Ambassador Wayne Opens the Second International NGOs Fair

April 30, 2009

Ambassador Wayne

Ambassador Wayne hosted on April 30 the Second International NGOs Fair –A Public/Private Sector Alliance, to support Argentine NGOs by providing an opportunity for them to network, collaborate, and learn from the private sector, international and local NGOs, embassies, and foundations.

Speakers at the Fair included Ambassador Wayne and Senator Maria Eugenia Estenssoro. Chief of Cabinet, Sergio Massa attended the event.

Participants included representative from 85 NGOs and 60 funding and/or expertise partners, including several organizations such ADC (Asociation por los Derechos Civiles), CIPPEC, Casa de la Mujer Maria Rosa Chazarreta, AGORA, FARN, Fundacion Defensores del Chaco, FUNDALEU, Madres contra el Paco, Habitat para la Humanidad, Red de Comunidades Rurales, Fundacion Judaica, Ashoka, AVINA, Conciencia, and Fundacion Olimpiadas Especiales. Embassies from Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and American and international companies (Coca-Cola, Down Chemical, Burson Marsteller, etc.) also attended the event.

Similar to last year, companies, embassies, foundations, and NGOs introduced themselves and made contacts to form working networks.

Also, NGOs attended a three hours seminar on how to deal with the global economic crisis, and also received tips from successful NGOs on improving NGO management and fundraising.  The seminar featured two distinguished speakers, Ambassador Larry Palmer, director of the Inter-American Foundation, and Dr. Elmer Huerta, President of the American Society of Oncology, in New York.

The NGO Fair principal partners are AMCHAM, Ketchum, RACI, and Help Argentina.

The Second International NGO Fair is a follow-up to last year’s highly successful NGO Fair.  The goal of the Fair is to assist worthy NGOs who have good track records, but could benefit from networking, with funding and expertise contacts to help bring their organizations to the next level of professional development. 

This year, the Embassy organized two other events related to the Fair. The first was a session offered on April 24th by Gustavo Averbuj, CEO of Ketchum Argentina, a well-known PR firm, who trained 70 participants on "effective tools for NGOs to promote their mission." After the Fair, the Hilton Buenos Aires will be partnering with the US Embassy and AMCHAM  to host a seminar where NGOs and companies will be showcasing their best joint work, prior to AMCHAM`s "Ciudadania Empresaria" awards at the end of the year.