On Friday, the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Games signed a cooperation agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The partnership aims to develop projects in low-income communities that, through sport, will promote the social inclusion of children and teenagers at risk in the city of Rio de Janeiro, while also contributing to improve the quality of community life.

Among the educational projects planned are those for the development of youth leadership; the strengthening of human capital, with programmes for young apprentices; the involvement of pacified-community dwellers in sustainability actions; the improvement of accessibility standards to public cultural facilities for people with disabilities, and the promotion of the local culture.

The initiative represents an important social legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as they enable the development of broad-ranging social projects, besides creating new opportunities for youth in low-income communities.

“With this agreement, we will contribute to the social, cultural and economic inclusion of youth through sport. These are educational and training programmes that will generate an important legacy for the city of Rio de Janeiro as well as for Brazil”, the President of Rio 2016 Carlos Arthur Nuzman said.

The institutions will seek the support of other organisations in the public and private sectors that can contribute to the sustainability of these initiatives.

“We are supporting the efforts underway in Brazil so that the legacy of major sporting events is converted into direct benefits for citizens”, IDB representative Daniela Carrera-Marquis said.