Support for Uruguayan Youth and Children’s Orchestras

(Montevideo, July 7, 2011).- As part of its Social Action through Music Program, CAF - Latin American development bank - signed a Strategic Partnership with the Uruguayan System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras. The agreement was signed by Ariel Brito, president of the PASM Foundation, and Gladis Genua, CAF director representative in Uruguay.

The CAF executive said, "as a multilateral financial institution committed to sustainable development and regional integration, 11 years ago we began the Social Action through Music Program which has become one of the pioneers in the field of social inclusion of children and youth at risk, through music." She added, "PASM has worked with over 40,000 Latin American children and youth from vulnerable sectors, where 575 trained teachers are replicating the model in their communities."

The Program offers young Latin Americans the opportunity to develop their intellectual, physical and spiritual capabilities by fostering values ​​of respect, work and solidarity as a contribution to social integration and closer relations between peoples.

The CAF director representative said a vital factor for achieving the institution’s objectives was synergy with prestigious institutions "such as the PASM Foundation, which CAF has joined forces with to promote local culture."

Maestro Ariel Britos, president of the Foundation, said “before the agreement, the situation was a lot of hope but nothing concrete." The partnership is "an opportunity to implement the programs we have had in mind for a long time" and "with the backing of a serious institution like CAF, we will now be able to expand significantly."

For Britos, "the orchestra program is not only cultural but also for social development and inclusion of children and young people with limited resources." The Program currently has 800 youngsters aged 4 to 14 with expectation of over 1,000 by the end of the year and a target of 1,600 in 2012.

Uruguay was included in PASM for the first time In 2005 in the form of participation of Uruguayan teachers in international meetings in Caracas, along with the presence of foreign instructors in Uruguay.

The most recent support was part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Uruguayan System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras, supplying them will five instructors to prepare a binational concert on June 21 when 130 Uruguayan and 10 Venezuelan children will take part.