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Ambassador Maisto Hosts Grassroots Seminar
News Releases - 4/30/2004
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Ambassador John F. Maisto, Permanent Representative of the United States to the Organization of American States, will host, with the Inter-American Foundation, “Investing in People,” a seminar on grassroots development to be held May 4, 3-5 p.m., in the Hall of the Americas, OAS headquarters, 17th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. A reception immediately following the seminar will celebrate the IAF’s latest publication, Making Their Way.
The seminar will highlight new approaches to grassroots development involving local government, associations of U.S.-based migrants and corporate foundations. Panelists represent organizations that have worked in partnership with the IAF: Ruben Calle, president of Asociación de Parroquias Rurales, which successfully introduced citizen participation into the development agenda of the local government of Cuenca, Ecuador; Jesús Aguilar, executive director of CARECEN Internacional, which links support from associations of Salvadoran immigrants in the U.S. to self-help projects in low-income communities in El Salvador; and Fernando Castellanos, executive director of Fundación Zonamerica in Uruguay, who will speak on RedEAmerica, a network of corporate foundations promoting grassroots development in the Americas.
On display at the OAS will be an exhibit excerpted from Making Their Way, a collection of photographs by Miguel Sayago of Chile, which capture examples of the IAF’s assistance to self-help efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean. The reception will offer participants an opportunity to view the exhibit and meet the photographer. Ambassador Esteban Tomic, Chile’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, will be among the speakers at the reception. Since beginning operations in 1972, the Inter-American Foundation, a foreign assistance agency of the United States government, has made 4,464 grants for more than $557 million in response to self-help proposals from grassroots groups in Latin America and the Caribbean and the organizations that support them. Frank Yturria was appointed by President Bush in 2001 to chair IAF’s board of directors; David Valenzuela is IAF’s president.
For more on the IAF, log onto www.iaf.gov.
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For more details, call 703-306-4319 or e-mail hsmith@iaf.gov.
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