We can understand creativity as the ability to create, to provide solutions to problems. This problem-solving ability that affects the daily life of people is the reason for being of international cooperation and for development.

Today there are numerous forms of cooperation between countries: financial cooperation, technical cooperation, triangular cooperation, South-South cooperation, and cultural cooperation. These are different modes of support and collaboration between countries.

Another form of this cooperation between countries is cultural cooperation. For example, through design. A type of design aimed not at the designed object itself but at the people, a type of design focussed on its intended beneficiaries.

This objective was behind the organisation of the Ibero-American Design Biennial (BID) in 2007;  the year when 24 designers from 14 Latin American countries signed the Madrid Declaration and decided to join together to constitute the BID advisory committee.

Since then, this design exhibition has been held every two years. It is organised by the Madrid Design Foundation, with which the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs collaborates through Spanish Cooperation , along with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and FIIAPP, as part of the ACERCA project.

Fifth Ibero-American Design Biennial

From 21st November to 29th January, the fifth edition of the BID exhibition can be visited, where more than 1,000 designers from Ibero-America, Spain and Portugal are presenting 470 design proposals..

Spanish Cooperation and the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) highlighted the work of the projects presented by awarding four honourable mentions and one prize in the category of design for development. In the words of the head of the Cooperation and Cultural Promotion Department of the AECID’s Directorate of Cultural and Scientific Relations, Jorge Peralta, “the qualities of the awarded works are the contribution to a safer, more accessible and more creative world, breaking with the elitist role of design and demonstrating that design understood as a tool for development is also viable”.

Tiago Dias, a designer and one of the creators of the awarded project Bienestar Familia (Family Well-being), explains that their work tries to “provide underprivileged families in the peripheries of the Caldas region in Colombia with access to primary healthcare.” An objective that it meets through the design of health insurance adapted to the living conditions and spending capacity of the beneficiaries.

The other projects selected in the category of design for development offer design solutions in diverse ways. Such as an emergency housing solution for refugees fleeing armed conflicts or natural disasters; irregularly shaped bricks that insulate against heat; a low-cost incubator; and retrofitting solutions for houses to insulate against the cold in the Andean highlands.

This project, which gets bigger each year, brings together leading Ibero-American designers who, from different perspectives, contribute new ways of transforming the world.

The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) collaborates with the Biennial through the ACERCA Programme, by AECID, whose objective is to promote culture as an engine of development.

Further information here

Human Rights Day is observed all over the world on 10th December. A celebration that commemorates the date on which the United Nations General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

To join in this celebration, we spoke with Virgínia Brás Gomes, a member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and an expert working with the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) in a project in Morocco to strengthen human rights in the country. Her work dealt specifically with the right to work and just and favourable working conditions.

We spoke with her about the relationship between the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and development cooperation. To fight for these rights, the population and the institutions, states and organisations work to develop both public policies and cooperation projects.

According to Virginia, “the Committee as such has no direct relationship with development cooperation”.

Nonetheless, the covenant on economic, social and cultural rights signed on 16th December 1966, in Virginia’s words, “speaks clearly about the international technical and financial cooperation that the most developed countries have the obligation to provide to support the least developed countries. Therefore, for the committee it is important to reaffirm this obligation of the developed nations to human rights. It is in the dialogues for monitoring the covenant that the committee reaffirms this obligation. We all know that without development, human rights do not exist”.

Virginia asserts that “human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, absolutely require development in relation to economic and financial resources and the stability of the country. This is very important. We always talk about the cooperation of the most developed countries; we also say and recommend to countries that if the national resources are insufficient, it is possible to work through international cooperation, which is not cooperation as a handout but rather necessary cooperation”.

Listen to our special segment on Human Rights Day on our programme Public Cooperation in the World on Radio 5, of Spanish National Radio (RNE).

Los derechos humanos y la cooperación internacional

For a good part of the population, the cooperation sector in Spain is totally unknown, and even more so the area of public cooperation, which is the focus of the work of the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP). It is a highly specialised field in which all types of professionals can find a place.

In constant flux, the job market in cooperation should not be overlooked by job-seekers, as each week, through different employment websites, numerous institutions, foundations, and international cooperation organisations post new vacancies. Technical specialists, managers, economists, engineers, and political scientists are some of the profiles in demand.

What can I do to get a job with FIIAPP?

Public cooperation is a branch of cooperation dedicated to strengthening public institutions between countries. This is the sector in which FIIAPP has been working since 1997, hiring new employees every year.

That’s why it is important to know what types of professionals the foundation looks for. Ana María Serrano, Director of the Human Resources and Organisational Area of FIIAPP, explains that the most in-demand profile at the foundation is a “person with a university degree, normally in a social field, with a specialisation in cooperation and experience in project management. Other important merits are management skills and knowledge of European Union projects. In addition, languages are important. Fluency in English is practically a basic requirement, and French and Portuguese are always welcome.”

In terms of the most highly-valued qualities in a FIIAPP employee, Ana María Serrano emphasises “the ability to work on a team, resolve conflicts, and manage and coordinate people. Communication is also important, as the people who manage projects are in constant communication with both partners and experts.” In addition, she adds that proactiveness is very important, “it’s always good to find a person who is constantly curious and interested in seeking knowledge and possibilities. Empathy, proactiveness, and flexibility are also very highly valued qualities”.

Step 1: How do I apply?

Once you have located an interesting vacancy, you need to take time to prepare your candidacy with care to avoid missing out on opportunities. According to Ana María Serrano, when a person has decided to seek employment in cooperation, there are a several points to understand clearly:

– Look at the section of the FIIAPP website where job vacancies are posted every 10 or 15 days. This is the period of time allowed for submitting applications. That way you won’t miss any opportunities.

– Don’t send a standard CV. It’s advisable to adapt your CV to the position, address all of the points in the job announcement, and spend some time on it to improve your chances. Ana María Serrano explains that “if not, you run the risk of being eliminated in the initial screening because the recruiters don’t have all the information”.

Step 2: What is the selection process like?

To be selected, it’s not enough to send in your CV on time. A job applicant must pass through a selection process that normally has three parts:

– A part that is fundamentally objective to assess whether the applicant meets the position requirements and has the desired qualities.

-Testing related to the duties of the position.

– A personal interview.

The FIIAPP Director of Human Resources explains that “in part of the interview we place a high value on the capacity shown by the person to perform the duties of the position, interest in and knowledge about the project, and about the institution and the type of institution it is”.

Lastly, she adds “I recommend that the person seeking to take part in a selection process visit our website, soak up everything on it, about what we do and the project related to the vacancy.  When preparing for the interview, you have to show who you are. Be yourself and demonstrate that you are truly interested in the position and knowledgeable about the world in which you will be working.”

Nearly 80 million people live in Turkey and up to just over two years ago, the Turkish population did not have a place to go where they felt protected and could file complaints or be represented in cases of basic human rights violations.

Things have changed, because citizens have had an Ombudsman’s Office for nearly three years. They have benefited from the experiences of the Spanish and French Ombudsman’s Offices, which worked with their Turkish counterparts for two years to overcome one of the greatest challenges: modernising itself to provide good service to citizens.

Currently the Turkish Ombudsman’s Office is facing another big challenge, that of making itself a respected, effective and independent institution. To achieve this, it has to make its existence known to its nearly 80 potential clients, so that they know that there is somewhere to go if something goes wrong; to the Administration, before which it will have to defend the interests of citizens; and, of course, it has to spread the word among other actors it will have to work with, such as NGOs and civil society.

The staff of the Turkish Ombudsman’s Office has learned how to receive and process citizen complaints and, although the institution is still not very widely known among the Turkish people, it is receiving complaints every day from the population. The most common ones have to do with issues of schools, taxes…

Victoria Palau, the project coordinator on the ground, tells us that they have devoted “special attention to refugees and that Turkey has more than two million Syrian refugees. For this reason, staff members from the Turkish Ombudsman’s Office have visited refugee camps and are working to improve the quality of life for these people”.

Fin de programa de Defensor del Pueblo en Turquía

The European Union defines the 2030 Agenda as “a universal framework for all countries to help eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development by 2030”. The Agenda, which was adopted at the United Nations headquarters, includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 Associated Targets mobilising all countries and to which FIIAPP is also committed.

Spanish Cooperation has established a series of priorities that constitute the red lines that Spain has defended in the negotiations and which are centred on the eradication of poverty, the reduction of inequality, sustainability in all its dimensions and an integrated focus on human and gender rights.

In line with these priorities, FIIAPP will continue developing cooperation projects all over the world centred on modifying public policies and systems that benefit all citizens.

We take on altitude sickness and cross the air above thousands of dwellings to learn about the Accounting and Tax Support Centre (NAF) at the Public University of El Alto (UPEA) in Bolivia. They say that the modern cable car we’re travelling in links two realities: that of the increasingly prosperous businesspeople, hotel owners and restaurateurs in the south side of the city of La Paz, and that of the town of El Alto, mostly Aymara-speakers who come from rural areas, with high levels of informal labour and scant economic resources. Each day, the so-called “sky metro” transports more than 90,000 citizens, who use it to escape the chaos of city traffic. As the cable car ascends, the difference between these two realities becomes more and more marked.

Now we’re at 4,000 metres. In the background, the imposing Illimani peak, 6,462 metres high, the ceiling of the Real mountain range. El Alto is a city of immigrants, particularly rural farmers from the Bolivian high plain. In barely three decades of existence, it has become the second most populated city in Bolivia, with nearly 850,000 inhabitants.

The “alteños” have fighting spirit, they know very well what it means to start from zero, what it is to struggle against lack of opportunity. El Alto is a sea of small family businesses, micro-enterprises, many of them informal: specifically 72 out of 100, according to the Labour Development and Agricultural Studies Centre. Its relationship with the tax collector has never been easy. It’s not unusual to encounter posters that say: “Tax collectors go home”.

City of El Alto. Illiani Mountain in the background. PHOTO: EUROsociAL.

Bolivia’s National Tax Service (SIN) is aware that coercion cannot be the only weapon against fraud: carrots are needed in addition to sticks. Along with greater incentives and better services, the transformation of the tax culture requires pedagogy. Through tax education, the SIN is seeking a different approach, another viewpoint, greater dialogue. The Accounting and Tax Support Centre at the University of El Alto, supported by EUROsociAL and the SIN, is one such initiative. At the NAF, university students provide free advising on tax and accounting matters to micro-enterprise operators and low-income citizens.

The students at the NAF receive us in one of the classrooms of the university. “The selection process and requirements were exhaustive”, they tell us; “it was hard, but we accepted the challenge and it is paying off”. For some students, the majority from modest circumstances, participating in the NAF represented a great opportunity they didn’t want to pass up. Since its creation three months ago, they have provided assistance to 214 citizens, many of them from the informal sector, who frequently come back after their first visit.

The businesspeople of El Alto feel comfortable with the students. They dedicate time to them, are patient with them, and use plain language. They inspire trust. The maturity, enthusiasm and values of these students are surprising. All of them want to share their experience with us.“One time they wanted to pay us out of gratitude, but we told them that wasn’t possible, that it’s a free service for the community; later they came back with a gift of candy for everyone”, relates one student.

The experience of the NAF has been very useful for them. “It has been a marvellous experience of direct interaction with citizens. We’ve gone deeper into the theory, learning about changes in the tax code, and, most importantly, we’ve put them into practice, which will open a lot of doors in the job market. Plus, we’ve been able to learn the reality of citizens and to explain to them tax issues and their importance to society”, remarks Juan.

Students at the University of El Alto (Bolivia) offer tax advising free of charge to city residents at Accounting and Tax Support Centres (NAFs). PHOTO: EUROsociAL.

“Citizens come in to the NAFs because they’re afraid of the SIN representatives; they see us differently. And, sometimes accounting and legal advisers don’t speak to them using simple words”, he continues. Since business management is mainly a family matter, in most cases there is no accounting control, which limits the effectiveness of the businesses. “Others come in to the NAF because they don’t have the means to hire an adviser, they don’t know about taxes, or because of its proximity to them. In National Taxes, since there are so many people, they can’t assist them in the way that they need, or they leave with unanswered questions. Here they get information and they feel more relaxed in case they have to go back to the SIN”.

These students, just like the cable car, are links that connect two still very separate worlds; they have the advantage of a good understanding of both realities. The dream of Juan, the son of rural businesspeople who came to El Alto when he was just eight, is to work in a public institution and, later, manage his own micro-enterprise. With his experience at the NAF, he’s already taking the first steps towards making this dream a reality.

Article by Borja Díaz Rivillas, Senior Expert on Democratic Governance and Public Finance at EUROsociAL II – FIIAPP.