Private Sector Announces New Partnership for Central America

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of private sector companies and social enterprises today formed a new partnership to offer business-led solutions in Central America to support economic opportunity.

The Partnership for Central America is a non-profit organization created in response to a Call to Action by Vice President Kamala Harris, in her role overseeing diplomacy towards the Northern Triangle and Mexico. The Partnership aims to coordinate practical solutions to advance economic opportunity, address urgent climate, education and health challenges, and promote long-term investments and workforce capability in support of a vision of hope for Central America.

Partnership members will make significant commitments to help send hope to the people of the region and sustainably address the root causes of migration by promoting economic opportunity.

The founding members of the Partnership include twelve companies and organizations: Accion, Bancolombia, Chobani, Davivienda, Duolingo, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Mastercard, Microsoft, Nespresso, ProMujer, Tent Partnership for Refugees and the World Economic Forum.

Information on what each Partnership member is doing in the region and new initiatives can be found at: https://www.centampartnership.org/initiatives

"The private and social sectors can draw on their unique resources and expertise to make commitments to support inclusive economic growth in the Northern Triangle," said Vice President Kamala Harris. "Together, we can work to overcome obstacles to investment, promote economic opportunity, and support long-term development in the region."

The Partnership for Central America, working with the U.S. Department of State, will coordinate follow-up to the Vice President's Call to Action, which will involve:

• Connecting businesses with relevant U.S. interagency partners, such as USAID, DFC, the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, among others; non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multilateral development banks, UN agencies, other international organizations, and relevant government officials from the region to facilitate potential new partnerships and commitments.
• Coordinating private sector partners to ensure sustained progress through strategic and high-impact initiatives aligned to social impact goals, and facilitating joint ventures between new and existing partners across global public, private, and social sectors.
• Offering feedback on potential private sector initiatives, based on an assessment of potential migrants' needs in the region.
• Working with partner governments and institutions to promote reforms that address impediments to investment and foster a business-enabling environment.
• Establishing metrics to measure the impact of commitments made in response to the Call to Action, to track program effectiveness and identify key trends across key economic and social impact metrics.
• Convening public forums and facilitating discussions on challenges, trends, and progress toward aspired social impact goals.

The Partnership welcomes additional commitments to join this initiative and promote economic opportunity in the Northern Triangle.

The Partnership will be led by an Executive Committee that includes: Luis von Ahn, Co-founder & CEO, Duolingo; Ajay Banga, Chairman, Mastercard; Børge Brende, President, World Economic Forum; Maria Cavalcanti, President & CEO, ProMujer; Ray Chambers, WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy & Health Financing; Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO, Nespresso; Éfrain Forero, CEO, Davivienda Bank; Michael Froman, Vice Chairman & President of Strategic Growth, Mastercard; Dr. Helene Gayle, President & CEO, The Chicago Community Trust; Alfonso Gonzalez, CEO, Nespresso North America; Kenneth Hersh, President, CEO & Board Member George W. Bush Presidential Center; Jack Leslie, Chairman, Weber Shandwick; Jonathan Fantini Porter, co-Founder & Executive Founder, The Partnership for Central America; Michael Schlein, President & CEO, Accion; Klaus Schwab, Founder & Chairman, The World Economic Forum; Brad Smith, President, Microsoft; Hamdi Ulukaya, Founder and CEO of Chobani and Tent Partnership for Refugees; Dr. Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For more information, please visit: https://www.centampartnership.org/

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SOURCE Partnership for Central America