Migration is a complex phenomenon that has been particularly worrying at the international level due to its scale and speed. Migrants and refugees go through very difficult circumstances and it is necessary to define and develop better conditions so that they can claim their rights outside their countries of origin, where they generally find themselves without support networks. Legal assistance for migrants and refugees is a fundamental right that can change these peoples’ destiny. Access to justice, also understood as access to rights, enables the insertion and integration of these people in the host societies, in short, for social cohesion and a more inclusive society.

In this context, at the end of 2019, in coordination with AIDEF, a regional action promoted by Chile, Brazil and Argentina was conceived to guarantee legal assistance and protect the rights of people in a situation of mobility, consisting of the definition of a regional model and the creation of a regional network of legal assistance for migrants and refugees from Public Defender’s Offices.

As a derivation of the regional model at the national level, an Action protocol has been defined with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina for public defenders, with the aim of facilitating access to justice for people in the context of human mobility in Argentina.

The Argentine Ministry of Social Development has been carrying out, with support from the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme, an initiative to strengthen the National Argentina Against Hunger Plan (PACH), through technical assistance activities and exchange with international experiences from Latin America and Europe that: (i) strengthen the implementation of the Plan; (ii) improve the food production and marketing component of the PACH and (iii) design adaptations to the component to the reality of post-pandemic events; in addition, (iv) facilitating the institutionalisation of inter-institutional and jurisdictional coordination with other civil society actors.

As part of this initiative, the Ministry of Social Development undertook, together with the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme and other international organisations, a series of meetings to exchange and reflect on social policies and especially food policies. This Dialogue lies within this series, and expects to contribute, through sharing different perspectives, to identifying the main challenges and opportunities that arise around the production and marketing of food.

The COVID-19 health emergency has caused and/or deepened economic and social crises to differing degrees depending on the country, affecting in particular the population that was already the most vulnerable before the pandemic. Both in Latin American countries and in Europe, emergency measures have been taken to get food to people, but we know that the fight against hunger is not limited to these. The right to healthy food in the required quantity and quality requires a food security policy that considers the global regulation of agri-food systems, production chains, economies and social life dynamics in different territories and in each country.

The Argentine Ministry of Social Development implemented, together with the European Union EUROsociAL+ programme and other international organisations, an round of meetings for exchange and reflection on social policies and especially food policies, which includes this high-level dialogue, to share reflections on food security matters in both Europe and Latin America.

The Argentinian Ministry of Health, together with the European Union’s EUROsociAL+ programme, are promoting the formulation of a national standard that provides general operating conditions for residences for the elderly with a human rights perspective. The definition of this standard is proposed as a process of federal construction and inter-institutional coordination.To this end, this workshop has been organised in which international social and health public policy experiences that respond to situations of dependency, especially with regard to long-term services, will be presented. In this regard, the presentation of the European expert Lourdes Bermejo is valuable, given her background in this field. The construction of the regulatory framework for residences for the elderly in Uruguay as a component of the progressive care system and the role of the Ministry of Health in coordination with the First Level of Care will also be analysed. To comment on the main achievements and challenges, we will be joined by two representatives from the country.Meanwhile, given that the Argentine Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity is working on the legislative design of a national care system, it is appropriate to know more about the section dedicated to the elderly. We therefore invited Lucia Cirmi, National Director of Care at the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity to take part.This workshop is aimed at national and provincial officials from the ministries of health, social development and other significant areas of our country, with competence and interest in the subject of older people.

One year ago, the International Labor Organization, the European Union’s EUROsociAL+ programme and the Argentinian Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security decided to join forces and work together to develop a series of virtual forums for dialogue and exchange on measures that, in terms of health and safety at work, countries were adopting in the face of COVID-19, both at the most critical moment of the crisis and for the reactivation of production and the economy, and for the recovery of employment.

The round table meetings focused on four economic sectors that have been especially affected by the crisis – construction, transport, domestic work and wholesale markets, the common thread of each encounter being occupational health and safety measures, the role of social dialogue and the sectoral agreements reached.

The publication presented today systematises the national responses shared at these sessions, as well as a series of reflections on the lessons learnt during the pandemic and the challenges facing occupational health and safety in the future.

Latin America is going through one of the largest processes of human mobility in recent times, which is the product of various circumstances such as an increase in poverty, persecution, conflicts, humanitarian crises, insecurity, violence, natural disasters, etc. In this context, an element to consider is that there are migrants and refugees’ legal needs that require attention because they are not being met. Their special condition of vulnerability recognised in the Brasilia Rules, among other norms, obliges states to attend to these needs. The role of the Public Defender’s Offices to meet these legal needs is of fundamental importance since, probably, they will be one of the few national institutions that can provide guidance, legal advice, representation and advocacy so that migrants and refugees can access their rights and get justice.

EUROsociAL accompanies the Inter-American Association of Public Defender’s Offices (AIDEF) in the creation of an Inter-American Network for the Defence of People on the Move and a Regional Defence Model for People on the Move to improve access to justice for the migrants and refugees in the region. In this framework, the objective of the webinar is twofold, on the one hand to generate a space for the exchange of experiences, strategies and mechanisms to improve care services for migrants and refugees, as well as best practices between institutions in Europe and Latin America. And, on the other, to present the proposal for an Inter-American Network of Legal Assistance for People on the Move and the Regional Defence Model for People on the Move, prepared within the framework of the AIDEF with the support of EUROsociAL+.

The new paradigm of parity democracy, promoted by feminist movements and international organisations together with women who occupy decision-making positions in states, come forward to place on the regional public agenda the need to move forward with the generation of states, societies and democracies which are more just, inclusive and egalitarian. The event aims to present the progress and challenges for parity democracy in Argentina and Latin America and the actions that the EUROsociAL+ gender equality policy area has been supporting in the country.

This activity is co-organised by the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity, the Ministry of the Interior and the Honourable Chamber of Deputies of the Nation of Argentina together with the Gender Equality policy area of the EU EUROsociAL+ Programme.

The Gender Equality policy area of the EU EUROsociAL+ programme accompanied the Office of the Ombudsman of Argentina in the development, implementation and dissemination of advocacy strategies for women offenders in contexts of violence or vulnerability, which crystallised in the publication “Women accused in contexts of violence or vulnerability.Towards a theory of crime with a gender perspective”.

The study analyses the legal practices, the social realities and the paths of accused women, with the firm intention of improving the focus of their advocacy and building better work tools that fully integrate the gender perspective.

The following took part in the virtual presentation of the publication:

• Stella Maris Martínez, Ombudsman of Argentina
• The European Union Delegation representative in Argentina
• Ana Pérez Gómez and Alfonso Martínez-Sáenz, the coordinating team of the Gender Equality policy area of the EU EUROsociAL+ programme
• Rita Segato, PhD in Anthropology, Argentinian feminist activist and EUROsociAL+ expert
• Patricia Laurenzo Copello, Professor at the University of Malaga and EUROsociAL+ expert

Sector representatives from Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Europe will share their views on the impact that COVID-19 had on supply markets, the protection and prevention measures that were developed to minimise professional risks, and the policies and protocols adopted for the progressive resumption of activity.

This series of online exchange meetings on the measures that countries are taking in the face of COVID-19 for the care of safety and health at work at the time of economic reactivation contributes to strengthening and improving decision-making. The first topic addressed was that of the construction sector; the second, on urban and suburban public transport; and the third, related to work in private homes.

This activity is co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security of Argentina, the Superintendency of Occupational Risks of Argentina, the Office of the International Labour Organization Southern Cone, and by the Social Policies area of the European Union programme EUROsociAL+.

Measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 have drawn attention to the value of paid and unpaid domestic work, mostly carried out by women. The Covid-19 crisis reveals the vulnerability of paid domestic workers, especially with regard to the risks of contagion from the disease, given that their workplace (a home) is indoors and their tasks involve interaction with the members of the home they serve.

This webinar is part of a cycle of four dedicated to the exchange of knowledge and experiences on the measures that are being adopted in the countries of the Southern Cone to preserve health and safety conditions in the gradual return to workplaces in four specific areas: construction, public transport, and work in private homes and in markets.

This activity is co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security of Argentina, the Superintendency of Occupational Risks of Argentina, the Office of the International Labour Organization Southern Cone, the EU-LAC Foundation, and by the area of Social Policies of the European Union programme EUROsociAL+.