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SACUDE municipal complex sponsors include the IDB Group, the Uruguayan government, the city of Montevideo, Municipality D, PepsiCo, Gatorade, Microsoft, the Telecentre.org Foundation, MTV Latin America, the A Ganar Alliance, and Partners of the Americas
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Authorities of the Uruguayan government, international organizations, and private sector companies today visited a renovated community center in Montevideo. The event was part of the Youth Day conference, marking the start of the activities of the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Uruguayan Economy Minister and IDB Governor Fernando Lorenzo, Montevideo Mayor Ana Olivera, municipal leader Sandra Nedov, and IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno took part in the visit to the SACUDE municipal complex in Casavalle, a low-income Montevideo neighborhood.
The complex was originally built as part of an IDB-financed urban improvement project to provide health care, cultural, and sports facilities to the surrounding community. The recent upgrades included reseeding its soccer field, equipping the health unit and the computer room, improving the sports training facilities, and enlarging the theater's stage and upgrading its equipment.
SACUDE will adopt the A Ganar methodology for youth job training, which uses sports to instill values such as persistence, teamwork and effective communication. This technique, originally tested in Uruguay, has been used to train 7.000 young people in 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with support from the IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). An A Ganar demonstration was held during the visit to the municipal complex.
"The skills learned by participating in sports and cultural activities can becomelife skills useful in the workplace," said IDB President Moreno. "Through sport, young people improve their health and self-esteem, acquiring useful skills for life and work and enabling them to contribute to the development of their families and their communities."
At Gatorade’s invitation, the captains of Uruguay’s most popular soccer teams, Darío Rodríguez of Peñarol and Alexander Medina of Nacional, participated in the activities.
The IDB Group’s Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) funded the purchase of medical equipment for the SACUDE community clinic. Microsoft furnished hardware and software for the computer lab, which will be linked to other telecenters in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Telecentre.org Foundation, which installs and manages telecenters around the world, will provide training and other online resources.
The visit ended with performances by the Circus of SACUDE, which features neighborhood children and youths, the singer María Elena Melo, the musical theater Group Buchaca Murga Pool, and candombe singer-songwriter Pablo "Pinocho" Routin.
The SACUDE visit will be followed this afternoon by a seminar, "Promoting youth participation and development through culture, sports, and innovation.” It begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Adela Reta National Auditorium (SODRE) with the participation of prominent personalities.
The events and activities of Youth Day are sponsored by the government of Uruguay, Montevideo City Hall, Municipality D, IDB, IIC, MIF, IDB Youth, PepsiCo, Gatorade, Microsoft, Telecentre.org Foundation, MTV Latin America, the A Ganar Alliance, and Partners of the Americas.