On Thursday 27 June 2019, FAO representatives guided by ADG-PS Roberto Ridolfi and Senior Coordinator Carlos Watson met with diplomatic representatives of the Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA)* and of the Italo-Latin American International Organization (IILA).

As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to assess the potential development of a joint South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC) initiative on gender empowerment in Central America, involving also new partners such as the Italian government and the European Union in addition to FAO, SICA and IILA.

During the meeting, IILA representatives presented the Italo-Latin American organization and its large experience in developing programmes targeting gender empowerment and sustainable development. Even if there is already an agreement between IILA and FAO, this is the first time that IILA contacted an international organization to join efforts to implement a project of great impact. In fact, the main goal of the meeting was to assess the implementation of a new project, which would involve a larger region and may be implemented during a longer period.

SICA representatives mentioned that the initiative should focus on specific aspects such as climate change, job creation, gender empowerment and economic autonomy. In particular, it was highlighted that target communities mainly depend on women’s work. For this reason, focusing on gender issues should allow women to support their families as an efficient alternative that would avoid traumatic migrations as a solution to improve the quality of life of communities in need.

Roberto Ridolfi highlighted that a partnership with IILA and SICA may have a tremendous impact. To achieve such results it is paramount to bring other partners on board such as UNIFEM, regional development banks and national commercial banks.

The meeting continued with a presentation from Carlos Watson about the Office of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (OSS) and what FAO is doing in terms of South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC). Participants to the meeting have now a better vision of SSTC and how it could be used as a successful mechanism to transfer knowledge and technologies, and implement efficient development initiatives to meet the 2030 Agenda. Next steps include the need of involving specific FAO technical divisions once the first draft Concept Note is available.

Further meetings will follow to continue planning the joint initiative.

* Representatives of the following seven SICA countries attended the meeting: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.