Report of the Committee of the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My dear colleagues, Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General, a very good morning to all.

Our delegation is grateful for the presentation today to this Permanent Council of the Report on the Activities of the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund for 2019-2020.

We commend the excellent work being done despite the difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also take this opportunity to give special recognition to the team of the Technical Secretariat, made up of Lina Sevillano, our esteemed compatriot Gaetan Bucher and Jacqueline Mattos, and to the Director of the Department of Human Development, Education and Employment (DHDEE), Jesús Schucry Giacoman, as well as to the whole team of the Secretariat for Administration and Finance and the other officials of those areas for their constant support.

We are witnesses to the arduous work they do day after day, supporting Latin American and Caribbean students so that they can complete their studies or research at accredited universities in the United States through interest-free financing; and likewise, their support in processing the loans that benefit staff members of the Organization of American States (OAS) when they request them.

Our congratulations also to the members of the Committee of the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund, made up of the United States, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the General Secretariat of the OAS, for their dedication and for the work they do so that decisions rest on an objective basis and on the best interests of the Fund and of its beneficiaries.

We also take this moment to highlight the leadership of the Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ambassador Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist, as Chair of this Committee of the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund.

Mr. Chair, in recent years, 2014-2021, the Dominican Republic has benefited through fourteen Dominicans who have received financial aid in the form of interest-free loans totalling ninety-four thousand five hundred dollars to cover tuition or housing during their studies at universities in the United States. Thirteen of them pursued master’s degrees, and eight of the fourteen, that is, 57%, were women.

In 2020 an emergency grant of two thousand dollars was also authorized for a beneficiary of the interest-free loan, to help complete studies in the United States and to offset the financial challenges produced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of this kind commit us still more to joining efforts so that the number of Dominican participants grows in the coming years. We likewise urge the permanent missions present here to help promote this program within their diasporas in the United States.

Mr. Chair, the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic wishes to highlight the transparency, flexibility and search for solutions and good practices that mark the work of all those involved in the processes carried out within the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund, as set down in writing in the report presented.

The pandemic, as we know, has created difficulties in the repayment capacity of students with study loans, who have needed extra help owing to the loss of their income. Hence our recognition of the work done by the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund in applying, at this time of particular difficulty, the best solutions so that financial aid for students in the United States could go forward despite COVID-19.

The beneficiaries of the Leo S. Rowe Pan American Fund have been able to feel some relief thanks to the mechanism put in place because of the pandemic, which has allowed them to ease the commitments they had contracted with their universities and their living expenses.

We cannot conclude without highlighting the importance of the support given by donors to higher education and to the youth of the region, which perpetuates the legacy and spirit of Dr. Leo Stanton Rowe.

We hope these expressions of support will continue to grow, so that with their donations a greater number of students and OAS employees may continue to benefit from the loan program and to train themselves, and so return to their countries of origin and multiply what they have learned for the benefit of our societies.

Thank you very much.