NEW YORK, NY – Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno and senior IDB officials met with leading philanthropists, corporate executives and civil society leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting to announce new partnerships and engage public and private actors to key initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean.
During this year’s sessions the IDB discussed, among other projects, initiatives to foster private sector investment and education in Haiti, sports as a tool for social development, and gender issues.
In the context of Haiti, President Moreno joined President Bill Clinton, President of the Republic of Haiti Michel Martelly, Denis O’Brien, Chairman of Digicel and Woong-Ki Kim, Chairman of Sae-A Trading Company in the Clinton Global Initiative Haiti Investment Workshop to highlight opportunities in Haiti and share successful experiences.
Additionally, the IDB convened two private sessions, one on the topic of private sector investments in Haiti, the other on education in Haiti. Both sessions involved the Government of Haiti and key partners on the ground to discuss best practices, existing needs and strategic ways to work together.
The IDB co-hosted with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) an activity entitled "In the Arena: Sport as a Catalyst for International Development” with the participation of notable athletes including Dikembe Mutombo, Pedro Martinez and Johann Koss. Representing the private sector, Doug Michelman, Global Head of Corporate Relations from VISA, expressed VISA’s partnership with the IDB to support projects that through sports can help key issues such as financial education and social inclusion.
The IDB also held an informal session on sports for development to discuss current work from the IDB and key players in this space, with the aim to increase collaboration and impact.
The IDB signed two memorandums of understanding at the event, with the Happy Hearts Fund to support education in Haiti and with GDF-Suez to work together to improve the life of communities in the region.
The Inter-American Investment Corporation also signed a memorandum of understanding with Grameen Creative Lab for promotion of new social businesses in Haiti enhancing the implementation of the IIC social investment fund.
The agreement with Happy Hearts Fund, signed by HHF Founder Petra Nemcova and IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno will focus on helping the Government of Haiti to build back schools that were affected by the earthquake in 2010 and support the implementation of the 5-year Education Plan in the country.
Denis Simonneau, member of the Executive Committee in charge of European and International Relations of GDF SUEZ, and IDB President signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate closely on socially sustainable projects for energy access and the environment. The collaboration will focus in particular on supporting social entrepreneurial projects aiming at providing sustainable energy access to disadvantaged populations.
The IDB joined efforts on impact investment with other organizations. IDB will become one of the 15 GIIRS pioneer investors to measure its portfolio according to a unique platform to analyze aggregated, verified and comparable data on the social and environmental impact.
Also, IDB, Mercy Corps and theGlobal Partnership Initiative of the United States State Department announced efforts to unleash value for business and society in Brazil through impact investment initiatives.
IDB developed a partnership with Fair Trade USA and other 12 partners to promote a new Fair Trade initiative with the objective of doubling U.S. sales for Fair Trade farmers and extend Fair Trade benefits to millions of additional farmers around the world by 2015.
The Inter-American Development Bank is the leading multilateral financial institution for the development of Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB offers financial products and resources to help countries in the region promote growth and reduce poverty and inequality in a sustainable way.
The IDB Office of Outreach and Partnerships promotes partnerships and mobilizes financial, non-financial and leveraging resources to strengthen development programs in the region.