Ambassador
Ambassador's Speech
REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR WAYNE AT FUNDACION LIBERTAD LUNCH
Rosario
November 21, 2006
I want to thank Fundación Libertad, and particularly President Gerardo Bongiovanni, for organizing this luncheon with Rosario civil society representatives. Our Embassy has had a longstanding relationship with Fundación Libertad and the “Red Libertad” network, and I look forward to continuing this relationship during my tenure as Ambassador. Through your analysis of public policy issues, Fundacion Libertad has been a strong supporter of free market principles. These principles have proven to be the essential basis for generating the jobs and growth that sustain civil society.
As you know, I’ve only recently arrived in Argentina and this visit to Rosario is my first trip outside of Buenos Aires. Yours is clearly a vital and rapidly growing city, and I look forward to hearing from you on how Rosario’s civil society organizations have contributed to the dynamic development and social cohesion of your community.
The Unites States values the important partnership of our civil society colleagues in all of our endeavors. Civil society organizations are crucial to any democratic society— by raising awareness among publics about their rights, exposing abuses, pushing for reform and holding governments accountable, your work is essential to the success of free nations.
My Embassy has a mutually profitable relationship with many Argentine civil society organizations. Just to mention two instances, we recently provided grants to local NGOs to fund a program that sends judges to high schools to explain how the judiciary works and conducts moot cases; and another that offers books to kids to stimulate reading as a life choice.
We also program a variety of speakers with civil society organizations. In the last two years, in fact, we have programmed two speakers just with Fundacion Libertad – one on Small Business and another on Corporate Social Responsibility.
Many of our other speakers have been experts on the organization and management of NGOs. So the Embassy has also been active in building capacity within civil society organizations themselves.
And finally, I wanted to mention the good work being done by the Inter-American Foundation. The IAF provides funding for grassroots development in Argentina working through local NGOs. Over the last 35 years, its funding for such projects has totaled over 28 million dollars.
Thank you again for this warm welcome. We look forward to deepening our partnership with you so that we can work together to ensure that all Argentines have the rights and the capabilities to enjoy and express their citizenship in all its dimensions: political, economic, and social.
This will sustain and strengthen democracy in Argentina and its role as an anchor for democracy in the region.