COPOLAD meeting in Peru to asses and review the dialogue process on Alternative Development between CELAC countries

Lima, 27 February 2018. From 27 February to 1 March, Lima hosts the "3^rd Intra-Regional Dialogue Forum on Alternative Development" of the Programme for Cooperation between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union on Drugs Policies (COPOLAD), programme financed by the European Union and managed by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), which aims to promote the exchange of experiences, identify lessons learned and work together on new approaches in the field of alternative and comprehensive development with representatives of public entities and local organizations of the countries participating in the Programme.

Within the framework of COPOLAD, the forum is led by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Republic of Peru through the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (DEVIDA). The welcoming speeches are given by the Executive President of DEVIDA, Dr Carmen Masías Claux, and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Peru, Ambassador Diego Mellado, accompanied by Klaas Grimmelmann on behalf of GIZ and Teresa Salvador-Llivina, Director of COPOLAD. 

The forum gathers representatives of international institutions as the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), representatives of UNODC Peru and seven governmental institutions from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as representatives of producer organizations and associations as well as the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).

This "3^rd Intra-Regional Dialogue Forum on Alternative Development” is the follow-up of the first Forum held in Bogotá (Colombia) in December 2016 and the second Forum held in Santa Cruz and Trópico de Cochabamba (Bolivia) in November 2017, aimed at the integration of Alternative Development in the national policies.