Soccer as a tool for social inclusion for 1500 children in Buenaventura

(Buenaventura, October 30^th, 2013). The objective of the agreement signed between CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, theInstituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar - ICBF, and the Carvajal Foundation, is to strengthen social development and prevent violence in critical areas of Buenaventura through the promotion of sports among boys, girls, and youths, including components such as sports, use of free time, nutrition, inclusive education, and family coexistence.    

CAF's director representative in Colombia, Victor Traverso, the President of the Carvajal Foundation, Roberto Pizarro Mondragon, and Elmer Gomez, representing theInstituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiarin Buenaventura were present for the signature of the agreement, which will benefit more than 1,500 youths of the city and their families, who will join the  "Somos Golazo Buenaventura" program.

The initiative, created by the Carvajal Fundation to favor social inclusion and the prevention of risks for children in vulnerable situations, has the support of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, added to the strategy through the  "Red SOMOS" (SOMOS network), which supports social organizations that use sports as a mechanism to take care of children and adolescent populations.

For L. Victor Traverso, CAF's director representative in Colombia, the SOMOS program is framed within the activities that CAF has been promoting for more than ten years regarding the use of sports for social development. CAF's representative states that "The social benefits of sports, specially soccer, imply multiple benefits for a comprehensive development of the individual as an innovative instrument for the generation of knowledge and the construction of citizenship".

Likewise, for Roberto Carvajal Mondragon, President of the Carvajal Foundation, "The promotion of social and community development, understood as a transforming and comprehensive process, affects the country's economic and social structure and the socio-cultural policies".  

About the Carvajal Foundation'sGolazoinitiative

Golazo is an initiative created in 2009 which, through sports practice, promotes the development of personal, family, and social values, as well as the good use of leisure time and education as fundamental elements to achieve a comprehensive development of boys, girls, and youths.

In past years, the project has consolidated a training methodology for sports monitors and the vulnerable children population which, added to the Carvajal Foundation's more than fifty years of experience in social inclusion processes in urban marginal areas, reinforces the social impact.  

About  CAF- Development Bank of Latin America

The mission of CAF, Development Bank of Latin America,  is to promote sustainable development and regional integration by means of financing projects in the public and private sectors, provision of technical cooperation, and other specialized services. Established in 1970 and currently made up of 18 countries, 16 in Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to Spain and Portugal, and 14 private banks, it is one of the main sources of multilateral financing  and an important generator of knowledge for the region. For more information, visit www.caf.com.

CAF's SOMOS program currently deals with close to 30 thousand boys and girls in  Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Venezuela, and the target is to reach 10 countries and take care of 120,000 children by 2018, of which 40,000 have intellectual disabilities

About theInstituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar - ICBF

TheInstituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, created in 1968, is a Colombian state entity which works for the prevention and comprehensive protection of infancy, childhood, adolescence, and the wellbeing of families in Colombia.

Through its services, the ICBF addresses the needs of boys, girls, adolescents, and families, especially those whose rights are being threatened or violated.