By Marie Metz

MIA 2010

“Shakira makes a man want to speak Spanish.” 

  This is not only a Wyclef Jean lyric, but also an astute observation made by Jeffery Sachs, Director of the Columbia Earth Institute, at yesterday’s ALAS event,  held at Lerner Hall. 

It was amazing to see a world re-known economist, five Presidents, the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and two of the biggest global pop stars all on stage at the same time. 

América Latina en Acción Solidaria (ALAS) is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the advancement of children’s welfare in Latin America.  Anyone who was unfamiliar with the foundation before was quickly swayed by Shakira’s eloquent description of the mission and importance of ALAS.   

In fact, the pint-sized philanthropist fit right in with the Presidents
of Mexico, Argentina, El Salvador, Panama and Paraguay.  Each President
on the panel spoke about existing and future programs in their
respective countries to combat childhood poverty and development
programs for early childhood years (0-6). Of the 54 million children in
Latin America under age five, 32 million live in poverty, according to
the ALAS Web site.  The gutsy request made by Shakira was that each
President pledge his or her support for ALAS, right then and there.

Substance-seeking SIPA students may have walked away feeling
slightly disappointed.  True, no one said anything ground-breaking, but
the fact that these Presidents were willing to actually show up and
take  time out of one of their busiest weeks in the year to brief the
world their individual efforts to combat early child poverty was
nothing less than impressive.   

For the pickier SIPA students who were underwhelmed by the speeches
made by the various heads of state (yes, there was some grumbling after
the event), Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the IDB, gave an
excellent little talk full of substance for our over-stimulated minds.

It is interesting to note that it takes pop stars like Shakira and
Alejandro Sanz to bring to the world’s attention to the need to
educate, nourish and otherwise nurture children before they enter
elementary school, since these beginning years are arguably the most
formative.   As President Kirchner pointed out, it is extraordinary
that instead of simply enjoying a life of partying and luxury, these
stars are using their powerful voices for a cause of international
importance. 

For more information on ALAS you can visit: www.movimientoalas.org

Photo courtesy of Fabio Pinheiro, Creative Commons.