COOPERATION IN ACTION

OAS-SEDI: Forging New Partnerships for Development

August 25-29, 2014. Buenos Aires and San José
RIAL supports bilateral cooperation activities between Ministries of Labor. High-level delegations from the Ministries of Labor from 4 countries participated in professional exchange missions during the last week of August. A delegation from the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security of Paraguay - which was created at the beginning of this year – visited its counterpart in Argentina, which is offering its support in defining its organization and operations. Simultaneously, a Workshop in San José brougt experts together to explore how to transfer the successful model of the “Network of Businesses against Child Labor” from Ecuador to Costa Rica. Six more bilateral cooperation activities between Ministries of Labor have been planned for the remainder of 2014, as a result of the Seventh Call for Cooperation of the Inter-American Network for Labor Administration (RIAL).

August 8, 2014. Guatemala City
OAS - Guatemala sign agreement to promote the use of Ethanol. An estimated U$100 million may be saved annually in fossil fuel imports in Guatemala if ethanol production is advanced in the country. To this end, the government joined efforts with the OAS-SEDI Department of Sustainable Development, to will provide technical assistance in the implementation of a pilot project that will assess the potential of using a mix of ethanol and gasoline in vehicles, as well as support the establishment of a new Technical Unit on Biofuels in the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM). The initiative is carried out as part of the activities of the US-Brazil cooperation agreement implemented by the OAS to support the development of biofuels in the region.

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August 5 & 19, 2014.
Recognized Universities from Colombia and Peru join the OAS Scholarship program - PAEC. The University of the Andes (Uniandes) and the ICETEX from Colombia and ESAN from Peru joined the growing group of recognized universities and educational institutions that are offering scholarships to citizens of the Americas through Partnerships Program for Education and Training OAS (PAEC) this month. A total of seven (7) scholarships will be awarded for the International MBA at ESAN in Peru, and 20 scholarships are being offered for a postgraduate course in Uniandes on "Qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques in public policy." For more information on these and future opportunities for OAS Scholarships visit http://www.oas.org/es/becas/default.asp.