The Diplomat
The Ibero-American foreign ministers met yesterday by telematic means to agree on the final documents to be submitted to the leaders at the XXVII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Andorra on April 21.
During the meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Portugal and Venezuela and the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Honduras, Paraguay and Uruguay agreed on a Declaration to be signed at the end of the Summit and a Commitment on Innovation for Sustainable Development and discussed 15 special communiqués that articulate concrete solutions for the recovery of the region from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the health, social and economic fields. “The fight against the pandemic and sustainable and inclusive economic recovery will be the priorities” of the Summit, said Spanish Minister Arancha González Laya at the end of the meeting via her Twitter account.
The documents, which will be disseminated at the end of the Summit after being approved by the leaders, advocate universal access to vaccines against COVID-19, propose an urgent reform of the financing instruments so that the countries most affected by the pandemic receive faster and more flexible aid, and present a mutual guarantee fund to reactivate the cultural sector. It also promotes the implementation of a program to prevent and eradicate gender-based violence, and reinforces the region’s commitment to innovation for sustainable development.
“If in 2020 we were united by the problem, in 2021 we must be united by the solution. We are obliged to learn in order to emerge stronger, more responsible, more caring and more respectful of ourselves, our fellow citizens and our living environment. We come to this Summit with our homework done”, declared the Ibero-American Secretary General, Rebeca Grynspan, in her speech to the foreign ministers.
Andorra’s Foreign Minister, Maria Ubach, stressed that the Declaration reflects Ibero-America’s political position on economic recovery, equitable access to vaccines, the incorporation of the environmental dimension, the situation of the most vulnerable people, particularly women, and the construction of more inclusive societies. It is also “a cross-cutting document of the Conference that places innovation as an essential element for the achievement of sustainable development”, she added.
Yesterday’s meeting of foreign ministers was preceded by the IV Meeting of National Coordinators and Cooperation Officers of the region, where four new Ibero-American cooperation programs were approved: an initiative to prevent and eradicate gender violence, a plan to eradicate mother-to-child transmission of Chagas disease, a program for the protection of indigenous languages and another to promote the role of citizenship in achieving sustainable development. Finally, the Ibero-American Conference proposes the creation of an Ibero-American Epidemiological Observatory.
The XXVII Ibero-American Summit, whose theme is Innovation for Sustainable Development – Objective 2030. Ibero-America facing the challenge of the coronavirus, will be the meeting between the 22 Heads of State and Government since the beginning of the pandemic.
