On Thursday 30th and Friday 31st, we had an in-person meeting in Rome of all the European countries where our Order has International Cooperation structures, whether they are NGOs or Foundations.

This meeting was attended by a lay person and also by a Brother of the Order with a long experience in Africa and also as director of the NGO Juan Ciudad.

The objective was how our centres, which are recipients of aid in the various continents, should approach the future of international cooperation.

On Thursday morning, our rapporteur was Ms. Marta Pedrajas, a graduate in Philosophy and Economic Sciences, and Master of the Social Teaching of the Church. She was a researcher at Harvard University, with Professor Anartya Sen, Nobel prize winner in economics in 1998. She also worked for five years in New York at the United Nations Development Programme.

In Spain, she was an advisory member of the General Secretariat for International Development at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was responsible for the Spanish Cooperation Master Plan.

She is currently working in the Vatican, as a researcher in the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development.

She first gave a presentation on how it should be understood and what options we are likely to have in the future of cooperation.  This was followed by a debate highlighting the value of cooperation and human development, and she advocated promoting an alliance which would enable everyone to journey together in the mission of promoting Integral Human Development.

José Maria Viadero, who has worked for many years in Ghana and Liberia, took part in the afternoon session. On his return to Spain he had been appointed Director of the NGO Juan Ciudad de España. He is still very involved in this work. 

From his vast experience, seeing and working in Cooperation on the African continent and later as head of the NGO Juan Ciudad in Madrid, he had to listen to the needs that came to him from different continents, and the few resources that were available for so many needs gave him a very distinct vision. Now a little further away from these situations and seeing current developments, his message to us was that Cooperation today is still very necessary, but everything evolves, and much more preparation is needed today to procure financial resources and assistance, so both sides need more professional formation, clarity and responsibility.

A very sincere dialogue began, where everyone expressed their points of view, seeking ways of approaching the future of cooperation and solidarity with our centres. Confronting possible challenges, appreciating everything we are already doing and analysing what is not sustainable, but perhaps necessary.

The rest of the time was devoted to hearing reports from the representatives of the NGOs and Foundations.