EL PAcCTO ended the year with the meeting of the Management Committee, which was also attended by representatives of DG INTPA (Directorate-General for International Partnerships), DG HOME, EEAS (European External Action Service), the Council of the European Union, Eurojust, Europol, institutions belonging to the ministries of the Member States that make up the programme (Spain, France, Italy and Portugal), the associated programmes of Ameripol and Interpol and representatives from COPOLAD III (Cooperation Programme between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union on Drugs Policies), FIIAPP and the Instituto Camões.
The balance for 2021 has been very positive. It was the year in which we returned to Latin America, to carry out assignments and activities in person after the pandemic. Great results have been achieved, among which the coming together of large regional Justice institutions originated by the “Lisbon Declaration”, the presentation of IDEAL, the strategic threat analysis tool to facilitate CLASI (Latin American Committee on Internal Security) decision-making, support for the creation of Paraguay’s Higher School for Penitentiary Studies and collaboration with the Government of Ecuador in responding to the prison emergency. In fact, the European Union is going to coordinate all aid internationally in Ecuador thanks to the action plan that EL PAcCTO is coordinating.
Other notable actions included the setting up of four Specialised Multidisciplinary Teams and three Inter-institutional Technical Committees, the creation of the LYNX network against human trafficking, the consolidation of the CibEL@ network against cybercrime, the constitution of the Network of Penitentiary Academies and the support given to networks and working groups within the AIAMP, the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors.
In terms of communication, we must highlight the promotion of digital communication, the live broadcast of hybrid events, the creation of EL PAcCTO’s “La Hora” communication space on Zoom and YouTube and the awareness campaign carried out jointly with ELIPSIA, the Europe-Latin America Initiative for the Safety of Children and Adolescents.
Hybrid programming for 2022 focused on consolidating and achieving new results
2022 is the last full year of the programme, so strategic activities with its Latin American partners are highly significant.
With the aim of consolidating networking, strengthening national and institutional coordination and bi-regional dialogue, promoting the leadership of the EU and dialogue with other EU programmes, a hybrid programme has been drawn up around 300 activities.
As Juan Gama, co-director of EL PAcCTO, has pointed out, “the old action plans included many national activities. Now the percentage of regional activities is higher. And this can be consolidated in a second phase of the programme because the foundations are already in place”.
According to Xavier Cousquer, the other co-director of the programme, “one of the focuses in 2022 will be on national and international coordination and cooperation among networks. It’s time to consolidate and draw conclusions. That’s why we’ve increased the number of workshops and seminars next year”.
Among the main activities in 2022 we would highlight the follow-up on the Justice Meetings, the first ministerial meeting of CLASI scheduled for early March in Brussels, the preparation of IDEAL 2.0, the consolidation of the Network of Penitentiary Academies and the promotion of alternatives to imprisonment in Latin America. Also noteworthy are the high-level conferences on some of the most significant cross-cutting issues, the legislative work with FOPREL (Forum of Presiding Officers of Parliaments of Central America and the Caribbean Basin), the launch of communication and awareness campaigns on cryptocurrencies and human trafficking and an activity organised together with “EL PAcCTO: Support to AMERIPOL” and “INTERPOL: Support to EL PAcCTO”.