THE MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTRY HOLDS AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE CHALLENGES AND NEW ISSUES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS AND CIVIL SOCIETY  

• The Mexican government continues to further its dialogue with national and international civil society.
 
• The seminar brought together representatives from eight Latin American governments, Mexican, Latin American and North American academics, and representatives from civil society organizations.

• The seminar encouraged a frank and constructive analysis of the relationship between civil society and governments, and the design and implementation of policies to promote their activities.

An international conference on “Challenges and New Issues in the Relationship between Governments and Civil Society" was held in the Foreign Ministry on August 27-28 to discuss the  evolution of the relationship between government and civil society, identify successful policies for promoting the activities of civil society organizations in our region, and to exchange experiences on implementing public policies.

Experts on national and international civil society, representatives of government institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Uruguay, staff from civil society organization (CSO) liaison offices, CSO representatives and members of the Federal Law to Promote CSO Activities’ Development Commission and Technical Advisory Council participated.

The seminar provided a good opportunity to learn about and share the experiences of various Iberoamerican countries on the participation of civil society in politics and on how to strengthen democracy. The participants also discussed the role of social capital in strengthening institutions and international cooperation for development and civil society.

Of particular interest were two talks about the impact of civil society on international politics, especially the United Nations, by Mexico’s representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, and public policy in South America by a researcher at the School of Public Policy and Management at the National University of San Martin in Argentina, Dr. Gabriela Ippolito.

The importance of continuing and following up on the dialogues in order to strengthen the relationship between government and civil society was stressed. The initiative of forming a government network to share experiences between Iberoamerican governments and civil societies was particularly welcomed.