COOPERATION IN ACTION

OAS-SEDI: Forging New Partnerships for Development

October 2, 2014. Washington, DC
OAS - Caribbean Export Development Agency agree to support SMEs. Following a successful series of joint projects, both organizations signed an agreement to frame extensive collaboration in the Caribbean region on October 2.  Preliminarily actions identified to advance common interests include developing an export strategy for higher education services, and a program to prepare technical advisors from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) support institutions to assist MSME in enhancing their competitiveness and productivity through the use of ICTs in their business management process.  This last program will build on similar successful training carried out in Central America with support from CENPROMYPE and funded by the OAS-Canada Cooperation Plan.

October 10, 2014. Trinidad and Tobago
OAS - Trinidad and Tobago to promote clean production processes. The Organization will work with the Caribbean country to evaluate the design and development of biodegradable packaging of food, as a sustainable alternative to the use of Styrofoam, a material with harmful effects on health and the environment. Expected benefits include reduced waste, and a more sustainable food and beverage industries in Trinidad and Tobago. The new Agreement was signed in the context of the VIII ACF and is part of the institutional efforts to promote Closed Looped Cycle Production (CLP) in the Americas Program of the OAS-SEDI Department of Sustainable Development. To date, the OAS-SEDI has implemented the CLP Program in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago with the aim of increasing productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of firms, and of facilitating the transition to circular economies in the region.

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September 24-25, 2014. Buenos Aires, Argentina
OAS-Argentina begin collaboration on the My School in Action project. The OAS-SEDI Inter-American Teacher Education Network (ITEN) and the Ministry of Education of the City of Buenos Aires began the joint project, which aims to build local capacity in secondary schools to implement community projects with students. The first phase of the project consisted of two workshops in which 40 teachers, educational advisers and directors of the city were trained to use a participatory teaching methodology to strengthen student’s critical thinking skills, civic responsibility, leadership, decision making, communication and participation. The second phase will take place in the coming months through the exchange of participants’ experiences in online seminars and discussion forums on ITEN’s virtual community. The development of community projects are expected to strengthen public participation in and outside of educational institutions.