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OAS, CAF and Trust for the Americas Sign Agreement to Promote Opportunities for Young People in Latin America

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and the Trust for the Americas to promote opportunities for young people in Latin America.

During the signing ceremony, Secretary General Insulza said "for the OAS it is essential to support partnerships such as the one we are signing today, because through them you can promote integral development in the Hemisphere and in particular help to ensure a future full of opportunities for the youth of our region."

The Secretary General said the agreement will help give young people "an opportunity to receive comprehensive training, involving not only vocational training or better educational alternatives, but more importantly, a transformational role in their communities, making them the axes of change, by giving them tools that promote leadership and active participation in society."

The President of the CAF, Enrique Garcia, said "the main objective of this initiative is to contribute to improving the living conditions for young people in Latin America as well as their access to education, technology and employment opportunities," adding that "the generation of new opportunities for young people is one of our priorities in reducing inequality in the region." Garcia said the agreement constitutes "an essential part of the relationship we have with the OAS," and he expressed confidence that it "will create many opportunities for working together with innovative ideas on vital issues like youth opportunities."

The Executive Director of the Trust for the Americas, Linda Eddleman, recalled that the organization she leads is implementing the Program of Opportunities for Employment through Technology in the Americas (POETA) in 21 countries, with the aim of promoting access to technology, education and employment for people with disabilities, people affected by armed conflict and at risk youth. "We conduct training and we have a multidisciplinary team that includes staff from different regions of the Hemisphere," she added.

Present at the signing ceremony were the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, and members of the Board of the Trust, including the Secretary for External Relations of the OAS, Alfonso Quiñonez; Enrique Segura, the CEO of Ense Group; Scarlett Alvarez, Chief Stakeholder Officer, Global Utilities of AES Corp; and June DeHart , partner of the firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips , LLP.

The Trust for the Americas is a nonprofit organization that was created in 1997 to promote participation by the private and public sectors on strategic projects that meet the goals of the OAS.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The B-roll of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-387/13