The Inter-American
Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics and Development has gathered many Latin American
and otherwise international personalities in order to discuss and debate regional
and contemporary ethical challenges at several events and seminars. Nobel Prize
laureates, former presidents, leaders of major religions, government ministers,
leading scientists in diverse fields, business executives, presidents of universities
and other social leaders.
Several
hundred relevant documents have been developed within this framework.
Together, they constitute an up-to-date, multidisciplinary, and thorough
library that catalogs and illustrates today's debate about ethics and
development. We introduce these documents, organized by topics, for
people with interested in the ethical challenges that Latin America
and the entire world are facing.
There
is great interest growing in Latin America and on a global level
to introduce the discussion of ethics into development project planning
and policy-making procedures.
Due to technical improvements, the Inter-American Initiative
on Social Capital, Ethics and Development's website will be
out of service on Monday, January 31st. It will resume service
on Tuesday, February 1st.
We
apologize for the inconvenience.
Large groups of citizens all over the world are actively demanding
that ethical quandaries and dilemmas be examined and taken into
account. Furthermore, it is evident that people of all nations are
demanding that their political leaders acknowledge and address the
responsibility they have to make ethical decisions.
We posit the following questions:
What
values should be kept in mind when drafting development strategies
and public policy?
How
should we confront ethically charged problems such as poverty,
social exclusion, sharp inequalities, discrimination and others?
What codes of ethical conduct should be adopted by policy-makers
and other key leaders?
How
can a sense of community and social responsibility be promoted
in today's diverse world?
The Latin American
community is also beginning to awaken to the massive latent potential of social
capital. International experience suggests that nations with more social capital
enjoy stronger economies and greater democratic maturity. This fact is evidence
of the imperative necessity to create conditions that foster the basic components
of social capital, such as a cooperative community, interpersonal trust and a
broad social conscience.
The Inter-American
Initiative of Social Capital, Ethics and Development is intended to strengthen
ethical values and social capital in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The
Inter-American Initiative on Social Capital, Ethics
and Development is an initiative of the Inter-American
Development Bank's president, Dr. Enrique Iglesias.
The Initiative is part of the IDB Secretary's Office, which
Dr. Carlos Ferdinand directs. Dr. Bernardo Kliksberg is in charge
of the General Coordination for the Initiative.
Promote
the analysis and discussion of ethical challenges and dilemmas and ensure that
chief decision-makers take them into account.
2.
Cooperate
to promote volunteerism, greater social accountability by private enterprises,
and the adoption of ethical codes for the development of social capital in the
region by key social players.
3.
Promote
the inclusion of goals and criteria that include the discussion of ethics and
the promotion of social capital in development projects prepared and implemented
by international organizations and government agencies.
4.
Promote
the integration of programs specifically designed to teach ethical development
practices in educational curricula, and among other groups that promote the growth
of social capital.
5.
Establish
a network of academic and research centers to carry out systematic
long-term advances in areas such as training research, publications,
and contributions to public debate.
6.
Use
mass media to promote awareness of the ethical challenges surrounding development
and the growth of social capital.
The initiative
aspires to be a catalyst in awakening interest in ethics, development and social
capital in governments, businesses, labor unions, universities, religious communities,
nongovernmental organizations and organizations of all kinds that work for the
collective well-being of societies everywhere. Mobilization of joint efforts in
these crucial fields will raise the quality of the debate on development, enrich
policy frameworks, increase the likelihood of broad consensus on actions, and
contribute to the adoption of codes of conduct based on desirable ethical criteria.
The Initiative
will be collectively contributing to the strengthening and entrenchment of democracy
and economic and social development, and to the forging of a vigorous, participative
and just Latin America that its citizens desire.
