Saturday, 17 September de 2016
Información para la Prensa N°: 309/16
Yesterday, the Argentine Foreign Ministry, through the White Helmets Commission, participated in a press conference on refugees and migrants held at the United Nations Information Centre for Argentina and Uruguay.
The initiative was jointly organized by the UN Centre in Buenos Aires, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It addressed the UN Summit on Migrants and Refugees that will be held on 19 September at the UN headquarters in NYC.
The dissertation panel was comprised of the National Director for Migrations of Argentina, Horacio García; the President of the White Helmets Commission and designated Focal Point of the Syria Aid Group at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Alejandro Daneri; the Representative of the National Committee on Refugees, Soledad Figueroa; the Regional Director of IOM for South America, Diego Beltrand; and the Representative of the UNHCR Regional Office for the Southern Cone, Michele Manca di Nissa.
The representative of the White Helmets Commission, which was responsible for carrying out international humanitarian aid, highlighted that the Commission is guided by the principles of non-indifference among States, impartiality, neutrality, independence and humanitarianism. He also recalled that, based on these principles and on the letters exchanged between the Argentine President and the UN Secretary-General, a mission was organized under the leadership of Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra, in order to help alleviate the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. In the context of this multi-disciplinary mission, the Syria Aid Group met in the field, in order to do a follow-up of the implementation of the Syria Programme.
Yesterday's meeting at the UN Information Centre served as an introduction to the UN Summit on Migrants and Refugees, providing information on the goals of this meeting with respect to the commitment assumed at a global level and analyzing the large displacement of refugees and migrants, with a view to uniting countries on the basis of a more humanitarian and coordinated approach.
The Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship works together with Club Atlético River Plate and Acción Solidaria
Yesterday afternoon, the White Helmets Commission, led by its President, Ambassador Alejandro Daneri, received Mr. Rodolfo D'Onofrio, the president of football club River Plate, and Mr. Juan Carr, social worker and founder of Red Solidaria.
During the meeting, they discussed the social actions carried out by each institution, and analyzed the possibility of embarking on joint actions. In this context, D'Onofrio and Carr invited the White Helmets Commission to participate in the launch of a School for Community Leaders, which will take place on Monday 19 September at 9:30 AM, in the Auditorium of the River Plate stadium.
Present at the event will be Ambassador Daneri, Rodolfo D'Onofrio, Juan Carr, Margarita Barrientos (a social worker), Rabbi Daniel Goldman, Carlos "Chapa" Retegui (coach of the male hockey team and winner of the 2016 Olympic gold medal) and Father Pepe Di Paola. It is expected that 200 youths aged 14 to 25 will attend the event, in order to listen to the experiences, stories and reflections shared by the panellists.
It was also agreed that the White Helmets Commission would participate in the event with a travelling exhibition and an institutional video on the humanitarian aid mission carried out in May in Lebanon to offer assistance at a camp for Syrian refugees.