RIETS Participates in the Process that Will Redefine the Milestones of Ibero-American Cooperation Between 2027 and 2030 [1]

The Training Center of the Spanish Cooperation, located in the historic center of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, hosted the II Reflection Seminar on the Ibero-American Cooperation Strategy on May 6 and 7, 2026. The event gathered around 70 representatives from different bodies of the 22-country bloc with the goal of designing the strategic and operational mechanisms that will guide multilateral actions in the 2027–2030 quadrennium.

This reflection, which takes place in a challenging global scenario, aims to allow Ibero-American Cooperation to achieve results with a greater direct impact on citizens' quality of life. Under the leadership of the Pro Tempore Secretariat (SPT) of Spain, the seminar updates an institutional modernization process that had its first milestones at the Cádiz (2012) and Veracruz (2014) summits.

Following an invitation from the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) [4], the Ibero-American Network of Health Technician Education (RIETS) [5] was represented by professor and researcher Helifrancis Condé Ruela. He is a member of the International Cooperation team at the Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health, which serves as the Network's Executive Secretariat. For Helifrancis, RIETS' participation in the Seminar was important in several aspects.

History and Changes Side by Side

The search for efficiency is not new to the Ibero-American ecosystem. The process initiated in 2010 and consolidated in 2014 introduced the Managing for Development Results (MfDR) logic. That reform also established the transversal approaches to work and the Four-Year Action Plans of Ibero-American Cooperation (PAQCI).

For over a decade, the model operated based on three major strategic priorities: social cohesion, knowledge, and culture. This structure allowed the bloc to position itself as a successful global example of regional cooperation. The model was built on the pillars of horizontality, consensus, innovation, and social inclusion.

However, after three decades of action, the advance of climate crises, post-pandemic economic asymmetries, and the urgency for digital transformation demanded a profound review. The previous mechanisms, although successful, showed signs of exhaustion in the face of the speed of global transformations. The current order demands greater administrative agility and a sharper thematic focus to avoid the scattering of public resources.

A Single Process, Two Phases

To ensure an organized and participatory debate, the member countries decided to divide the bloc's reformulation into two complementary stages:

• Strategic Phase: Dedicated to redefining the major long-term political and sectoral objectives.

• Operational Phase: Focused on creating tools, budgets, deadlines, and indicators to make the established goals viable.

The first phase took shape at the I Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Seville in July 2025. On that occasion, the foreign ministries agreed to advance toward a more strategic and concerted planning capable of responding to citizens' demands. Two months later, in October 2025, the I Cartagena Seminar brought together the entire institutional ecosystem to design the Sectoral Strategic Objectives (OES), which were politically validated at the II Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on November 24, 2025. They expanded the three historical priorities into five new integrated axes:

• OES1: Foster education, culture, knowledge, and innovation.

• OES2: Promote equality, cohesion, and social development.

• OES3: Advance toward environmental sustainability.

• OES4: Strengthen democracy, institutional structures, and the rule of law.

• OES5: Boost productive transformation for sustainable development.

Alliances as a Methodological Innovation

The major challenge of this latest Seminar was to seek ways to transform these five abstract objectives into institutional engineering. The agreed methodology foresees the creation of five Four-Year Operational Plans, replacing the previous format of the Four-Year Action Plan of Ibero-American Cooperation (PAQCI). The central goal of this change is to combat the dispersion of efforts, a recurring problem in multilateral organizations.

To operationalize each plan, the bloc will create an Alliance coordinated directly by SEGIB. This Alliance will act as a permanent coordination table gathering all relevant actors in the ecosystem: member countries, sectoral bodies (OEI, OISS, COMJIB, OIJ), Ibero-American Cooperation Programs and Initiatives (PIPA), and the Ibero-American Networks.

To ensure the plans have a real impact, each Alliance will undergo a thematic funneling exercise. First, ambitious yet concrete "Challenges" will be defined. Next, for each challenge, a maximum of three to four "Sectors" (specific fields of action) will be identified. These sectors will house the practical project portfolios.

The new design seeks, pragmatically, to increase the bloc's capacity to attract external financing. By presenting integrated programs with clear goals, auditable indicators, and reduced fragmentation, Ibero-American Cooperation elevates its bargaining power with global development funds, multilateral credit banks, and extra-regional partners.

What Doesn't Change

One of the points considered permanently defined is the respect for the asymmetry and sovereignty of the States. In this sense, the methodological document aims to reinforce that the project portfolios will be executed under the principles of voluntariness and the functional and operational autonomy of each agent. This means that no country or organization will be obliged to join an initiative that does not align with its national priorities or budgetary capacities.

The organization has also established a clear line of legal and technical demarcation: the project portfolios of the new Ibero-American Cooperation Strategy (ECI) are not to be confused with bilateral or trilateral South-South Cooperation. The latter will continue to be developed entirely autonomously by SEGIB member states.

Next Steps in the Change Process

With the conclusion of the II Cartagena Seminar, the technical work enters its most intense phase. The Cooperation Officers of the 22 Ibero-American nations are tasked with filling in the approved structures, defining the challenges, sectors, and projects that will make up the five operational volumes.

The political schedule is already set. The entire technical framework and the final draft of the Ibero-American Cooperation Strategy (ECI) will be brought to the table of the Heads of State and Government at the upcoming Ibero-American Summit, which will be held in Madrid, Spain, in November 2026. Its approval in the Spanish capital will mark the formal birth of the cooperation for the decade transition, with its implementation scheduled to take effect starting January 1, 2027.