IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and ALAS founder Shakira, a renowned artist and education activist, will present the awards in a ceremony to be held during the 6th Summit of the Americas, which will take place in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, April 14-15, 2012.

“This competition is a great opportunity to recognize and replicate high quality childhood development initiatives in Latin America,” said Shakira.“It is urgent that governments and organizations increase their commitments to early childhood education to give all of our children the opportunities that they deserve.”

Moreno added: “Early childhood development is one of the most effective ways to positively impact the future of a person. We have found that it yields greater returns than any other kind of human capital investment. This is why the IDB and the ALAS Foundation have joined forces to promote quality services for early childhood development”.

The ALAS-IDB awards will honor professionals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to early childhood development in this region with the help of important busness partners like Coca Cola, Lego Education, United Way, Microsoft and Haier, among others.  There will be four categories: Best  Center, Best Teacher, Best Publication for Children, and Innovation of the Year.

Individuals and institutions interested in applying for the awards should register at ALAS-IDB. All nominations must be presented by March 9, 2012.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank is the leading multilateral source of long-term financing and technical assistance for development in Latin America and the Caribbean.The IDB has made around 50 operations across the region, totaling an investment of over U.S. U$ 5 billion with components to support early childhood development. Top experts in the field maintain that such social policies and programs offer the greatest benefits of any action that governments can undertake

About ALAS Foundation

The ALAS Foundation was established by Latin American leaders interested in influencing public policies to who work to ensure that all boys and girls in this region reach their full potential through quality early childhood development programs.