Press releases

Washington DC, May 11, 2020.- TThe Trust for the Americas, an entity affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Office of the First Lady of Paraguay, Silvana Abdo, agreed today – in a virtual meeting – to launch a technological training program for vulnerable populations in Paraguay with special emphasis on women entrepreneurs and artisans. The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, stressed that the initiative will provide digital education in times when the use of technology is crucial to improve economic growth. “We celebrate the signing of this agreement whose objective is to train and empower women entrepreneurs in Paraguay. The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting our economies hard and this initiative is an opportunity to generate sources of employment,” said Secretary General Almagro. For her part, First Lady Abdo indicated that the alliance between the Trust and her government will provide better possibilities and rights for the Paraguayan people. “The objective will be especially placed on the possibilities of improving the lives of women in our country so that they can use technology to improve their businesses and jobs, as well as disseminating and publicizing their companies and products,” she said. For his part, the Chairman of the Board of the Trust for the Americas, Enrique García, said that the alliance with the Paraguayan government will allow the development of a social inclusion program that will improve the economy of many low-income households. “Today more than ever, the times demand that we act quickly and efficiently to facilitate, together with local partners in each country, the skills that the most vulnerable populations need to cope, during and after overcoming the coronavirus pandemic in the region. We will work together on that,” added García. The initiative, which is in the design phase, will include public-private participation and will focus on digital and business training, as well as job skills, leadership, assertive communication, and the prevention of gender violence. The projects developed by the Trust for the Americas have a rate of access to economic opportunities of 55 percent of its graduates.

The Trust for the Americas and the Department for Effective Public Management of the OAS, with the Support of the Embassy of the United State of America in Belize, presents the complete webinar resources carried out during the project “Transformation to an Open Public Administration in Belize (2019-2021)”. The first webinar series was designed for the Open Gov Steering Committee (Open Gov SC). The second series caters to all participants interested in learning about the open government ecosystem.  All webinars were facilitated by Mike Mora, Specialist of the Department for Effective Public Management of the Organization of American States Audience: Open Gov Steering Committee.  Webinar 1: Open Government: An overview of the path to 2020. This session is intended to serve as an overview of how open government has progressed since inception. The overview will allow us to interpreter how countries had responded to its implementation, what methodologies had been pursued, and what kinds of commitments have been established; all from the perspective of a participatory multi-stakeholder approach; lead by a core group of key public actors acting as a cohesive national open government body. Recorded on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 3:30PM-5PM (BZE-CST) – at BCCI Boardroom, Belize City. Webinar 2: National Steering Committees in Open Government; principles and world cases. This session is intended to provide an in-depth overview of the in-country mechanisms established to guide the implementation of open government. The session will touch on their role, configurations, practices, and also roles taken by their participants. Recorded on February 19, 2020 3:30PM-5PM (BZE-CST) – at CITO Training Room, Belmopan Webinar 3: Steering Committees & the development of National Open Government Action Plans. This session is intended to dive deeper into the role of the national open government committees in relation to the processes of developing the national open government action plans. What to do, what to expect, how to navigate and encourage a participatory process and decision making. Recorded on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 – 3:30PM-5PM (BZE-CST) at CITO, Belmopan Audience: Open Government Ecosystem Webinar 1: Open Government: an overview of the path to 2020. This session is intended to serve as an overview of how open government has progressed since inception. The overview will allow us to interpreter how countries had responded to its implementation, what methodologies had been pursued, and what kinds of commitments have been established; all from the perspective of a civil society centered participatory multi-stakeholder approach. Recorded on Thursday February 13, 2020 – 10:30AM-12:00PM (BZE-CST) – at BTEC, Belize City.  Webinar 2: Development of National Open Government Action Plans. This session is intended to provide an in-depth overview of the standards and practices when developing open government national action plans. What are action plans, what’s in them, and how to get there, will be some of the topics to be covered. The Speakers will dive into the processes to enable co-creation of an action plan, also looking at the specific case of Uruguay, where government and civil society have incrementally progressed in the embracing of open government. Recorded on February 20, 2020 – at BTEC, Belize City. Webinar 3: More of co-creation and setting ambitious commitments. This session is intended to explore deeper into the processes of setting the commitments for the open government action plans and how these have worked well in other countries. The exchange will encourage participants to think about what commitments may be of interest to pursue in Belize for the development of its first open government action plan. Recorded on Thursday, February 27, 2020 – 10:30AM-12:00PM (BZE-CST) at University of Belize Auditorium, Belmopan. Thank you to all our collaborators and interested participants. For more information on the project click here or contact the project manager: Rodrigo Iriani at ririani@oas.org.  Download documents here  Belize Open Government Belize Webinar Program

2020/04/28 As part of the second phase of an Open Government project: Transformation to an Open Public Administration in Belize, The Trust for the Americas in coordination with the Organization of American States (OAS), announces the official formation of an Ad-hoc Multi-stakeholder Steering Committee: The Belize Open Gov SC. This Open Government project, through funding support from the US Embassy Belmopan, is working to strengthen the creation of networks and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration, supporting a long-term process to spur innovation, improving local government services, and activating international support mechanisms for enabling Belize to join the Open Government global movement. The Belize Open Gov SC is comprised of eleven member representatives with the objective to serve as the dialogue and decision-making mechanism to advance open government processes of the project and by extension the country of Belize. The installation of national open government committees is a well-established good practice around the world for those countries pursuing the strengthening of their open government efforts. The Belize Open Gov SC includes six government agencies with representatives from: Office of the Prime Minister (Michael Singh, Advisor for eGovernance and Digital Transformation), Central Information Technology Office (Ian Smith, Executive Director), Economic Development Council (Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director), Attorney General’s Ministry (Imani Burgess, Crown Counsel), Department of Local Government (Clifford King, Director of Local Government) and the Integrity Commission (Deshawn Arzu Torres, Chairperson). Five civil Society organizations with representatives from: Belize PEACE Movement (Paco Smith, Good Governance & Anti-Corruption/External Relations Liaison), Association of Tertiary Level Institutions of BelizeATLIB (Dr. Sharmayne Saunders, Chairperson), Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry-BCCI (Dyon Elliott, Chief Policy Analyst), The Belize Mayors Association (Mayor Khalid Belisle, President) and the National Trade Union of Belize-NTUCB (Marvin Mora, President).  Rodrigo Iriani, Project Manager of the initiative, states ¨Essentially, the Open Government Steering Committee will play a pivotal role in supporting the coordination of participatory multi-stakeholder dialogues. Their ultimate contribution will reflect in the first draft of the National Open Government Action Plan for Belize.¨ For more information, please contact the Trust/OAS Local Project Coordinating Team, Ms. Audrey Robin (arobin@trust-oea.org), and Ms. Malenie Barnes (mbarnes@trust-oea.org). Keep connected to the project at https://www.facebook.com/OpenGovBelize. #OpenGovBelize About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org Facebook: The Trust for the Americas Twitter: @Trust4Americas Belize

2020/04/22 Panama, April 13, 2020 – The National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) in alliance with The Trust for the Americas, kickstarted a 10-week online course to train public officials on Open Government and Open Data principles.  This online course will provide training in complementary areas of public administration that will improve with open government and open data methodologies.  Currently, 60 information officers, who hold the responsibility in the different sectors of government to make the information available and met with the nation’s transparency requirements, are registered and receiving the training.     This series of webinars are activities carried out within the framework of the “Public Innovation through Open Data” project funded by the US Mission in Panama, which includes promoting collaboration between civil society and the government.    Juan Pablo Rodríguez, Director of Access to Information at ANTAI, emphasized that the role of citizens in these seminars “is a way to empower the use of their right to social audit and to ensure continuous collaboration between civil society, private sector, and governments under the concept of Open Government.”   By training public officials, the goal is to meet international open data standards and encourage local governments and civil society in Panama to create spaces for discussion, collaboration and accountability mechanism for citizens   A total of 90 public information officers are expected to complete the course in the coming months.   Panamá

2020/04/22 Washington DC, April 22, 2020 – The POETA Social Franchise organized a webinar during the COVID-19 contingency to support the entrepreneurs of our network and the general public. This session hosted by The Trust for the Americas with a special guest, Mauricio Leal Goldstein General Director and Co-founder of Fluxs by Nóvament, who presented his keynote, “Reinvent your Business Model: Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Times of Crisis”.   The event was an opportunity to acknowledge the global change that all professionals in different industries are experiencing, specifically in the business sector. That is why adapting to innovative methods of working, collaborating, and learning while working from home are the challenges that many entrepreneurs face.  Now is the moment to push them to look for more efficient and modern alternatives. “Sharing knowledge and experiences is the most effective way to reinvent ourselves and conquer new spaces!” The POETA Social Franchise team shares with us when introducing the event.   Mauricio Leal shared his expertise with more than three hundred people from Latin America who connected through Microsoft’s TEAMS platform.   An enthusiastic audience that included people from different organizations and entrepreneurs from across Latin America with Interactive activities made the event a success for the organizers.  The event concluded with messages of satisfaction, request for information on future seminars to the team, and the guest speaker.  The POETA Social Franchise’s mission is to provide tools and knowledge to organizations that promote economic and social inclusion. Stay tuned for our upcoming events.  Argentina – Brasil – Chile – Estados Unidos – Colombia – Costa Rica – Ecuador – El Salvador – Guatemala – Honduras – Mexico – Nicaragua – Panamá – Perú – Puerto Rico – República Dominicana – Venezuela

2020/04/08 Originalmente publicado en el blog de The Trust for the Americas por Elizabeth Laredo y Maria Fernanda Sierra. Agradecemos a Walmart Foundation por contar con su apoyo para estos esfuerzos. A finales del mes de marzo lanzamos una exitosa estrategia digital para ofrecer capacitación y contenidos de calidad para mujeres egresadas del Proyecto VIVE y nuevas participantes: Las sesiones responden a las recomendaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) sobre el distanciamiento social y de la crisis actual por el COVID-19, con medidas virtuales e innovadoras para continuar implementando nuestra oferta de capacitación. Diseñamos contenido exclusivo para mujeres que son egresadas del Proyecto VIVE, estos insumos son compartidos a través de Facebook, específicamente en el grupo privado de Facebook “Comunidad de Egresadas de Proyecto VIVE”. Estos contenidos son: 3. Promover el registro y uso del Directorio de Emprendedoras VIVE: A finales del año 2019 creamos un directorio de emprendedoras, en el cual las egresadas del Proyecto VIVE pueden registrar la información básica de sus emprendimientos y darles difusión. Nos encargamos de divulgar el directorio mediante nuestra comunidad en línea y con nuestros aliados estratégicos. Para más información, aquí las ligas para consultar el blog y el directorio. Mexico

2020/04/08 Jamaica, 2 de Abril 2020.- The Trust for the Americas lanza agenda de capacitación virtual para dar inicio al Proyecto N.C.B. ICON Lab en Jamaica de la mano de nuestros aliados The Mico University en Kingston.  Esta serie de capacitaciones se adapta a un formato interactivo virtual, en la que los principales participantes son la facultad de The MICO University incluyendo profesores de varias disciplinas, y la mezcla de metodologías entre capacitaciones y webinars via Facebook. El objetivo de estas capacitaciones dirigidas a nuestros aliados locales en Jamaica, es involucrar a los futuros facilitadores del proyecto con las prácticas exitosas de los laboratorios de innovación y el Sistema de Información de The Trust for the Americas. El objetivo de estas capacitaciones dirigidas a nuestros aliados locales en Jamaica, es involucrar a los futuros facilitadores del proyecto con las prácticas exitosas de los laboratorios de innovación y el Sistema de Información de The Trust for the Americas. De la misma manera, nuestro aliado local Institute of Law and Economics (ILE), quienes llevan las operaciones del Laboratorio de Innovación Urbana para Jóvenes en Jamaica y el equipo de Proyecto VIVE México colaborarán compartiendo experiencias y metodologías con The MICO University y contribuir en el éxito del proyecto N.C.B. ICON Lab.  Parte de las capacitaciones que se llevarán a cabo incluyen:   El proyecto N.C.B. ICON Lab busca promover una mentalidad emprendedora, acceso al empleo y emprendimientos tecnológicos para jóvenes en riesgo en Jamaica, a través del acceso a un espacio colaborativo con capacitación de calidad y enlaces a un ecosistema de emprendimiento.   Jamaica

2020/04/07 Costa Rica, April 7, 2020.- Today, a series of online training for local governments began under the project “Improving municipal government services through innovation and local networks.” The month of open virtuality offers the possibility of developing dialogues to search for solutions to overcome the challenges that municipalities face, as well as proposing means to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. The objective of the virtual training series is to promote open government actions in times of COVID-19 and virtuality. This series of webinars aims to present experiences and challenges of governments, discuss effective methodologies, offer digital tools to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus in localities and facilitate spaces for dialogue to better understand the role of local government in times of pandemic and recession. The implementation of Open Data policies in the municipalities helps to improve the services to citizens, and at the same time, allows identifying tools that are vital for municipal empowerment. The webinar series includes the following topics and objectives: Tuesday, April 7: “Empowerment of local governments to mitigate the coronavirus.” Objective: To publicize the City Listener and Blockchain Certificates tools as means of municipal empowerment to mitigate the coronavirus and its rapid spread. Thursday, April 16: “The experience of the Municipality of Esparza in its live process of opening public data. Learnings and good practices. ” Objective: To share the challenges, progress, and achievements of the Municipality of Esparza in terms of Opening Public Data with a collaborative approach, in order to be a point of reference for other municipalities. Thursday, April 23: “A more efficient and agile municipal government: CoLABora Methodology to simplify procedures focused on users.” Objective: To share the experience of the coLABora methodology in the pilot project simplifying the patent process in various local governments of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica. Thursday, April 30. “The role of local government in times of pandemic: effective communication and listening to the private and entrepreneurial sector.” Objective: To recognize the role of municipalities in supporting the private, commercial and entrepreneurial sector in times of pandemic and recession. Among the participants were officials from Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay. Costa Rica

2020/04/02 This is the first ideathon in Jamaica in which youth will present projects to offer solutions for the challenges posed by the COVID-19 April 1, 2020- The Trust for the Americas and the Institute of Law & Economy (ILE) with support of Citi Foundation is launching a two-day urban challenge ideathon through our DIA Lab in Jamaica. In this virtual workshop, fifty young participants shortlisted from more than one hundred registries will find solutions to combat the impact of the fast-spreading COVID-19 specific to select sectors of Jamaica. This activity will serve as a platform for youth to start their long-term project in community building or disruptive entrepreneurship. Thirty solutions will reach to the virtual pitch phase, which will happen on Monday, April 6, 2020, at 9:00 am. The solutions will focus on the following themes: · COVID-19 & Health · COVID-19 & Education and Access to Information · COVID-19 & Economic Relief · COVID-19 & Crime and Security Davey Haughton from the Ministry of Education, Youth & Information, Michael Sappleton from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Agriculture, Simone Green from the Youth Innovation Centre, Spanish Town, and the renowned entrepreneur Mrs. Godiva Golding will be the judges to select the winning projects based of the innovation and entrepreneurial potential of the solutions. Linda Eddleman, Executive Director of the Trust for the Americas commented: ¨As the world is facing significant challenges amidst the COVID-19 situation, this virtual ideathon is an excellent opportunity to empower youth to be protagonists of the solutions for the communities. We are proud to support their ideas coming from remote places of Jamaica to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit of the island.¨ Follow the ideathon and support our entrepreneurs while working and creating solutions through these hashtags and in our social media. #DIAJamaica #Ideathon2020 #DIAInnovation #OvercomeCovid19 #Innovateremotely #Covidsolutions About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org Facebook: The Trust for the Americas Twitter: @Trust4America Jamaica

2020/03/26 El miércoles 25 de marzo de 2020, The Trust for the Americas llevó adelante la primera capacitación de Teams, liderada por Jorge Cella, director de filantropías de Microsoft para América Latina.   Teams es una plataforma que permite establecer comunicaciones unificadas en las organizaciones, ofreciendo funcionalidades como chat, reuniones, llamadas, colaboraciones, integración de aplicaciones o almacenamiento de archivos. The Trust for the Americas utiliza esta herramienta para coordinar sus operaciones en más de 20 países del hemisferio.   The Trust for the Americas durante las últimas dos semanas, se ha enfocado en identificar cuáles son aquellos cursos y oportunidades de capacitación que podrían tener mayor interés en el público, sobre todo para los operadores de los centros tecnológicos y socios locales de nuestra franquicia social POETA y en nuestros beneficiarios para seguir adelante con su trabajo diario, su capacitación y su educación.   Con mucha satisfacción pudimos verificar que las 273 personas de 13 países que estuvieron conectadas en la presentación, nos confirmaron la importancia de la capacitación y el entrenamiento online en este momento.   El contexto de crisis que trajo aparejada la pandemia del coronavirus en América Latina nos convoca a una responsabilidad mayor de seguir brindando oportunidades y capacitaciones a nuestros beneficiarios en toda América Latina y el Caribe.   Es por eso que, a partir de esta semana, con el lanzamiento de este primer curso, estaremos realizando una serie de capacitaciones en formato virtual, por Teams través del uso de nuestra plataforma exclusiva “aula virtual” con la cual damos apertura a un conjunto de capacitación continua para nuestros beneficiarios garantizando el seguimiento de nuestras operaciones y el apoyo a toda la red de centros en la región.  Los invitamos a mantenerse atentos a nuestras redes sociales para información de nuestra programación.  About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Argentina – Brasil – Chile – Estados Unidos – Colombia – Costa Rica – Ecuador – El Salvador – Honduras – Mexico – Panamá – Perú – Puerto Rico – República Dominicana