I Regional Meeting of CAF Governance and Leadership Graduates is held in Brazil

In order to evaluate the contribution of the Governance and Leadership Programs, CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, jointly with the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), brought together more than 140 participants in the I Regional Meeting of CAF's Governance and Leadership Graduates held on April 16th and 17th in Rio de Janeiro.  

The purpose of the meeting was to promote reflection on the contribution of the training programs to the education of political and social leaders in the countries of the region, as well as learn about their opinions regarding institutional quality. 

Enrique Garcia, CAF's Executive President, expressed, "Due to the positions you hold, you are responsible for building the future. The public sector is key in this task and, therefore, it must be honest and efficient. You must provide a positive influence to improve governance in the region". Garcia later added, "quality education is the most effective tool for the development of human capital while at the same time it increases competitiveness and social justice". 

At the same time, Carlos Ivan Simonsen, President of FGV, highlighted the importance of having leaders in the region. "We require a leadership process, with delegation of powers, to address the expectations of the population with the correct development of public policies". 

Participants for this meeting were selected among more than 40,000 graduates from the two programs that CAF started in 2001. The meeting included the participation of coordinators from the 16 universities that are partners in the implementation of said programs in 8 Latin American countries. 

Although the main topics during the two days were: "Strengthening human capital for governance, policy management, and public management" and " Leading the change: debate on the keys for the promotion of development in the region", there were other master conferences: "Keys and challenges to strengthen governance and development in Latin America", "Governance and new technologies in the XXI century", and "Educating leaders and public managers for the development of Latin America". 

The meeting included the participation of Marcelo Neri, Chief Economist of the Center for Social Policies at the FGV and former Minister of Strategic Affairs of Brazil; Pedro Julio Uribe, Microsoft's Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, Public Sector, Cities, and International Organizations; Paulo Roberto de Mendonça Motta, Professor at the Brazilean School of Public Administration and Enterprises at the FGV; Carlos Acuña, Director of the program State and Public Policies at the Universidad de San Martin (Argentina).

During the I Meeting of CAF's Governance and Leadership Graduates, two CAF publications were presented: "Gobernabilidad y Liderazgo en América Latina: 15 años de experiencia de los Programas CAF de capacitación" (Governance and Leadership in Latin America: 15 years of experience of CAF's training programs) and "Capacidades Estatales, diez textos fundamentales" (State Capacities, 15 essential texts), first title of the Series "Estado, Gestión Pública y Desarrollo en América Latina" (State, Public Management, and Development in Latin America).  In addition, "Plataforma de Gobernabilidad CAF" (CAF's Governance Platform) was also presented. It is a practical community aimed at graduates and teachers of the Programs, to share updated knowledge regarding governance, public management, leadership, and other issues related to democratic governance and institutional frameworks.