Peer Learning Event for EITI countries in Latin America and the Caribbean

Building capacity for impactful implementation

We look forward to seeing you at the EITI Regional Workshop: Latin America and the Caribbean, hosted by EITI República Dominicana in Santo Domingo from 28 to 30 November 2017.

With support from the World Bank, GIZ and the Inter-American Development Bank, we are bringing together more than 40 participants from government, industry and civil society from 12 countries. This includes delegations from the nine implementing countries in the region (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, México, Perú, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago) and new colleagues from Argentina and Ecuador. Representatives from the EITI in the Philippines will also join the workshop. The Philippines was recently recognised as the first country to achieve an overall assessment of “satisfactory progress” following Validation.

The goal of the workshop is to explore the outlook for EITI implementation in the region and discuss the opportunities to strengthen EITI implementation at the country level. As ever, the context for our work is challenging. Many countries in the region are struggling with lower commodity prices, reduced investment and economic activity in the extractive industries. Oil, gas and mining projects are often contentious and are sometimes a source of conflict. Local communities continue to demand greater transparency, accountability and tangible development outcomes.

In the past, these regional events have focussed on training and explaining the EITI Standard. While this is still a major focus, drawing on the lessons from Validation, we are putting a greater focus on exchanging best practice and encouraging greater collaboration. We will discuss EITI reporting, mainstreaming, Validation, beneficial ownership, measuring impact and a number of other issues.

The goal of the EITI is to strengthen governance in the extractive industries. Each implementing country establishes work plans that reflect national priorities. In preparation for the workshop, we would like to encourage all participants to review their latest work plan and consider whether it reflects the highest priorities for further work. We hope this work shop will be a catalyst for considering new opportunities to make the EITI even more effective.