidia Encarnación, has highlighted that “EUROsociAL+ is a programme of high relevance for the country, as it responds to the major common objectives: reduction of inequalities, institutional strengthening and improvement of social cohesion”
In the same way, the fitting of the programme in the national guidelines was made clear with statements such as that of the director of the Advisory Unit for Economic and Social Analysis, MEPyD, Alexis Cruz, who indicated that “one of the main proposals of the Government Plan it is the construction of credibility and improvement of inclusion as a cornerstone of the reform and modernisation process.”
For her part, the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation in the Dominican Republic identified the correspondence of the scope of the EUROsociAL+ programme with the major sectors that the EU has prioritised in the country: reform of the State and public administration; support to the productive sector and training for employment; and fight against gender violence.
From the programme, it was emphasised that European cooperation with Latin America has always been at the forefront, recognizing development in transition or the challenges of inequalities. Thus, by participating in EUROsociAL+, the Dominican Republic is positioned as a provider of its experiences among the partners of a programme of regional scope, especially for Central America where it is a country of reference, benefiting in turn from the wide range of experiences of the countries of the region, and is positioned as in the policy dialogue as a vehicle for sustainable development.
Precisely, Olaya Dotel, Deputy Minister for International Cooperation, National Authorising Officer of the European Funds for Development- MEPyD highlighted the need to work together, from a regional approach, capitalising on participation in professional networks.
Teams from the Uruguayan Presidency’s Agency for International Cooperation, from the European Union Delegation’s cooperation section in the country, and from EUROsociAL+ through its three social policy areas in IILA, democratic governance in FIIAPP and gender equality in Expertise France, have exposed the main lines of joint action in matters such as active employment policies, public finances or the fight against gender violence, respectively.
The Country Dialogue Tables are part of an innovative EUROsociAL+ Programme methodology that has inspired the ‘Team Europe’ Covid Tables in Latin America. The Dominican Republic is also taking up this inter-institutional and multidimensional dialogue mechanism from the beginning of its participation in the programme, which will have its second edition on 16 December.
