Both subjects were part of the twenty-seventh meeting of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community, held in this capital by the Entity’s member states (Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia).
At the meeting, attended by Foreign Ministers Juan Carlos Holguín (Ecuador), Marta Lucía Ramírez (Colombia), César Landa (Peru) and Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Benjamín Blanco (Bolivia), the host presented the progress of the work Plan 2021-2022 and jointly evaluated the current regional and international and regional panorama.
One of the main outcomes of the meeting was the joint decision to set up the Andean Committee of Government Agencies for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The aim of the initiative is to coordinate support strategies for these communities’ important contribution to issues such as climate change, traditional knowledge and language preservation.
Regarding gender equality, the Secretaries of State reiterated the need to work on public policies in this area in order to encourage job creation for women and companies and businesses run by this important demographic.
In this context, they proposed a strategy to create value chains in the production of grains and other Andean foodstuffs, which are often in the hands of women, and agreed to draw up a purple economic plan that would focus on the best and largest production of these exportable Products aims at a gender perspective. Another point of discussion was the update of the Andean Cooperation Mechanism on Consular Assistance and Protection and Migration Affairs to expand consular cooperation.
In this regard, Holguín took the opportunity to express his gratitude for the support provided by Peru through its Embassy in Poland to the repatriation plan for Ecuadorian citizens residing in Ukraine.
The foreign ministers also welcomed the willingness of the European External Action Service to conduct a high-level dialogue between the two regions and to advance the roadmap proposed by the CAN.
A subsequent expanded analysis with trade ministers assessed the achievements of the 2021-2022 plan, including the implementation of the Andean Environmental and Digital Agenda, projects to address sub-regional phytosanitary and animal health issues, trade facilitation mechanisms and tourism promotion.
The meeting also provided the framework for submitting an application by Bolivia to be included in the multi-party agreement with the European Union.
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