Latin America and the Caribbean working on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

SEP / 19th and 20th / 2022. New York City
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Latin America calls for solutions in climate action, inclusion and food security

September 20, 2022

During the second day of the Many Voices, One Region event organized by CAF within the framework of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, international experts discussed the potential of Latin America and the Caribbean to create their own solutions that contribute to global challenges such as climate change, food security, inclusion of people with disabilities, education and digital transformation.

Latin America calls for regional solutions

For the second day of the Many Voices, One Region event, CAF Development Bank of Latin America organized a series of debates with leading international experts and Latin American ministers and heads of state to strengthen the leadership the region should have in key issues of global development such as climate action, sustainability, digital transformation, inclusion and food security.

“The Ibero-American leaders who have joined us today show us that there is room for fresh ideas and that it’s possible to successfully address the needs and challenges of the region. Leadership is in all spheres—government, politics, society, economy, sports—and the sum of this leadership will help consolidate collective projects,” said Sergio Díaz-Granados, CAF’s executive president.

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University, said: “Development banks need to be empowered to increase SDG funding. CAF has bold and creative leadership, and has our full support in making development work in the right direction.”

The second day began with a panel on the inclusion of people with disabilities through sport, in which international alliances were consolidated and leadership in the region was strengthened in order to develop a pilot, in conjunction with UNESCO, using a new methodology for people with disabilities, within the framework of the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago.

”As a development bank, we have to invest in sports knowing that these investments are doing their job. CAF is interested in investing in sport and we are ready for it, but our navigation map is based on the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Christian Asinelli, CAF’s Corporate Vice President of Strategic Programming.

The second panel of the day dealt with sustainability in the region’s coffee sector and analyzed how the experiences and lessons learned in Colombia, under the leadership of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, could be replicated in other countries to promote sustainability, productivity and competitiveness in agriculture. “The inclusion traditional knowledge and techniques in indigenous societies and suchlike helps achieve SDGs. If incorporated in a practical way within rural communities where they already exist, these can show the world a method that is not widely known, helping us prosper in different way,” said Leonor Zalabata, Colombia’s ambassador to the UN.

The next panel made an urgent call to all countries in the region to commit to recovering education through investment and by promoting clear and tangible actions. Among those present were the Ministers of Education of Argentina, Colombia, and Ecuador—Jaime Perczyk, Alejandro Gaviria, and María Brown respectively—and the Secretary General of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero.

In the fourth panel, the experts identified challenges, strategies and actions for coordination in the short, medium and long term in the different dimensions of food security, with the aim of supporting the countries of the region in addressing this phenomenon in coordination with leading agencies and other civil society actors. “There are 50 million people in 45 countries who are on the brink of starvation,” said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, who also mentioned that everyone’s commitment is needed to overcome the crisis and protect the most vulnerable.

The day concluded with the event New Youth Agenda: Digital Transformation, which succeeded in consolidating the political commitment of leaders and authorities to mobilize and implement the digital agenda for young people in Latin American countries. The panel also commemorated the 30 years of service of the International Youth Organization (IYO) and its relationship with CAF.

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