ALAS is a movement dedicated to the children in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

. The non-profit organisation is founded by Latin America's most influential artists, intellectuals and business leaders, and strives to launch a new social movement that will generate a collective commitment to comprehensive Early Childhood Development programs for the children in Latin America.

One of the well-known faces and founder of ALAS is the Colombian singer and UNICEF ambassador Shakira

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

. Other known artists are Juanes

Juanes

Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...

, Alejandro Sanz

Alejandro Sanz

Alejandro Sanz , is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist...

 and Miguel Bosé

Miguel Bosé

Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...

, among others. Honorary President is Nobel prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 winner Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...

. Shakira's fiancé Antonio de la Rúa

Antonio de la Rúa

Antonio de la Rúa , is the oldest son of former Argentine president, Fernando de la Rúa and Inés Pertiné...

 is one of the Vice Presidents. De la Rúa recently rebutted the allegation that artists are leaving ALAS because of mismanagement.

Objectives

Latin America has 54 million children age 5 and under and no less than 32 million of them are currently living in poverty. A catalyst for change, ALAS will work to improve the children's lives by creating a social movement that delivers effective health, education and nutritional programs during their most influential years of development through comprehensive Early Childhood Development.

Mega Concerts

On 17 May 2008, for the first time, two concerts were held simultaneously in Argentina and Mexico. Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Calle 13, Paulina Rubio, Gustavo Cerati and others artists performed in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, where 150 thousand people gathered. In Mexico City, Miguel Bosé, Ricky Martin, Chayanne, Lucero and Diego Torres were some of the artists on the stage list. Juanes did not participate in either concert. The Mexico concert was attended by no less than 200 thousand people. Both concerts were completely free and their only goal was to make the public aware of the problems around poverty of Latin-American children.

Problems with ALAS

ALAS has changed leaders and missions since its inception on December 12, 2006. Its third executive director, Carlos Clemente, was indicted on corruption charges alongside Shakira lawyer/ALAS founding director José María Michavila. Its original mission including providing funding to programs that helped needy children. Its stated mission now is to be a social movement that does not fund programs. As a result, it has received millions of dollars from its funders for events like the May 2008 concerts but has not funded any programs.

Antonio de la Rúa has recently been answering charges that disappointment in the organization has caused many of the original artists to leave ALAS and that ALAS has not delivered on its promise to fund programs in Buenos Aires.

External links

• Website ALAS Foundation
• ALAS founder Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation
• The ALAS Foundation Press Release (2006-12-12). "The ALAS Foundation Is Born: America Latina en Accion Solidaria". Retrieved on 2009-06-07.
• Juanita Samper Ospina (2009-03-11). "Colombiano por adopción, involucrado en escándalo de corrupción en el Partido Popular español". eltiempo.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-07.
• Mónica Palm (2009-03-10). "Directivos de Alas, en trama de corrupción en España" prensa.com. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
• Gastón Rodriguez (2009-04-17). "La última trampa de Antonito". elargentino.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-07.
• Brenda Yastremiz (2009-05-10). "Protagonistas: Antonio de la Rúa". perfil.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-07.