South America
In South America, InWEnt implements programmes on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) primarily in the following fields:
-
Environmental protection, conservation of natural resources and promotion of renewable energies
-
Support for democratic reform processes, peace building and crisis prevention.
These are complemented by the overarching tasks of reducing poverty and fostering social cohesion and sustainable economic development.
InWEnt promotes trans-national dialogue and supports regional integration processes, working with regional institutions (e.g. Inter-American Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC).
InWEnt's activities in the states of the "Cono Sur", or Southern Cone of the continent, are coordinated by its partner office in Sao Paulo. The main thrust of our activities targets the anchor country Brazil, because of its strategic importance for the political, economic and social development of the region. InWEnt programmes aim, in particular, to encourage regional dialogue within MERCOSUR, the Common Market of the South, also including Chile in its capacity as an associate member.
In the environmental sector, InWEnt supports the transfer of environmental technologies in the municipal and industrial sectors. Central topics also include climate protection by promoting renewable energies and a regional exchange of experience on tropical forest protection in the Amazon. The second focus of InWEnt activities aims to promote dialogue processes within MERCOSUR on issues related to social cohesion. Here the spotlight is on fiscal reform and corporate social responsibility.
The regional focus of InWEnt programmes is on priority countries Peru and Bolivia, as well as on Ecuador and Colombia. InWEnt's regional office in Peru coordinates activities in the Andean states, where the priority areas of cooperation are democracy and the rule of law, decentralisation and peace building and conflict prevention. In Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, for instance, programmes are being implemented in the field of municipal development, as well as local and regional economic promotion. InWEnt also supports the strengthening of rule-of-law, out-of-court conflict resolution mechanisms in Peru and Ecuador. Another thrust of InWEnt's activities is the environmental sector, where sustainable natural resource management programmes are being implemented in the mountainous regions of the Andean states, to give but one example. InWEnt is also involved in programmes for peace education, improving the quality of education and strengthening the managerial competence of water supply utilities in the Andean region.
In cooperation with its Brazilian partner, InWEnt offers interested individuals from Germany the opportunity to undertake practice-oriented further training, thus honing their specialist expertise. Junior executives, primarily in the fields of economics, engineering, environmental protection and IT, make the most of the practical training placement to enhance not only their technical knowledge, but also to explore daily and working life in their host country, as well as improving their language skills.
InWEnt equally offers Brazilian experts the chance to undertake practice-oriented further training and expand their specialist expertise. More information and application forms are available from InWEnt Brazil.
