latin american youth center LAYC youth development latino

LAYC Teen Health Promoters and the PEACE Program participants served as youth ambassadors at the launch event for the three-year partnership between Fútbol Club (FC) Barcelona and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to energize the global fight to end polio. The youth ambassadors learned about polio as a global concern and the impact of effective vaccines. The disease that once affected children everywhere is now eradicated around the world, except in four countries where polio transmissions continue: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The youth also had the opportunity to talk with Bill Gates and members of the team about the disease and learn more about the partnership.

"We have the chance to score a big win against polio, but we need loud and passionate voices to join the fight," said Gates. "FC Barcelona's commitment to using sport for social change will help us rally support for vaccines and end polio once and for all."

LAYC participated in the event with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). IDB is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean with the aim to end poverty and inequality.

Fútbol Club Barcelona is a football club founded in 1899 by Joan Gamper. FC Barcelona is widely known as the most socially committed club in the world, transmitting on the-field excellence to off-the-field social projects.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people, especially those with the fewest resources, have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.

Link to FC Club story: http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/noticies/destacades/n110728118573.html

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