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Colombian Entrepreneurs Ratify their Commitment to Early Childhood with Support of the OAS

A sizable group of Colombian entrepreneurs this week ratified their commitment to early childhood at a meeting held in Medellín in which they shared their thoughts with business representatives from Argentina, Mexico and Costa Rica. The meeting was held in the framework of the First Meeting of Andean Countries on Child Development and Quality Assessment, organized from May 26 to 28 by Colombia’s Ministry of Education and the Organization of American States (OAS), with the support of UNICEF.

Among the commitments undertaken is that of consolidating, with the support of the Office of Education and Culture of the OAS, a national and international network of entrepreneurs, business foundations and other initiatives in support of early childhood, with the goal of strengthening business social responsibility initiatives oriented to optimize this sector’s investments.

The participants agreed to attend a meeting of Entrepreneurs for Early Childhood to be held from September 1 to 3 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, convened by the organization Enterprise Education Dialogues (Diálogos Emprendimientos Educativos). They also committed themselves to organizing a parallel meeting of entrepreneurs in the framework of the Tenth International Meeting on Early Childhood and Preschool Education, from October 14 to 16 in Monterrey, Mexico, organized by CENDI and the OAS.

The dialogue concluded with the acknowledgement of the need and importance of:

· Strengthening the articulation capacity between the State, private Enterprise, academia and society as a whole to provide quality attention to early childhood, in particular to children who are most vulnerable.

· Committing itself as the business sector to be a fundamental social actor in the implementation of public policy for early childhood, contributing to improved quality of life of society and the economic development of the country.

· Making the most of the competitive advantages and business leadership of the productive sector to bring attention to early childhood focusing the efforts of business social responsibility through concrete actions such as the transfer of knowledge, technology and financing of projects of integral care to children in situations of social risk.

The agreements, work schedules and initiatives that will direct this commitment were left under the responsibility of the organizing group, the Vallecaucana Committee for Education, executive director of the Fundación Éxito, Fundación Smurfit Cartón of Colombia, who committed themselves to exercise an active spokesmanship in the participation of the Colombian entrepreneurs in these initiatives.

Participants at the meeting included businesses and foundations from throughout Colombia, including Smurfit Cartón de Colombia, Éxito, Gases de Occidente, Nacional de Chocolates, EPSA, Sociedad Portuaria de Buenaventura, Dividendo por Colombia, Interbolsa, the University of the Andes, Entrepreneurs for Education (Empresarios por la Educación), and Corona, among others.

The First Meeting of Andean Countries on Child Development and Quality Assessment was attended by some 60 experts and delegates of various countries, among them Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, and some 190 Colombians. It is part of the OAS project, “The educational evaluation oriented to quality: follow-up to the commitment to early childhood.” This project, funded by the OAS through the Inter-American Commission for Education with additional contributions from UNICEF, some governments of the Member States and other partners, includes among other aspects sub-regional meetings. The Medellín meeting was added to the one already held in Costa Rica (for Central America) and in Paraguay (Southern Cone).


More information:
Gaby Fujimoto, Office of Education and Culture, DHDEC/SEDI, Organization of American States (OAS), 202-458-6228 [email protected]

Reference: E-204/10