The Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela Rodríguez, travelled this week to Argentina to take part in the 15th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). She also met with its Secretary-General, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.
“In the transition process of gender equality in compliance with the commitments of the Regional Gender Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Spanish Cooperation supports and reinforces public equality policies and prioritises the integration of the cross-cutting gender focus to build quality democracies”, stated Pilar Cancela in her speech at the side event entitled “Cooperation policies for feminist development: perspectives and priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
According to the Secretary of State, one of the fundamental elements “is the specific budgetary allocation of funds for equality policies, and for feminist and women’s organisations, to which end Spanish Cooperation, despite the ongoing economic crisis, has maintained a high percentage of financing for this sector, amounting to 10% of financing in successive years”.
Spanish Cooperation currently has 300 gender-based initiatives under way, and all the Country Association Frameworks include gender as a cross-cutting priority. “This is the effective way in which our policy creates opportunities to increase financing and alliances to speed up compliance with the commitments of the Regional Gender Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, concluded the Secretary of State for International Cooperation.
The Secretary of State also travelled to Uruguay, where she visited the Technical Cooperation Office, the Cultural Centre of Spain and the Training Centre of Spanish Cooperation in Montevideo. “Culture, training, innovation and the spread of knowledge are essential pillars to consolidate the development of this country”, stated Pilar Cancela.
In both Uruguay and Argentina, the Secretary of State for International Cooperation held institutional meetings with officials and social stakeholders from the two countries. For Pilar Cancela, “Spain shares feminist cooperation with both Argentina and Uruguay and we work to step up cooperation in the Southern Cone, strengthening development in transition”.