Colombian Foreign Minister Opens Civil Society Forum with the EU

Social Forum held in Colombia. Santa Marta, Colombia, Nov 7 (Prensa Latina) – Colombia's Foreign Minister, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, today led the opening of the Civil Society Forum Latin America and the Caribbean–European Union, a space aimed at strengthening citizen participation in global decision-making. The event, taking place at the Irotama hotel, serves as a dialogue platform preceding the IV CELAC–EU Summit, which will be officially held next Sunday, November 9, with the attendance of 62 delegations representing both blocs. Speaker outlines challenges in a world hungry for social justice. According to the minister, it is necessary to eliminate the asymmetries that have long characterized relations between the two regions to address urgent challenges that do not allow for unilateral responses, such as climate change, inequality, forced migration, and food security. “No society, no matter how strong, can solve them alone,” she stated. She also emphasized that foreign policy must cease to be an exclusive exercise practiced by elites and, instead, must value the contributions and criteria “of the women who care for life, of the peoples who defend their rivers and ecosystems, of the young people who imagine a sustainable future.” Villavicencio also highlighted the significance of the forum, which, as she stressed, has “the opportunity to write a new chapter based on cooperative solidarity, respect for diversity, and a commitment to life in all its forms.” Also attending the event were the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness, and Crisis Management of the European Commission, Hadja Lahbib; and Andrea Remes, representative of the Global Youth Forum. This meeting has brought together representatives of indigenous peoples, youth organizations, feminist movements, and LGBTQ+ community activists, Afro-descendant leaders, as well as networks, platforms, and non-governmental organizations. It is reported that the participants will draft their conclusions into a Joint Declaration of Civil Society, which will be presented to the heads of State and Government during the IV CELAC–EU Summit. Among the topics being discussed by the forum participants are the formation of a birregional care pact that recognizes this activity as a human right. It also proposes placing human rights and democratic strengthening at the center of birregional relations to prevent institutional weakening, the closure of civic space, human rights violations, and the erosion of the rule of law. It also calls for advancing towards a just ecological transition, based on rights and territorial sovereignty, that prioritizes sustainability policies over economic, energy, and geopolitical interests, as well as transforming the international financial architecture to move towards new scenarios of birregional cooperation.