Inception Stakeholder Workshop – Lima, Peru

On 7 August 2017 the French Institute for Agrarian Research (INRA) held an Inception Stakeholder Workshop for the New National Planning for Sustainable Development in the Global South Project in Lima, Peru. The workshop was held in association with the Economics Department of the Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and sponsored by the National Centre of Strategic Planning from the Peruvian Government (CEPLAN).

The event was coordinated by Leonth Hinojosa (INRA and Aix-Marseille University) and Jose Carlos Orihuela (PUCP) and was assisted by Alejandra Zuniga and CEPLAN’s secretarial team. The workshop took place in CEPLAN’s Conference Centre, Lima and was attended by government officials, civil society representatives and academics.

Prior to the Inception Workshop a meeting was held in July 2017 between CEPLAN’s President and the project executive team. This initial meeting outlined the project, New National Planning for Sustainable Development in the Global South, and communicated the first insights from the current process of planning in Peru. The Inception Workshop that followed was aimed at a larger, broader audience to introduce the network and the case study on Peru and also to reflect on both the historical and recent national planning in Peru based on the participants experience and CEPLAN’s current work.

The event was opened by Leonith Hinojosa who presented the network and provided an overview of the case study on Peru, the presentation in Spanish with an English translation is below:

 

Jose Carlos Orihuel presented a summary of national planning in Peru from 1950’s to present day. After the presentation each workshop participant was encouraged to provide insights into their experiences in addition to outlining the roles of their institutions in national planning.

Javier Abugattas, President of CEPLAN, delivered a presentation of the current institutional framework of CEPLAN focusing on the strategies towards the future multiple milestones established for Peru; most notably Peru’s bicentennial anniversary of independence in 2021 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. See the full presentation here:

During the second half of the workshop participants discussed the achievements and impact of recent planning experiences in Peru. The discussion centred around the opportunities and difficulties for achieving a planning system that simultaneously integrates and prioritises development objectives at multiple scales (national, regional, local) relying on institutional strengthening and the efficient use of financial resources.

During discussions the prominent role that CEPLAN can play in structuring a system that allows for broad participation of all government sectors and agencies was highlighted. In addition attention was drawn to the requirement for constructing a consensual vision of national development with more inclusion of all sectors of the population, consensus achieved in broad public spaces of debate (such as the Foro del Acuerdo Nacional) is fundamental to this. It was concluded that greater effort is required at all levels for strengthening a strategic planning system that effectively integrates State action on national development.

The event was closed by CEPLAN’s President, Javier Abugattas, who made a call for more active participation in the reformulation of Peru’s national planning system and expressed the expectations created for public policy-oriented outputs to be produced by research undertaken by the Network. The workshop presented an invaluable opportunity to link researchers and stakeholders which led to collaboration and information sharing.

Additional information on CEPLAN can be found here  along with the Voluntary National Report on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – Peru, which can be found here