The Presidential Agency for International Cooperation of Colombia (APC Colombia) renewed its partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) today, affirming the shared priorities and increasingly strong ties between the Asia-Pacific and Latin-American regions.
During a bilateral meeting in Bangkok, Eleonora Betancur González, Director-General of APC Colombia and Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, exchanged expectations for the upcoming collaboration. The initiative will focus on supporting policymakers from the Mesoamerica and Asia-Pacific regions in building gender-responsive and climate-smart economies.
Through the partnership, in-depth knowledge exchange will be facilitated between policy makers from countries in both regions on the promotion of climate-smart and gender-responsive finance, investment and value chains, and the development of policies to foster inclusive, climate-resilient, and nature-based livelihoods and MSMEs for the green transition.
"The private sector has a critical role to play if we are to meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To do so, we need a private sector that puts people and planet alongside profit. This partnership will strive to build momentum on this agenda by supporting policy makers from the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions to put women at the heart of economies, and promote the integration of environmental objectives in investment and business practices," shared Ms. Alisjahbana. She added, "Issues such as climate change and social inequality transcend country boundaries. Through South-South Cooperation, our hope is that this partnership will build a global movement towards the ambition of more inclusive, sustainable and resilient economies."
This new collaboration phase builds on two years of prior collaboration between APC Colombia and ESCAP, drawing on pre-existing networks of policy makers and key stakeholders from the two regions. Previous phases of the partnership focused on supporting policy makers to promote business innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, and policy making for inclusive and sustainable economies, with a focus on financial inclusion, green transition of business and enterprise formalization.
"The road we have traveled together with ESCAP has been extremely rewarding, and we celebrate with enthusiasm the signing of this third contribution agreement between us. This reflects the close cooperative relationship between us and of the successful process of implementing this already consolidated alliance," said Ms. Betancur.
The new two-year initiative, funded by the Government of Colombia and implemented by ESCAP, is anticipated to spur the development and implementation of effective policies that promote sustainable climate-resilient, and nature-based economies, while ensuring that women, indigenous populations and other groups that are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis are placed at the heart of these solutions.
