XXVI Ibero-American Summit ends reaffirming its commitment to mutilateralism and the 2030 Agenda

The XXVI Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government concluded in Guatemala with the attendance of 15 Heads of State and Government, Vice-Presidents and Foreign Ministers, representing a total of 670 million Ibero-Americans. All countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Ibero-American project and the values ​​of multilateralism, dialogue and understanding that it represents. The presidents unanimously approved the Declaration of Guatemala: Ibero-American Commitment to Sustainable Development, the La Antigua Action Program for Ibero-American Cooperation, and 20 special communiqués that address a multitude of issues from climate change, developing countries without access to the coast, equality wage, decent work, sustainable coffee trade, and South-South cooperation. At the end of the meeting, it was officially announced that Andorra will host the XXVII Ibero-American Summit in 2020 and the transfer of the Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Ibero-American Conference between Guatemala and the Principality of Andorra was formalized. At the inauguration of the XXVI Ibero-American Summit, the Ibero-American General Secretary, Rebeca Grynspan, declared before the leaders: “We need leadership, courage to manage the change, and that is why we are here. For that reason is this Ibero-American space”. It should be noted the Ibero-American commitment to sustainable development  reached by the countries in these matters:

• Migration, committing to move towards a common Ibero-American agenda.
• Gender equality, manifesting zero tolerance towards violence against women and committing to promote the approval of laws and regulatory frameworks that guarantee equality and prohibit discrimination against women in the world of work.
• Rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, supporting the Ibero-American Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• People with disabilities, promoting their inclusion in the economic and social life of Ibero-American countries.
• Education and Universities, supporting academic mobility by strengthening the Ibero-American Academic Mobility Framework (Campus Iberoamerica).
• Citizen Innovation, recognizing the contribution of laboratories of citizen innovation, in the production of innovative solutions for compliance with the 2030 Agenda.
• Economy and tourism, urging public policies for the development and management of sustainable and responsible tourism as a priority State policy, to boost the competitiveness of Ibero-American economies.
• Public administration, keep working on the improvement and modernization of the State.
• Employment: promoting productive development, establishing innovative and sustainable ventures, and reducing informality.
• Environmental sustainability and climate change, promoting the transformation of the energy consumption matrix to increase the use of clean renewable energy sources.
• Justice: public policies that guarantee equal access to justice, with special attention to people who are at risk and vulnerable. Also, during the XXVI Ibero-American Summit, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) presented:
• The Observatory of Sustainable Development and Climate Change of La Rábida, in Spain, and the first La Rábida-Huelva Report on climate change and sustainable development in Ibero-America.
• The Ibero-American Program on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote the inclusion of these people (90 million in Latin America).
• SEGIB, together with Spain (MAEC and Carolina Foundation) and Mexico (Conacyt, Amexcid), announced a total of US $ 2 million in mobility scholarships for students, professors and researchers, prioritizing women in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
• Campus Iberoamérica was launched, a portal that offers mobility opportunities to students, researchers and workers in Latin America.
• The report A Decade of South-South Cooperation in Ibero-America, which analyzes a decade of experience and more than 7,000 horizontal cooperation projects (South-South and Triangular). All the approved documents reinforce the leadership of Latin America in the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals and its commitment to dialogue, consensus and understanding in the Ibero-American space.