APRIL 2009: THE REGIONAL MEETING OF TRADE AND POVERTY WAS HELD IN NICARAGUA.

COPLA Regional organized, on Friday 3rd of April in Montelimar – Nicaragua, a meeting between COPLA’s Partners: CIES (Perú), GNTP (Bolivia), Nitlapan (Nicaragua) and ODI (UK) and Latinamerican trade network’s representatives. Members of these different networks participated: LATN – Latin American Trade Network, ALOP – Asociación Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de Promoción al Desarrollo , TKN – Trade Knowledge Network, IGTN – International Gender and Trade Network and orgzanizarions such as Grupo Faro from Ecuador, CDCS – Corporación para el Desarrollo y Comercio de Servicios - from Colombia and DESCO - Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo - from Perú.
The main objectives were: to socialize the most important research findings and the influence strategies, to gather actors working on the same topic in other parts of the region and generate work synergy while knitting relations between COPLA and the regional Networks.
Moreover, the systematization of lessons learned gathered by CIPPEC was shared and validated with the experiences of other actors wich concluded with recommendations that reflect the dialogue between the organizations.
During the morning, CIES, GNTP and Nitlapan presented their main research findings and influence strategies and ODI presented the project’s research framework. The network’s representatives were able to interrogate the partners and deepen the presentations. In the afternoon, a workshop took place with a peer assist and the lessons learnes that were validated amongst groups.
The meeting was very useful for the program’s evolution in both the research and lessons learned aspects and it was a unique opportunity to establish dialogue amongst actors working on the same issues of trade and poverty in the region that may develop in joint work in the future.