Jeannette Seppen was this Wednesday one of the participants in the Seminar on International Cooperation, Governance and the Rule of Law in Angola, an initiative under the PACED – Project to Support the Consolidation of the Rule of Law in the PALOP and in Timor-Leste, financed by European Union and co-financed and managed by the Camões Institute.
"The European Union is currently in the transition phase towards a new framework of support - and I hope to have confirmation within a few weeks - in these areas of support for the consolidation of the rule of law, in particular, combating corruption and recovering assets , should continue to be supported, and even reinforced, in the case of Angola," said Jannette Seppen, at the seminar organized by the Permanent Observatory of Justice of the Center for Social Studies (CES), in Portugal, in partnership with the Center for Science Studies Legal, Economic and Social (CEJES) of the Agostinho Neto University, in Angola.
According to Jeannette Seppen, the European Union is studying with the Angolan authorities and with members of civil society and all other interested parties, "the most suitable forms of support to achieve the desired results".
"At a time of transition to a new support framework, in which a deep reflection on international cooperation and development is being developed, these areas of support for good governance and the consolidation of the rule of law should continue to deserve European support and be even strengthened in the case of Angola and other countries", he reiterated.
The European Union representative in Angola highlighted that good governance is one of the central areas of the European Union's cooperation policy, "especially because good governance necessarily translates into concrete progress in the eradication of poverty, in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development".
In the context of cooperation with Angola, continued Jeannette Seppen, as a result of a constructive, permanent and convergent dialogue, an action platform has been progressively built based on pragmatic achievements and consequently seeking to respond to the need to strengthen the rule of law and strengthen capacity of institutions that deal directly with related matters.
"Several initiatives have already been financed by the European Development Fund (EDF), which have empowered national services in the areas of strengthening higher control institutions to combat drug trafficking, money laundering and corruption, in the management of public finances and several other domains," she quoted.
In turn, the Portuguese ambassador to Angola, Pedro Pessoa e Costa, considered the theme of the seminar to be fundamental for the continuous work of consolidating the democratic State and the rule of law.
Pedro Pessoa e Costa defended the need to resort to new assessment tools, so as not to get tangled up in "mathematically perfect formulas, but which are neither honest, fair nor even less real in different realities".
"The promotion and consolidation of the Rule of Law involving the fight against corruption, money laundering and organized crime requires the reinforcement of institutional capacity, reinforcement and qualification of its agents, through the strengthening of existing social and international cooperation mechanisms", he referred.
This two-day seminar, held by videoconference, aims to promote debate on national and local involvement in the construction of international cooperation agendas and the adaptation of international organizations' agendas to the priorities and contexts of each country.
