10 March 2017
Información para la Prensa N°: 063/17
Today, Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra signed an agreement with the president of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF)-Development Bank of Latin America, Enrique García Rodríguez, so that the White Helmets Commission of the Foreign Ministry can carry out specific projects on Disaster Risk Reduction and Humanitarian Assistance in the region.
“For Argentina, humanitarian work by the White Helmets is a way to maintain its presence in the world. Argentina believes in multilateralism at times when it is put into question," Malcorra stated after the signature of the agreement.
The agreement seeks to provide training, to strengthen local powers and the resilience of the countries of the Americas, to contribute to the management of sustainable development and of prevention tools to reduce vulnerabilities, and to contribute to comprehensive risk management. In addition, the agreement aims to enable the development of measures to strengthen communities by launching Government initiatives to uphold humanitarian values in communities, by considering the possibility of designing a regional project, and by combining the knowledge and resources of both organizations.
“I am grateful to the CAF for its trust because it allows us to explore some difficult issues in terms of financing," Malcorra assured, alongside the president of the White Helmets Commission of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Alejandro Daneri, and the Representative Director to the CAF in Argentina, Andrés Rugeles.
During the preliminary steps to the signature, the White Helmets submitted proposals to the CAF taking into account the priorities of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, the guidelines set forth by the Commission and the financing priorities of that institution.
The CAF is a development bank created in 1970 which comprises 19 countries -17 in Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal- and 13 private banks in the region. It promotes a sustainable development model, through credit transactions, non-refundable resources and support for technical and financial structuring of private and public sector projects in Latin America.
Headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, the organization has offices in Buenos Aires, La Paz, Brasilia, Bogotá, Quito, Madrid, Mexico City, Panama City, Asunción, Lima, Montevideo and Port of Spain.