Luis Ravina, director of Navarra Center for International Development, has participated in Pamplona in the Spain 2050 Dialogues organized by the Government of Spain to discuss the future of the country, in this case about the inequality and poverty faced by many countries. Specifically, Ravina has been part of a round table on international cooperation with Pilar Cancela, Secretary of State for International Cooperation, and Esteban Morrás, CEO of Das-Nano.
In his speech, Professor Ravina focused on the need for independent evaluations of initiatives to improve the situation of underdeveloped countries. He also explained that cooperation must be rethought in order to involve the citizens of these countries more: "We have to change the mentality of cooperation and promote local innovation. Cooperation must be based on the transference of knowledge, since they are also capable of innovating," Ravina stressed.
On the other hand, Pilar Cancela, head of international cooperation in the Spanish Government, acknowledged the solidarity of Spanish society, something which in her opinion has also been highlighted by the pandemic: "COVID-19 has shown that we live in a global world in which we are all connected. Solidarity with the donation of vaccines is a reflection of the values of Spanish society". In this sense, Luis Ravina has recognized the effectiveness of these donations made by Spain to the rest of the world and especially to Central America, where Guatemala has been one of the main receptors, as some NCID researchers have recently published in Prensa Libre.
Ravina and Cancela also agreed on the effectiveness of the water management and purification promoted by Spanish cooperation and on the relationship this has with education: "Children in the poorest areas do not go to school simply because they have infections. The problem of malnutrition in Guatemala has a lot to do with the lower cognitive development of some of these children", emphasized Ravina.
Esteban Morrás, CEO of the Navarre-based company Das-Nano, also participated in the round table, reminding that "cooperation can not forget the digital world". For this reason, Morrás stressed the importance of generating, also in less developed countries, jobs related to software and programming, which, in his opinion, is "the job of the future". For the manager from Navarre, it is essential for companies to be sensitive to correct inequalities, since workers are more motivated when they feel involved in solidarity causes.
Finally, Luis Ravina also recalled that "one of the major causes of poverty is violence" and Pilar Cancela stressed that "all citizens finance international cooperation with their taxes".