Leonel Fernández Makes Important Academic Contacts in Bogotá and Medellín

As part of the broad institutional agenda covered during his recent trip to Colombia, the President of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode), and former President of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández, made contacts with important academic institutions in Bogotá and Medellín, in order to support the work carried out by the foundations he presides over.

In Bogotá, the
Colombian capital, Fernández visited the University of Rosario, where he met with the Dean of the Center for Advanced Studies, Juan Manuel Restrepo; the Academic  Director, Stéphanie Lavaux; and the Chancelor, Antonio Roveda.

As part of the commitments with a view to the future, the University of Rosario provided institutional support to establish collaborations with Funglode in the areas of health, criminal violence, peace and conflict, development and innovation,
and urban development studies and management.

In his speech, the Dean of the Colombian Academic Institution praised the great work of the former President Fernández for his outstanding contributions to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Venezuela as a mediator and regional leader.

Similarly, Restrepo stressed the large number of projects and initiatives
developed by GFDD/Funglode in benefit of the Dominican Republic and the Latin American/Caribbean region. Fernández thanked Dean Restrepo for his kind word as well as for his offer of support.

During the meeting, Fernández and Restrepo agreed on the steps to follow to generate an effective exchange between GFDD/Funglode and the University of Rosario in the matter of organization, information, editorial materials, and joint projects.

University
of Antioquia
While in Medellin, the second largest city of Colombia, Fernández visited the University of Antioquia, where he held a working meeting with Dean Mauricio Alviar Ramírez; the Vice President for Research, María Patricia Arbeláez Montoya; the Director of International Relations, Adriana González Moncada; the Director of the School of Librarianship, Margarita María Gaviria Velásquez; and the Professor Germán Valencia Agudelo, from the Institute of Political
Studies.

The meeting took place in the University’s Council Hall, and several important issues were addressed, including the Research Group on tropical diseases and dengue, the Program Country to Country, the Program in Latin American History and Literature, and areas in which they explored the possibility of inter-agency exchange. They agreed to create a course on the Dominican national poet, Pedro Mir.

The University of Antioquia also
provided support to Funglode’s Library Juan Bosch, for the process of digitization and creation of databases on Dominican themes.  In addition, they offered Funglode support for virtualization of courses and development of Moocs. In matters of political science studies, Funglode was granted access to the University’s online resources.

In addition, Fernández invited the Dean of the University of Antioquia to participate to the EU-LAC Academic
Summit, an institution he is President of. This event will take place in the framework of the forthcoming Summit of this organization.

Noteworthy is that Antioquia is the second most important public University in Colombia due to its numerous student- body, academic programs, and research.

With businessmen
In Medellín, former President Fernández also met with CEOs of the Antioquia Business Group, whom he invited to
participate in the business chapter of the EU-LAC Summit that will focus on issues related to infrastructure.

Executive Director of Funglode, Marco Herrera, attended the meeting and made a comprehensive presentation of the Study Centers, initiatives of the institution, and the Project RD 2044, which seeks to re-position the Caribbean country in time for the 200th anniversary of its independence.

The entrepreneurs were very interested in the projects of
Funglode. They congratulated Fernández for his work and offered their support to help with the initiatives of the institution that further progress and generate development for the Dominican Republic and the region.

Visit Argos Center
In the framework of its agenda in Medellin, Fernández also visited the Argos Center for innovation in the EAFIT University, a space where the experience of private enterprise, academic knowledge, and the
leverage of the State converge for the edification of the future.

During the visit, officials of the Centre explained to Fernandez that it was built by Argos Cement as a sign of its commitment to productive, competitive and sustainable growth of the Colombian and regional industry.

The Argos Centre represents a meeting point between the challenges of the cement and concrete industries and the solutions proposed by the Academy while promoting the
discovery of new uses of these materials that are key to development.

During these business meetings, in addition to Herrera, the president of Funglode was accompanied by the manager of Funglode-Colombia relations, Sandra Cadavid and the Funglode manager for inter-institutional relations, Franklin Lithgow.