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The EU and Latin and Central America

ACT Alliance EU members have a history of more than 30 years working and supporting communities in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Today, these countries are among the poorest, the most unequal and violent in Latin America. This also means that disasters produced by climate change impacts them highly. The European Union is a relevant political and economic actor in the region and its policies and actions should contribute to positive change.

The ACT Alliance EU Advocacy Programme on Central America (PICA) closed at the end of 2017. It sought to monitor and influence EU policies in Central America to bring about transparent, democratic and participatory actions, thus contributing to the realisation of human rights, gender equality and the eradication of poverty in Central America. Our work focused in three main areas: peace, justice and security; sustainable development and climate justice and the space for civil society participation.

There is extended evidence that the space for civil society participation in Central American countries is reducing. Organisations and activists who promote human rights and defend their territory and the rights of indigenous peoples are particularly affected in their work: they are persecuted, defamed, stigmatized and criminalized either by legal reforms or repressive security policies.

In addition, their participation in the formulation, monitoring and control of public policies is increasingly limited, as is also their access to funds for their work.

The ACT Alliance EU Advocacy Programme on Central America (PICA) closed at the end of 2017.

During its time PICA worked to ensure that the European Union, having recognized the importance and relevance of a strong and active civil society and its contribution to the development of their countries, made an effective use of its policies and instruments in support of Central American civil society.

Featured Resources

El Salvador Declaration of the Peoples of Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean

On September 7-8, 2017, CONCORD Europe and its Latin American partner Mesa de Articulación organised a Civil Socie... Read More

Members of the European Parliament support demands of COPIHN, Honduras

Berta Cáceres Flores, an environmental and human rights defender from the Lenca community, in Honduras, was assassinated... Read More

Newsletter #9: A glance at EU-Latin America relations

This newsletter has been written by ACT Alliance EU and CIFCA, with the aim of providing analysis and information on Eur... Read More

Newsletter #8: A glance at EU-Latin America relations

This newsletter has been written by ACT Alliance EU and CIFCA, with the aim of providing analysis and information on Eur... Read More

Monitoring EU policies: a systematization report

This report systematises  ACT Alliance EU and CIFCA Networks’ joint experience of monitoring EU policies between 201... Read More

Training Guide: EU Advocacy on Central America

This Guide has been developed as a tool for learning and training for advocacy work in relation to EU policies with... Read More

Resources

Newsletter #5: A glance at EU-Latin America relations

SPECIAL ISSUE: II EU-CELAC Summit The newsletter has been produced by ACT Alliance EU (formerly APRODEV), CIFCA and GRU... Read More

The strategic EU-CELAC relationship: Pending assessment

The analysis argues that the political objectives of the conventional Bi-regional Association need to be renewed, especi... Read More

Resolutions adopted by EUROLAT in 2015

During the meeting held in Brussels on 4 June 2015, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, approved two resolut... Read More