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	ALAS, XUXA MENEGHEL AND BRAZIL JOIN EFFORTS TO BENEFIT CHILDREN Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 30 September 2011 - The Brazilian government together with ALAS Foundation and the Xuxa Meneghel Foundation officially launched today a partnership in support of early childhood. This partnership, proposed in March of this year by the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff and Shakira, includes, among other things, action plans to increase access in quality education, health and nutrition in this country. The event was attended by important personalities and representatives of the Brazilian government including the Minister of Human Rights Maria do Rosario, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, as well as the Colombian artist and ALAS representative, Shakira and Brazilian presenter and president of the Xuxa Foundation, Xuxa Meneghel. Read more

	SHAKIRA AND DILMA ROUSSEFF MET FOR THE EARLY CHILDOOH DEVELOPMENT IN BRAZIL Brazil, March 17, 2011 - The president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff met this afternoon at the Presidential Palace with Shakira Mebarak founding member of ALAS. The Colombian artist took the opportunity to meet with Brazilian president to discuss plans of action for the ALAS Foundation, dedicated to children in Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more

	SHAKIRA VISITED ONE OF THE CENTERS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD IN BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA Buenos Aires March 5, 2011 - Two years after the "Concert for Children", in which ALAS brought together a large group of artists to create awareness about the importance of health, nutrition and education of children between zero and six years, Shakira returned to the City of Buenos Aires as part of his tour Pop Festival. Read more

	EARLY CHILDHOOD INITIATIVE LAUNCHED BY SHAKIRA AND ZOELLICK HELPS HALF MILLION KIDS IN ITS FIRST YEAR WASHINGTON, February 22, 2011- One year after the launch of a pioneering initiative to improve the well being of Latin American kids, more than half a million young children have benefited from the Early Childhood Initiative: An Investment for Life, a joint venture of the World Bank and Shakira's advocacy group ALAS. Read more

	PRESIDENT SANTOS AND SHAKIRA LAUNCH THE EARLY CHILDHOOD INITIATIVE "COLOMBIANS FROM BIRTH" New York, September 23, 2010 - President Juan Manuel Santos and Shakira announced the initiative "Colombians From Birth", as a result of a strategic alliance with ALAS Foundation, led by Colombian business leader Alejandro Santo Domingo, to improve the nutrition, education and health conditions of children between 0 and 6 years old in the country. The initiative consists of 5 national strategies that include de establishment of an Early Childhood public private Fund, that will be led by the Advisory and will be operated by an international bank in Colombia. The alliance includes the launch of text message educational campaign for pregnant women, parents and caregivers.

	ALAS FOUNDATION, THE ORGANIZATION OF IBERO-AMERICAN STATES AND THE SPANISH BANK BBVA THE FIRST EARLY CHILDHOOD SEMINAR "CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: MINORITIES, GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY" Bogota, June 30, 2010 - A few months before the XX Ibero –American Summit of Chiefs of State and Government to be held December 3 and 4 in Mar del Plata Argentina, ALAS, The Organization of Ibero – American States, and the Spanish Bank BBVA, together with Latin American experts, Colombian government authorities and organizations from civil society and the private sector, established the joint and coordinated participation of all these sectors in the fulfillment of the 2021 Goals and its Early Childhood component, as a priority for the achievement of social inclusion through education.

	ALAS PRESENTS "A COMMITMENT TOWARDS EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT" IN THE XII IBERO-AMERICAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS AND SENIOR OFFICIALS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH Buenos Aires, June 23, 2010 - During its participation in the in the XII Ibero-American Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials of Childhood and Youth in Buenos Aires, ALAS presented to an audience of Ministers and childhood authorities the panel "A Commitment with Early Childhood Development". ALAS was invited to participate in the conference as part of the commitment made by the Argentinian President in the las Ibero-American presidential Summit to include early education as a central topic of this year's Summit in Mar del Plata.

	ALAS PARTICIPATES IN THE CENTRAL AMERICAN SOCIAL INTEGRATION COUNCIL (CIS) Panama, April 10,2010 - ALAS, invited by Panama who currently hold the pro tempore presidency of the CIS, has presented to Central America's Social Development Ministers the magisterial conference "The Advantages of Investing in Early Childhood Development". Luis Secco, Economic Advisor for ALAS and member of the Advisory Council to the Early Childhood Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasized that early childhood development policies are not proposed as pro-poor policies, but account for the wider objectives of ensuring sustainable growth, economic development and social welfare.

	ALAS AND WORLD BANK LAUNCH US $300 MILLION EARLY CHILDHOOD INITIATIVE Washington D.C., February 22, 2010 - ALAS Foundation, represented by Artist and activist Shakira and World Bank President Robert Zoellick announce "The Early Childhood Initiative: An Investment for Life” in Latin America and the Caribbean. ALAS Foundation’s activist and founding member Shakira and World Bank President Robert Zoellick today launched a groundbreaking $US 300 million joint initiative aimed at expanding development programs for young children in Latin America and the Caribbean. This initiative seeks to mobilize opinion, policies, and resources in the region, as a cost-effective way to fight inequality and improve opportunities for its citizens. The signing ceremony of the partnership agreement between ALAS Foundation, Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and the World Bank, was held at the Bank’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. Read more

	ALAS OBTAINS THE COMMITMENT OF LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES TOWARDS EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 2010 SUMMIT Estoril, Portugal, November 30, 2009 - ALAS received the support of the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández, who will chair the XX Iberoamerican Summit in 2010, to include Early Childhood Development in the Agenda of this diplomatic event. The press conference was the scenario in which the Regional Alliance for Early Childhood Development was presented, and where the Presidents of Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Argentina joined Shakira and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in the search of ways that lead to the universal coverage of education, nutrition, and attention to health for children between 0 and 6 years old. The ECD Report was presented as the first product of this alliance and as a first step to accomplish this goal as it is an overview of the state of early childhood in the region. Read more

	ALAS SIGNS A COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH THE IBEROAMERICAN GENERAL SECRETARIAT (IBGS) AND THE ORGANIZATION OF IBEROAMERICAN STATES (OIS) Estoril, Portugal, November 30, 2009 - ALAS, represented by Juan Antonio Pungiluppi, Director, and Shakira, founder and activist, signed an agreement with Enrique Iglesias, Secretary General of the IBGS, and Alvaro Marchesi, Secretary General of the OIS, to promote the proposal “Educational Program for a Comprehensive Attention to Early Childhood”, which constitutes the early childhood component of the project “Educational Goals 2021: the Education we want for the Bicentenaries”. The signature of the agreement took place in a press conference in the frame of the XIX Iberoamerican Summit in Portugal, in front of an audience of international media and with the participation of the Presidents of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Panama. The Presidents showed their support to ALAS efforts to favor early childhood and their commitment towards children between 0 and 6 years old in their countries.

	PRESIDENT BACHELET AND FUNDACIÓN ALAS UNDERTAKE A BILATERAL AGENDA Estoril, November 29, 2009 – The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, and Shakira, founder and activist of ALAS, met today in Estoril, Portugal, in what has been considered as a major step forward in the purpose of building a bilateral agenda between the governments and América Latina en Acción Solidaria , ALAS, to prioritize the social investment in health, nutrition and education for children between 0 and 6 years old. The meeting takes place in the frame of the XIX Iberoamerican Summit of Chiefs of State and Government that will officially start in a few hours. The Chilean dignitary and Shakira share ideas about the current situation of early childhood in the Latin American countries as a prelude to the presentation in depth diagnosis that reflects the problematic of children between 0 and 6 years old, developed in a partnership between ALAS and the Earth Institute at Columbia University and its Director, the Economist Jeffrey Sachs. Read more

	ALAS and the Earth Institute at Columbia University join forces to establish the ECD Secretariat New York, October 7, 2009 - ALAS and The Earth Institute at Columbia University gather, for the first time in the History of Latin America, the most important experts in early childhood from international organizations such as the World Bank, The Interamerican Development Bank, The Organization of American States, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the Pan American Health Organization, among others, and delegates from Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Panama and Paraguay, to join efforts to design the basis of a hemispheric alliance in favor of the regions early childhood. Watch the video

	ALAS and The Earth Institute at Columbia University present the Early Childhood Development Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean to the media New York, August 27, 2009 – ALAS and the Earth Institute at Columbia University summoned the most important international media and Latin American opinion leaders in a luncheon briefing for journalists, in New York City, to officially present the Early Childhood Development Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean. Alejandro Santo Domingo, President of ALAS, Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Antonio de la Rua, Vice-president of ALAS, spoke with journalists of media such as The New York Times, Vanity Fair, El País, among others, about the importance of this regional project that seeks to promote research and policy to help strategize and implement effective comprehensive Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs in Latin America. Shakira, founder and activist of ALAS, joined the conversation by phone, where she ratified the Secretariat’s commitment to take specific recommendations and proposals to the presidents gathered in November at the next Iberoamerican Summit in Portugal.

	ALAS and the Earth Institute at Columbia University join forces to establish the Early Childhood Development Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean New York, June 1,2009 - ALAS and the Earth Institute at Columbia University have partnered to establish a High Level Early Childhood Development Secretariat with the purpose of developing research and policy to help implement effective Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs in Latin America. The official announcement was made by Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute and Alejandro Santo Domingo, President of ALAS Board of directors on June 1st 2009 at Columbia University. Read more


	ALAS & CARTIER JOIN TO BENEFIT THE CHILDREN FROM OPERATION SMILE Ciudad de Panamá, June 11, 2009 – During the celebration ofCartier’s LoveDay, the prestigious boutique joins ALAS in its effort to mobilize Latin American society towards the implementation of early childhood development public policies by donating 10% of all the sales of the LOVE collection from the boutiques in Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Panamá, Guayaquil and Puerto Rico to Operation Smile. Operation Smile is a nonprofit organization that with its voluntary medical network improves the lives and social integration of children with facial deformities such as cleft lips and cleft palates. This initiative is celebrated in an event at the Cartier Boutique in Ciudad de Panama with the participation of Stanley Motta, member of ALAS Board, Juan Antonio Pungiluppi, ALAS Executive Director, Christophe Maincourt, Cartier’s Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, the singer and member of ALAS Omar Alfanno and his wife Carmen Alfanno, and Beth Marshall and Arlene Arias from Operation Smile. This union is just another effort where ALAS and the private sector join to benefit the region’s early childhood. Read more

	ALAS signs an agreement with the government of the City of Buenos Aires to start the project “Centers for early Childhood, Education for Development”. Buenos Aires, May 1, 2009 – ALAS and the government of the City of Buenos Aires sign an agreement to start the project “Centers for Early Childhood”, which seeks to reach a total of 1.200 children younger than five and extend the educational coverage in the southern area of the city in a 20%. Read more

	ALAS supports Obama’s initiative to invest in Early Childhood Development Washington D.C., December 2008 – ALAS announces its support to the President of The United States’ initiative of investing $10 billion dollars in Early Childhood Development through an open letter published in the most important Latin American news papers. In the letter, ALAS encourages the Presidents of the region to double their efforts towards making education universal.

	ALAS takes part in the XVIII Iberoamerican Summit of Chiefs of State San Salvador, October 25, 2008 – ALAS participates in the XVIII Iberoamerican Summit of Chiefs of State, where it obtains the support of the Summit for a Regional Program of Early Childhood, through a Special Communication about early childhood integrated attention signed by the Presidents of the Iberoamerican countries. Thanks to ALAS initiative, the necessities of those under the age of six are now part of the agendas of all the Presidents and Secretaries of Education of the region. Read more

	ALAS & Columbia University Join Forces New York, September 24, 2008 – During the United Nations General Assembly week, ALAS gathers in a meeting at Columbia University the Presidents of Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, Panama and Paraguay with the economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and Luis Alberto Moreno, Director of the IDB, to disseminate the need of designing early childhood integrated policies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The symposium, titled “The Children of Latin America: a Future without Poverty”, inspired the creation of a technical team formed by members of The Earth Institute and ALAS for the elaboration of concrete proposals for the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean. Read more

	In the “Concert for the Children” ALAS introduces the topic of Early Childhood Development for the first time in a massive way. In May 2008 the “Concert for the Children”, a free public event, took place in Buenos Aires and Mexico City. It gathered in the same stage the most important Latin-American pop artists such as Ricky Martin, Maná, Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Gustavo Cerati, Timbiriche, Juan Luis Guerra, Diego Torres, Calle 13, Chayanne, among others. An audience of more than 400,000 people and millions of viewers started, since that day on, to understand the specific needs of the population aged from zero to six.

	VIEW Photos Mexico City Concert >
	VIEW Photos Buenos Aires Concert >


	ALAS and PAHO launch an immunization campaign in Haiti Washington D.C., May 2008 – ALAS and the Pan-American Health Organization organized what has been the biggest childhood and youth immunization campaign in Haiti. Wycleaf Jean, founder member of ALAS, took part of it by encouraging citizens to participate. The campaign expected to reach more than 1.8 million of kids and adolescents, contributing this way to the eradication of measles, rubella and congenital rubella in Haiti. Read more

	ALAS attends the V Meeting of Secretaries of Education “Hemispherical Learnings and Commitments for Early Education” Cartagena, November 19, 2007 – ALAS attends the V Meeting of Secretaries of Education “Hemispherical Learnings and Commitments for Early Education”, organized by the Integral development Council of the Organization of American States (OAS). The Secretaries of education agreed to build together a plan for the attention for children younger than six, which constitute a basis of an Early Childhood Development Program for Latin American and the Caribbean that will be promoted by ALAS.

	ALAS attends the Clinton Global Initiative New York, September 29, 2007 – ALAS announced during the Global Clinton Initiative a $40 million commitment from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation to help rebuild Peru and Nicaragua after the natural disasters they suffered, and a joint commitment to improve the quality of life of thousands of children through pilot project in Latin America.

	ALAS and the Red Cross International launch a fundraising campaign in benefit of the victims of Peru’s earthquake Panama City, September 4, 2007 – ALAS and the Red Cross International launch a fundraising campaign in Latin America, The United States, and Spain in benefit of the victims of Peru’s earthquake. América Móvil and Movistar donated the free numbers where donations were made, and more than 30 artists such as Miguel Bosé, Maná and Gustavo Cerati who put together their voices in public service announcements for the most important television networks and newspapers. Thanks to ALAS campaign, the Red Cross could help more than 70,000 affected families in Peru.

	ALAS and Ricardo Montaner launch with PAHO a childhood immunization campaign. Triple Frontera - ALAS and Ricardo Montaner launched, together with the Pan-American Health Organization, a childhood immunization campaign in the border of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil during the “Immunization week of the Americas”. The purpose of the campaign was to reach the indigenous families and the outlying towns of the three countries. Through this effort, ALAS supports PAHO in its efforts to improve health, specially the one of pregnant women and of children aged from zero to six years old.

	ALAS and Alejandro Sanz discuss with Argentina’s President, Nestor Kirchner, an alliance for education Buenos Aires - ALAS and Alejandro Sanz discuss with the Mr. Nestor Kichner, President of Argentina at the time, an alliance for education. This initiative takes place under the program ALA Escuela, ALAS education program that has the purpose of developing concrete actions to improve the access to education of the most vulnerable children in Latin America and the Caribbean, and their continuity in the system.

	ALAS and Juanes present to the IDB the “Public Agenda for Education” Guatemala, March 16 2007 – ALAS, represented by a delegation headed by Juanes, presents to the Interamerican Development Bank the “Public Agenda for Education”. As a product of the presentation, and later meeting with Luis Alberto Moreno, Director, a memorandum of understanding was signed between ALAS and the IDB.