Since August, 61 young volunteers from different regions of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru began the training process in several components that strengthened their skills and abilities for volunteering, social action, leadership, international solidarity, and above all, multifunctional monitoring and activation of older people, with or without visual limitations, thus making profitable use of Information and Communication Technologies to reach all corners where the beneficiaries of the program reside.

From Mexico, we have volunteers from Puebla, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Queretaro, and Mexico City; from Chile, volunteers from Temuco, La Araucanía Region, and Santiago de Chile; the volunteers from Peru (the majority of the program) are from Junín, Cajamarca, Callao, Rímac, Sachaca, Huacho, Lima, Chiclayo, and Cusco; also, from Colombia, a broad representation of volunteers from Sucre, Bolivar, Chocó, Atlántico, Antioquia, and Bogotá.

The training process, led by Human Bonds by Versania (now known as Versania Care and Life), included more than 100 hours of intensive training led by experts that involve a deep and emotionally charged understanding of the work of the volunteers to reduce the social gaps in the region; they addressed different dimensions of volunteering, their purpose, the sense and meaning of this action in social transformation, international solidarity, philanthropy and a broad and detailed vision of the challenges we face as a 21st-century society; in addition, the volunteers had complete training on the reality of the elderly in Colombia, the psychology of the elderly, bases for accompaniment, sensitive listening, and the physical, cognitive and occupational activation of the elderly with or without visual limitation. The training process ended on November 16.

Since October 24, with the support of Colpensiones, the UAEOS and the Presidential Council for Youth, the process of accompaniment began for 61 older people from all over Colombia, with or without visual limitations, who were sent to a multifunctional activation analog kit at home to be implemented together with the young volunteers in the distance. This kit was designed by the nursing and neuropsychology team at Human Bonds by Versania and also includes a whole package of activities in digital format that older people will be able to access and continue implementing after the program ends.

January 26, 2022 – The signing of the Joint Declaration with Singapore, which seeks to deepen cooperation in areas of common interest that contribute to the free movement of goods, services, capital and people, took place in Bahia Malaga, venue of the XVI Summit of the Pacific Alliance.

According to the Joint Declaration, the Pacific Alliance and Singapore will identify opportunities in areas such as investment, trade and tourism, digital economy, trade facilitation measures, culture, economy/inclusive growth, among others.

The document was signed by the Foreign Minister of Chile, Andrés Allamand; the Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez; the Minister of Commerce of Colombia, María Ximena Lombana; the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard; the Secretary of Economy of Mexico, Tatiana Clouthier; the Foreign Minister of Peru, Óscar Maúrtua, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, Roberto Sánchez.

See the statement here

PACIFIC ALLIANCE PPT COMMUNICATIONS

August 5, 2022.- On August 5, 2022, the First Ministerial Meeting on Empowerment and Economic Autonomy of Women of the Pacific Alliance was held.

The opening was in charge of Mexico as pro tempore presidency of the Pacific Alliance, in which the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Economy, Luz María de la Mora, and the President of the National Institute for Women, Nadine Gasman Zylbermann gave the welcome highlighting the importance of women’s empowerment and gender equity within the Pacific Alliance.

The meeting was divided into 3 blocks. The first one included the participation of Diana Miloslavich Tupac, Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, Gheidy Gallo Santos, Presidential Adviser for Women’s Equity of Colombia, Luz Pascuala Vidal Huiriqueo, Undersecretary of Women and Gender Equity Chile, and Luz María de la Mora, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of Mexico, as well as the moderation of Nicole Bidegain, ECLAC Social Affairs Officer. During this segment, the ministers and deputy ministers highlighted the progress of their countries in promoting gender in economic and commercial matters, and pointed out the challenges that still persist to expand the participation of rural and indigenous women in trade.

The meeting was divided into 3 blocks. The first included the participation of Diana Miloslavich Tupac, Minister of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, Gheidy Gallo Santos, Presidential Adviser for Women’s Equity of Colombia, Luz Pascuala Vidal Huiriqueo, Undersecretary of Women and Gender Equity Chile, and Luz María de la Mora, Undersecretary of Foreign Trade of Mexico, as well as the moderation of Nicole Bidegain, ECLAC Social Affairs Officer. During this segment, the ministers and deputy ministers highlighted the progress of their countries in promoting gender in economic and commercial matters, and pointed out the challenges that still persist to expand the participation of rural and indigenous women in trade.

Officials from the World Bank, CAF, ECLAC and the OECD participated in the second block, and it was moderated by the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of UN Women, María Noel Vaeza. During this segment, the panelists pointed out the importance of betting on economic and foreign trade policies with a gender approach; and exposed the need to take ambitious actions to close gender gaps. During their presentations, the panelists highlighted that only 11% of women in Latin America export and the importance of increasing this number, pointing out that the participation of women generates a positive impact on exports, on the quality of goods and services, in the quality of work and contracts. Likewise, the urgency of promoting access to digitalization was pointed out, as this is what really allows women to face the world out there world with their enterprises.

For its part, in block 3 there was a dialogue with different rural entrepreneurs from the Pacific Alliance countries. In this segment, attendees had the opportunity to participate and delve into the success stories of the businesswomen present.

At the closing ceremony, the Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs of Colombia highlighted the work of the Technical Gender Group of the Pacific Alliance based on the 2022 Bahía Málaga Declaration to promote greater participation of companies led by women in production chains, with special emphasis on rural women’s enterprises. Additionally, all the countries of the Pacific Alliance were urged to work to create a favorable business ecosystem for women, promoting cooperation between the private and public sectors and collaboration and coordinated work at all levels.

August 21, 2024.– Yesterday, the first meeting of the Working Group for the accession of Costa Rica to the Pacific Alliance (PA) was held, with the participation of the National Coordinators (NCs) of the PA and representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Costa Rica.

The meeting was chaired by the National Coordinators of Chile, Marcela Otero and Cristóbal Ramírez, representing the pro tempore presidency of Chile 2024, and was attended by the NCs of Colombia, Mexico and Peru. On behalf of Costa Rica, the Director General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Adriana Castro, and the Minister Counselor of the Directorate of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Rolando Madrigal, were present.

“The process of Costa Rica’s accession to the Pacific Alliance will strengthen Latin American integration and give new impetus to our regional integration mechanism, with emphasis on a mixed economy model that reacts to the inequalities generated by the market, with the equality and sustainability that our countries require,” said Marcela Otero at the beginning of the meeting.

For their part, the representatives of Costa Rica thanked the event and expressed their complete willingness to work with the CNs.

This first meeting between Costa Rica and the PA marks the beginning of the process of joining the regional integration mechanism.

Communications PPT 2024 Pacific Alliance

March 6th, 2023.- The fifth meeting of the Pacific Alliance Network of National Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Institutions (IIPA-AP Network) will be held at the headquarters of the Marine and Coastal Research Institute “José Benito Vives de Andreis” (INVEMAR), located in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia, from March 15th to 17th, 2023.

The objective of this meeting organized by the Fisheries Development Institute (IFOP, Chile), with support from INVEMAR, is to develop a Work Plan for the 2023-2024 period, based on the priority issues defined by the institutions in a previous meeting held in September 2022. These topics include, among others, Ecosystem Approach, Climate Change, and Biodiversity. This Plan will allow progress in achieving the objectives of the network by promoting the development of joint scientific programs, the training of specialized human resources, and the exchange of experts between institutions, which will in turn progressively advance toward the best generation of scientific knowledge in fisheries and aquaculture for the sustainable management of these resources in the countries of the Pacific Alliance.

The meeting will be attended by the Directors of IFOP, Chile, Mr. Gonzalo Pereira Puchy; INVEMAR, Colombia, Mr. Francisco Arias Isaza; the National Fisheries Institute of Mexico (INAPESCA), Mr. Pablo Arenas Fuentes; and the President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of the Sea of Peru (IMARPE), Mr. Jorge Paz Acoste. Also attending the meeting will be the focal points of each institution, and representatives of the National Institute for Fisheries Research and Development of Argentina (INIDEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).