Social Sciences Congress in Quito

(Quito, October 30, 2007).- The Social Sciences Congress opened in the city of Quito to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of FLACSO. Some 1,500 speakers will hold a three-day debate on the state of social research in the region.

During his panel presentation Integration and Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, CAF President & CEO Enrique García said that Latin America had made less progress than other regions of the world, and was even worse off than 50 years ago. It was important that political actors, society and business build consensus and achieve an integration model of a single current.

The CAF president emphasized the importance of the Congress, which opens a space for reflection and debate on the key problems of development and knowledge building in Latin America.

CAF specialists will speak at the Congress on important issues such as environmental preservation, remittances, education, and others.

The objective of the meeting is to promote a platform for meeting and debating the challenges to integration and concerted action in Latin America, and reviewing the state of research on the social, political and economic situation of the region in 307 round tables, 192 panels, keynote papers, and other activities.