Nobel Peace Laureates call for dialogue, optimism and equality to unite the voice of Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean raised their voices to be seen as an opportunity and a relevant actor to contribute solutions to global problems that do not wait, such as climate change, inequality, poverty, and economic growth, among others, through the space offered by CAF - Development Bank of Latin America, in the event "Many voices, one region: Latin America and the Caribbean working together on the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development".

Nobel Peace Laureates Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, and Juan Manuel Santos, together with the Foreign Minister of Argentina, Santiago Cafiero, CAF's Executive President, Sergio Díaz-Granados, and the Corporate Vice-President of Strategic Programming, Christian Asinelli, presented a comprehensive vision of Latin America and the Caribbean before the eyes of the world in the framework of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York.  

"COVID made us realise that we are vulnerable and we have to be humble to move forward. We have to be optimistic about working with development and creativity to thrive in trade, knowledge, putting technology at the service of women and education and leadership. For me, being here today with CAF, the development bank of Latin America, is also a source of hope because there are millions of people, indigenous women, leaders, who are waiting for a community or family loan so that they can continue with their self-managed initiatives," said Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel emphasised the need to promote equality. "Democracy means the right to equality for all, these are the foundations of peace. And that is what we have to work on to make it a reality. Moving towards a participatory democracy where people have the legal and constitutional tools to be able to defend their rights and build coexistence in diversity".

Juan Manuel Santos said that Latin America has an opportunity to emerge with a strong voice, with greater relevance in the face of global problems than it has had, but for this to happen, dialogue is needed to find common denominators. "To fight climate change, poverty, inequality and peace with nature, we need financing and effectiveness that will allow us to make the leap to development, so I am pleased that CAF is refocusing its priorities where they should be and I urge countries to use CAF as a source of solutions to be more successful in the future," he added.

CAF commemorated the 10th anniversary of its entry into the United Nations as a permanent observer, during which it has signed at least 40 instruments (agreements, conventions and letters of cooperation) with more than 20 entities of the UN System, aimed at facing in a joint and articulated manner the great challenges facing our region in sectoral issues such as agriculture, finance, education, employment, health, gender, governance, environment, among others, with a panel in which Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina and President pro tempore of CELAC, participated; Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Enrique García, former President of CAF. At the close of the event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between CAF and the UNDP to promote the Sustainable Development Goals in Latin America, signed by Sergio Díaz-Granados and Luis Felipe López Calva, regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the UNDP.

"We need a development bank because Latin America needs to finance a lot of structure to be able to consolidate the path of growth," said the President, while affirming: "As President pro tempore of CELAC, I guarantee that there is, above and beyond any government ideology, a certain decision by Latin America and the Caribbean to join forces to face the future," said the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández.

Sergio Díaz-Granados said: "The essence of CAF is multilateralism. The institution was born as the fruit of a shared regional vision, and continues to grow stronger thanks to the courageous and innovative spirit that characterises us as Latin Americans and Caribbeans. Today, after 10 years as permanent observers at the UN, we renew our institutional commitment to support actions aimed at environmental protection, job creation, women's empowerment, and attention to the most vulnerable, hand in hand with the UNDP and the UN System".

During the panel "The genesis of the SDGs: redefining development" leaders such as the former Presidents of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; of the Government of Spain and member of the Club de Madrid, José María Aznar; and of Panama, Martín Torrijos; together with the authors of the book "Redefining Development: The Extraordinary Genesis of the Sustainable Development Goals", Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño; the Director of the Institute of the Americas at Georgetown University, Alejandro Werner; Mastercard's Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Latin America and the Caribbean, Darren Ware; President Barack Obama's former Senior Advisor on Latin America, Dan Restrepo; gave a chronology on the relevance of the SDGs and the challenges to achieve the goals by 2030. 

Parallel to the event's sessions, CAF also signed strategic alliances with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to promote education, energy transition and social inclusion; with Mastercard with the purpose of attracting more people from the region to the digital economy; and finally with Georgetown University to promote research and academic cooperation. 

On Monday morning, CAF participated in a working breakfast between the foreign ministers of CELAC and the Association of Caribbean States and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the latter to strengthen cooperation and joint work in green and blue economy, transport, logistics and climate change, among others. CAF highlighted the recent creation of its Regional Management for Caribbean countries as part of the bank's strategy to strengthen its relationship with the region. 

Tuesday, September 20 will be full of debate in the following panels: "Sport as a key investment for inclusion", "Sustainability of coffee growers in Latin America and the Caribbean", "How to transform education from an innovative perspective", "Food Security in Latin America and the Caribbean" and "Sustainability and the new youth agenda". All sessions can be followed live on CAF.com.