Cooperatives of the Americas participated in the 7th Edition of the Policy Forum on Development (PFD)
In the framework of the Partnership of the International Cooperative Alliance and the European Commission officials of political incidence of the four regions and Cooperative of the Americas was represented in the European Union in Brussels by Juan Carlos Canessa, vice president of CUDECOOP
More than 130 representatives of civil society organizations (CSO), local authorities (LA), professional and business associations, EU Member States and EU institutions gathered in Brussels from 13 to 15 March 2019 for the 7th Global Meeting of the Policy Forum on Development (PFD) to discuss key issues affecting the global development agenda and corresponding EU policies. In this year’s edition, participants took stock of the role of partnerships in the 2030 Agenda implementation and specifically the environmental and climate components, as well as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the proposal for a new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).
On the framework of the Partnership of the International Cooperative Alliance and the European Union Commission: “Cooperatives in the Development Process: People-Centered Businesses In Action", which considers highly important the participation of the cooperative sector in the PFD and reaffirms the 2030 Agenda as a universal purpose. That is why countries need to make their contribution to the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. It will only be possible from the inclusion of CSOs and LAs, from all levels from local to the global and ensure that local realities are also a priority in the global agenda.
This year, the FPD focused on three main topics:
1. How the European Union plans to inform and monitor its achievements to achieve the 2030 Agenda in collaboration with key development actors.
2. How Financing will be made for development, including specific financial instruments, public-private partnerships, and the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).
3. How multi-stakeholder partnerships can help achieve environmental and social goals
Concrete actions were requested to protect and expand the enabling environment of Civil Society Organizations and Local Authorities, as well to the private sector, to provide resources and consultative spaces. In addition, the matter of exclusion/inclusion was addressed and stood out as a central challenge for all stakeholders. All of this requires transformative paradigms that move away from models of development that again generate poverty and inequalities.
In the same way, parallel sessions were opened to share experiences and to expand on the state of SDG implementation, Cooperatives of the Americas participated in one of the Public-Private Partnerships (SDG 17) among the different signatories of the Framework Partnership Agreements (FPA).
In this edition, Juan Carlos Canessa, vice president of CUDECOOP, a member organization of Cooperatives of the Americas, regional of the International Co-operative Alliance participated as a representative of our FPA. Canessa highlighted the experience of INCUBACOOP, an incubator of cooperative-based ventures that are being developed in Uruguay, supported by the Ministry of Industry and Energy, the National Institute of Cooperatives, an institution that seeks to promote the development of cooperatives in innovative sectors where It had not previously undertaken
This 7th edition showed that it is possible to create collective intelligence from different perceptions and experiences of its members, as well as to influence the results of policies, sharing, developing and exchanging good practices and connecting organizations all over the world, with the purpose of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, proposed in the 2030 agenda.