Skip to main content

Argentina seeks to increase youth employment and reduce gender gap through sports

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has joined forces with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to launch an initiative that will benefit more than 4,000 young people through sports in Argentina. The project, which will be financed by US$1.5 million commitments from the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) and the IOC, was formally announced in Buenos Aires, Argentina as IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and IOC President Thomas Bach signed a Letter of Intent.  

The partnership, which also includes the Argentine Olympic Committee, UN Women, the City of Buenos Aires, and Panam Sports, will use sports as a tool to sharpen the digital skills of participating young people and to teach the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect, working toward the overall objective of better preparing them for the workforce. Given the partnership’s special focus on empowering women and girls, the collaboration will leverage the efforts and financing provided by UN Women to the IOC to fund leadership activities for 1,000 girls and adolescent women.

In Buenos Aires, the IOC is building a community sports center to serve the low-income neighborhood Barrio 31 and surrounding vulnerable communities. The Ministry of Education and Innovation of the City of Buenos Aires, Fundación SES, and other partners   will build on Argentina’s Plan Sarmiento by integrating sports and employment activities into the countries’ extended school day program. Through this component, programing will be provided to approximately 3,000 adolescents.

In the coming months, this model will be scaled and replicated in Colombia and Ecuador. It builds upon the IDB and the IOC’s extensive experience and past collaborations in sports for development.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region. 

About the IOC

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of 3.25 million US dollars goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

Contacts

Alvarez-Rodriguez,Isabel María

Alvarez-Rodriguez,Isabel María
Additional Contacts

Victoria Florez

Victoria Florez
Jump back to top