Media Center

Press Release


SOCIAL NETWORK OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN TO ANALYZE THE REGION’S PROGRESS IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION

  October 12, 2007

The Fourteenth Annual Conference of the Social Network of Latin America and the Caribbean will take place on October 17 and 18, 2007, in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The Conference will look at the region’s progress in the areas of social development and poverty reduction, as well as the exchange of innovative experiences.

Organized by the Department of Social Development and Employment (DSDE) of the Organization of American States (OAS) and sponsored by the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger of Brazil, the gathering’s goal is to review the Network’s internal operations and functioning, and to identify areas of interest in order to develop the annual program for technical horizontal cooperation.

The Fourteenth Annual Conference is expected to bring together at least 24 members of the Network, including the Directors of Social Funds and Ministers of Social Development from El Salvador, Argentina, Dominica, Jamaica, Mexico and Haiti. As in the past, the main output of the Conference will be the Declaration of Belo Horizonte, where members reaffirm their commitment to horizontal cooperation in fighting poverty in the Americas.

The Social Network of Latin America and the Caribbean is a regional mechanism dedicated to achieve social development and the overcome poverty. Open to governmental institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Network has operated uninterruptedly for sixteen years, thanks to the commitment and voluntary work of its member institutions. Currently it is presided by the Solidarity and Social Investment Fund (FOSIS) of Chile, and it comprises 35 institutions from 32 countries.

The Network’s goal is to facilitate and maintain spaces of mutual understanding, horizontal cooperation, experience sharing and capacity building among its member institutions and from this to other regions, with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of strategies for poverty alleviation and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.


******

Reference: E-258/07