The OAS-RIAL Supports Bilateral Cooperation Colombia-Peru
The
broad agenda of bilateral cooperation between Colombia and Peru is
now being implemented through concrete actions. From October 21 to
23, representatives of Labor Ministries from both countries
participated in a technical exchange mission in Bogota, facilitated
by the OAS-SEDI
Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL).
A delegation from Peru
visited the Ministry of Labor of Colombia to gain from its
experience in the area of conflict prevention and resolution.
Colombia established the
Directorate for the Prevention and Solution of Labor Conflicts and
Labor Corporate Social Responsibility in 2010, gaining a wealth
of experience in a similar context to the neighboring country.
Meanwhile, the
Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE) of Peru is
interested in strengthening this area of action, in particular the
legal defense of workers, which is why it called on the RIAL to
facilitate the exchange.
Gloria Gaviria, Head of International Relations
and Cooperation of the Ministry of Labor of Colombia stated that
"the OAS RIAL has allowed us to strengthen ties with our counterpart
Ministries in the region." Gaviria stressed the importance of this
being the first activity in the framework of the agreements signed
by the governments in the First Binational Cabinet held on September
30 in the border city of Iquitos, Peru.
Gaviria was referring to the historic step
taken by the Presidents of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and Peru,
Ollanta Humala Tasso, to advance the
bilateral cooperation agenda when they met with their respective
cabinets of Ministers last month. At the meeting, eleven agreements
of cooperation and integration were signed in various areas
-including the area of labor- where the countries established common
goals and deadlines for achieving specific results.
"With the support of the OAS RIAL, the governments
of Colombia and Peru will make progress on the specific commitments
made at the binational meeting led by the Presidents of both
countries and reaffirmed in the Roadmap subscribed by the Ministers
of Labor of Colombia and Peru, Luis Eduardo Garzón and Fredy Rolando
Otálora," Gaviria said.
In this regard, Sherry Tross, OAS Executive
Secretary for Integral Development said that "The fact that the
governments of Colombia and Peru identified the OAS-RIAL as an
essential tool for their countries to use in advancing their
cooperation agreement is strong validation of the utility and impact
of the OAS cooperation mechanisms.”
The exchange mission is the first step in this
inter-Ministerial cooperation, which will continue to be followed-up
and receive institutional support. Paskal Vandenbussche, one of the
three participants from the MTPE of Peru, welcomed the opportunity,
stating that "My colleagues and I have been discussing the lessons
learned, particularly what we can take and propose to the MTPE-Lima.
Certainly, there are several lessons that we are evaluating and we
will explore how we can implement these in our country to obtain
better results, taking into consideration Peru’s context. "
To date, the RIAL has coordinated
80 bilateral cooperation activities with valuable results in
terms of strengthening priority areas of labor administration, as
defined by Member States through the Inter-American Conference of
Ministers of Labor (IACML). Priority areas include labor inspection,
youth employment, combating child labor and promoting gender
equality, among other areas of regional interest.
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