On 27 August, PAGE organized an experience exchange between partner countries in Latin America. The webinar was attended by 30+ participants representing PAGE agencies and a combined six ministries from Guatemala, Uruguay and Peru. The objective was to provide a constructive space for policymakers to engage and share good practices, lessons learned and recommendations with each other. The event marked the second meeting of this sort following an exchange held in hybrid form during Guatemala’s first National Inclusive Green Economy Forum in 2023.
01 September 2025
Guatemala holds Experience Exchange with Partner Countries in Latin America
While the first meeting reviewed good practices regarding managing a national PAGE project, in the second iteration the focus was on implementation of policies in specific sectors. The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay showcased its experience with developing and adopting the National Circular Economy Strategy. Furthermore, the Ministry of Environment, the National Competitiveness and Formalization Council of the Ministry of Economy and Finance as well as the Regional Government of San Martín of Peru co-presented their efforts in promoting sustainable business models and competitiveness of SMEs at national and subnational levels. Both initiatives were realized with support from PAGE. The two topics are of particular relevance to Guatemala in view of the country’s own ambitions in these sectors. A recurrent discussion theme among the three countries was the challenge to continue policy development and implementation across elections and resulting changes in government.
In its remarks, the PAGE Secretariat contributed a global perspective drawing from case studies and lessons learned across the entirety of member countries. Major lessons from over ten years of engagement include the importance of interministerial coordination mechanisms with robust decision-making abilities, integration of sustainability criteria in budgeting and procurement processes, and solid monitoring and reporting frameworks to strengthen accountability and public debate.
In addition, the Secretariat underscored PAGE’s inter-agency and collaborative nature — an alliance of five UN agencies (UNEP, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO and UNITAR) — and the convening power this brings to gather key actors at national and global levels and to foster dialogue and multi-stakeholder consensus. It also expressed appreciation to the many partners across levels that lead PAGE work in Guatemala, Uruguay and Peru, and conveyed its gratitude to PAGE’s funding partners whose support makes this work possible: the European Commission, the Republic of Korea, Germany and Sida.
