To benefit 50,000 Salvadoran athletes, a program to rescue sports venues advances with CABEI support
• This program, which has generated more than 900 jobs, will also contribute to the development of the next XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games to be held in El Salvador in 2023.
San Salvador, December 12th, 2022. – The remodeling, construction, rehabilitation, and equipping of nine sports venues in El Salvador, which will benefit 50,000 athletes from different disciplines, is progressing steadily under the Infrastructure Construction and National Sports Venues Rescue Program (PRODEPORTE), financed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) for US$115.2 million, of which US$42.8 million has been disbursed to the National Sports Institute of El Salvador (INDES), as executor of the program.
This was confirmed by a CABEI mission, which recently visited several of the complexes located in San Salvador (6) and La Libertad (3).
This program seeks to increase the development of sports talent among children and young people in 34 sports disciplines, improve the health of citizens through physical activity and promote economic reactivation. Among the scenarios that are being remodeled are the stadiums and iconic sports complexes such as "El Mágico" González, El Polvorín, the Ciudad Merliot Sports Complex and the Palacio Nacional de los Deportes.
These spaces will also be some of the venues for the next "XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games", to be held in El Salvador from June 23 to July 8, 2023, which will bring together athletes and delegations from 32 countries. This is the second time CABEI has supported this initiative in El Salvador; it did so in 2002 with an investment of US$50 million.
"We are investing in the present and the future of El Salvador with a program that not only has a sporting impact, but also an economic and social impact by recovering spaces that were in disuse or that could not be fully utilized for young people and children to exercise, as well as generating hundreds of sources of employment during the process. In addition, we are supporting the preparation of the stage where hundreds of athletes from Central America and the Caribbean will meet next year, using sports as a tool for the integration of our countries, which is a priority for CABEI," said CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.
Promoting opportunities for all
Following the CABEI technical visit, it was confirmed that, to date, 990 jobs have been generated in construction areas such as demolition, excavation for electrical installations and repair of bleachers, of which 130 are occupied by women (90 of them heads of household) in areas that have traditionally been considered for men, which is in line with the Bank's gender equity crosscutting axis, which seeks to promote effective equality of opportunities without gender discrimination as a driver for sustainable development.
PRODEPORTE is a key opportunity to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth.