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Prosegur and Botín foundations join forces to promote education in Paraguay
Desafío por la Educación: Paraguay, (Education Challenge: Paraguay), a joint initiative by the two Spanish institutions, aims to strengthen social projects aimed at curbing school dropout rates in the Latin American country, as well as promoting inclusive and quality education.
Madrid, August 5, 2024 - The Prosegur Foundation, in collaboration with the Botín Foundation, has launched Desafío por la Educación: Paraguay, an initiative born from the alliance of these two Spanish institutions support the country in the face of new challenges in the sector. Based on the belief that education can be a catalyst for change, Education Challenge will drive collaborative social innovation and develop sustainable and impactful educational initiatives.
Aimed at education social entities and academic institutions, the initiative will promote collaboration on the design and implementation of projects to combat school dropout rates and promote inclusive and quality education for the most vulnerable communities.
The program, which was recently presented during an inaugural event held at the Juan de Salazar Spanish Cultural Center in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, brought together experts, institutional representatives and representatives of the 21 Paraguayan entities. The event was attended by Carmen Castiella, Spain’s ambassador to Paraguay; Isabel Sampedro, the director of the Prosegur Foundation; and Cristina Pérez de Lema, the head of the Botín Foundation's Talento Solidario program.
Welcoming the initiative, Isabel Sampedro, the director of Fundación Prosegur, said: "Desafío Paraguay seeks to bring together social organizations from the educational and academic sectors to develop innovative solutions that support education in the country. Our goal is to offer new working tools to the entities to strengthen their projects and generate a significant positive impact."
Cristina Pérez de Lema of Fundación Botín's Talento Solidario program, added: "Fundación Botín arrives in Paraguay with the El Desafío program and does so together with Fundación Prosegur, something we love because we know that collaboration with other entities allows us to maximize the impact of everything we do with a great ally with whom we seek, through this challenge, to support and strengthen the quality of education in the country.”
Desafío por la Educación, an initiative to drive change
The program, which will run until the end of March 2025, includes face-to-face and online sessions, offering participants mentoring and workshops on collaborative methodologies such as Lean Startup and Design Thinking.
The first phase of this initiative has already taken place in Asunción, from July 16 to 19, over the course of which the participating entities met with the foundations promoting the initiative in order to make their proposals known, strengthen their networking and begin to work collaboratively in different round tables and workshops. Once the training itinerary has been completed, the participating organizations will present their work to an evaluation committee, which will be tasked with deciding who will receive additional support for their implementation.
This Committee will be made up of representatives of public and private entities such as the Spanish Embassy in Paraguay, Editorial Santillana, the Ministry of Education and Science of Paraguay and the Association of Christian Entrepreneurs (ADEC), in addition to Fundación Prosegur and Fundación Botín as promoters of the project.