Speech
9 December 2008
Launch of a new Civil Society Programme Partnership Arrangement for Latin America
Speech by DFID Minister Mike Foster speaking at the launch of a new Civil Society Programme Partnership Arrangement for Latin America, DFID's London Head Quarters, 9 December 2008
Civil society is – and has to be – right at the frontline in the fight against
poverty.
Nowhere more so than in Latin America, where organisations like the ones
represented in this room work - day in, day out - to tackle social, economic and
political exclusion.
Latin America is leading global progress towards the Millennium Development
Goals.
As a region it is currently on track to halve extreme poverty by 2015.
And all Latin American countries have now achieved middle income status.
But despite these achievements, as you well know, there is still a long way to
go.
Four out of ten people are still denied even the most basic minimum living
standards. Eighty-eight million people still live in extreme poverty.
And Latin America faces new global challenges – challenges which threaten us
all, and which will hit the poorest first and hardest.
Climate change – which could render 200 million people around the world homeless
by 2050 – is melting glaciers high in the Andes and damaging marine ecosystems
across Central America.
By 2010, half of the world’s poorest people could be living in states
experiencing violent conflict. Our experience in Latin America clearly
demonstrates the need for sound political processes to prevent social tensions
escalating into violent conflict.
And the recent volatility in the world economy – which has already forced 100
million people worldwide into extreme poverty – could halt, or even reverse the
progress that Latin America has made.
These global challenges don’t recognise international borders. They don’t stop
to show a passport.
And they show how interconnected our world is – how nations across the globe,
from the UK, to Latin America, to the Indian subcontinent, are inextricably
linked.
To overcome them we must work together – in partnership. Government, civil
society and individuals.
The Partnership Programme Arrangement we are launching today will enable us to
do that.
It will change the way we deliver development support and significantly increase
the funding we provide to international Civil Society Organisations.
As the Secretary of State announced earlier this year, total funding will
increase from £7 million a year to £13 million a year for the next three years.
Between 2008 and 2011, we will provide an additional £1.4 million to each of
12 partner organisations – many of whom are represented here today.
Those organisations will operate on the ground in Latin America, through their
own programmes and using the relationships they have built up with local civil
society organisations.
As well as being our “hands” on the ground, they will also be our eyes and ears.
Reporting back so that DFID – and the wider development community – has a clear
understanding of what is happening on the ground, and continues to learn lessons
from the region.
We know that the Partnership mechanism works because it has already been tried
and tested – from defending the rights of workers in Mexico’s electronics
industry to helping Honduran communities adapt to the effects of climate change
on the world’s second largest barrier reef.
Our partners bring together experience and expertise from different countries
and different sectors, and make a real difference to the lives of millions of
people.
By working in partnership we can make the best use of that experience, focus it
around one strategy, and ensure our programmes have the greatest possible impact
on the lives of the poor and vulnerable.
I’m really pleased that we now have a framework for working together.
Putting an end to poverty in Latin America will require a renewed effort from
all of us, it will take political will, and it will take time.
But so long as we work together – in partnership – we can make it happen; we can
achieve the Millennium Development Goals; and we can overcome the global
challenges of the 21st century.
Links
- UK Minister launches new civil society partnership in Latin America - 9 December 2008
- Latin America regional profile
- Who DFID works with - Civil society
