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Viewers may know about the European Union - Latin America and Caribbean Foundation or (EU-LAC) for short. It was created in 2010 by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Member States.

This foundation is a tool of the EU-LAC partnership, and it was given the mission of strengthening and promoting bilateral ties between the 62 member states. 

Belize is among those member states, and residents should be able to benefit from all its initiatives. But, what exactly does EU-LAC do, and how does it work? Well, what it's Executive director, Paula Amadei, granted us a sit-down interview to discuss today:

H.E. Paula Amadei - Executive director, EU-LAC Foundation
"In 2010, we were created in and established in 2011 in Hamburg, where we have our headquarters. Initially, the foundation was created with a temporary status of a German foundation. In the meantime, member states have negotiated an international agreement, which has entered into force in May 2019. So, since then, we are an international organization. It's a new organization, the first one which includes all the countries of the European Union Latin America, and the Caribbean, and exclusively these countries.  And Belize is a full member of the organization from the very start. It has been, also, the first countries in this region to sign and ratify the agreement back in 2017. What do we do in practice? We focus our work in 5 major areas, which are higher education, science, and innovation, small and medium enterprises, sustainable development, climate change, and culture. And all our activities are bringing together representatives from governments, and representatives from civil society."

"In the case of higher education, students move to different countries. They want to have the possibility to gather experiences in different countries. If you don't have a system that is compatible with countries, it becomes difficult. Within the European Union, you have a Bologna system, which has allowed the transferability of credits between universities. Between EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, and within Latin America and the Caribbean, this is only limited to bilateral agreements [between] universities. But it is not a universal system. So, we need to work in order for more students to be able to benefit in a more integrated system."

Before her appointment as the executive director of EU-LAC, Amadei served as the Ambassador of the European Union to Jamaica, Belize, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands.